A former WWE official who worked on an infamous Rey Mysterio squash match has spoken out about why the bout ended up so short and one-sided.
Given his lengthy and successful WWE tenure, it’s no surprise that the Hall of Famer has had a number of standout moments at WrestleMania over the years. From his World Title triumph at WrestleMania 22 to capturing the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 25 and defeating his son Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 39, Mysterio has an impressive list of Mania moments. However, in 2019, one match took place that the former World Champion would like to forget.
In one of 16 matches that took place at WrestleMania 35, Mysterio put the United States Championship on the line against Samoa Joe. With both men being seasoned veterans at that point, fans were hoping for something special given the calibre of both performers. However, 58 seconds after the bell rang, Joe defeated Mysterio by submission in a squash match to become the new champion in one of the shortest matches in Mania history. Given the shock result, many fans were not happy with what took place that night.
Mike Chioda Tells The Story Behind Sudden Rey Mysterio Loss
former WWE referee was the assigned official for the match between Mysterio and Joe at WrestleMania 35. Discussing the match on his Monday Mailbag podcast, Chioda first recalled being told that the match time had been cut drastically:
“The match went down from 15 to 12 or something, and then 12 to something like nine or eight. And when I got in the ring, and Rey Mysterio was just about on his entrance, they said you gotta go home. As soon as Rey and Joe gets in the ring, you gotta go home. You have two minutes.”
Continuing, Chioda noted that Mysterio was shocked by the change given that no other matches got their time cut that night:
“It was literally like a two or three, four minute match, man, and he just squashed Rey pretty much, and boom, and won. And I know Rey was stunned, shocked, because they didn’t take off anybody else’s match during the show basically, you know… These people went long and they didn’t b*tch at them, and all of a sudden they just pull the last second, you know, man. And I was like, ‘Are you f**king kidding me, Billy?’ He’s like, ‘you gotta go home.’ As soon as they go in, tell him to get to something, do something, go home. It was a title match too. I think it was a title match.”
Concluding, Chioda stated that although both men got a good payday for Mania, it was not all about the money:
“I mean, I know they’re going to still get a big paycheck and all that, but sometimes, you know, money ain’t there. It’s your pride.”
Recently, Rey Mysterio hit an impressive milestone.
H/t to Wrestling News.co