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2006: The Year Of Rey
February 19, 2006 by Adam "The Adaman" Heap

I recently read a poll on one of my favourite internet wrestling websites which asked the question: Would Rey Mysterio have won the Rumble if not for the death of Eddie Guerrero? Another poll soon followed ? Does Rey Mysterio deserve a WWE or World Title run? And I was shocked. How could people think that?

The answer to the first poll was that 78% percent of the people who voted said no. The second poll returned another negative result ? 67% said no this time. And, as I said before, I was shocked. How could people believe that this little guy didn’t deserve his shot at the championship after so many years in the business? Now, I’ll admit ? I’ve always stood up for wrestlers in my articles; never put them down even once. I took my place behind Batista when people said he couldn’t do his part, and even though Edge should have had a longer title reign, I went for Cena to win the match. Rey is no different.

In July 2002, Rey Mysterio came to the WWF wearing his mask once more (he hadn’t been wearing it for a while back in WCW). He quickly went on to become a huge star with all his talent. He won the Tag Titles first, however, and made an impact there before gaining the Cruiserweight Title a little while later. Note that in his whole life, Rey has never held anything more than a Tag Title or a Light Heavyweight Title.

Now look at him. He’s faced off against the biggest and the baddest wrestlers of them all. He consistently pestered Kurt Angle - the wrestling machine - at the very beginning of his career. Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Big Show, the late Eddie Guerrero and JBL ? he’s faced them all at one point or another. He even lasted out against the favourite to win the Rumble ? Triple H.

But rumours are running rampant through the internet audiences. People are saying that Randy will have another go for the championship instead of Rey. Let’s think about it ? as far as I can remember, the winner of the Royal Rumble gets a shot at the Championship of their choice. Now, very few times has the WWE Title or the World Heavyweight Title not changed hands at WrestleMania. And if that’s true, then Rey may have just missed out on his shot at championship gold.

Rey can go up against anyone, wherever or whatever the stipulation. It’s sort of the situation RVD is in. Now that is one thing I’d like to see ? Rob Van Dam as the WWE Champion and Rey Mysterio as the World Heavyweight Champion. He has so many opponents he can go up against ? my main thought would go to Batista whenever or wherever he returns. Batista, like Cena, makes an excellent heel. I’d love to see Batista as a heel once more. Other than that, we have Booker T, or if Mr. McMahon has his way, then Mr. Kennnnnnnnnnnnnnedy can get his monster push against Rey.

Well, Obsessees, I sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed my views on Rey and my high hopes for him this year. And trust me, it will be his year, and he will be champion before the year is out. I know, like the polls say, that you may believe Eddie’s death did contribute to Rey’s Rumble win, and you may believe that he doesn’t deserve his title shot. Well, all respect to you people out there, but Rey deserves this more than any other man in that locker room (besides Angle, who also deserves his title). So, once more, thanks for the replies to my previous column, and I’ll look forward to your replies, good or bad, for this one.

by Adam "The Adaman" Heap ..

Kev Skelton wrote:
First off i would like to say i think that using Eddie to further his carrer is in poor taste (then again Eddie may have wanted it that way)

but to say rey is worthy of a WWE title i gotta say no way man. Personally i dont like the way he always gets to win when clearly it's not deserved. to me being WWE champ should mean you are one of the best in the world but rey isn't even the best Cruiserweight, Juventud (the juice) is more talented in the ring and never got a push, and Essa Rios who is more talented than both hardly got off heat, i don't understand why rey gets a huge push and Essa, Juventud, Ultimo Dragon etc get nothing. I understand that you are a Rey fan an i respect that in everyone has an opinion. but come on fella how many times did they make Eddie lose to him in a row (one of the worst feuds ever) i think he should stick to being a mid card star and be glad of it because he is nothing special.

Pedro Falcon wrote:
I would have to disagree with Kev. Rey is one of a kind, just like RVD. He brings something different and new to this business. He is one of the top wrestlers and part of the top of Mexican wrestlers. He is so different from other cruiserweights because he can wrestle with anybody. He can wrestle with a lightweight like Psicosis, to a big man like the great Brock Lesnar. It would be a dream match if he faced some of those guys of the X devision of TNA. I this it is crap that he doesn’t get a chance to wrestle for the title at wrestlemanina. Rey and Angle would have had a great match. But, I tihink that Rey and Angle will fight for the title later this year. Yeah, a lot of people aare upsest that WWE gave the title shot to Randy. But, who to say that Rey will win. I don’t think he should win the title back. Angle is at the top of his game and he is the best heavywight champion right now. He should keep the title for a long time. But, it still sucks that Rey is not getting that chance. After the death of Eddie, we have notice a lot of things changing in this bussniess. A lot of the story lines are very wried and out of place. I do also think that this is Rey’s year. I would of thought he would have jumped to RAW and face Cena. Rey is a superstar and a main eventer. In my book, he is a real champion.

Kevin Luu wrote:
It’s quite possible that Rey could have won the rumble match regardless of Eddie’s passing. WWE must have contemplated the idea of Rey potentially winning the rumble by putting him in the last 4 in 2005 to see the crowd reaction. You need ‘star quality’ to have a chance to win the rumble and Rey definitely has that.

Rey definitely should have held the US title a long time ago. He would certainly have given that belt a lot more credibility just like Benoit has and will. Orlando Jordan and Booker T were bad ideas. However, I’m undecided if Rey will get a legitimate world title shot. But who am I to say he doesn’t deserve it? If Rey doesn’t win the big one in the future then it was a waste of a rumble match that could’ve gone to RVD or Orton.

It’s official, Orton has defeated Rey for his title shot at Mania. Not all hope is lost though. Ever since rumble winners started headlining Mania only one man has not gone on to capture a WWE world title at some stage in their career and that was Lex Luger (who co-won Bret’s rumble), but even he was world champ elsewhere. Then again WWE could surprise us for once and Rey could jump to RAW and face Cena and HHH in a triple threat for the WWE title, who knows?

Bjoern Asprem wrote:
Ehh.. saying that Rey doesn't deserve the World Title is OK in itself. He is by far the smallest guy ever to be even considered for the title, and it is quite far-fetched that he can hang with the likes of JBL and Batista. But to say that Juventud and Essa Rios is better than Rey? Please, the Juice is one of the sloppiest cruisers around, he constantly botches moves, and his inflated ego backstage was the reason why he was fired from the WWE.

When he calls himself "the Rock of Mexico", and honestly believes Vince's comment about making him World Champion was true, he has a self-esteem that quite surpasses the reality.

goodxxgod wrote:
When I asked my brother about his thoughts on Rey Mysterio going to Wrestlemania to challenge for the WWE Title he responded "He's just a cruiserweight". This kind of shocked me. Yes Rey IS a Cruiserweight but what does that have to do with him not having a chance to go to Wrestlemania for a shot at the WWE Title. Shawn Michaels is a "Cruiserweight". Hell even Randy Savage could qualify (well maybe) as a cruiserweight. My brother based his judgements on Rey due to his stature and the internet rumblings about what would happen and as usual WWE didn't fail to disappoint.

I always thought this time of year was for Shocks and surprises. My pick for the Royal Rumble (my favourite WWE event you can be sure) was Rob Van Damn but I have to say I was just as happy when Rey Mysterio won the Royal Rumble. Could you imagine it? Rey Mysterio going up against Kurt Angle!? Considering Kurt's recent World Heavyweight Title win I guarantee that match would have went either way and even if Rey did lose THAT would have been a Main Event to remember. Alas it isn't meant to be or if it is, they are fooling us.

You see this debacle (oh yes it was a debacle) that occured at No Way Out has Randy Orton going for the title and why? Is it because he was "the youngest World Champion" in history? I have never gotten WWE's insistence to push guys no more than 2 or 3 years in the business to the top in such a short time while other capable wrestler who are clearly over with the fans, happen to languish in mid-card obscurity. Hell it's happening to Chris Benoit right now.

No offense to Orton fans, but in my view I think Rey Mysterio and Kurt Angle would have been as Tazz would describe a "rocket-buster" of a match. Either way in my opinion fans would have been happy and it would have been a real back and forth match up because we all know that both Kurt and Rey can work. In the end we all would have been winners. Now however we have to put up with Randy Orton getting the shot. It's clear that NOBODY will want Orton to capture the title at Wrestlemania. I'll give Orton his credit, for as much as I hate him he does his job well as a heel but I figure why not go with the surprise? Why not keep us in suspense? They sure had us fooled when Rey won the Royal Rumble, considering I know alot of people who picked Orton to win it.

Now unfortunately they are going with plans that have been predicted for months now. Hell I could have even understood Randy challenging Rey for his WM spot, but I don't believe he deserved to have it taken away from him. Sure he was bolstered to the top with "the help of Eddie Guerrero" and that was a gamble that payed off. Or atleast in my mind it did, since Rey has been busting his ass for how many years to be finally given this oppurtunity. Fans seemed to want to see that, the unpredictablity was there. It was great, but now not so much....I'm just hoping there is a second chance for Rey, that the sun hasn't fully gone down on his WM Main Event spot. Hopefully maybe, Rey will either get another chance to get his spot back OR he will be included into the match. WWE can still save Wrestlemania from the predictable card it's become....well this year anyways.

Caine McDermott wrote:
Lets face it.... Rey Mysterio's Royal Rumble win should be overlooked completely, for it was nothing other than a comment on Eddie Guerrero's tombstone. If Rey Mysterio truely deserved a world title shot then why did they give away his "rightfully earned" royal rumble shot to Randy "Un-deservant" Orton. The only reason Rey Mysterio won the Royal Rumble, is because Eddie Guerrero (My Hero) passed away. This Royal Rumble will go down as one of the most disrespectful Royal Rumbles in history due to the plain fact that the whole thing was used for nothing more than exploitation of death. Rey Mysterio's win overshadowed the true talent who should have won, ie: Bobby Lashley (Yeah I said it, sue me), Triple H (Yes I said that too), Carlito (I love him, the next Rock, I promise you).

Rey Mysterio should not accept any credit for this at all and he should also give none to Eddie Guerrero, cause I can promise you Eddie is probably rolling over in his grave because of the entire thing. Rey does not have world title talent, if he has any talent at all, and he should quickly be shot down to where the truely talented people are but shouldnt be, the cruiserweight division. Let him feud with firecrackers like Paul London & Brian Kendrick, shoot them up to World title status.. Lord knows they deserve it and lord knows that they have the talent...

Rest in Peace Eddie, if you can

Knight W. wrote:
Let me be the first to agree with you down here in this little comment space. I think it's unfair to judge Rey's ability and sudden push on the fact that it was partly fueled by Eddie's recent death. If you people remember, when the Eddie vs. Batista fued started Rey was the first in line for a title shot. Teddy Long was hinting at Rey the whole time and Palmer Cannon interrupted him and announced Eddie instead. That should tell you that they were always considering Rey for a title shot. The WWE and all the fans have ALWAYS loved Rey and he's put on great matches with the smallest AND the biggest guys not only in the WWE but in the world. Eddie vs. Rey might have been the stupidest and most corny fued ever but that was just a bad soap opera accompanying some of the best matches of the year. Their ladder match was awesome.

Rey has always had the ability. I'm so happy that we're starting to break the 6'5", 280 lb. stereotype of World Champion and ecstatic that it's the most deserving small guy in Rey Mysterio. I hope he wins it and hope even more that Batista does a heel turn and feuds with him over it. Also, I hope that the use of Eddie's name dies off after Wrestlemania. Rey has always been quite capable of standing on his own, thank you very much.

Pauline Knott wrote:
I am glad someone else thinks rey deserves a title run.He has worked harder than 90% of the roster and is one of the few wrestlers who I think could have a exiting match with about anybody.

stilltrae wrote:
This idiot above me has no idea what he's talking about. To say that Rey Mysterio does not deserve a title shot is absurd, but to argue whether or not he deserves is totally different. Anyway, like I was saying, this guy really doesn't understand the whole concept or Rey's push; and to say that Juvi is a better cruiserweight and overall wrestler is absolutely baseless. Juvi has never fought opponents anywhere near the caliber of Mysterio's, in fact Juvi is no where near being as over as Rey, no matter how much he tries, and he probably never will.

So it all comes down this: does Rey Mysterio deserve to WIN the World Heavyweight Championship? Many base the argument of his deserving of the shot in the first place, and I think he has, but not for the same reason as everyone else. They all figure that he deserves to do so because of limited division runs and because of his long career; but if this is true, why didn't Arn Anderson ever win a world title? Maybe if Ric Flair had died, he would have been pushed to that kind of status, and in saying this, I'm not implying that Eddie's death was the sole reason for Rey's world title push, but it certainly did help. The reason I think Rey deserves to get his title is because he BEAT Eddie. In fact, Eddie only held ONE win over Rey. Basically, Rey was able to an undefeated streak over a world champion, and not any world champion: Eddie Guerrero won his title from Brock Lesnar, who had man-handled the Rock in his PPV debut, won against the Undertaker in Hell in the Cell, and carried on a lengthy and memorable feud with the Undertaker; Eddie beat Kurt Angle, a man who simultaneously held the Intercontinental and European Championships, engaged in and overcame feuds with the likes of HHH, Chris Benoit, and Chris Jericho. All these victories Eddie Guerrero had were well into the high points of each of those men's careers, so his credibility as a champion is undeniable. Yet Rey Mysterio toppled Eddie Guerrero and for nearly 6 months remained undefeated against him. I think the WWE should push this kind of info into the fans minds to add credence to Rey's position as a heavyweight contender, rather than some veiled and thinly excused salute to Eddie by pushing Rey. They should have waited and at least pushed Chavo in this case because Chavo could bulk up towards the hoss-type wrestler the WWE is always trying to shove down ppls throats. I think unless the WWE changes the Heavyweights and style its promoting, Rey doesn't need to win to the title because his credibility as champion will sink lower than John Cena's.

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