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#8 Rey Mysterio
Rey Mysterio is one of the WWE's most popular superstars of all time. The Lucha Legend has sold a ton of merch and has wowed the WWE Universe and wrestling fans in general for decades.
So it's strange to see how poorly he was booked as a WWE/World Heavyweight Champion. Rey Mysterio had three title runs in his career, with two lasting less than one day. His first, however, was probably his worst.
After the tragic passing of Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio worked to make his way to the top of the mountain on Smackdown Live. Mysterio dedicated his performance at Royal Rumble 2006 to his best friend and would win the match after lasting 1:02:12. While Daniel Bryan technically broke that record at the Greatest Royal Rumble this year, that event didn't really hold any relevance to storylines and is kind of forgotten about.
After earning his shot at the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXII, Mysterio began a feud with Randy Orton, who won Mysterio's opportunity at No Way Out 2006. However, Teddy Long would allow Mysterio to compete for the belt anyway, making it a triple threat between the two and Kurt Angle at WrestleMania XXII, essentially making the past two months pointless.
Mysterio won the World Heavyweight Championship after pinning Randy Orton with the West Coast Pop, though the reaction from the crowd was poor. Once one of the most popular stars in the company, his run at the top felt forced, and fans instead wanted to see Kurt Angle retain that night.
It didn't help that Mysterio's run with the World Heavyweight Title run was full of losses. Though he successfully defended the title against both Randy Orton and Kurt Angle in the coming weeks, the Underdog Champion would lose many non-title matches in squash fashion, dropping to Mark Henry, The Great Khali, and Kane. Eventually, Mysterio was only able to hold onto the title thanks to Chavo Guerrero, who would interfere in matches on his behalf.
Mysterio would lose to RVD at WWE vs ECW Head to Head in June of that year, before his match with Sabu at One Night Stand, where the Extreme Rules match ended in a no contest.
Mysterio finally lost the title to King Booker at The Great American Bash when Chavo turned on him, bashing him in the head with a steel chair.
Mysterio's next run with the World Heavyweight Championship lasted minutes. After he defeated Jack Swagger at Money in the Bank 2010, Kane would cash in his MITB briefcase minutes later, ending Mysterio's second run. He would then win the WWE Championship in a tournament that was held on Raw after CM Punk left with the title in 2011. In the finals, Mysterio defeated the Miz but was then immediately challenged by John Cena, who he lost the belt to later that night.
For one of the most popular wrestlers of all time, it's crazy to think how terrible his runs at the top of the WWE were.
