Mark Schlereth will not apologize.
On Sept. 22 during a Fox broadcast of the Minnesota Vikings vs. Oakland Raiders, WWE superstar Rey Mysterio was shown in the crowd as Fox announcers were promoting SmackDown's move to Fox. During the promo, Fox announcer Mark Schlereth stated, "He's here. Look at him. He's in his-- he's in his mask. It's like a Luchador. It's like, uh, Nacho Libre."
The comment drew the ire of wrestling fans and you can see their reactions by clicking here.
On the latest episode of his Stinkin' Truth podcast, Schlereth addressed his comments.
"I seem to consistently step in it. So, I do a promo, because now Fox is in with WWE wrestling superstars, and I do a promo with this WWE superstar Rey....I can't even remember this guy's name."
Schlereth is informed by his co-host that Rey's last name is Mysterio, at which point he continues.
"First off, I meet him. Great guy. He's in his mask. I call it from Nacho Libre because that's what I know it from. Luchador [exaggerated rolling of R's] mask. He's got a spare [mask] and I'm like, 'let me put this on, we can do it together.' He goes, 'it's probably not gonna fit your head.' It's not that I have a big head. This guy is 5'6" and maybe 170 lbs. His head is small compared to my head. He was right, it didn't fit. We do this wrestling promo and it's silly, it's 15 seconds," recalls Schlereth. "They flash to him and he's sitting in the stands with his mask on and I say something about the luchador mask and it reminded me of the Nacho Libre mask. And wrestling fans went ape bananas on me like I'm 'the most disrespectful guy in the history of broadcasting' and 'that's a superstar of WWE' and 'I should learn the sport.' I'm like, 'you're kidding me, right?'"
Schlereth's co-host, Mike Evans, then asks, "So they're telling you to be more serious about...something that is...fake?"
Schlereth replies, "Exactly. Be more serious about the soap opera that is...the sport."
Wrestling fans can take some solace in Schlereth's comments as he did concede that "Hockey fans are worse" when it comes to attacking him and defending their sport. He did end by saying, "Wrestling fans, you're on my list. Do not disrespect their 'sport.'"
Mysterio's only comment on the matter was the following tweet.
My son & I ad a great time, thank you for the hospitality @FOXSports!
— Rey Mysterio (@reymysterio) September 23, 2019
Been looking for a #TagTeam partner for a minute now & believe I just found him, @markschlereth!! #Speed + #Power #AndNewTagTeamChamps https://t.co/prBglQ6mnC
SmackDown premieres on Fox on Oct. 4. Mysterio is set to challenge Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship on Monday's Raw.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit Stinkin Truth with a h/t to Fightful for the transcription.
