Rey Mysterio is one of the best professional wrestlers of the last twenty minutes. I don't feel the need to qualify that. Rey Mysterio isn't just one of the best cruiserweights, or one of the best luchadores, or one of the best technicians - he's one of the best professional wrestlers of the last twenty years. In WWE, WCW, TNA, ECW, AAA, ROH, NJPW; in the world. Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, John Cena - Mysterio is on that tier. Whoever you would put in that category, I would put Mysterio up with them. CM Punk? Yep. Hulk Hogan? Uh-huh. Chris Jericho? Oh, for sure.
Rey Mysterio is a truly unique wrestler. That's not to say he's the only luchadore to ever cross over the border, because he's not. What it is to say is that he's one of a handful of luchadores with such a mastery of the American style. Vice versa, he's therefore one of the most athletically gifted and innovative American wrestlers. I'd argue he's probably the most popular luchadore ever... outside of Mexico. Within Mexico, there's obviously no competing with the likes of El Santo. One must also consider that Rey has spent the vast majority of his career in the United States, so even if there were competing with the likes of El Santo, Rey wouldn't be the one doing it.
If there's one example that titles and main events don't necessarily equal greatness, it's Rey Mysterio. As I'll show, Rey's been a midcarder for most of his career. He's held many titles, yes, but they've mostly been of the tag team and cruiserweight variety. His three world championship reigns - if you can indeed call his third a reign - don't even amount to half a year in total. Contrast and compare with John Cena, John Bradshaw Layfield or, indeed, CM Punk. Rey certainly isn't insignificant - if nothing else, he's been a lynchpin for the WWE for the last decade - but he definitely doesn't have the same historical significance as many of the names I've mentioned. What makes Rey a great wrestler is that, well, he's a great wrestler. He's been nigh on infallible for some time. He's the world's greatest utility man. Great matches from all comers, regardless of where they are on the card, what type of match it is or what state Rey's knee is in.
Oh, and don't confuse me calling Rey Mysterio a great professional wrestler with me saying he isn't a great "sports entertainer" or "superstar" or whatever redundant term you have in mind. I don't make any such distinction; I don't feel the need to make any excuses for Rey.
To put it lightly, Rey Mysterio is underappreciated. Among those who like him, which (not to be disingenuous) is many, I'd estimate that only the minority hold him in as high a regard as I do. What's more, there are many who dislike Rey Mysterio - there are those who think Rey is past it and stale and, worse yet, the sub-human scum who think Rey was never that good to begin with. So let's tackle those criticisms, show up some myths and reveal just why Rey Mysterio is that good.
Let's begin with some context. If you want the meat, you're going to have to put up with the greens. When Chris Jericho met Rey Mysterio, he famously thought that Rey was twelve years old (and, as such, probably shouldn't have been smoking). Rey was actually much closer to twenty-one. Today, as of 2012, he's thirty-seven, which is only three years older than CM Punk. He is six years younger than Dave Batista.
Rey began wrestling approximately the same age he began *********ing: fourteen. As is the case with many Latino wrestlers (e.g. Eddie Guerrero, La Parka, Sin Cara), Mysterio was/is part of an extended wrestling family. Notably, his uncle was - wait for it - Rey Misterio Senior. It's kind of like a Cranky Kong versus Donkey Kong thing. After performing under several names, including "The Green Lizard", Rey was awarded the name "Rey Misterio, Jr." by his uncle. There were probably streamers and piñatas and everything - that sort of thing is a big deal in Mexico.
Rey's career began proper in Triple A in Mexico. After three years in Mexico, Rey got his first gig in the United States with Extreme Championship Wrestling. Rey arrived in ECW in September 1995 and was gone by June of the next year, but is often used as an example that Paul Heyman, you know, knew what he was fucking doing. Alternatively, a broken clock is right twice a day. In June of 1996, Mysterio debuted in World Championship Wrestling at the Great American Bash, losing to Dean Malenko in a match for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. The match has been touted - most notably by xfearbefore - as making cruiserweight wrestling legitimate in the United States. Over the next few years, Mysterio would compete with the likes of Malenko, Guerrero, Jericho, a bunch of fantastic luchadores who you probably wouldn't be cool enough to recognise, and win the cruiserweight title five times. He won the WCW tag team titles three times - once with Billy Kidman, once with Konnan, once with Juventud Guerrera. Mysterio would eventually graduate past 'just' the cruiserweight division - most notably losing his mask courtesy of Kevin Nash - but it was made clear to him, giant killer or not, he would never climb above the midcard. On the final episode of Monday Nitro, in March 2001, Mysterio won the cruiserweight tag team championships alongside Billy Kidman. Magical.
In June 2002, Rey Mysterio debuted with World Wrestling Entertainment. The "Jr." was dropped from his name; the mask, supposedly at Vince McMahon's insistence, was put back on; he got funky new music; and the rest, as they say, has been pretty brilliant. Mysterio's won the intercontinental title, the cruiserweight title (again), the tag team championships (with four different partners), the Royal Rumble (while vomiting) and held both world championships. Most significantly, he's participated in some timeless matches - though that doesn't pertain only to WWE.
Right then, time for the meat. Let's get to dispelling some of those myths.
Fuck right off. Mexico and ECW I'll give you - those were pretty poor. As Rey himself puts it, those days were like a playground for him - no structure, no rules, just jumping around with his mates. Nobody sold anything and everybody was up within seconds for the next flip or suicide dive. That's all I'm giving you though, so savour it.
In WCW, Mysterio was all those things I've said he wasn't - the best cruiserweight, the best luchadore, the best little man. He had stiff competition/great guys to work with - e.g. La Parka, Juventud Guerrera, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko, etc. You can't point to when Rey main evented this or that; he was, as he has most often been, a utility man. Rey was chucked out in matches which were deemed inconsequential and never failed to put on a good show. This Rey Mysterio was more athletic and daring than present day Rey Mysterio, but, most significantly, it was in WCW that he learned how to structure a match and tell a story. Flips and dives are only impressive if you pace yourself. People will only care about you if you know how to create tension. When you give somebody as athletically impressive as Rey Mysterio this information, you brew a potent combination - as we've seen.
In WWE, Mysterio was finally given his due. For some years (before Eddie Guerrero died, basically) he was still Rey Mysterio: best utility man in the world. However, even after the world titles, Rey has bounced up and down the card like a rubber ball. Need to give some twat a tag partner? Rey's up to it. Need someone to feud a heel with? Rey's up to it. Need someone to curtain jerk? Rey's up to it. Rey's always up to it.
Edge, Undertaker, Guerrero, Malenko, Guerrera, Orton, Angle, Michaels, Punk, Ziggler, Jericho, Cena, Lesnar, Van Dam, Benoit - those are just a fraction of the people Mysterio has had awesome, awesome matches with. The man has enough matches to fill two DVD sets and then some. Mysterio was never that good? Pfft.
Myth. Busted.
Mysterio was a very popular, very accomplished wrestler, as he always has been. He'd wrestled for a world championship in WWE and was undoubtedly in the ascendancy. If they weren't going to make him world champion eventually, which seems unlikely, they should have. And they did, so no complaints.
Myth. Plausible. But. Ultimately. Irrelevant.
You know what it's like with faces, right? They get over, they get into the main event, they win the world title and then they never lose. Oh, it's just so very predictable - they always win and, if they don't, it's because of some huge screwjob. Faces become dominant and it all becomes stale and boring. Only no, this has never happened with Rey Mysterio. No, never. Not even when he was world champion.
Somebody on another forum suggested there was a period where Mysterio was incredibly dominant/"as bad as Cena". I was intrigued and went looking through Rey's match history. Here are my findings (I could re-type it, but I'm not going to):
Rey's matches always have tension, and thus are interesting to watch, because you're never sure if he'll win or lose - both are equally feasible. He has never had a dominant run - it's bollocks. You always know when Rey Mysterio will win? Oh, that's neat, but here's a suggestion: don't fucking lie to me.
Your mileage may vary. Certainly, there are those who prefer the younger, more daring, more athletic Rey Mysterio which we saw in WCW and his early days in WWE. This might sound crazy, but I don't think Rey Mysterio is about athleticism. Sure, Rey is a very athletic wrestler and is very gratifying to watch because of that, but wrestlers who can do flips are a dime a dozen. Go to Mexico and their public transport of choice is the springboard plancha (everybody gets about quickly but there are a lot of spine injuries). That's not what sets Rey Mysterio apart.
What sets Rey Mysterio apart is his ability to structure a match and to portray a character. Psychology, basically - and not in the Freudian sense. The man wears a mask and is still able to emote better than the vast majority of wrestlers out there.
Rey has slowed down in recent years; time and, well, knee injuries have caught up with him. However, I'd argue that he's a better wrestler because of it, or at least has compensated brilliantly. I look at the recent years in Rey's career, at matches with Jericho and Punk, at matches with Rhodes and Ziggler, at matches with Cena and The Undertaker, and I think that, if Rey's age has caught up with him, his match quality has not suffered one bit.
This is something I've encountered a lot, and debunked as many times. It's tempting to just copy and paste what I've said before on this, because it all still holds true, but I won't. No, you get something fresh.
First and foremost, if you've ever sincerely said something to the effect of "Rey Mysterio shouldn't have been world heavyweight champion because he's not a heavyweight" you should do one of two things: 1) realise professional wrestling isn't for you since you have no faculty for suspension of disbelief, or 2) go get yourself checked for autism.
I find it difficult to swallow that people actually, genuinely find it hard to believe that Mysterio can compete with, and defeat, larger men. If they do, and they're not just pulling any old stick out their ass with which to hit Mysterio, then I'd suggest their bullshit filter is way out of whack.
Let's look at the last few months of wrestling programming. Three blokes jump out of the crowd and attack a wrestler in a world title match. Instead of having the police called on them, they are allowed to walk through the crowd every week and are then given a pay-per-view match. A large Hispanic man is declared to be "the last Funkasaurus in captivity" and dry humps his opponents into submission. A large, muscular gentleman wears his ring attire on a date with the general manager. Two men with anger issues are forced to form a tag team by their counsellor. Two other men wear ridiculous trousers and dance Gangnam style.
None of that setting off the alarms? Alright, try this... a five foot six wrestler defeats a six foot wrestler. I'm not even sure why I'm carrying on typing - you've presumably snapped your monitor in two out of sheer rage and are now contesting a match between a cheese grater and your erect penis in a vein attempt to return to normality. I mean, how crazy is that?
About as crazy as Hogan slamming Andre, or Cena AAing The Big Show, or Mabel not being a multiple time world champion. Basically, unless you're genuinely pining for the days when wrestling was as much a shoot as a work (I'm talking decades ago, when everything was black and white, not when Punk sat down on the stage) then complaining about these things makes you look like an idiot.
No, I said your bullshit meter was out of wack - I didn't say there shouldn't be some semblance of reality in professional wrestling.
We've established that Rey has never had a dominant period. We've established, or are about to, that he's been a utility man for 99.9% of his career, and his total time as world champion amounts to about five months total. Yet somehow people still think Rey Mysterio politicks, takes people's places and holds talents down.
Few people, if anybody, have done as much for young and new talent as Mysterio has in recent WWE history. Whether you're Cody Rhodes, John Morrison, CM Punk, Dolph Ziggler or Alberto Del Rio, you should be rubbing your hands with glee if you're told you'll be working with Rey Mysterio because he's going to make you look like absolute gold. You're going to look fantastic in the ring and you're going to be over like rover because you're picking on the beloved Rey Mysterio. Taking people's places? Only if everybody dreams of a place ON A REASONABLY LARGE STAGE IN THE MIDCARD AT OVER THE LIMIT. DREAMS DO COME TRUE.
So where does this perception come from? As far as I can tell, a rumour that Rey didn't want to drop the intercontinental belt to Ziggler, and a second rumour that he was - shock horror - leveraging for a better deal when it came time to renew his contract. I find the Ziggler rumour hard to believe - this is the title reign which ended to John Morrison on SmackDown for pity's sake. Even if it is true, so fucking what? What, Ziggler was going to get the title, the people were going to raise him up on their shoulders and the hundred year reign of Dolph Ziggler would begin? No, he'd be right where he fucking is now, because it didn't matter for shit. And don't even get me started on people criticising Rey for wanting a better deal in his new contract. It's not like everybody who's ever been employed has done that, is it?
That's that myth done and dusted.
Bonus stuff:
[youtube]eCPtBt-qVZ8[/youtube]
[youtube]pjzbxeiuxBU[/youtube]
Rey Mysterio is a truly unique wrestler. That's not to say he's the only luchadore to ever cross over the border, because he's not. What it is to say is that he's one of a handful of luchadores with such a mastery of the American style. Vice versa, he's therefore one of the most athletically gifted and innovative American wrestlers. I'd argue he's probably the most popular luchadore ever... outside of Mexico. Within Mexico, there's obviously no competing with the likes of El Santo. One must also consider that Rey has spent the vast majority of his career in the United States, so even if there were competing with the likes of El Santo, Rey wouldn't be the one doing it.
If there's one example that titles and main events don't necessarily equal greatness, it's Rey Mysterio. As I'll show, Rey's been a midcarder for most of his career. He's held many titles, yes, but they've mostly been of the tag team and cruiserweight variety. His three world championship reigns - if you can indeed call his third a reign - don't even amount to half a year in total. Contrast and compare with John Cena, John Bradshaw Layfield or, indeed, CM Punk. Rey certainly isn't insignificant - if nothing else, he's been a lynchpin for the WWE for the last decade - but he definitely doesn't have the same historical significance as many of the names I've mentioned. What makes Rey a great wrestler is that, well, he's a great wrestler. He's been nigh on infallible for some time. He's the world's greatest utility man. Great matches from all comers, regardless of where they are on the card, what type of match it is or what state Rey's knee is in.
Oh, and don't confuse me calling Rey Mysterio a great professional wrestler with me saying he isn't a great "sports entertainer" or "superstar" or whatever redundant term you have in mind. I don't make any such distinction; I don't feel the need to make any excuses for Rey.
To put it lightly, Rey Mysterio is underappreciated. Among those who like him, which (not to be disingenuous) is many, I'd estimate that only the minority hold him in as high a regard as I do. What's more, there are many who dislike Rey Mysterio - there are those who think Rey is past it and stale and, worse yet, the sub-human scum who think Rey was never that good to begin with. So let's tackle those criticisms, show up some myths and reveal just why Rey Mysterio is that good.
Let's begin with some context. If you want the meat, you're going to have to put up with the greens. When Chris Jericho met Rey Mysterio, he famously thought that Rey was twelve years old (and, as such, probably shouldn't have been smoking). Rey was actually much closer to twenty-one. Today, as of 2012, he's thirty-seven, which is only three years older than CM Punk. He is six years younger than Dave Batista.
Rey began wrestling approximately the same age he began *********ing: fourteen. As is the case with many Latino wrestlers (e.g. Eddie Guerrero, La Parka, Sin Cara), Mysterio was/is part of an extended wrestling family. Notably, his uncle was - wait for it - Rey Misterio Senior. It's kind of like a Cranky Kong versus Donkey Kong thing. After performing under several names, including "The Green Lizard", Rey was awarded the name "Rey Misterio, Jr." by his uncle. There were probably streamers and piñatas and everything - that sort of thing is a big deal in Mexico.
Rey's career began proper in Triple A in Mexico. After three years in Mexico, Rey got his first gig in the United States with Extreme Championship Wrestling. Rey arrived in ECW in September 1995 and was gone by June of the next year, but is often used as an example that Paul Heyman, you know, knew what he was fucking doing. Alternatively, a broken clock is right twice a day. In June of 1996, Mysterio debuted in World Championship Wrestling at the Great American Bash, losing to Dean Malenko in a match for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. The match has been touted - most notably by xfearbefore - as making cruiserweight wrestling legitimate in the United States. Over the next few years, Mysterio would compete with the likes of Malenko, Guerrero, Jericho, a bunch of fantastic luchadores who you probably wouldn't be cool enough to recognise, and win the cruiserweight title five times. He won the WCW tag team titles three times - once with Billy Kidman, once with Konnan, once with Juventud Guerrera. Mysterio would eventually graduate past 'just' the cruiserweight division - most notably losing his mask courtesy of Kevin Nash - but it was made clear to him, giant killer or not, he would never climb above the midcard. On the final episode of Monday Nitro, in March 2001, Mysterio won the cruiserweight tag team championships alongside Billy Kidman. Magical.
In June 2002, Rey Mysterio debuted with World Wrestling Entertainment. The "Jr." was dropped from his name; the mask, supposedly at Vince McMahon's insistence, was put back on; he got funky new music; and the rest, as they say, has been pretty brilliant. Mysterio's won the intercontinental title, the cruiserweight title (again), the tag team championships (with four different partners), the Royal Rumble (while vomiting) and held both world championships. Most significantly, he's participated in some timeless matches - though that doesn't pertain only to WWE.
Right then, time for the meat. Let's get to dispelling some of those myths.
Myth #1: Rey Mysterio was never that good to begin with
Fuck right off. Mexico and ECW I'll give you - those were pretty poor. As Rey himself puts it, those days were like a playground for him - no structure, no rules, just jumping around with his mates. Nobody sold anything and everybody was up within seconds for the next flip or suicide dive. That's all I'm giving you though, so savour it.
In WCW, Mysterio was all those things I've said he wasn't - the best cruiserweight, the best luchadore, the best little man. He had stiff competition/great guys to work with - e.g. La Parka, Juventud Guerrera, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko, etc. You can't point to when Rey main evented this or that; he was, as he has most often been, a utility man. Rey was chucked out in matches which were deemed inconsequential and never failed to put on a good show. This Rey Mysterio was more athletic and daring than present day Rey Mysterio, but, most significantly, it was in WCW that he learned how to structure a match and tell a story. Flips and dives are only impressive if you pace yourself. People will only care about you if you know how to create tension. When you give somebody as athletically impressive as Rey Mysterio this information, you brew a potent combination - as we've seen.
In WWE, Mysterio was finally given his due. For some years (before Eddie Guerrero died, basically) he was still Rey Mysterio: best utility man in the world. However, even after the world titles, Rey has bounced up and down the card like a rubber ball. Need to give some twat a tag partner? Rey's up to it. Need someone to feud a heel with? Rey's up to it. Need someone to curtain jerk? Rey's up to it. Rey's always up to it.
Edge, Undertaker, Guerrero, Malenko, Guerrera, Orton, Angle, Michaels, Punk, Ziggler, Jericho, Cena, Lesnar, Van Dam, Benoit - those are just a fraction of the people Mysterio has had awesome, awesome matches with. The man has enough matches to fill two DVD sets and then some. Mysterio was never that good? Pfft.
Myth. Busted.
Myth #2: Rey Mysterio would have never won the world title if Eddie Guerrero hadn't died
Mysterio was a very popular, very accomplished wrestler, as he always has been. He'd wrestled for a world championship in WWE and was undoubtedly in the ascendancy. If they weren't going to make him world champion eventually, which seems unlikely, they should have. And they did, so no complaints.
Myth. Plausible. But. Ultimately. Irrelevant.
Myth #3: Rey Mysterio has been too dominant/"as bad as Cena"
You know what it's like with faces, right? They get over, they get into the main event, they win the world title and then they never lose. Oh, it's just so very predictable - they always win and, if they don't, it's because of some huge screwjob. Faces become dominant and it all becomes stale and boring. Only no, this has never happened with Rey Mysterio. No, never. Not even when he was world champion.
Somebody on another forum suggested there was a period where Mysterio was incredibly dominant/"as bad as Cena". I was intrigued and went looking through Rey's match history. Here are my findings (I could re-type it, but I'm not going to):
Rey's matches always have tension, and thus are interesting to watch, because you're never sure if he'll win or lose - both are equally feasible. He has never had a dominant run - it's bollocks. You always know when Rey Mysterio will win? Oh, that's neat, but here's a suggestion: don't fucking lie to me.
Myth #4: Rey Mysterio has got worse as he's got older
Your mileage may vary. Certainly, there are those who prefer the younger, more daring, more athletic Rey Mysterio which we saw in WCW and his early days in WWE. This might sound crazy, but I don't think Rey Mysterio is about athleticism. Sure, Rey is a very athletic wrestler and is very gratifying to watch because of that, but wrestlers who can do flips are a dime a dozen. Go to Mexico and their public transport of choice is the springboard plancha (everybody gets about quickly but there are a lot of spine injuries). That's not what sets Rey Mysterio apart.
What sets Rey Mysterio apart is his ability to structure a match and to portray a character. Psychology, basically - and not in the Freudian sense. The man wears a mask and is still able to emote better than the vast majority of wrestlers out there.
Rey has slowed down in recent years; time and, well, knee injuries have caught up with him. However, I'd argue that he's a better wrestler because of it, or at least has compensated brilliantly. I look at the recent years in Rey's career, at matches with Jericho and Punk, at matches with Rhodes and Ziggler, at matches with Cena and The Undertaker, and I think that, if Rey's age has caught up with him, his match quality has not suffered one bit.
Myth #5: Rey Mysterio is too small to be a believable threat/world champion
This is something I've encountered a lot, and debunked as many times. It's tempting to just copy and paste what I've said before on this, because it all still holds true, but I won't. No, you get something fresh.
First and foremost, if you've ever sincerely said something to the effect of "Rey Mysterio shouldn't have been world heavyweight champion because he's not a heavyweight" you should do one of two things: 1) realise professional wrestling isn't for you since you have no faculty for suspension of disbelief, or 2) go get yourself checked for autism.
I find it difficult to swallow that people actually, genuinely find it hard to believe that Mysterio can compete with, and defeat, larger men. If they do, and they're not just pulling any old stick out their ass with which to hit Mysterio, then I'd suggest their bullshit filter is way out of whack.
Let's look at the last few months of wrestling programming. Three blokes jump out of the crowd and attack a wrestler in a world title match. Instead of having the police called on them, they are allowed to walk through the crowd every week and are then given a pay-per-view match. A large Hispanic man is declared to be "the last Funkasaurus in captivity" and dry humps his opponents into submission. A large, muscular gentleman wears his ring attire on a date with the general manager. Two men with anger issues are forced to form a tag team by their counsellor. Two other men wear ridiculous trousers and dance Gangnam style.
None of that setting off the alarms? Alright, try this... a five foot six wrestler defeats a six foot wrestler. I'm not even sure why I'm carrying on typing - you've presumably snapped your monitor in two out of sheer rage and are now contesting a match between a cheese grater and your erect penis in a vein attempt to return to normality. I mean, how crazy is that?
About as crazy as Hogan slamming Andre, or Cena AAing The Big Show, or Mabel not being a multiple time world champion. Basically, unless you're genuinely pining for the days when wrestling was as much a shoot as a work (I'm talking decades ago, when everything was black and white, not when Punk sat down on the stage) then complaining about these things makes you look like an idiot.
Myth #6: Rey Mysterio is always booked as an underdog
This is actually true. The myth is that it's a problem. Want to know why Rey is booked as an underdog? He's five foot six.No, I said your bullshit meter was out of wack - I didn't say there shouldn't be some semblance of reality in professional wrestling.
Myth #7: Rey Mysterio has politicked to stay at the top
We've established that Rey has never had a dominant period. We've established, or are about to, that he's been a utility man for 99.9% of his career, and his total time as world champion amounts to about five months total. Yet somehow people still think Rey Mysterio politicks, takes people's places and holds talents down.
Few people, if anybody, have done as much for young and new talent as Mysterio has in recent WWE history. Whether you're Cody Rhodes, John Morrison, CM Punk, Dolph Ziggler or Alberto Del Rio, you should be rubbing your hands with glee if you're told you'll be working with Rey Mysterio because he's going to make you look like absolute gold. You're going to look fantastic in the ring and you're going to be over like rover because you're picking on the beloved Rey Mysterio. Taking people's places? Only if everybody dreams of a place ON A REASONABLY LARGE STAGE IN THE MIDCARD AT OVER THE LIMIT. DREAMS DO COME TRUE.
So where does this perception come from? As far as I can tell, a rumour that Rey didn't want to drop the intercontinental belt to Ziggler, and a second rumour that he was - shock horror - leveraging for a better deal when it came time to renew his contract. I find the Ziggler rumour hard to believe - this is the title reign which ended to John Morrison on SmackDown for pity's sake. Even if it is true, so fucking what? What, Ziggler was going to get the title, the people were going to raise him up on their shoulders and the hundred year reign of Dolph Ziggler would begin? No, he'd be right where he fucking is now, because it didn't matter for shit. And don't even get me started on people criticising Rey for wanting a better deal in his new contract. It's not like everybody who's ever been employed has done that, is it?
That's that myth done and dusted.
Bonus stuff:
[youtube]eCPtBt-qVZ8[/youtube]
[youtube]pjzbxeiuxBU[/youtube]
) short, I feel that botch by Rey could've been avoided and was inexcusable for such a veteran. Also, the storyline development on Smackdown could've been better. Apart from that, Rey has been one of the most entertaining superstars, despite whatever other people want to say.