In a shock move, Rey Mysterio departed WWE in early 2015, ending his 13-year association with the sports entertainment giant. Throughout that time, ‘The Biggest Little Man’ was a prominent figure for the duration of his tenure, being a one-time WWE Champion and two-time World Heavyweight Champion.
Mysterio worked three years on the independent circuit before working his way back to WWE in 2018. Working on the indies, the Californian enjoyed success in Lucha Underground and Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide most notably, holding the Trios Championships in both organisations.
Rey Mysterio Needed A Break From WWE
Discussing his decision to leave WWE after so many years as one of its top figures, Rey Mysterio explained to The National that he simply wasn’t physically or mentally in the right place to be in the top wrestling promotion. However, he knew at the time that his departure was only temporary, vying to retire in WWE:
“I left because I was just tired physically, mentally and I just wanted to reconnect with my family. But I always knew that I wanted to come back and I wanted to retire in the WWE. My career was definitely going to end in WWE, no matter what. I never really had any desire to go anywhere else. It has always been the WWE. Now I know the WWE has always been my home.”
Upon his 2018 comeback, Rey Mysterio held the United States Championship twice and the SmackDown Tag Team Championships once, doing so alongside his son Dominik. Dominik recently turned on Rey in favour of joining The Judgement Day, leading the Mysterio patriarch to move back to the SmackDown roster.
He’s next scheduled to challenge GUNTHER for the Intercontinental Championship, a title he has held twice before, on the November 4 Friday Night SmackDown. Spoiler results for the broadcast are available here.