Rey Mysterio admits shock when WWE fans rejected him
Rey Mysterio is nearing 50 and he is ready to call it a career after spending over two decades in WWE as a beloved babyface. He is already an elite member of the Hall of Fame and perhaps is only looking for the right story and match to close the book of his legendary career.
Despite spending the entirety of his run in the sports entertainment giant as a babyface, The Biggest Little Man experienced a reaction from the live crowd in Philadelphia unlike ever before or since. The incident was at the 2014 Royal Rumble.
The luchador entered the Rumble match at #30 and was immediately booed. The people were evidently upset after expecting Daniel Bryan throughout the night to pull off a surprise entry and win the match. The bout was ultimately won by the returning Batista, another babyface whom the crowd rejected. Speaking to Inside The Ropes recently, Mysterio recounted the moment:
"So I was kind of detached at the time, due to an injury. And when I came back or when I came out as number 30, I didn’t realize at the time what was going on until afterwards, rewatching. And understanding that who they wanted, they didn’t get. So they were booing the writing team, I guess. But overall, it was an experience," Rey Mysterio explained.
The former World Heavyweight Champion continued:
"It’s always good to go through experiences like that where you don’t always have to turn out to be the right person. It’s okay every now and then to be the person that they weren’t expecting. And then eventually, give them the right answer. But again, that’s something WWE has always down. Keep the fans guessing on, what’s going to happen, who’s going to be the next one. And that was one of those nights. I was shocked," Mysterio said. [H/T: WrestleZone]
The atmosphere inside the PPG Paints Arena was really bad, with the WWE Universe voicing their displeasure on social media. The ubiquitous sentiment was negative as it was clear the company originally had no intention of pushing Daniel Bryan.
Rey Mysterio returned to WWE at the Royal Rumble 2018
Rey Mysterio wanted to leave the Stamford-based promotion later in 2014 while taking a lengthy hiatus. On February 26, 2015, WWE officially announced that Rey Mysterio's contract had expired, ending his 13-year tenure with the company. The Master of 619 subsequently worked in AAA and Lucha Underground.
At the Royal Rumble in 2018, the masked man finally returned home, entering the Rumble match at #27. The event was hosted once again in Philadelphia, albeit at Wells Fargo Center. The crowd righted the wrong from four years ago, as the Hall of Famer's comeback was warmly received.
In his career, Rey Mysterio has won the Royal Rumble match once, in 2006. It is in the same contest he made the record of competing in the bout for over an hour.