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Former WWE Champion Rey Mysterio looks to be returning to WWE... But then isn't, then he is, and then he isn't.
Rey Mysterio has come very close to returning to WWE twice over the past six or so months, but something keeps getting in the way. It was said that Mysterio had been negotiating with WWE regarding a return last year when his deal with Lucha Underground expired, but apparently, they didn't want to work through Impact Wrestling star Konnan, who handles much of Rey's business dealings. Not because K-Dog works for Impact, but due to Vince McMahon's high dislike of him.
He was then in talks with Impact Wrestling around the same time and was very close to signing a contract. Impact employee Karen Jarrett even teased on Instagram that he had signed. However, talks fell through.
At one point it was believed that Rey signing was a lock, and his return had also been planned. Impact/GFW founder Jeff Jarrett was set to challenge Alberto to a match at Bound For Glory and pull out last minute due to an 'injury', only to be replaced by Rey Mysterio.
Jeff, of course, has now left Impact again, but apparently, Rey had already passed on the Impact contract before Jeff left, so plans for Bound For Glory would have had to be changed anyway.
Rey re-opened talks with Impact around this time last month, and Dave Meltzer reported a deal was close to happening, that is until Rey returned to WWE for the first time since the Raw after WrestleMania 30, at the Royal Rumble, entering to a massive pop at #27. He revealed shortly thereafter that he was in talks with WWE and the only thing really preventing them from coming to terms was how big his schedule would be.
It now appears that WWE may have lost out on Rey Mysterio once again. As you should have heard by now, Rey sent a pre-recorded message to NJPW New Beginning in Osaka this past Friday night where he challenged the legendary Jushin Thunder Liger to a match at Strong Style Evolved, in Long Beach, California on March 25, which Liger accepted.
Rey's contract status with NJPW is currently not known as of right now, but it is worth noting that NJPW have publicly said that they are targeting former WWE stars to bring into the company. It is also highly possible that Rey has signed a short-term deal, similar to Chris Jericho, that would only see him wrestle a few matches at big events.
Regardless, for the time being, it would appear that WWE has missed out on signing Rey once again, due to not being able to come to an agreement on what his schedule would have been. Unless something can be worked out this summer, this will be a big loss for WWE. This is nothing new either, former WWE Champion Rob Van Dam once said in an interview that he personally contacted WWE to tell them he would return to the company if they offered a TV/PPV only schedule to him, and said if not, he had a contract waiting in TNA.
WWE told him they did want him back, but only on a full-time schedule, which RVD declined and spent the next three years in TNA Wrestling.
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