My Take II: Rey Mysterio

[Little Jerry Lawler]

The second installment of My Take talks about Rey Mysterio. Debuting at age 14 in Tijuana to becoming one of the best cruiserweights of all time. Among his accomplishments are winning the Royal Rumble 2006 and becoming World Heavyweight Champion at Wrestlemania 22. I feel that Mysterio has been underrated and undervalued for one main reason: his gimmick

He is billed as "The Ultimate Underdog" in the same way Undertaker is "The Phenom". Over this past year, he has been involved in feuds with Kane and most recently Mike Knox. He has always had to defy the odds and overcome these huge monsters time and time again and his career has been majorly undervalued. He is a great worker, is passionate about the business and is one of the better performers the wrestling industry has seen. Put him up against opponents like Punk, Morrison, Miz, Kofi, and Jericho and he can shine. Put up him against Kane, Knox, and Big Show and he will fail. He's relatively young and even though injuries have slowed him down, he is still over with the fans and has at least 5 good years left in him. I believe he can go to ECW and become ECW Champion because ECW needs another main-event face and he would be perfect for the title because his style fits that show nicely.

So how do you view Mysterio. Do you see him as washed up and needs to retire or do you see him as still having value in the WWE. Also how would his career have gone if he wasn't always billed as the underdog?

 

[Pimpin]

If he wasn't viewed as an underdog then he wouldn't have won the royal rumble & the world title. He would still be one of the greatest cruiserweights of all time & that's about it. That being said I think he has a few years left in him with 5 being the maximum number. The WWE should either just let him work with people that are closer to his size, move him to ECW so he can add some credibility to the ECW Title or move him back over to Smackdown cause he did say a while back that he was set on bringing the Latino viewers to Smackdown before he was drafted to RAW.

 

[650ballinwhiteboy]

Even though it seems that Mysterio has been wrestling since the dawn of time
Believe it or not, he's only 33
He still has plenty of years in him, and yes he should take a break once in a while but he's still one of the best workers in the business
I think 5 years is a good number because he'll get really tired and will want to spend time with his family

 

["Cool Guy" Jensen]

Had Rey Mysterio not been billed as the ''Ultimate Underdog'', then his Royal Rumble and World Heavweight Championship wins would not have been what it was. If just some random cruiserweight, like Paul London or Kid Kash or Nunzio had won the Rumble in 2006, nobody would have given a damn. The way that Rey is billed is the sole reason that he succeeds in the WWE, besides his athleticism. I think that Rey could have a lot more than only 5 years left in him, that if he continues to keep getting injured like this, he will not be able to continue his career. I think we are promised atleast 2 more years of Rey Mysterio, but if he is physically able and injuries do not stop him, then we could enjoy many more years.

 

[My$terio_Fan]

Like Softcore Holly said Mysterio can still pull of decent matches if the WWE would put him against more his size like Morrison, Miz, Regal, ect. Knox isn't too much bigger but this feud is just so incomplete(I mean why is Knox randomly attacking him? Is there a story to be uncovered?).

Also Mysterio is a big merchandise seller and is big with the kiddies. Although I would like to move him to ECW(he could take Matt Hardy spot, be champion and the draw of the company until he becomes stale)than move him to Smackdown or something. Anyways I find Mysterio stale and boring but he is an asset, so keep him around for a while and what now.

 

[Khalifa]

I have to agree here. Mysterio is underrated. We all say "he isn't good enough to main event some PPV's" ( I have said it), but we say this because of the stupid feuds he goes in. I mean how many times does he have to prove he is a giant slayer? He has beaten Kane numerous times, he has beaten Big Show to many times. He has probably beaten nearly every giant apart from the Undertaker and Koslov. It was ok in WCW were he lost is mask and started beating all the giants. I mean i didn't mind if he beat 3 giants in 3 weeks, but then WCW proved he wasn't unstopable and Kevin Nash killed him at the next PPV. Unlike what WWE are doing and jsut keep making him win.

As people have been saying, put him in the right match with the right person he will shine. Look at the matches he was havign with Eddie. They might not have been MOTY but they were sure some good matches. The same with some of the cruiserweights from WCW like Billy Kidman and Chris Jericho. He could have some spectacular matches with HBK and Jeff Hardy and Chris Jericho nowdays. Mysterio with right person= Good match.

How would he have ended up with out being billed the "Underdog". Well then he wouldn't have been as good as he is today unless the cruiserweight division still existed and didn 't vs any of the giants to prove he is worthy of a main event match. I mean it's ok if he beat Big Show by countout once but to beat him 3 or 4 times over and over again just means know sense. Now you can say that the giants are the underdogs to Rey Mysterio because of how WWE are dealing with the situation.

Rey is one of the biggest faces in the company right now which is good. He is a good wreslter and can keep wrestling for another 3-4 years depending how is injuries go. For now Rey should barely be getting any main events because of how crowded RAw is with the main events. He should help out the tag team division like he did in 2003.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

Anyone who still considers Rey Mysterio as an Underdog has clearly not watched Professional Wrestling longer than a week or two at a time. His size will always keep him at a "disadvantage" but that's not to say he's an underdog, and obviously he's proven he can hang with anyone regardless of size.

He's accomplished more in his career, dispite his size difference than a lot of regular sized athletes.

Some believe that he's getting to the point of needing to wrap up his career and head off into the sunset. I'm not one of those individuals, but I am one that believes he'll never be the Rey Mysterio that made himself famous.

He got famous off being capable of going out night in and night out and hitting every top rope, high risk move in the book. Hell, his last amazing match to me was either his match at One Night Stand against Sabu, or his match from the Royal Rumble, against Edge. Either way, he hasn't had another good one since then, and his abilities will never be what they were in W.C.W. that truly made him famous because of all the injuries he's racked up.

I believe that because of that, he's honestly not as capable of hanging with the bigger guys anymore, because he's no longer able to do what set him apart from them, to allow him to "hang" with them. As a result, right now, he's just a guy who from time to time can amaze you with some high spots.. but overall, just another small guy with an even smaller moveset that's continuing to drop, due to injuries limiting his abilities.

I think at this point in his career, he'll likely never do anything more than win another mid-card title, or possibly a Tag Championship. But he'll never be anywhere near the Heavyweight title, unless someone his size (Punk) gets ahold of it and defends it against him.

 

[Kashagi]

Just had a random thought, and please dont take this seriously because I am not taking it seriously.

Wouldnt it be kind of cool for a Rey heel turn? My knowledge of Rey is limited so if it ever happened I apologise, but just as I imagine it, well he is huge with the kiddies, I could imagine it working out similar in shock value to the Hulk Hogan heel turn. (I of course only say that with my view on the kiddies, of course anyone older wont think much of it). It would be an interesting experiment to see Rey as a heel, but he merchandises too well, it just wouldnt happen. Still, its an intriguing thought.

 

[Rusty]

The only reason why Rey Mysterio is underrated and is seen as "boring" to the smarks of Wrestlezone, is because he's a babyface. Simple as that. Smarks hate the little guys. See Brian Kendrick for example. When he was teaming with Paul London and they became one of the greatest tag teams in recent history, nobody on the IWC recognized his talents and abilities. But when he turned heel, somehow he was 100 times "better" and more entertaining. In my opinion, Rey Mysterio is still currently one of the best workers in the entire WWE.

Whenever Mysterio steps into the ring, he entertains me. His moveset is good despite what smarks say, and the guy knows how to sell. People call him "boring" because he's always the underdog or the least favourite to win the match since he's usually much smaller than his opponent, but he needs to be a babyface due to his size. Would anyone take him seriously if he was "beating up" a face like Triple H or John Cena? They would easily kick his little ass, but as a face, it makes the fans cheer for Mysterio in hope that he succeeds in defeating his larger opponent.

While I'm not sure whether or not I want to see Rey Mysterio win another World Title, I think he can still be able to challenge for the title every so often. He should be at the stage of his career where he puts over the younger guys. I'm talking about the Miz, John Morrison and Jack Swagger. But I do like how Mysterio is being utilized currently by the WWE. He's usually in the main event of the first hour of the show, but his matches are always entertaining to watch, and the guy never lets you down.

I personally think he's very underrated and is still one of the WWE's most consistant workers when he's not injured. His matches with the likes of Eddie Guerrero, Edge, Kurt Angle and many more were all great matches. He may not be the best on the microphone, but that's not what he's well known for. His strength is wrestling, and the guy does it very well. Not to mention he's one of the best sellers in the company right now. As well as being popular with the kids and he sells a shitload of merchandise. Rey Mysterio is a terrific overall superstar.

 

[Jane]

I don't get why they keep putting Rey in these fueds with big guys. It isn't working! People want to see a guy like Mysterio in fast paced matches, not slow boring matches where he is dominated the entire time. Why can't the WWE see that? A fued with Morrison or Jericho would be great. They need to realise people will like him more if he has a realistic fued where he isn't the underdog. Look at who he has fueded with. Knox, who is boring as hell, Kane, who can't wrestle the little guys, Khali, which was ******ed, and other big guys who are meant just to get him over as an underdog. Why? Why does he have to be an underdog? He's proven his skills, give him a real fued!

 

[KillBill]

To me, Rey Mysterio is probably the most successful post invasion WCW wrestler, maybe behind Booker T.
1. In a land that until a couple years ago was dominated by big men, Rey has survived, and even become champ. He is one of the true WCW guys, by which I mean for many years til the end, that had more sucess in WWE than WCW.
2. He was a WCW guy. Vince has buried most, but has capitalized on him. With the Exception of Gurerro, I think he is the only true WCW guy that has had more success here, which is amazing, taking his size. You could say Benoit, but he did win the WCW title before he left.
I think we should really appreciate what Rey has become, he undoubtably is the most successful cruiserwieght ever, and in WWE, where most little men wont survive. The most surprising thing is that if he did go to TNA, I do not think he would have the same success. The only thing left would be to take his mask again IF he ever got stale, but hes got a huge fanbase, and I don't see that happening.

 

[klunderbunker]

Rey used to be my favorite wrestler before his knees gave out on him. The problem is he just doesn't work in main event level matches. Guys the size of Benoit or Angle are one thing because they're averaged size guys and have the power to make up for it. Rey has neither. He's just simply too small to be believable against huge guys. When he was flying all over the place it was believable that he could beat a bigger guy, similar to what AJ Styles does now. Rey's biggest move now is the 619 and that just isn't enough. The WCP was good but I haven't seen him use that in I don't know how long. Either way, he's a shell of his former self but in the right circumstances he's good. The problem is WWE keeps going with the David vs. Goliath matches and they've been old.