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Just when you thought that there would be no more headlines from the world of pro wrestling for the remainder of the year, the unthinkable happens completely out of the blue. Andrade defeated Rey Mysterio at MSG and is your brand new United States Champion.
Of course, this is a long overdue win for Andrade and you can read all of the details here. But at the same time, I wonder why Andrade was chosen to defeat Rey Mysterio for the title, considering that Mysterio just won the Championship recently.
So, with that in mind, here is why I believe that the title change happened at MSG. Let me know if you agree or disagree with my thoughts in the comments section below!
And also, happy new year to one and all.
#5 Andrade was long overdue for a big victory
Andrade has been one of the most consistent performers in the WWE roster ever since he arrived in NXT. Not only did he become the Champion of the brand in due time, but he would also put on a series of classics with Rey Mysterio that would be hailed by many as some of the best WWE matches of this generation. And yet, he wouldn't win his first major WWE Championship until some time ago.
While he has had many a push in the past, none of them seemed to go all the way in my personal opinion and a title win was long overdue. This was the biggest thing that Andrade could have won, in any case, considering that he's not a tag team Superstar and more importantly, Brock Lesnar isn't around for him to become the WWE Champion.
Team Sportskeeda congratulates Andrade on his huge and long-awaited win at MSG! May he rule long.
#4 Rey Mysterio does not need a Championship
There is an entire generation of Superstars who've grown up idolizing Rey Mysterio. And it's not even male Superstars only. Female stars like Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss have often said in the past that they were huge fans of Rey Mysterio growing up. I think it's fair to say that Rey Mysterio will certainly enter the WWE Hall of Fame someday in the distant future.
My point is that someone who's had the career that Rey Mysterio has does not need the title. Andrade, on the other hand, may be a familiar face to those who watch the WWE product, but is hardly in the same league as Rey Mysterio. He may get there someday, but it's still an uphill climb for the promising wrestler.
I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Andrade needed the title far more than Rey Mysterio.
#3 So that Rey Mysterio can focus on the feud with Seth Rollins
So, Seth Rollins has embraced the darkness in him and gone over to the dark side, allying with Akam and Rezar AKA The AoP. It is very clear that Rey Mysterio and Kevin Owens are at odds with this trio.
To even the numbers, I'm guessing that Samoa Joe will also be inserted into the mix. This is a program with enough heat that does not need a Championship, and I'm guessing that this may even be highlighted more than the US Championship picture.
As the central storyline on RAW in the absence of Brock Lesnar, Rey Mysterio had to relinquish the Championship and get into his extremely heated feud. Who knows... if Andrade is to split from Zelina Vega, he may even turn face and join the good fight with Rey Mysterio!
But I don't think that's the best course of action for Andrade, and instead, the following point is...
#2 To elevate brand new babyfaces on RAW
Now that Andrade is your brand new United States Champion, he can effectively also elevate a whole lot of babyfaces on WWE RAW. The first name that comes to mind is Ricochet, who could certainly benefit from being in the title picture in the coming weeks. But someone like Rusev could also have great matches with Andrade.
Rusev needs to prove that he is the real deal and he could certainly do so by defeating Andrade for the US Championship. Andrade could also, during the course of his reign, have great matches with the likes of Aleister Black and Cedric Alexander for the title. There are so many underutilized individuals on the roster who could do with a United States Championship program.
Andrade has been in the roster long enough and can cheat to win, so as to not make his opponents look weak.
#1 To showcase that just about anything can happen at a WWE Live Event
A lot of us attend a WWE Live Event with the knowledge that nothing significant is going to happen at the show. We generally know that we're going to get a lot of fun entrances, some good matches, but no real storyline developments for the duration of the said show.
And this is why WWE likes to mix things up at a Live Event, every once in a while with a big title change. Even though MSG does not qualify as a typical Live Event per se, it reminds the WWE Universe that anything can happen at a WWE show.
Not very long ago, AJ Styles won the US Championship at MSG. This happened in 2017 when he beat the Champion Kevin Owens for the title.
What a shocker from WWE's booking think-tank to close out the big event!
