Rey Mysterio was the Daniel Bryan of 2006, a popular babyface who had finally won the big one with the World Title at WrestleMania. That's when things turned sour for the underdog, he was continually booked as a champion who was always holding on to the title against the odds. Eventually, the subliminal messaging of this stuck, fans started to turn on Rey for being a bland babyface who wasn't really a Champion. The similarities to Bryan are a bad omen... the naivety Bryan has shown in his feud with Kane, the fact he ran away from him, it isn't good long term booking to establish a star. Another thing that happened to Rey throughout that title run was the deterioration of his knee. By the time he lost the title and embarked on a feud with Chavo Guerrero his condition was basically bone on bone arthritic. As such WWE wrote Mysterio out of the story in October 2006 and he didn't return until August 2007. All that missed time meant Rey was unable to recover his standing after losing the championship, he never managed to become a serious main eventer ever again. WWE had lost a main event act, partly through their own booking folly, partly through the knee condition.
