10 Weird Ways We Remember Legendary Wrestlers
3. Rey Mysterio: Not Daniel Bryan
Rey Mysterio really was incredible.
Even now, when Ricochet breaks the Internet with Holy SH*T GIFs and Will Ospreay does stuff even a video game programmer can not, revisiting Rey's WCW days remains a dizzying experience - and the man remains unmatched by the generation he inspired in terms of authentic selling he didn't need to shout from the rooftops to put over. He still is incredible, somehow, having slimmed back down, rediscovered his explosiveness, and transmogrified the dust residing in his knees back into ligaments that act as a springboard for an aerial game that remains dazzling.
Rey was the #1 cruiserweight in the world in the 1990s. Through sheer wrongheaded circumstances, many know him as #30.
Why WWE gave the poor sod no chance at the 2014 Royal Rumble - and opted not to put the heat on a heel - remains a mystery. Years removed from his prime and somewhat overexposed, we'd not been given much reason to cheer him. We'd been given every reason to cheer Daniel Bryan, through his own brilliance and the cruel denial of it by management. A victim of relative disappointment, this accounted for a thoroughly undeserved round of boos that stigmatised Rey as an unwanted relic.
And while a return to the respective mainstream and artistic powerhouses of WWE and NJPW may yet formalise Rey's return to form later this year, his bicep injury hardly helps his other dubious latter-day reputation.