5. The Booking Of Rey Mysterio As World Heavyweight Champion
Poor old Rey Mysterio. The death of his close friend Eddie Guerrero in November 2005 had opened up the 'top hispanic star' spot, so Rey went from being a midcarder to a main eventer within weeks, drumming up sympathy by referring to his friendship with Latino Heat along the way. He won the 2006 Royal Rumble, guaranteeing him a World Heavyweight Title shot at WrestleMania but then Randy Orton won that from him at the No Way Out PPV in February. Feeling sorry for Rey, Teddy Long reinserted him into the match, making it a triple threat. Yes, Rey lost his shot but was given it back because Teddy Long is a sweetheart. Such heroic babyface booking you have never seen... Incredibly, Rey captured the WHC in said triple threat match by pinning Orton. It was a wonderful moment for the diminuitive masked man, something that neither he nor his most ardent supporters ever imagined would actually happen. Far from being a dream, though, Rey's 112-day reign was actually a bit of a nightmare. It's no secret that Rey was only viewed as a transitional champ and that Vince and his writing staff didn't have faith in him as the top dog. He was shifting a lot of merchandise and having good matches, as per, but the visual of Rey with the Big Gold Belt just didn't sit right with some, least of all WWE's head honcho. So what did WWE do with him? Why, they had him do a bunch of televised clean jobs, of course! While Rey did get one or two victories during this period, including against JBL in the main event of Judgement Day, he looked at the lights far more times than a World Heavyweight Champion should. Mark Henry, Kurt Angle, JBL, Finlay, Great Khali and Rob Van Dam - they all beat or otherwise got the better of Mr. 619, usually without a receipt. It was truly bizarre booking and Rey himself must have been relieved when King Booker took the strap off him at The Great American Bash in July.
