11 Times Wrestlers Bet On Themselves (... And LOST!)
3. Mistico Doesn't Become The Next Rey Mysterio After Kissing Goodbye To Mexico
He may be largely remembered as one of the biggest flops in WWE history by your average sports entertainment fan, but Mistico was unquestionably a mega draw in Mexico in the time before putting pen to paper on a deal with Vince McMahon's promotion in 2011.
Instead of staying put in Mexico and continuing on as a huge box office attraction for CMLL, though, Mistico jumped at the chance to potentially become WWE's next Rey Mysterio.
However, it soon became painfully clear that this masked sensation was not the right fit for the version of WWE he was arriving in at that stage.
The issue is he carried himself like the star he thought he was, and they believed he wasn't a star until they decided he was and what he did elsewhere didn't count. They didn't want him working his style. They felt he didn't work hard enough on English. Him acting like he was… https://t.co/C35nKUxRnT
— Dave Meltzer (@davemeltzerWON) October 19, 2023
On top of reportedly p*ss*ng off folks in the locker room after carrying himself like the star he felt he was, as WON's Dave Meltzer put it, the fact WWE didn't want him working the style that got him so over in Mexico also didn't help the now-Sin Cara.
In the end, the Mexican megastar became more known for his regular slip ups and botches in-between the ropes than the spectacular athleticism that brought him to the dance.
And by 2014, the Sin Cara character had been officially inherited by Hunico, with Mistico finally parting ways with the company in March.
In short, this once-intriguing gamble well and truly backfired.