Rey Mysterio has reportedly not signed a new WWE contract; Update on AEW move and more
Rey Mysterio's WWE status is one of the biggest talking points in the pro wrestling community.
Dave Meltzer provided all the latest updates on Rey Mysterio's current situation in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter. As of last week, Mysterio had reportedly still not signed a new WWE contract. His current one is coming to an end soon, and while Meltzer didn't expect him to leave, there is no confirmation on whether or not Mysterio will extend his stay in the company.
One of the key aspects, as noted by Meltzer, is Rey Mysterio's concern about his son Dominick's future. The idea is that Rey Mysterio does not want to upset the WWE officials as it could negatively affect his son's WWE career.
WWE, at the moment, is reportedly not handing out monetary raises and that could possibly influence its contract negotiations with Mysterio. The Master of the 619 is on a lucrative deal because WWE shelled out a lot of money to lure him back as they 'very badly' didn't want him working with New Japan Pro Wrestling in the past.
Rey Mysterio signed an 18-month contract at the end of 2018 before AEW came into existence, with the idea that now would have been the perfect time to be a free agent. That, however, has turned out to be the exact opposite as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced WWE to make many unforeseen financial cuts.
Will AEW be interested in signing Rey Mysterio?
Meltzer stated that AEW may still be interested in signing Rey Mysterio as he was featured in the main event of the 'All In' show in 2018. WWE had tried to stop Mysterio from appearing at 'All In', but the Hispanic Superstar told the company that he couldn't back out after committing to working at the show organized by Cody and The Young Bucks.
Dave Meltzer speculated that the economics for AEW have changed as well given the testing circumstances but that does not mean that Tony Khan and co. won't offer Mysterio big money if they wish to get him on board. However, the lack of live gates and the dependence on TV money would make it difficult for AEW to offer Mysterio a 7-figure sum.
Meltzer ended by noting that the Seth Rollins angle on the most recent episode of RAW could either lead to Mysterio returning to work a programme with The Monday Night Messiah, or, it could be WWE's way of following the Matt Hardy playbook to write Mysterio off TV.