Mysterio's talent wasted?

[Vintage Nick]

From the front page of WZ:

The Wrestling Observer is reporting that WWE star Batista recently did an interview with Mexican newspaper El Universal. During the interview, which was to hype WWE in Mexico, Batista claimed that WWE has been wasting the talents of Rey Mysterio by not pushing him one of the top superstars in the company.

I don't think this to be true. Mysterio already sells merchandise like hotcakes: The kids LOVE his masks and shirts. He's a former World Champion, multiple IC champ, multiple-time tag and cruisterweight champion, and the twenty-first Triple Crown champion in the WWE, and the 2006 RR winner. As far as I know, Rey doesn't have any complaints in WWE besides the money issue a while ago and getting in trouble with the Wellness Policy.

What do you guys think?

edit: I should add that Mysterio's not as great as he was years ago. He's gotten a bit sloppier and seems not as fast as before, like he's a bit lazy or something.

 

[goodlay]

10 years ago, maybe, due to the fact that he was absolutely spectacular in-ring. But now, his age has caught up with him, and I think that he's been pushed about as far as he can go.

 

[Sean Valjean]

They...haven't?

Batista must've taken one too many chair shots because his statement is ridiculous. Rey has ALWAYS been upper-mid card at worst, and gets a world title shot every once in a while. It makes sense that he doesn't get them often because of his size, which makes sense.

It wasn't long ago that Rey was IC champ and only lost it because he got suspended; a reign that had him working with a promising up and comer in Dolph Ziggler, a role he should be focusing on more at this point in his career.

I don't know if Batista thinks Rey should be winning world titles left and right and main eventing ppv's every month, but there's a long list of guys that really are being wasted and Mysterio definitely isn't one of them.

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

Yes, Mysterio's talent is certainly being wasted. You don't pay a junior heavyweight of Mysterio's caliber seven figures a year unless you put him in the main event or build a cruiserweight division around him. Yes, he probably helps WWE sell of lot of merchandise. But, Mysterio still has at least another 3 good years in him. I don't see how showcasing his talents in the main event more can do anything but benefit WWE.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

For the most part, I can't really see how his talent is wasted, at least not when it comes to the past 5 months or so. He helped pull the IC title out of the dumpster and has helped bring about a revival in the title's popularity and prestige and he's currently in the world title picture.

Mysterio is still great in the ring, but he's not what he once was. Wrestling the style he does, that's not all that surprising. At 34, hopefully he still has many years ahead of him in the business but I don't really know what Batista thinks the WWE can do with him. The fact is that Rey Mysterio is always going to be dogged by his size to some degree, there's just no getting around that. As talented as he is, it's one hump that I don't think he can ultimately get over. I'm personally never going to buy Mysterio as a world champion. I just can't take a 5'4" 170 pound man seriously as WHC, I just can't. I will say though, that there's always a chance my opinion on that could be changed. I have a feeling that Mysterio will win another world title someday.

 

["Cool Guy" Jensen]

I actually never for one second thought that Rey Mysterio's talents were being wasted. Coming from a person that thinks a lot of people's talents have been wasted in the past. Rey Mysterio has always been one of Smackdown's biggest stars, and he is still holding true to that name to this day. However, his stint on Raw might have hurt him a bit at first, but now, he's successfully bounced back.

Age has gotten to him? I wouldn't say that. He's 34 years old and can still go great in the ring. If you see any slowness in him in the ring, it would most likely be because of his past injuries and not his age.

He has held a title for every year he's been in the WWE, except for 2007 and 2008, which was only because injuries would cut his year short. Rey Mysterio is a lot of things, but wasted is definitely not one of them. I wonder what Batista's real motivation was for saying that Mysterio's talents were being wasted. I would have loved to hear what suggestions he has for him. Oh, well.

 

[The_Killswitch]

Best friend Batista thinks Mysterios being wasted? What is coming back from a suspension into the world title picture mean?
What does going over Chris Jericho in those Intercontinental championship matches mean?
What does having main event matches against Jericho,Batista etc.. mean then?

Hes great to watch in the ring ..but I dont think Id be ready to see Mysterio showcase Smackdown while CM Punk ,Morrison ,Jericho and the Undertaker take a backseat dive .

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Best friend Batista thinks Mysterios being wasted? What is coming back from a suspension into the world title picture mean?
What does going over Chris Jericho in those Intercontinental championship matches mean?
What does having main event matches against Jericho,Batista etc.. mean then?

Hes great to watch in the ring ..but I dont think Id be ready to see Mysterio showcase Smackdown while CM Punk ,Morrison ,Jericho and the Undertaker take a backseat dive .

I agree. There is way too much talent on Smackdown right now to give Rey the "push". Besides he does pop up in the WHC picture every now and then like this coming sunday at Bragging Rights, and I think that's just enough. I mean seriously, besides Punk, Morrison, or Jericho, can anyone see him having a one on one feud with Taker? No. Rey had a nice run as IC champ this year, and a pretty damn good feud with Chris Jericho, but he will not be pushed beyond the upper mid card. I would much rather see Taker and Punk go at it for another feud, or even Taker and Batista.

 

[SSJPhenom]

Rey is one of the best in ring performers in the WWE right now.

With that said, I know that wrestling is fake, however, they have to keep some level of believablitity with their product and having Rey in the main event would kill every single bit of that.

He is just fine at the glorified mid card position with the occasional main event match for excitment. Him being around the IC title is perfect. He is definately the best in the WWE on the mid card and he should own that division.

I wouldn't want to see him hold a world title again though. Whenever he had the title, I felt like I had a chance to make in the wrestling world. He shouldn't have held it at all.

 

[Tastycles]

Rey isn't being wasted, he's being used quite well. Mysterio doesn't need main event matches every month to sell merchandise, he doesn't even need to be on every PPV, because people will buy it anyway, because he looks good doing what he does. I doubt anyone in the WWE sells as much as he does, except mabye Cena. Mysterio is putting on great matches on the undercard month in month out, and to say his talent is being wasted is quite wrong. Smaller guys don't make for credible champions, that's a wrestling staple, and by putting Mysterio in matches with the superheavyweights just completely neutralises all that is good about his in ring potential. I'd rather watch Mysterio vs Jericho in a 15 minute undercard match than see a sloppy and boring 20 minute main event between Mysterio and Undertaker.

PEople love the David vs Goliath angle, and booking Rey Mysterio as a bona fide main eventer would lose that aspect of his matches. The way he has been used thus far in 2009 has showcased his talents, allowed him to shift merchandise and made him look good. Last year, when he was feuding with Kane and doing nothing on Raw, that is when he was being wasted. This year he has stolen the show at No Way Out, during his feud with Jericho, and to a lesser extent with Dolph Ziggler. Mysterio's historically been at his best against smaller wrestlers in midcard divisions, which he has been doing recently.