10 Things Wrestling Fans Should Know About The Legendary Mexican Wrestler Psicosis

For fans of World Championship Wrestling in the mid-to-late 1990s, one of the best parts of the promotion was the company’s cruiserweight division. While aging ex-WWE stars were dominating the main event scene, fans were treated to an international array of younger talent putting on innovative, often high-flying matches, including Mexico’s Psicosis.

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Sometimes known as Psychosis, this (formerly) masked luchador was one of the underrated staples of the division who enjoyed stints in WCW, WWE, and some of Mexico’s biggest promotions like AAA. Let’s take a look at his career, from his major rivalries to his post-WWE years.

10 Rivalry With Rey Mysterio Jr.

With training under Rey Misterio Sr. and his own brother, the appropriately named Fobia, Psicosis made his debut in 1989 in Mexico. There, he began to forge a rivalry with Misterio’s nephew and one of the biggest legends of lucha libre, Rey Mysterio Jr. Over the years, Psicosis and Mysterio put on dozens if not hundreds of matches across pretty much every promotion they both ended up in.

One of their first matches in the States had the rivals on opposite sides of a six-man tag team match at the WCW-produced AAA pay-per-view When Worlds Collide in 1994.

9 Made A Splash In ECW

Following that initial exposure in the US, Psicosis and Rey Mysterio Jr. took their rivalry to Extreme Championship Wrestling, which became one of the first American companies to showcase the lucha libre style. The Psicosis/Mysterio feud continued with several more standout matches, including a 2/3 Falls Match and a Mexican Deathmatch.

Psicosis soon left for WCW but returned to ECW in 2000, putting on matches against Mikey Whipwreck and Tajiri — albeit without the iconic mask that fans remembered.

8 Two-Time WCW Cruiserweight Champion

Psicosis’ arrival in WCW happened in 1996, where his name was tweaked to Psychosis. Despite proving to be a solid in-ring talent, Psychosis failed to capture the World Cruiserweight Championship until April 1999 when he dethroned Rey Mysterio Jr. in an acclaimed four-way match that also included Juventud Guerrera and Blitzkrieg.

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Psychosis’ first title reign lasted only seven days, but he had a second reign six months later, albeit under strange circumstances. After abruptly vacating the title, WCW quietly awarded it to Psychosis, who was tasked with immediately dropping the belt to Disco Inferno on an episode of Monday Nitro.

7 Got Unmasked Twice

In late August 1999, Psicosis lost a mask vs. mask Lucha de Apuestas match in Baja California against his mentor, Rey Misterio Sr. However, for WCW fans, Psychosis didn’t lose his mask until a month later.

After a Monday Nitro tag match against Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio Jr., Psychosis got into a spat with Kidman, leading to a mask vs. hair match between Psychosis and Kidman the following week. An entertaining match ensued, and ended with Kidman getting the win and Psychosis unmasking for a second time in the span of a month.

6 Became Nicho El Millonario In 2001

After ECW folded in 2001, Psicosis returned to wrestling in Mexico, but AAA took exception to his use of the ring name, as they had the rights to it, and ended up assigning the gimmick to a different wrestler.

As a result, the former Psicosis adopted a new moniker, Nicho El Millonario, although he did revert to Psicosis whenever he wrestled for non-lucha promotions like Impact Wrestling and World Wrestling All-Stars. He only returned to the Psicosis name when returning to AAA, where he got into a feud with Psicosis II over the rights to the name.

5 Debuted In WWE At ECWOne Night Stand 2005

After finishing up his feud with Psicosis II, the original Psicosis signed to WWE in 2005. His first televised match in the promotion would go down at the ECW reunion show One Night Stand, where he rekindled his rivalry with Rey Mysterio Jr. in what proved to be their only match in WWE, with Mysterio coming out on top.

Because fans may not have necessarily remembered that he got unmasked, Psicosis’ entrance involved him coming out with the mask only to take it off upon entering the ring.

4 Member Of The Mexicools In WWE

After One Night Stand, Psicosis made his way over to SmackDown, where he debuted alongside Super Crazy and fellow ECW alum Juventud Guerrera as a trio known as The Mexicools. Heels embodying American stereotypes about Mexicans, The Mexicools wore matching work jumpsuits and came to the ring on riding lawn mowers.

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Of the three, Juventud proved to be the most successful, enjoying two reigns with the Cruiserweight Championship while Psicosis only ever getting a couple of shots at the belt.

3 Turned On Super Crazy To Break Up The Mexicools

While Juventud was focusing on the Cruiserweight Title, Psicosis and Super Crazy were the devoted tag team of The Mexicools, and had a few shots at the title including against MNM — Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury — and later the team of Paul London and Brian Kendrick.

Tensions began to rise between the two, and Psicosis eventually walked out on Super Crazy in the middle of a match, breaking up The Mexicools, as Juventud had been released months earlier.

2 AAA World Tag Team Champion

After departing WWE in 2006, Psicosis returned to AAA as Nicho El Millonario and teamed with Joe Lider.

Together, they were known as La Hermandad Extrema, and in September 2008 took part in a four-way match for the AAA World Tag Team Championship, dethroning previous champions Extreme Tiger and Halloween. Nicho and Lider held the belts for 551 days — the second-longest reign after the Lucha Brothers’ 2019-2021 reign — and dropped the belts to the Pro Wrestling NOAH team of Taiji Ishimori and Takeshi Morishima.

1 Turned On Joe Lider To Join Los Perros Del Mal

Soon enough, Nicho El Millonario began to have (kayfabe) problems with AAA management and began to distrust his own partner Joe Lider in the process. This led Nicho to formally turn on Lider by interfering in his matches and staging attacks on him, not to mention joining Ej Hijo Del Perro Aguayo’s heel faction, Perros Del Mal.

The feud between Nicho and Lider continued, which involved Nicho going mad and reprising the Psicosis gimmick and then defeating Lider in a hair vs. hair match.