The Rey Mysterio Situation

[DM]

Hello all DM here from the Blacklist with just a thought...what are our feelings towards Rey Mysterio?

I ask this because of the last, I'll say five years my opinions of Rey Rey have gone up, down and all around. I'm not sure if it's because I know about what's 'happening' backstage or what has been reported.

I guess the best way is to start at the beginning as we saw him in ECW/WcW where he made his claim to fame in both organizations and next to the Radicals and Jericho, Mysterio was a HUGE star that WWE acquired. WWE embraced him easily pushing him in the cruiserweight division and the intercontinential division respectively, granting him the flag. Mysterio became bigger than he was worth and obviously worth every penny that he produced, becoming a staple on Smackdown/Raw respectively.

Here's where my opinion started to sour but changed afterwards. Mysterio was in a huge fued with Eddie Guerrero which dragged out to I believe an 8 match spread with Eddie FINALLY beating him in a random cage match on Smackdown. A few months later, Eddie passed away and Mysterio was granted the green light to win the World Title, thus winning the rumble (yeah sure) losing his WM spot to Orton but was placed in the event anyway (thus making his match with Orton pointless) and Mysterio pins Orton (since he was being 'punished' at the time) to win the title. While fans chanted Eddie Eddie Mysterio was the 'smallest' World Champion they had, etc etc. This aggitated me because of the fact he JUST got out of a heated fued and became the 'white knight' fighting for Eddie's honor, perhaps bad booking, so once Mysterio returned at Summer Slam to face Chavo, my respect, went back up, mainly due to the fact, of course, he was doing as told, and of course, he and Eddie were real friends backstage so again, I couldn't berate him.

Now, we come to the last few years. Mysterio still performs to the calibur that he can at his age (granted the 619 is WAY overrated unless you're Taker) but he still puts butts in the seats. He is a household name, by definition, Hogan, Taker, HBK, HHH, Cena, Mysterio, those are all names that roll off your tongue, which brings me again now..to the respect issue.

Over the last 3 or so years there have been a lot of stories that come out about Mysterio, granted it may all be bullshit or fact is still undetermined, lets go over them.

1. Contract/Payment - There lately has always been a contract issue or a payment issue where Mysterio feels he's worth more than what he is getting. Granted he is worth the money you also have to remember, merchandise sales he also gets a nice chunk of, and there are a LOT of Mysterio fans, so you would think one would be happy just on the royalties of sales. He sells to the BIGGEST market out there, children. Something to really think about seeing as how he's been sidelined six times with injuries and always put over reguardless, though there ALWAYS has been a contract/payment issue with him.

2. Drug Scandal - Now I"m not going to say it was as bad as Jake Roberts, though Mysterio was suspended due to having 'medication' without a perscription. The story is that Mysterio had it but didn't fax/hand it in on time, which makes me wonder, how did he acquire them and not hand it in right away. Normal people once they are handed a perscription go and get them filled and hand them immediately to their bosses to prove they are sick or using medication. A coworker on mine is on heart meds but HAS to hand them in for security reasons and legality. It's not saying that Mysterio is a liar on this one but it does question his character, considering....he got pushed again once he came back.

3. Special Appearances - Last summer, during Jeff Hardy's last match, Rey Mysterio was supposed to make an appearance at a local amusement park for autographs (believe me I saw the line passing by) however Mysterio not only showed up an hour late, but also left an hour early undisclosed so once the Smackdown event started, it was no surprise there were a lot of 'jeers' in that crowd that night, believe me..I was there. That wasn't the only example either as anyone whom reads insider news had also heard of a few other instances where Mysterio either no showed or left early....and to my knowledge, Mysterio wasn't at the Fan Axxess this year.

4. Backstage Pushing - I really hate to make Mysterio the Mexican HHH, but with the exception of fighting Taker, it seems that Mysterio is a constant winner, granted he dropped the title to Morrison the inside truth was he was leaving for surgery, since coming back, again, he's been on top. Not that have a problem with this at all, however, there always seems to be a 'reason' why he went over to 'make him happy.' The most recent reason, and you can take this with a grain of salt, he was awarded the World Title since he was 'unhappy' and it was a way to ease the waters after the "Rey Mysterio Cup" debacle in Mexico, though notice, Mysterio was no where to be seen following Smackdown since he had a 'contractual' vacation time coming to him. However the sad thing is, he didn't win because he 'earned' it, it was because it was to 'keep him happy' which doesn't sound all that gratifying.

Which leaves us now with our opinions of Rey Mysterio. Granted all four points are speculation, some of them are very true from the reports that came out. It's hard to really judge someone like this, especially since a 5 page article never came out about how he 'runs' the locker room etc etc but isn't it somewhat strange that the 'hogan' pattern is starting to evolve within him. Granted that is an opinion. Now everyone knows my opinion of The Rock and we won't go there, however I can safely say I respect what he did in the ring and that's about it. With Mysterio it's almost the same thing where I respect what he does in the ring (hell I drafted him didn't I?) but the man behind the mask, lately, has been pissing me off.

I don't know at the moment where I stand on this issue, since at one point we all could say certain things about HBK/Flair/Hogan, etc, and all of these reports are just that, reports, and we'll never truly know the real reasons of what and why, however as my opinion stands, Mysterio is a great wrestler and deserves every penny that he is worth, I only hope, he's not becoming the Mexican Hogan.

[Valdora]

Wow epic post DM

I will always respect his in ring ability. However as you said its other things that bother me. The fact wins the "heavyweight' title, the fact he is a moaning SOB and lately has been kinda arrogant. His character is just annoying and my suspense of disbelief has to be strained every time he beats someone in the heavyweight division, especially giants. Its not to say light heavyweights shouldn't get Main Event pushes but he should either have a strong believable finisher and win match after match during a title run or just be crushed and go back to the midcard.

[DM]

Another big thing I forgot to point out which you mentioned as well, Mysterio NEVER gets squashed...and I mean....ever. He had a four match series with Kane..and won, a three match series with Batista (whom mind you should have won and would have boosted his heel gimmick), literally beat Punk at every turn and only lost the last two years to either Morrison (because he was leaving for surgery) and Taker...but over Kane, gets included into the Fatal Four Way event and wins.

Now, I understand him winning will appease the children and 90% of the Latino community that watch, but there HAS to come a time where even he can lose. I understand he's an underdog and WWE loves that kind of story, but really, there HAS to be a time when he loses other than Taker beating him.

Again like I said, I really REALLY hope Mysterio isn't turning into Hogan. I mean hell we complain (some more than others) about Triple H having power, but at least he pushes 'certain' people where I have yet to really see Mysterio push...anyone.

[khaiden]

I respect the guy, he's one hell of a wrestler.

However, this points you're bringing DM... you make it sound as if Mysterio has a lot of power backstage. It never seemed like that to me.

Now, as to the next hogan thing. I don't think it's that bad, it doesn't seem as if he has that much power backstage, and if he starts crossing the line (no pun intended), I'm sure WWE will do something about it.

I noticed that too. Mysterio hasn't been squashed at all recently.
And needless to say, it pisses me off. It seems they're carring the ''Eddie Guerrero Legacy'' to him. When you have Vicky becoming a hateful character and Chavo jobbing to a midget, the guys that are ACTUAL RELATIVES.

I don't know about the rest of latin america, but I'm not crazy about Rey, although I respect him.

[DM]

I don't think that it's 'backstage' power or anything I think it's more so the fact he knows how to work the officials since he's a money draw.

I'm not going to sit here and say that he is, but every report that comes out points it all out and I highly doubt WWE is doing it on purpose though I try to listen to both sides of the story.

I can only make opinions of what I know and have experienced and Arizona has a HUGE Mexican/Mysterio following as does California/New Mexico/Texas and even in New York as well and Florida and whenever he makes special appearances, as of late, issues occur.

Not the best thing for someone like him to blow the fans off in a way like that.

[blynd]

I'm going to say this as an opener, I started watching wrestling in around December 2005 but didn't really start being a "smart" fan until late 2008. Ancd I have always known it's been fake. I think that this will affect my opinions on many wrestlers i.e. John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Batista etc.

One of the first Pay Per Views I saw was the 2006 Royal Rumble. At this point I didn't know too much about wrestling. I knew of Eddie Guererro's death and that Mysterio was one of his best friends in real life, so when Mysterio won the Rumble I thought it to be a good thing.

The next Pay Per View I watched was Wrestlemania 22, where Mysterio won the title and, again, I was happy with the result. I thought at this point that it was awesome that he was the champion. On to the idea that he shouldn't have held the World "Heavyweight" Title, I honestly don't think it matters. I have never heard a mention of it having a weight limit. Besides, many would believe that the WWE Championship is technically a "heavyweight title". For example, would any of you have a problem if Evan Bourne eventually won the World Heavyweight Championship?

In terms of what I know now about Mysterio, I don't care. As far as I'm concerned, wrestling should be about the shows and the talent that the performers exude. I don't think, in terms of opinions, that their 'attitudes' backstage should affect how I view them as a character. If this was about Oscar Gutierrez I may have a different view, but Mysterio as a character I have no problem with.

As for the continuity with the Eddie Guerrero storyline, yeah it seems a little bit stupid to me now but as a fan back in 2006 I missed their feud and it made sense for him to be fighting for Eddie's honour. I can understand the continuity points that they shouldn't have done it so soon after Eddie's death. I mean they could have done a storyline where Chavo and Rey feud before the Rumble with Chavo being angry for the way his uncle was treated by Rey. That may have made more sense.

I think that Oscar Gutierrez is only doing what he is doing because the WWE officials allow him too as he is such a big draw and merchandise seller. I don't blame him. In fact I think it is very smart. He is not going to be remembered for how he cheated the WWE officials, he is going to be remembered for his character and how popular he is. I would probably do the same thing given the chance.

In terms of the drug problem, can anyone in professional wrestling really say that they haven't done some form of performance enhancing drugs (with the possible exception of CM Punk)? It has been a part of professional wrestling forever and it will be far into the future, no matter how hard WWE tries to eradicate it. There's always TNA (Jeff Hardy) who don't do tests. He may have let it get out of control, but so did Hogan in the 80's (he admits to this in his book), so did Eddie Guerrero, Kurt Angle and William Regal and people still view these wrestlers as godlike. Why should Mysterio be any different?

One thing I have to mark him down for is the idea of special appearances. He is contracted to the WWE so he shouldn't even consider outside appearances not associated with WWE. I can understand why he wants to but he should realise that WWE aren't going to let him do it.

In conclusion, I just think that he is an amazing performer and is to be applauded. I think that his persona outside of wrestling should not affect our opinions of him in the ring. Even so, I think that, if these allegations are true, it doesn't matter to me, except for the drug thing as I am against that, because they are all things that I would do. And if I would do it, why should I mark people down for doing it themselves.

[DM]

Very good points there blynd however I would like to respond to just one of the issues, and that is the in ring performance/backstage part of the argument.

Now while there are some people that trash and bash Triple H for being political, the man, when told, does the right thing where as with Mysterio, there is almost 90% of the time a 'reason' or 'issue' as to why certain things have occured.

I like to think of it like this, you have two wrestlers, one whom is great in the ring and the other whom is good to great. The one whom is good to great pulls in decent money and lights up the crowd, the great wrestler is your cash cow and always gives the fans what they want, but, backstage, he's a real asshole and always causes problems. An angry locker room is bad for business.

Now to look at it from the fans perspective, he does what it is you as a fan wants and sends you home happy which is what he's supposed to do, but then when you get the chance to meet him you come to find he's...kind of a dick, it's hard, as a fan, to support that.

There are certain movie actors that I'm sure are great at what they do, but because they are complete assholes in life, I refuse to pay money to see their craft no matter how good they are, it's kind of a loyalty.

I will say this that I respect your words and I give you credit for going against the grind, for that, you gain my respect, though, for my money I will say that in ring ability and the person behind the character, to me, is almost one in the same. It's hard, for me at least, to respect someone whom is an asshole despite how good they can be.

[blynd]

Yeah, I can understand that, but the view I take is that, bottom line, the majority of fans don't know about that side of Rey Mysterio, and probably never will, which is why, as much as people want it to, WWE won't do anything major to him in reference to his backstage problem.

We may as well accept that WWE want the money coming in from his merchandise as much as he wants it so he isn't going to leave anytime soon.

At least he is better than someone like Hogan because at least Rey can still go in the ring. Although I think that even if he couldn't the kids would still like him because of the mask and his merchandise would still sell like hotcakes.

It is just as much WWE's fault for Mysterio's attitude as it is his own. They continue to give him what he wants because they don't want him to quit and he won't quit because he wants the money. It is a vicious cycle that will only end when one side puts their foot down. I'd bet that Mysterio does this before WWE does.