wrestling / Columns

The Contentious Ten 08.23.10: Top 10 Rey Mysterio Matches

August 23, 2010 | Posted by Aaron Hubbard

Welcome once again; last week brought an issue to mind that I think I should address. I knew when I took up this column that I was opening up a chance for disagreement, and decided that I would never make it my goal to create official or definitive top ten lists, because wrestling quality is arbitrary. My main goal with this column is to provide you with great wrestling to coincide with the writing, so that if nothing else you can enjoy the wrestling. That’s my policy and I think it has worked fairly well.

Therefore, I intentionally seek out matches on Youtube and Dailymotion in their entirety to include on the lists (I don’t trust other video sites, they’ve fragged one of my computers already). I searched for a good half-hour for the Hard Justice Last Man Standing Match between Angle and AJ, which I wanted to put on the list, but could find nothing. Considering Angle has so many other great matches, I decided to find one with complete video that was also worthy of mention, and left AJ-Angle in the honorable mentions. I make exceptions in certain cases, but I always try to have the best presentation possible, so if I can’t find a video of it, it probably won’t make the top ten. This is an example of what I mean by “various reasons” in the Honorable Mentions section.

Honorable Mentions:
Matches that deserved to be on the list but for various reasons didn’t make it.
Rey Misterio, Jr. vs. Psychosis, Hardcore TV 10.17.95; Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton, Smackdown 06; Rey Misterio, Jr. vs. Jushin Liger, Starrcade 1996; Rey Mysterio & Edge vs. Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle, No Mercy 2002*

* Watching this match gave me the desire to do this list this week, but to avoid being redudant, it is omitted from this week’s list. For the video and my thoughts on it, check out last week’s column.

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Rey Mysterio vs. Kurt Anglesize=6>
Summer Slam 2002size=4>


When Rey Mysterio entered WWE in 2002, I was both excited and nervous. I was six years old when I first saw Mysterio (then wrestling as Rey Misterio, Jr.) in WCW, and he was one of the first wrestlers who truly blew me away with his athleticism. You will see that period represented often on this list. So I knew how special Mysterio was, I just wasn’t sure if he could duplicate his success in the WWE. This match removed all of my doubts. Mysterio was immediately thrown into the upper mid-card of Smackdown against Kurt Angle, giving the Olympic Gold Medalist fits leading up to this match. This was Mysterio’s first real big chance to prove that he was a major player, and he delivered in spades. Angle adapted to Rey’s offense perfectly, and this served as the perfect opener for what turned out to be a tremendous Summer Slam.

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Rey Misterio, Jr. vs. Dean Malenkosize=6>
Cruiserweight Championship Match, Monday Nitro 07/08/96size=4>


See, told you WCW would show up on this list. This match is one of several fantastic encounters between Malenko and Mysterio from 1996, but this holds special significance as Rey won his first Cruiserweight Championship in this match, a title that he would come to define. Also of note is that this was right after the historic Bash at the Beach event where the nWo was formed; needless to say, the eyes of the wrestling world were on WCW on this Monday Nitro, and the first thing they gave us was a great wrestling match and a title victory for Mysterio. Despite only being in the company for a month, Rey was a fundamental part of their programming during WCW’s hottest periods, and he deserved that push.

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Rey Misterio, Jr. vs. Ultimo Dragonsize=6>
Cruiserweight Championship Match, Hog Wild 1996size=4>



Rey Mysterio’s third WCW PPV appearance, and his third outstanding PPV performance. This marked the WCW debut of The Ultimo Dragon, and these two gave us an outstanding showcase of their abilities. I’ve heard complaints about Dragon not pinning Mysterio after hitting several big moves in this match, but I actually feel it is too the match’s benefit. Dragon was a legend and was making his American debut. He figured Mysterio would be a cakewalk and decided to show off all of his arsenal instead of going for the win when he should have, and in the end it cost him the match. Hog Wild ’96 is an underrated show in my opinion, but it featured one of my least favorite crowds, as they didn’t seem to care about anything but Hogan. Through their effort and their ability, Mysterio and Dragon forced that crowd to respect this match.

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Rey Mysterio & Billy Kidman vs.
Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas
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WWE Tag Team Championship, Vengeance 2003size=4>



Rey is one of those rare wrestlers who is just as good as a tag team wrestler as he is as a singles wrestler, resulting in some of my favorite makeshift teams, including teams with Eddie, RVD, Edge and of course this one with Billy Kidman. Just for reference, while everybody talks about the great “Smackdown Six” era in the fall of 2002 (and justifiably so), Smackdown was still great in 2003. Part of the reason is that, aside from a few ridiculous storylines involving McMahon’s, it was a “pro wrestling show”, focusing on delivering a great in-ring product featuring talented wrestlers. A match like this can be easily forgotten, as three of the four are just blips in wrestling history, but it shows the depth of talent that was around at the time. Four tremendous wrestlers were given the time and leeway to have a great match, and the result is one of the unsung gems of 2003 and the best match on what was a very good PPV debut for Smackdown!

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Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrerosize=6>
Tag Team Champion vs. Tag Team Champion, Wrestlemania 21size=4>


Just thinking about this match makes me miss 2005. That year was really the last year WWE had so much world class talent that you could put a match like this as the opener and justify it because the rest of the card is equally stacked. This was something of an appetizer for what was a tremendous feud between Rey and Eddie in 2005 (if you forget about that whole Dominic thing…), but in my opinion it blew those matches out of the water. This is one of my favorite Eddie Guerrero performances because he treads the fine line between desperate babyface and turning heel to perfection. This match has the kind of great scientific and high flying wrestling you don’t see in today’s WWE, and the subtle storytelling that you rarely see in anything. An outstanding match that is often overshadowed by the phenomenal MITB Ladder Match and Angle vs. Michaels, but it is here for you to enjoy.

The Mid-Column Mini-Column:
Appreciate What You Have Now, Because It Might Not Be There Tomorrow
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This is something I wanted to write about last week, but the column went a little longer than I expected. I’ve never been one to blindly praise anything TNA does, but I’ve never been one to ignore anything they do that is worthy of praise. Recently, we the viewers were treated to a five-match series between two excellent young tag teams, The Motor City Machine Guns and Beer Money. Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, James Storm and Robert Roode gave us five outstanding television matches, and their last one, a 2/3 Falls match, was one of the best matches I’ve seen this year, PPV or otherwise. Unfortunately, whenever I find something that I truly enjoy in wrestling (a rarity these days), I can always count on the negative nancies and the “experts” that think that just because they can type the word “psychology” that they understand what it means to kill that enjoyment for me.

Those readers who bash these matches as “spotfests” piss me off. First off, there is NOTHING wrong with a spotfest. And there is nothing wrong with psychology being as simple as “I’m going to do everything in my power to beat this guy and win the match.” The main goal of any wrestling match is to entertain and excite the audience, to give them a show they will remember and talk about for a long time, so that they will pay money in order to see your product. Therefore, any match that excites and captivates the audience is doing exactly what it is supposed to do. And one of the best ways to excite and engage the audience is by working your tails off to provide fast-paced, innovative, exciting offense that never lets up. That’s a spotfest, and it isn’t a bad thing. Frankly, I’ll take a good TNA spotfest over the dreck that usually shows up on RAW every week. Explain me how “punch, kick, chinlock, slam into ring steps, do the same five moves in the same order I did last week, hit my finisher” amounts to great “psychology” or compelling storytelling. Because all I see when I see that is bad reruns.

I’m not going to get on my high horse and say that you shouldn’t have standards, or that you don’t have the right to voice your opinion. I’ll say, quite plainly, that most wrestling on television today bores me to death, and you can quote me on that. But when something DOES entertain me, especially for an entire month, I expect to be able to enjoy it in peace, without some smart-aleck who doesn’t know what he’s talking about trying to make himself feel better because he can criticize an exciting, entertaining wrestling match. Here’s some advice; when great wrestling shows up, enjoy it and appreciate it, because you never know how long it is going to be before the next great match. If you are so cynical that you can’t simply sit back and enjoy something that is as exciting as what Beer Money and the Machine Guns have given us in the last several weeks, you probably need to stop watching wrestling. Life is too short to watch “entertainment” that doesn’t entertain you.

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Rey Mysterio. vs. John Morrisonsize=6>
Intercontinental Championship Match, Smackdown 09/04/09size=4>





2009 saw an in-ring resurgance for Rey Mysterio after a couple of so-so years. This is a prime example of that, and a great showcase of Mysterio against the next generation of high-flyer in John Morrison. Morrison was on a roll himself, having great match after great match in the spring and summer of 2009. This match is fantastic on many levels, as both men showed uncanny grace and precision, making simple moves look amazing and complicated moves look simple. They were also able to show a sort of heelish aggression, a rare trait from Mysterio that gave this babyface vs. babyface match a competitive intensity. Morrison won the match, but Mysterio reminded everyone that can still go with the best of them when he chooses too. This won 411’s Free TV Match of the Year in a crowded field, and holds up almost a year later.

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Rey Mysterio & Edge vs.
Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit
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WWE Tag Team Championship 2/3 Falls Match, Smackdown 11/05/02size=4>




Whenever a group of guys have a true classic, the other matches, no matter how good, tend to get lost in the shuffle. Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Edge and Rey Mysterio had the Match of the Year at No Mercy, in the tournament finals to crown the first ever WWE Tag Team Champions. That match is one of the best of the decade and really showcases the tremendous talent that was on WWE’s Blue Brand at the time. But what made the Smackdown Six! Era stand out wasn’t just the PPV performances, it was that we got to see PPV-caliber matches every single week on broadcast television. In that sense, perhaps this match, the 2/3 Falls rematch of the No Mercy classic, truly sums up the Smackdown Six! Era best. To think this wasn’t even the best match on TV that year (Eddie vs. Edge from September takes that honor in my humble opinion). This is also Mysterio’s first title victory in WWE, but it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

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Rey Misterio, Jr. vs. Psychosissize=6>
Bash at the Beach 1996size=4>



When the Rey Mysterio 3-Disc DVD set came out a few years ago, I was outraged that this match was not included! Mysterio vs. Psychosis is the feud that made Mysterio’s career; their matches in Mexico, Japan, ECW and WCW gave Rey Mysterio a platform to showcase his amazing talents. In my opinion, this is the best Mysterio vs. Psychosis match, as it was very similar to their incredible match at the Super J Cup 1995 (in the honorable mentions), but had the extra time for them to wrestle a little more in between their signature spots. This match opened a show that would down in infamy due to a certain wrestling icon turning heel at the end of the night, but for it stands out as one of the best openers in wrestling history (something I say a lot about Mysterio matches). This is an essential Mysterio match, and if anyone is unfamiliar with Mysterio, show them this match and they’ll get it.

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Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jerichosize=6>
Intercontinental Championship vs. Mask Match, The Bash 2009size=4>



If anybody wants to say that Rey Mysterio isn’t one of the top performers in the industry TODAY after watching the Morrison match and this one, I will have words. He has lost a step since his prime in WCW, but the step he lost is one that 90% of wrestlers don’t even have, and he can still outperform everyone on the card on any given night. Jericho of course deserves a world of credit for this match as well. Having a great wrestling match is hardly an exact science, and it takes a lot of factors. You have to have two wrestlers who are able to cut a pace that makes their match stand out, while also telling a great story, and then you have to have the skill and luck to pull off everything seemlessly. Beyond that, the crowd has to be receptive to the match you are giving them. This match had all of those factors lined up; I was amazed at how well the multitude of great spots came off in this match, but it kept the narrative going, and the crowd was hot for all of it. An amazing match that unfortunately kind of gets forgotten about since Taker vs. HBK at Wrestlemania 25 pretty much killed Match of the Year talk, but this is right there with it.

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Rey Misterio, Jr. vs. Eddy Guerrerosize=6>
Cruiserweight Championship vs. Mask Match, Halloween Havoc 1997size=4>


For the record, this is my favorite singles match of all time, so it was pretty much a shoe-in to top my list. Much of what I said about the last match can be said about this one; this is one of those rare occasions where everything just clicks. Both men are at their absolute best here; Mysterio provides his amazing high-flying skills and his ability to generate sympathy, while Eddie gives us an outstanding story along with crisp, snug offense that will make you cringe. Eddie’s strategy is to where out the back of Mysterio, and for most of the match he keeps to that tactic and dominates the match. But when he gets cocky and deviates from it, such as pulling away at the mask, Mysterio is able to capitalize on his mistakes and come back in spectacular fashion. There are moves in here that Mysterio has never been able to pull off quite the way he pulled them off here; the springboard backflip DDT in this match is one of the most beautiful moves ever executed. When you add in the stipulations of Mask vs. Title, Mike Tenay explaining the history and sacredness of the mask, and a crowd that is with them every step of the way, you have a virtually perfect match.

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Aaron Hubbard

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