"A legend and Rey Mysterio" - 26-year-old superstar mocks WWE Hall of Famer ahead of Payback

A 26-year-old superstar has mocked Rey Mysterio ahead of WWE Payback this Saturday night in Pittsburgh.

Payback 2023 will air live from the PPG Paints Arena this weekend and will feature several title matches. Mysterio will be defending the United States Championship against Austin Theory at the premium live event. Mysterio recently took fellow LWO member Santos Escobar's spot in a title match against Austin Theory on SmackDown.

Escobar won the United States Championship Invitational tournament to earn a title shot, but Theory attacked him before the match. Mysterio then replaced Escobar in the bout and defeated Theory on the August 11th edition of WWE SmackDown to become the new champion.

Austin Theory took to Instagram today to mock Rey Mysterio ahead of their rematch on Saturday. He shared a photograph from a WWE Live Event and claimed that he was the legend in the image seen below:

"A Legend and Rey Mysterio 👍🏻," wrote Theory.

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Bill Apter wants to see WWE RAW star dethrone Rey Mysterio

Legendary wrestling journalist Bill Apter recently suggested that Dominik Mysterio dethrone his father to become United States Champion.

Rey Mysterio has an incredible weekend during WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame and defeated his son in a singles match at the biggest event of the year. Since his loss at WWE WrestleMania 39, Dominik Mysterio's popularity has continued to grow, and The Judgment Day member is the reigning NXT North American Champion.

Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's The Wrestling Time Machine show, Bill Apter stated Rey Mysterio is going to be a great transitional champion, and Dominik Mysterio should be the one to take the title from him. He added that Dirty Dom would draw money with both the North American and United States Championships:

"Well, I think that Rey [Mysterio] is going to be an excellent transitional champion for someone they're going to put on there - younger, of course. For the short term, I think it's excellent. Even if it's for the long-term, Rey Mysterio is still showing that at his age, he's very confident in what he's doing. The fans adore him, and somehow what I'd like to see, of course, is his son Dom Dom [Dominik Mysterio] challenge him for the US Title and take it. Now Dom Dom has got the US Title and the NXT North American Title. That's what I think would draw money." (0:50 - 1:31)

You can check out the full video below:

Austin Theory picked up the biggest victory of his career at WrestleMania 39 when he defeated John Cena to retain the US Title. However, he failed to gain any momentum from the victory and will now have to defeat Mysterio at WWE Payback to get his title back.

Are you excited for the US Title match at WWE Payback? Sound off in the comments section below.