Samuray del Sol (fka Kalisto) is the face of a Nissan Frontier campaign.
WWE
Samuray del Sol (formerly known as Kalisto in WWE) went from being a special ed teacher to a world-renowned professional wrestler whose name and likeness is the subject of a national commercial campaign.
Samuray Del Sol Is The New Face Of Nissan
Once a teacher on the side, who also worked on-site security, the former WWE United States champion is now the face and mask of a new campaign for Nissan Frontier. In his latest commercial, the talented luchador hauled the Frontier V6 everywhere from a senior citizens community to a quinceañera. After an eight-year run with WWE, Samuray del Sol’s decorated career has seen him work for a myriad of top promotions from AEW, to MLW to AAA. Despite currently recovering from injury, Samuray is flexing his versatility, using his time off to land endorsement deals with help from the Paragon Talent Group led by former WWE Superstar Mojo Rawley (Dean Muhtadi.)
“[Mojo] started a group called Paragon that helps wrestlers who just got out of WWE—or any other talent that are up-and-coming—who are in need of opportunities,” said Samuray. “He helped me a lot with that Nissan commercial that came through. I did the audition, they loved it and the rest is history.”
“Nissan was actually my very first car when I got here to Orlando,” he continued. “That was my very first Nissan. It was pretty cool how little people know it’s my first car, and then all of a sudden I’m the face of Nissan.”
Nissan’s interest in Hispanic talent mirrors that of the wrestling industry as a whole. Last year, WWE acquired AAA and continues to work with the promotion as part of a successful weekly streaming showcase that airs Saturdays on YouTube. Meanwhile, AEW has partnered with rival Mexican promotion CMLL. Last month, AEW Grand Slam Mexico averaged an impressive 694,000 viewers across the three-hour block, with an average of 736,000 across its regular two-hour timeslot. These numbers are well above AEW’s 2026 average viewership for Dynamite.
Nielsen’s most recent ratings update now focuses on viewers in Hispanic households as North American pro wrestling continues its emphasis on lucha libre. A recent Nielsen report suggested Hispanic households watched more than two trillion minutes of TV in the first half of 2026, 1.2 trillion of which were streamed.
Pro wrestling’s frontrunner for the 2026 match of the year—between Los Grandes Americanos—took place in the venerable Mexican promotion AAA. AAA is reportedly in talks for a television deal coming off last week’s run of shows in the Hispanic market, which culminated in a memorable world title match between two of WWE’s biggest stars.
Samuray Del Sol Thinks Penta Should Have Beaten Roman Reigns
WWE Raw in Mexico City drew WWE’s second-highest viewership of 2026 on Netflix with 3.1 million viewers for a high-stakes main event between Roman Reigns and rising luchador Penta. Samuray del Sol was not shy about sharing his feelings, and a popular sentiment, that Penta should have dethroned Roman Reigns last week on Raw.
“Everybody thought [Penta should have won.] Penta should have won,” said Samuray del Sol. “It should have been his moment. I think that was a perfect time and place, but things happen for a reason. Maybe he can be on a bigger stage that’s even better for Penta and for everybody around the world. Yes, maybe that should have been his day and moment, but maybe there’s a bigger picture. We don’t know.”
Samuray del Sol has spent much of 2026 giving back to the wrestling community through in-person and online seminars. He preaches to his students and mentees the importance of storytelling and character development in addition to flips and holds.
“I love going around the world and not only just teaching the methods and how to get to WWE, but the proper ways of storytelling, which I became a huge fan right after being in WWE NXT. Through the Performance Center, it helped me so much; not only to be a great wrestler, but to be a great businessman and to help myself be healthy, being your own doctor, too, sometimes because we’re on the road all the time and it’s not an easy life.”
“Once you figure yourself out, then it starts molding. It starts molding down and down. I always give them my example. I grew up watching Japanese anime. I love Pokemon. I love Power Rangers. I want to be a ninja. I like the Ninja Turtles. I always try to compare them just to give them an idea how I picture myself. I love samurais, but a samurai does not look like this (points to his mask.) This is what I pictured a samurai should look like, you know what I’m saying? So that’s something that I created and it has a story, too. And since I love cartoons, I love flying like Superman, I always compare myself to him because Samuray del Sol is the sun.”
“The sun gives me powers. It’s my energy inside and outside of the ring.”
Samuray Del Sol Encourages Wrestlers To Work Day Jobs While Chasing Their Dreams
Samuray del Sol mixed his superhero bona fides with an ordinary—but important—profession as a special education instructor. Samuray’s income from his day job allowed him to have longevity in the wrestling business which he enjoys to this day. Though most wrestlers and entertainers are dead set on their dream, Samuray del Sol advocates not putting all your eggs in one basket. Pro wrestling is a war of attrition that doubles as a war on your body and your mind. Having a stable job and steady income to complement A wrestler’s perilous journey is a practical strategy that could also combine multiple passions.
“I always tell everybody that I learned everything the hard way,” said Samuray. “That’s why I know so much. Just getting into the business and also preparing yourself, besides any sports that you’re doing, just to have something on the side.”
“I was a special education teacher on the side and a life-skills instructor for the mentally disabled. I was doing that for a couple of years and it was my passion, too. I did site security. I had so many jobs, but on top of that, I had something on the side that I love to do besides wrestling. Once wrestling started picking up, I’m like, ‘all right, well let’s go all in.’ Either you’re all in or you’re not. That’s pretty much it. There’s many wrestlers out there that go out there and do it for a hobby, to have fun, but also [having a day job] is something to keep us alive.”
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