A historic crowd favourite and also a traditional underdog in every match he enters, Rey Mysterio had everything to be a cruiserweight, a tag team divisions of WWE, but the truth is, has been for two decades a very important figure in any promotion, including the land of the giants, WWE.
Born on December 11, 1974 in Chula Vista, California, Óscar Gutiérrez, his real name, has lived up to his Mexican roots, having debuted in the ring precisely in Mexico, on April 30, 1989, when he was just 14 years.
Always with the lucha libre style , he worked for important companies such as Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) before making his WWE debut July 25, 2002.
If in WCW he hadn’t gone beyond five cruiserweight titles and a total of four tag team titles, in WWE he kept it up, with three lightweight champion and five tag team reigns (alongside Edge , Rob Van Dam, Eddie Guerrero, Batista and son Dominik) but managed to fly higher, having won the WWE Championship (once), World Heavyweight Championship (twice), Intercontinental Championship (twice) and the United States Championship (twice) . At the same time, he achieved the feat of winning the Royal Rumble in 2006 despite his short stature (1.68 m and 69 kg) and having entered the second position, having remained in the ring for one hour, two minutes and 12 seconds.
That’s why it’s worth checking out our list of the ten best Rey Mysterio matches in WWE, in chronological order.
SmackDown! (October 3, 2002)
Chris Benoit vs. Rey Mysterio
At Unforgiven 2002, Chris Benoit beat Kurt Angle . Four days later, on the September 26 episode of SmackDown! , held in San Diego, California, home of Rey Mysterio, General Manager Stephanie McMahon decided to schedule a triple threat match between Benoit, Angle and Mysterio for the main event . Although he was teased by Kurt Angle before the match, Mysterio actually got the better of him, making the settlement in Benoit.
For the following week, a match between Chris Benoit and Rey Mysterio was scheduled.
SmackDown! (November 14, 2002)
Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio
On the October 3 episode of SmackDown! , General Manager Stephanie McMahon announced an eight-team tournament to determine the first to determine the first WWE tag team champions, who would be crowned at the No Mercy pay-per-view . In the tournament final, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit’s team beat Edge and Rey Mysterio’s team to win the belts.
On SmackDown! On October 24, Edge and Mysterio defeated Los Guerreros (Chavo and Eddie) to become the main contenders for the titles. However, that same night Angle and Benoit faced each other, with the Canadian getting the better after interference from Los Guerreros. On the November 7 episode, Edge and Mysterio won the WWE Tag Team Championship in a best-of-three match, with Edge settling on Angle in the third fall .
The following week, the new champions faced the members of Los Guerreros in single combat. Edge clashed with Chavo Guerrero, while Rey Mysterio clashed with Eddie.
SmackDown! (March 18, 2004)
WWE Championship: Eddie Guerrero (c) vs. Rey Mysterio
On the March 18, 2004 episode of SmackDown! , General Manager Paul Heyman called Shelton Benjamin, Charlie Haas, Billy Gunn and Rey Mysterio and announced that the four would participate in a Gauntlet match to determine who would challenge Eddie Guerrero for the WWE Championship that same night.
The Gauntlet match began with Shelton Benjamin’s victory over Charlie Haas. Shortly after, Shelton beat Billy Gunn, but was eventually eliminated by Rey Mysterio, at a time when it was already known that Big Show would participate in the match and would be the last to go into action. Rey Mysterio vs. Big Show was to be a match between unequal forces until United States Champion John Cena appeared to distract Big Show, who left the ring to go after Cena and was eventually disqualified by count-out .
SmackDown! (February 10, 2005)
Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio
On the February 3 episode of SmackDown! , General Manager Theodore Long announced a tournament to determine the top contender for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 21. For the first round, the quarter-finals, there were duels between Booker T and Eddie Guerrero, Orlando Jordan and John Cena , The Undertaker and René Duprée, and lastly, Rey Mysterio and Kurt Angle.
SmackDown! (June 2, 2006)
Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio
At a time when we were about to see the return of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), this time as a WWE brand, Kurt Angle was announced as one of the roster members . In his last appearance on SmackDown! , it was announced that Angle would face world champion Rey Mysterio in a farewell match.
The Bash (2009)
Title vs. Mask – WWE Intercontinental Championship :
Chris Jericho (c) vs. Rey Mysterio
After losing to Jeff Hardy in a match to determine the main contender for the World Heavyweight Championship on the May 1 episode of SmackDown , intercontinental champion Rey Mysterio issued an open challenge the following week to anyone who wanted to enter the ring with him, and Chris Jericho responded in the affirmative.
The match between the two took place on Judgment Day, with Mysterio emerging victorious. However, Y2J continued to harass Mysterio, accusing him of being dishonest with fans by wearing a mask and not showing his face, and having even attacked him after having masked himself with one of Mysterio’s masks and having pretended to be a fan in the audience.
This led to another match between the two at Extreme Rules , with Jericho winning the title in a No Holds Barred match after taking the mask off Mysterio.
On the June 15 episode of Raw , Mysterio was entitled to a rematch but failed to emerge victorious. However, four days later, on SmackDown , it was announced that the two would face off at The Bash in a match where Jericho ‘s title and Mysterio’s mask would be at stake.
SmackDown (September 4, 2009)
WWE Intercontinental Championship :
Rey Mysterio (c) vs. John Morrison
On the August 27 episode of WWE Superstars , Dolph Ziggler beat Mike Knox and Finlay in a triple threat match to become the main contender for Rey Mysterio’s Intercontinental Championship at the Breaking Point pay-per-view . However, prior to that event, Mysterio defended the title against John Morrison on the September 4 edition of SmackDown .
TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs 2010
TLC match for the World Heavyweight Championship:
Kane (c) vs. Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Rey Mysterio
Edge was named the top contender for the title in November, and while chasing the belt, he abused and psychologically tormented Kane’s father, Paul Bearer. At Survivor Series , the Big Red Monster and Rated-R Superstar faced off with the World Heavyweight Championship at stake, but tied, due to a double pinfall.
Edge kept up the pursuit of Bearer and on the December 3 episode of SmackDown he beat Kane, which allowed him to choose the Tables, Ladders and Chairs stipulation in which the Canadian was an expert, for the PPV match between the two.
However, 48 hours before the event , Blue Brand General Manager Teddy Long added Rey Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio, who were previously scheduled to face each other in a Chairs match, to the match, thus turning the title fight into a fatal four-way.
SmackDown! (January 15, 2019)
Andrade vs. Rey Mysterio
On the January 8, 2019 episode of SmackDown , Andrade and Samoa Joe beat Rey Mysterio and Mustafa Ali after a Hammerlock DDT from Andrade on Mysterio.
The following week, Andrade was asked about making the winning settlement in Mysterio and said that Mysterio was his idol. However, the woman who accompanied him, Zelina Veja, said that it was time to look to the future and that the future was for Andrade to beat Mysterio again that night, as Andrade and Mysterio would face each other again, this time in a one-on-one match.
Monday Night Raw (October 25, 2021)
Ladder match to determine the top contender for the WWE Championship :
Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens vs. Rey Mysterio
At the beginning of the October 25, 2021 episode of Raw , Seth Rollins interrupted a promo for champion Big E to challenge him to a match for the WWE Championship . Meanwhile, Rey Mysterio, Finn Bálor and Kevin Owens also took to the ring to claim a title shot . That said, authority figure Sonya Deville appeared on stage and announced that Rollins , Mysterio, Bálor and Owens would face off that same night in a Fatal 4-Way Ladder Match to determine the main contender for the WWE Championship .