When Mysterio won the World Heavyweight Championship at 'Mania, fans were curious about how WWE would present him on television. After all, Mysterio was the smallest Heavyweight Champion in history and WWE didn't have a good track record when it came to presenting smaller grapplers as genuine threats. Things started off well enough with Mysterio wrestling and beating Angle and Orton in long, competitive matches. His title defence against JBL at Judgement Day was also good and surprisingly epic. Ditto their rematch on the next week's Smackdown. But Mysterio's initial reign as World Heavyweight Champion will be remembered more for his crushing losses than his victories. While champion, Rey cleanly lost to Mark Henry, Rob Van Dam, Finlay and, in what was essentially a squash match, The Great Khali. WWE disrespected Rey by having him lose cleanly to everyone. Raw champion John Cena wouldn't have been expected to do the same. WWE may have been trying to build sympathy for Rey as an underdog champion but, in reality, they just made him look like a loser.
