Opinion: Rey Mysterio is the Babyface Smackdown Needs

AJ Styles' current reign at the top of Smackdown live might carry the longevity a fan dreams off, after his years toiling away from the WWE. Yet one can't deny that it has been a fairly uneventful run thanks to a mix of underwhelming opponents, stretched rivalries and its placement on bigger cards.

While Smackdown may have pulled itself out of last years wilderness, whose dominion was held over by the meek Jinder Mahal. The brand still suffers an identity crisis under an AJ Styles reign, that for some odd reason hasn't been taken as seriously as the brand is in comparison to RAW.

If AJ Styles were also to conquer his latest rival in Samoa Joe, then the problems currently simmering under the surface will explode for Smackdown. The blue brand is chugging along just about fine thanks to some exciting competitors driving tepid stories.

Yet there's the threat of a bubble bursting for the brand due to two disparate but equally threatening issues.

The first as aforementioned is a symptom of the AJ Styles title reign and that is the consistent lack of main event heels in the Smackdown scene. Sure they have Randy Orton and The Miz, but who's to say those two don't go the way of Shinsuke Nakamura and possibly Samoa Joe during AJ's title reign?

(Side Note: Who imagined complaints about an AJ Styles WWE Title reign?)

AJ Styles second WWE title reign might be lacking but for many, it's still an unbelievable dream come true

Apart from this WWE is looking at heels on the bottom tier from Andrade Almas to the newly minted Aiden English. There's a vacuüm on a strong mid-card because the heels have no one to play with.

Which brings us to the major point in Smackdown's sustainability. The brand lacks compelling and capable babyfaces. While Smackdown might not have a dearth of heels, but ones who can conveniently be in the main event. Smackdown is bereft of any babyfaces to keep the mid-card and upper-card churning.

To clarify this, the brand doesn't have enough faces to counter the number of heels. This consistent downturn is what has caused a stagnation for the likes of lower placed heels such as Andrade Almas and Shinsuke Nakamura.

At the same time, it is what forces the WWE to look to extending this AJ Styles title reign since there are few credible chasers to take center stage.

Daniel Bryan has been typically neutered by the WWE, since his much-publicized return to the ring

WWE cannot continuously have Styles chase the championship without a win and it has been some time since they allowed titles to trade back and forth between individuals. They also know it isn't the right time to pay off a Daniel Bryan title reign if there's a right time at all. Jeff Hardy is too banged up to do the job while Rusev has been treated as too much of a joke to warrant it.

At the same time, continuous stretches of Styles feuds has seen Nakamura's credibility go down the drain. Samoa Joe looks like a threat but their rivalry is eerily following the same beats as the one with Nakamura.

The Miz could be the next challenger, as could Randy Orton but giving away both feuds in the span of a few months before Wrestlemania might feel tedious. Even though it is such a WWE thing to do.

This leaves out Nakamura's US Title reign in the cold and Almas's chances of being elevated, far from possible at this point. The MVP of NXT has barely reached the main card of a PPV, since his elevation.

The draft is far away, for Smackdown to fill its ranks with credible top-tier faces just yet.

So what then is the solution to this problem causing a cesspool of repetitive feuds on the blue brand?

If rumors are believed, then it is the indication of a Rey Mysterio return to the brand that he became synonymous with. Newsfeeds are abuzz with the idea that Rey Mysterio will face Shinsuke Nakamura for the United States championship at WWE Crown Jewel.

A revived Mysterio could now revive the passions of a clearly bored and bothered Nakamura

If this is true, then at least the Smackdown roster will have found a plug to fix the hole in their roster for the better. Mysterio's addition to the Smackdown unit even on a part-time basis will give the brand a much-needed boost.

It will add a rival for Nakamura and especially Almas to contest with, also adding to Orton's rhetoric of "destroying fan favorites" and provide AJ Styles an exciting dream match challenge.

A floater, Mysterio can easily partake in any position on the card. This makes him the ideal fit for the Smackdown brands drained mid-card and upper-card scene. While there's no question about him adding star power to a brand currently bereft of any.

Sure this could just as easily be better utilized and help the burgeoning 205 Live brand, but I'm sure it's self-contained universe is far more helpful than a Mysterio dominance. Mysterio could effectively push 205 Live into the mainstream but he will also drain the brand of its long-term success. He'd just become another part-timer leeching on a brand that doesn't need the burden.

Rey Mysterio is soon set to return to WWE and it'll be a hell of a time to have him back. If he is on Smackdown, his natural environment then imagine not just what he could do for the brand but the matches he'd have in store.

Dream matches against the likes of Daniel Bryan, AJ Styles, Andrade Almas, Samoa Joe, and Shinsuke Nakamura are the ones that could propel the brand to infamy with a new Smackdown Six to rule the roost.

To that, all we can say is booyaka, booyaka!

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