Ultimate Underdog, Master of 619, The Biggest Little Man call him anything you want but Rey Mysterio would go down in the history books as an inspiration to all the wrestlers out there who didn’t fit into WWE’s prototype.After starting his wrestling career in Mexico, Rey was introduced into the North American scene by none other than Paul Heyman (yes, Rey Was a Paul Heyman guy). His stint at Heyman’s ECW had some memorable matches and Rey was soon snatched up by WCW.He then turned out to be the backbone of WCW’s cruiserweight division before the company folded. Rey’s WWE debut came in 2002 and after more than one decade, he decided to end his association with WWE. During that time frame, Rey had a lot of memorable moments in the company and here is a look at the best ones.
#5 Enter Rey Mysterio
It is only fair to start off the list with Rey’s debut in the company. After WCW folded, Rey took up some independent bookings before he was finally snatched up by Vince McMahon. Rey wrestled without his mask back in WCW but Vince insisted on Rey to wear the mask again for his WWE run.
Before Rey’s debut, the company started airing vignettes that further hyped his arrival. Rey made his debut in the July 25, 2002 edition of SmackDown and defeated Chavo Guerrero Rey was treated as a babyface from the moment he came out through those pyro and he managed to keep that image on himself for almost the entirety of his WWE run.
#4 Shaving CM Punks head
CM Punk’s straight edge society would only be remembered for good things and the feud they had with Rey Mysterio was one of them. The feud between Punk and Mysterio unfolded in three matches.
The first showdown came at WrestleMania XXVI and if Rey lost, he had to join the SES. Rey however managed to get a win at Mania but Punk challenged for a rematch at Extreme Rules. And to raise the stakes, Punk had his hair on the line. Thankfully for Punk, he won at Extreme Rules setting up a tiebreaker between the two at Over the Limit.
Both the previous stipulations were added to the last match and Rey defeated Punk. The post-match segment where Rey shaved the head of Punk was a great moment for the baby face.
#3 The Ultimate Underdog
The 2006 Royal Rumble was the match that underlined Rey Mysterio as the Ultimate Underdog. He entered into the match as the second entrant and no one had their money on Rey to win the whole thing.
However, Rey overcame all the odds and lasted a Rumble record 62 minutes in the match to earn a victory. On the way, he eliminated the lights of his long term rival Psicosis, his former tag team partner Rob Van Dam, Super Crazy, Randy Orton, and Triple H, who was the first entrant.
He not only secured an opportunity to headline WrestleMania, but also proved that WWE is a place where anything could happen and anything includes a cruiserweight winning the Royal Rumble.
#2 Showdown with Eddie at WrestleMania 21
Ahead of WrestleMania 21, Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero became the WWE tag team champions at No Way Out. The most obvious booking decision after this would have been a title defense from the champions at Mania but instead, we got a one on one clash between the two.
Chavo Guerrero was the one behind the match happening as he wanted Eddie and Rey to split but convinced Eddie that a showdown between the tag champions would steal the show.
They did just that and blew the roof off. Rey came out on top during the encounter and the loss proved to be the spark for Eddie’s greatest heel run in WWE.
#1 Dedicating it to Eddie
One year after his showdown with Eddie, Rey returned to WrestleMania in 2006 as the Royal Rumble winner. But Rey was not the man he was a year ago due to the tragic death of Eddie. Rey was locked up against Randy Orton and Kurt Angle in a triple threat match for the World heavyweight title.
For WrestleMania standards, the match wasn’t that long but it was not the length that mattered. After just under ten minutes of action, Rey did the unthinkable and won the gold.
What followed produced a tear in almost every WWE fan. Rey broke out crying and dedicated his win to his late friend, Eddie. It was one of those WrestleMania moments packed with emotion and arguably Rey’s best in WWE.
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