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WWE star Rey Mysterio will be making his return to the ring this coming Monday night on Raw, after taking a brief hiatus from in-ring action following an injury sustained during his United States Title feud with Samoa Joe.
The injury forced Mysterio to relinquish the United States Title to Joe, who in turn lost the belt to current US Champion Ricochet. It would make sense, albeit not confirmed, for Mysterio to re-enter the US Title picture upon returning to WWE TV as he technically never lost the Championship in the first place.
As of now, it appears likely that AJ Styles, alongside his newly reunited Club stable, will next challenge Ricochet for the gold, as Styles holds a singles win over the current Champion. With Rey Mysterio possibly re-entering the fold, things could get very interesting on WWE TV with potential triple threat competition from three of the best in-ring talents WWE has to offer.
But given Mysterio's latest injury, and the veteran's career-long history of battling injuries, the question of how many years Mysterio has left in him is looming. One of the reported reasons why it took WWE so long to re-sign Mysterio is because the master of the 619 wanted to work a reduced schedule, likely due to the toll the WWE job takes on his body.
With the above in mind, let's take a look at 5 WWE wrestlers Rey Mysterio could face at WrestleMania before he hangs up the boots.
5. Seth Rollins
If Rey Mysterio has one major title run left in him, Seth Rollins would be the ideal opponent for Mysterio, who has previously held the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
The Kingslayer and Mysterio have never locked up on a major stage such as WrestleMania, and the similarities in wrestling styles and in-ring pacing could yield a tremendous match between the two.
If fantasy booking imagines Kofi Kingston still the WWE Champion come WrestleMania 36, it would make more sense to see Mysterio face someone like Seth Rollins, who represents more of the future of WWE, as opposed to Kingston.
#4. Finn Balor
Whomever Rey Mysterio finishes his career against, it should be a player in WWE that will take the momentum given by retiring Mysterio into the future. A talent such as Finn Balor could be a perfect sendoff for Rey Mysterio and could help launch Balor through what appears to be somewhat of a glass ceiling forming for the current Intercontinental Champion.
Balor enjoys the historic distinction of being the first-ever WWE Universal Champion, but an injury forced him to relinquish the title just 24 hours after winning it. Following the injury, Balor has struggled to return to the top of the card in WWE, despite challenging Brock Lesnar for the Universal Title at the Royal Rumble PPV.
With a high profile feud and WrestleMania match against the likes of Rey Mysterio, the bout could be a great way to end Mysterio's storied pro wrestling career and give Finn Balor the credibility he needs to ascend back into the main event scene in WWE.
#3. Ricochet
WWE's landscape is about to change in a big way, with AEW putting pressure on WWE to reinvent itself, and new Executive Directors Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman entering the fold to reshape the blue and red brands creatively.
As we reported last week, Paul Heyman is said to be very high on current United States Champion Ricochet, who would make a great WrestleMania opponent for Rey Mysterio.
With Mysterio returning to TV on Raw this week, it is possible the bout between Mysterio and Ricochet could happen sooner rather than later, but given their similar sizes and in-ring styles, WrestleMania could be a great stage for the two high-flyers to showcase their skills in a final bout for Rey Mysterio.
Ricochet has wrestled under a mask before, working as Prince Puma in Lucha Underground, so a possible WrestleMania scenario could see Ricochet retire Rey Mysterio at the big PPV, only for Mysterio to hand down his mask to the rising WWE Raw star.
#2. Daniel Bryan
The New Daniel Bryan might be caught up in the tag team division in WWE right now, holding the Smackdown Live Tag Team Titles along with his sidekick, Rowan, but a return to singles competition seems inevitable for the former WWE Champion.
It remains unknown how much time Daniel Bryan has left in a WWE ring, and with his new heel persona in full effect, a great matchup and feud could be the former "Yes" man vs Rey Mysterio.
If Bryan can successfully retire Mysterio at WrestleMania, it could give Bryan's character tremendous bragging rights fodder, similar to the way Baron Corbin brags about retiring Kurt Angle, but to much better effect.
The New Daniel Bryan spouting off that he is the one to retire someone like Rey Mysterio could provide for some excellent character work from Bryan, not to mention him and Mysterio have the potential to work a show-stealing match at a big event such as WrestleMania.
#1. Brock Lesnar
Sportskeeda fans who are used to my work would probably know that I like to toss in a wildcard or two when I am fantasy booking, and The Beast probably ticks that box in this case.
Rey Mysterio has been portrayed throughout his entire WWE career as an underdog, even being dubbed the official "ultimate underdog" in the company. The Mexican Superstar has faced numerous super heavyweights during his pro wrestling career, including names such as Mark Henry, The Great Khali, Big Show, and more.
WWE loves to book David vs Goliath matches, and Rey Mysterio is perhaps the superstar most familiar with this style of competition in the company. Historically, fans have enjoyed watching Rey Mysterio battle against seemingly impossible odds, but one common fan complaint has been Mysterio's limited in-ring capability against super heavyweights.
Enter The Beast. Brock Lesnar's tremendous in-ring ability could lend itself to a better-than-expected in-ring match against Rey Mysterio, and should the former Universal Champion best Mysterio at WrestleMania, it could be an ideal retirement bout and career bookend to the greatest "David" WWE has ever seen.
