10 Wrestlers Who Shouldn't Return For WWE's Brand Split 2016 This Week

3. Rey Mysterio

An exciting, trendsetting high-flier who reached great heights and amassed immense popularity throughout his runs with WCW and WWE, Mysterio was released in 2015 after a long, drawn-out contract dispute. He’s since played a starring role for Lucha Underground and Mexico’s AAA, and while not the wrestler he was 10 years ago, Mysterio continues to produce the goods on a gentler schedule at this late stage in his career.

Unfortunately, Rey had sunk into irrelevancy long before his WWE release. The company lost faith in him and his seemingly perma-injured legs, so they pulled far away from the main event scene and left him floating around the midcard as Sin Cara’s tag team partner.

His fan support dwindled as a result, and by the time he left, nobody was really mourning Rey Mysterio’s WWE departure.

It’s just too soon for him to come back. Mysterio might return under a limited appearance Legends deal in the future, but it’s barely been a year since he left. The staleness that had plagued his WWE career’s latter stages hasn’t fully dispersed yet, and likely won’t for at least another couple of years.