After revitalizing his career in the popular Lucha Underground TV show, and by having some fantastic performances in places like WCPW, Rey Mysterio was at a crossroads in 2018. He had returned to WWE earlier in the year, as a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble, and showed up again for The Greatest Royal Rumble. Despite this, he had not yet signed a contract with WWE, and there was another company who was bringing him in. This was New Japan Pro Wrestling, a company Mysterio had never worked for in his legendary career.
Rey Mysterio and His Troubled Run In NJPW
There was a huge match announced to NJPW Strong Style Evolved. We were going to see Rey Mysterio face off with Jushin Thunder Liger, a match people hadn’t seen since WCW Starcade 1996. Both men had changed substantially over the past 22 years before this match was set to happen, but it wouldn’t work out. Mysterio would suffer a bicep injury and the match would be changed to feature Will Ospreay.
Despite this, Mysterio would re-assure fans that he would compete for NJPW. This happened when he would team with Liger & Hiroshi Tanahashi to face an elite group from Bullet Club in Cody, Marty Scurll, and Hangman Page. Liger would lose the match for team Mysterio, but fans were excited to see him compete in NJPW. His fast paced style and experience made him an instant fit, but after the match he would vanish for a while.
He would pop back up at the end of the G1 Climax, where he would team with Ryusuke Taguchi and KUSHIDA to face the CHAOS unit of Kazuchika Okada, SHO & YOH. While Mysterio & Okada would only spend a few minutes in the ring together, fans were ready to see them in a huge singles match. Mysterio was a hit.
Then news broke that he would be signing with WWE once again, ending his NJPW run before he could have the singles match everyone wanted, be that with Liger or with Okada.
Should He Have Stayed?
While everyone could understand why he would go back to WWE, with him being an iconic figure there and him likely being able to get a cushy job on the other end of his career with WWE, people were let down. He had been showing so much potential and there was so many fresh matches for him to be a part of for NJPW.
We could have seen them build to him and Liger facing off in the Tokyo Dome, or Mysterio entering a huge tournament like Best of Super Juniors & the G1 Climax. With the NJPW plans to expand into the United States, having someone like Mysterio would have been a huge help for those plan as he is a massive star. It would have been great to have seen him explore new territory with NJPW while he could still compete at the top level. It is just one of those scenarios in wrestling that left so many ‘what if’ moments on the table, that will likely never be revisited.
His WWE return has been alright, but it simply feels like more of the same. He had done it all in WWE, being a former two time WWE Champion. He was able to capture his first United States Championship, but that was all left for him to accomplish.
Would you have wanted to see Rey Mysterio stay in NJPW, or are you happy he came back to WWE? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
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