Rey Misterio was one of the names tossed out by Teddy Long on Raw this week as a reason why Smackdown was the better brand. Rey alone of the cruiserweights has been protected mightily when going against a heavyweight. I don't think he's every been outright squashed by anyone outweighing him by 100 pounds.
Rey Misterio could make an interesting transitional champion and it's always been in the back of my mind that WWE plans might include that if they see him as sufficiently over or if the right angle comes along. I'm not quite sure he can be in that spot for more than a month, since I doubt the WWE can book him into credible title defenses against the likes of Undertaker, Big Show, and JBL, but the way they run things up north, I think that WWE Champion Rey Misterio sounds a lot likelier than WWE Champion RVD.
If you look at ECW, they have run with underdog champs such as Mikey Whipwreck or Spike Dudley. It might work here. It would certainly be a change of pace from hoss vs hoss with JBL facing 'Taker or Show.
So, pretty much my questions are as follows:
1. Would Rey Misterio damage the credibility of the title in the eyes of the masses? If Eddie Guerrero turns on his partner at some point, wins the title from Cena, and defends against Rey at a PPV, will that disinterest people more than a standard JBL title defense?
2. I can see some stars balking at jobbing to a "midget" champion. Who wouldn't? Who is the largest guy on the roster that you think can do a clean job to Misterio without the size mismatch appearing patently ridiculous to the casual fan?
3. Would it bury the rest of the cruiserweights because one guy is so clearly head and shoulders above the rest? Or are the cruisers so mistreated that it wouldn't matter and a cruiserweight beating him later might do wonders for the division?
Rey Misterio has a good gimmick. He's loved by the masses. He can work a good match with just about anybody. Heck, his WCW run allowed him to wrestle a lot with big slugs like Kevin Nash, so we know he can at the least get watchability out of similarly big slugs like Big Show & JBL.
That said, a title run for Misterio is possible...but a long one is not very likely. He's billed as 150 pounds. To compare: Eddie Guerrero is 225, Kurt Angle's 230, John Cena's 240, JBL's 290, Big Show's 470, Undertaker's 309, Heidenreich's 285 and RVD's 235. He gives up 75 pounds to the smallest of that group. A win over one of the smaller guys is possible. Rey's beaten Angle before. He's beaten Chris Benoit. He's fought guys like Undertaker, John Cena, Brock Lesnar & Eddie Guerrero and been sold as a guy who CAN beat them. He's always one of the participants in contendership tournaments, as shown recently with his involvement in the Smackdown tournament.
However, how often can a guy his size beat bigger guys to retain a title?
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I think it could definitely work. Rey's a great performer and good at playing the underdog. But he'd probably make a better challenger than a champion. If he was champion, he probably wouldn't hold it for very long. With that said, its something I think could work and I'd like to see it happen...WWE just has to be willing to run with it for a bit and see what happens.
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I remember several years back (1999, I believe) when Rey Mysterio, shortly after losing his mask, "won" a lottery drawing to earn a WCW World Title shot against Ric Flair (I think El Dandy actually won the lottery, but he had an injury, so he gave his number to Rey).
Rey put on a great match against Flair, and just about won the World Title-- he hit the springboard huracanrana (now known as the West Coast Pop) and had him down for a 2-count before Arn Anderson yanked him out of the ring.
Yeah, I think Rey could definitely be WWE Champion. He's over enough, he's a fantastic wrestler, and from what I understand he's a great guy. Of course size will be an issue, but it's not as if he hasn't been wrestling-- and beating-- bigger guys his entire career. After all, if he couldn't beat anyone bigger than him, he'd be winless, unless he was facing the Macho Midget or something.
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I love, love, love Rey, but I can't ever see him getting a world title reign. They'll just never put the top belt on a guy that small, even if he's 1 of the most over guys on the roster and 1 of the top workers in the company. Don't get me wrong, it'd be nice, and I'd love to see it, but I'm not holding my breath.
The US Title, on the other hand, is a belt Rey should absolutely hold this year.
"1. Would Rey Misterio damage the credibility of the title in the eyes of the masses? If Eddie Guerrero turns on his partner at some point, wins the title from Cena, and defends against Rey at a PPV, will that disinterest people more than a standard JBL title defense?"
Credibility of the title? That can be easily achieved with a performer who works the crowd either way. I think the title loses luster when the crowd has the communal "not him again" reaction to a champ. Giving it to a hot commodity like Rey can only help give the title and the title scene some new shine. Think of the potential to reignite the "anything can happen" attitude combined with Rey as acting as a role model for the younger kids and smaller fans. And, dammit, I want a masked champion again! Most of the appeal to Rey is that he can do stuff none of the bigger guys can, giving him a leg-up as a contender. Also, look at his big moves; they can be countered easily which is why he has to batter his opponent before trying the West Coast Pop. He tries that too early, and he's powerbombed by anyone.
"2. I can see some stars balking at jobbing to a "midget" champion. Who wouldn't? Who is the largest guy on the roster that you think can do a clean job to Misterio without the size mismatch appearing patently ridiculous to the casual fan?"
I think the fans will readily accept Rey knocking off big guys with a superior moveset and effort. The bigger guys (let's say Heidenreich) will lumber and lunge and clobber, only to get taken down by attacks to the knees and head from the mat and the top rope. I don't see this really as any different than Bret, Shawn and Flair taking over the WWF amid the Undertaker, Hogan, and Yokozunas. Those who balk to put over Rey can go to TNA and put over JARRETT.
"3. Would it bury the rest of the cruiserweights because one guy is so clearly head and shoulders above the rest? Or are the cruisers so mistreated that it wouldn't matter and a cruiserweight beating him later might do wonders for the division?"
I think London, Kidman, Chavo and Nunzio can hang with Rey. Funaki not so much, and Spike has faded a bit, presumably until the Dudley reboot. I'm not saying any of the other cruisers have the total package Rey brings to the table, but they aren't so far beneath him that they can't put on a good show, the most important question for a successful wrestling company.
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For me, the entire appeal of WCW was the involvement of Rey Mysterio. From when I first tuned in to the feud with Eddy and Kidman to the end (the Daytona Beach match against Flair being one of the few times as an adult I marked out for a match, hoping that he'd actually pull it off despite knowing better).
Once he became Rey Rey I lost interest a little bit, but his tenure with the WWE has been fantastic.
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Have to agree with GRL here. My adult interest in wrestling was largely sparked from glimpsing a Rey match in a friend's room in college. Just a moment of "What the hell was THAT?!". I think we're really discussing two separate questions. One is, would Vince ever actually put the title on a guy that small? And two is, if he did, could it work?
The first one's debatable. I think most of the wrestlers have enough respect for Rey that they would accept jobbing to him, even for the title. He's certainly 'paid his dues", has incredible talent and has put over almost everyone else on the roster at some point. Vince has always had a thing for the big men but, if the right storyline came along, he might pull the trigger on it. I doubt it would be a long-term run, nor do I think he would become a multi-time champ. But I can see him doing it as an experiment.
As far as could it work, oh, most definitely. The fans just plain love Rey. And they love rooting for the underdog. Now matter how many times he wins, Rey is always fighting the odds whenever he faces a heavyweight wrestler, simple as that. That would add tension to even the most minor of title defences, something that's been sorely lacking for a while. Give him feuds with Eddy and Angle, then have him maybe finally hit the brick wall against a heel-turned Big Show. Show would be seen as an opportunist and a prick for taking advantage of the huge size differential. Ah, but I'm digressing into fantasy booking now, sorry.
In other words, Rey for champ in 2005! :)
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If they're planning on giving Cena the WWE Title there's no one i'd rather see take it off him than Rey. If that's just dreaming then i'd settle for him getting the US Title the same way. The credibiltiy (weight-wise) isn't so bad in either situation either, seeing as Rey and Eddie managed to win the tag titles off of 2 guys averaging 10 pounds more than John Cena in the Bashams.
I think they should test the waters with a US title run for Rey before they give him the WWE title. That's a belt he could very believably win and hold, as most of the guys who he would have credibility issues in facing (Undertaker, Big Show) would not challenge for that title anyway. Also, those guys are faces right now, leaving JBL as really the only physically big heel for Mysterio to contend with (Heidenreich is a bum, they can job him to Josh Mathews for all I care). Rey vs. Carlito would be quite an interesting feud for the US title after Cena drops it, IMO.
If Cena were not next in line, I could see a good angle coming from a scenario like the Flair WCW one already mentioned. JBL throws out open challenge, or does the fishbowl gimmick, and gets Mysterio on Smackdown. Mysterio pulls the upset and gets the title. I don't think you could sell Mysterio as a challenger so much, because of the way the bigger guys have handled him in the past, but I do think you could sell him as the underdog champion if he did pull an upset. People want to believe in him, but to date it's been established rather firmly that guys over 280 will just hammer the little guy and it's not a fight. A good win that isn't immediately returned could change that.
(edited by BigVitoMark on 23.2.05 1126) Screw Ricky
Originally posted by 2P4EIf they're planning on giving Cena the WWE Title there's no one i'd rather see take it off him than Rey. If that's just dreaming then i'd settle for him getting the US Title the same way. The credibiltiy (weight-wise) isn't so bad in either situation either, seeing as Rey and Eddie managed to win the tag titles off of 2 guys averaging 10 pounds more than John Cena in the Bashams.
He couldn't actually lose the U.S. Title to Rey, because that would weaken him as the new WWE champ. Rey would have to win the vacated title after Cena drops it upon becoming the main champ.
He couldn't actually lose the U.S. Title to Rey, because that would weaken him as the new WWE champ
True, and i know it's not gonna happen, but i don't see strong long-lasting champion potential in Cena anyway. A triple threat match for the title in which Cena doesn't actually get pinned, but Rey wins the title by pinning the other guy (whoever) while Cena is busy with some sort of Carlito interference (unseen by ref) might work. I also know this won't happen at all, but it'd be my way of doing it just because i dislike Cena. Although i think his match at No Way Out was a lot better than anything i've seen him do before.
He couldn't actually lose the U.S. Title to Rey, because that would weaken him as the new WWE champ
True, and i know it's not gonna happen, but i don't see strong long-lasting champion potential in Cena anyway. A triple threat match for the title in which Cena doesn't actually get pinned, but Rey wins the title by pinning the other guy (whoever) while Cena is busy with some sort of Carlito interference (unseen by ref) might work. I also know this won't happen at all, but it'd be my way of doing it just because i dislike Cena. Although i think his match at No Way Out was a lot better than anything i've seen him do before.
This actually does worry me a bit, though; what do they do with the U.S. Title when(if) Cena wins at Wrestlemania? Best case scenario, he just drops the title and they have a tournament on Smackdown!.
I don't think they'd actually do it, but as a short term angle, it could definitely work. Better yet, though, I'd like to see him main-event a PPV. If something with him on top would draw more money than most of the other shitty SD PPV's this year, then I think that would be all the convincing WWE would need to give him a decent push.
But I totally agree with Big Vito.... the U.S. title may be the most likely scenario for someone like Rey.
Originally posted by 2P4EIf they're planning on giving Cena the WWE Title there's no one i'd rather see take it off him than Rey. If that's just dreaming then i'd settle for him getting the US Title the same way. The credibiltiy (weight-wise) isn't so bad in either situation either, seeing as Rey and Eddie managed to win the tag titles off of 2 guys averaging 10 pounds more than John Cena in the Bashams.
Originally posted by sentonBOMBHe couldn't actually lose the U.S. Title to Rey, because that would weaken him as the new WWE champ. Rey would have to win the vacated title after Cena drops it upon becoming the main champ.
Exactly. If he beats Cena for the US title whats to stop him baiting Cena for a shot at the world title? Unless you use that as your angle? After Cena fights a few bigger guys Rey reminds him he beat him for the US title and Rey thinks he is good enough to win the WWE title as well. Maybe Rey wins for a month and Cena retains. BUT then what happens to the US title if that happens? Cant have the US title dropping everytime someone wants to take a step up.
Hulkster - Undertaker Don't know, don't really care. I'm guessing Taker becomes a Transistional Champ here. HHH - Y2J Y2J wins, because he needs it more Edge - Angle Hair vs Hair matches usually see the one with shorter hair lose.