WWE veteran drops shocking claims after Rey Fenix debuts on SmackDown: "I came up with that name" (Exclusive)

Modified Apr 05, 2025 08:08 GMT

Rey Fenix debuted on SmackDown this week [Image: WWE.com]

Veteran WWE manager Dutch Mantell shared his thoughts on Rey Fenix's debut. The star was in action on SmackDown this week.

The former AEW star and brother of WWE Superstar Penta was in action on the blue brand. The high-flying sensation faced off against one-half of the NXT Tag Team Champions, Nathan Frazer. Fenix pulled off an impressive performance, winning the match with the Mexican Muscle Buster.

This week on Sportskeeda Wrestling's BroDown with host Mac Davis, Mantell detailed that he was working with a Puerto Rican wrestler whom he called Ray Phoenix almost two decades ago. He felt Rey might have come across the name back in the day and adopted it for himself.

"Hey, the name, Rey Fenix, they're behind the 8-ball on that one. I came up with that name about 20-something years ago. Really, 25 years ago, a guy's name was Reagan Zulli, he's in Puerto Rico, and I think Phoenix means king, I think. And I called him Ray Phoenix. But this guy, I guess he heard the name or something or it might be a common name in Mexico." [2:25 onwards]

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Rey Fenix joins WWE with an impressive resume, having won the AEW World Tag Team Championship, AEW World Trios Championship, and the AEW International Championship.

It will be interesting to see if he can make the same impact during his career in the WWE.

If you use the quotes from this article, please embed the YouTube video and add an H/T to Sportskeeda for the transcript.

About the author

Prityush is a WWE news writer for Sportskeeda Wrestling who started watching wrestling in the later part of The Attitude Era. Although he holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Prityush was a creative writer for his college, and his flair for creativity and love of pro wrestling eventually led him to the journalism field. After an initial stint in 2016-2017, he has been writing regularly for Sportskeeda since 2021.

As someone who loves and respects the business, he prides himself on factual, clean, and ethical reporting, free of plagiarism and AI usage. One of the ways he ensures this is by transcribing videos that he reports on.

Prityush had the privilege of interviewing superstar Matt Hardy in his career so far. Although, his favorite wrestler is CM Punk, as he relates to his Straight Edge philosophy.

When he is not reporting news, he loves reading and collecting WWE action figures. He currently owns over 500 wrestling figures and merchandise.

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Edited by Rahul Madurawe