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There's only one guy on weekly WWE television who consistently makes his opponents look even better than John Cena typically makes his opponents look and that is far and away Rey Mysterio. (Daniel Bryan would naturally be right there with them if he were featured as heavily and ceaselessly. One day...) His match with Wade Barrett on Smackdown this week was easily Barrett's best all-around match since his bout with Cena at Hell in a Cell over four months ago. I was watching the latest Smackdown and as I view the visuals of the Mysterio-Barrett match, it hit me so hard why Mysterio is such an important element to the show on a weekly basis, in just one facet of WWE's product. Quite simply, the guy makes WWE's squad of villainous big men look even more villainous and even bigger than they are, and it works. I know this board blasts Rey all the time these days, the backlash from his "Eddie push" or whatever you wish to call it still haunts, and there's those who think that he somehow buries loads of guys, but to me it's the opposite in almost all cases. That's right. Ziggler wasn't buried by Mysterio, it was the first feud he had that made him look legit in the ring and made people sit up and notice him (sure, the Great Khali thing was nice for getting him ever so slightly over as an arrogant heel who wouldn't back down, but the Mysterio feud was the turning point in his progression between the ropes). CM Punk wasn't really buried by Mysterio, either; unfortunately, their feud was poorly booked once they got beyond Wrestlemania, if anyone remembers, and as WWE has shown us again and again (still holding out hope for the Corre, which actually has potential as a stable on Smackdown these days), they just don't know how to book stables, so the SES looked weak against Rey (and then Big Show), but it's not Mysterio's fault that the writers are chronically incompetent.
No, Mysterio's bumping and Mysterio getting his ass kicked, and Mysterio countering big man moves in midair is the bread and butter for today's primary audience that WWE is reaching out towards. A friend of mine teaches part-time at a Bay Area, CA grade school and on Saturday the school had a basketball game. He noted that almost every kid on the team was talking about Wade Barrett/Rey Mysterio and how Rey took it to Barrett but "Barrett's just so big and bad and nasty."
Point is, we can make fun of the current product, and we can say that we don't like Mysterio's part but the fact is he plays an extremely important part these days, probably as important as anybody who isn't John Cena himself. The guy could almost carry a Lexmark printer to a *** television match in about six minutes.
And on this week's Smackdown, the audience appreciated just how menacing a figure Wade Barrett is in a visceral way (beyond conconcted storylines, which definitely serve their own purpose when well-executed) since the salad days of the original Nexus/Cena angle over on Raw. The fact that Justin Gabriel distracted Mysterio does nothing to take away from Barrett's victory. Barrett, Gabriel and The Corre as an entity are mercenary heels out for their own collective (and individual) agenda(s), and fit the template of heels not cheating because they necessarily have to, but because they want to, and because they want a sure thing every time they can possibly get it.
And a quick point to the obvious counter point that losing to such a small guy hurts the other guy's credibility. This may be reverse psychology, but look at it from a purely kayfabe perspective. The only way such a small guy's victories over much larger opponents can even vaguely look optically credible from an instinctual perspective is to make the smaller man seemingly invulnerable against the "average" opponent. In other words, you have to pour a lot of credibility to Mysterio first, before anyone can look "good," because otherwise logic dictates that it doesn't mean much for the bigger man to beat the little guy since he's a little guy anyway and if the little guy wins, it doesn't make sense--in other words, if a man as small as Mysterio is to be as heavily featured as he is in the main event mix, tangling with large, imposing figures such as McIntyre, Barrett, Kane, Undertaker, et. al., you have to make it a clear point to your viewing audience that he belongs there and then some. And like it or not, through his own push WWE has succeeded in doing just that with its audience, and by succeeding, they have allowed others to conversely look good by defeating him (think of how hot Alberto Del Rio became by the close of his debut night when he made Rey weakly tap out to his submission).
In closing, Rey Mysterio receives a ton of hate here, lots of almost apparent apathy, and, yes, a kind of taking for granted by many. But he's still one of the best guys out there, banged up, broken-down, heavier, less agile than he once was... Yet he's still able to be instrumental in mapping out and executing a terrific match from bell to bell, constructing wonderful storytelling with his opponent almost every time out when given some time in which to do so, and, from a brass tacks meat and potatoes viewpoint, incongruously making his opponents (such as Barrett this week) look like the proverbial million bucks.
If you're watching through the jaded, seen-it-all, "Well, this is how the match is supposed to go, because Guy A benefits more if Scenario E unfolds, but Guy B has to look strong regardless," outlook, well, sure, we can see the strings, but even then I think we should be able to appreciate Mysterio's work and talents. If you're one of those first, second or third grade kids sitting on the bench in a school gym half an hour before the game starts, though, what Rey Mysterio does for WWE is nearly invaluable and has to be appreciated, and, at least, respected.
No, Mysterio's bumping and Mysterio getting his ass kicked, and Mysterio countering big man moves in midair is the bread and butter for today's primary audience that WWE is reaching out towards. A friend of mine teaches part-time at a Bay Area, CA grade school and on Saturday the school had a basketball game. He noted that almost every kid on the team was talking about Wade Barrett/Rey Mysterio and how Rey took it to Barrett but "Barrett's just so big and bad and nasty."
Point is, we can make fun of the current product, and we can say that we don't like Mysterio's part but the fact is he plays an extremely important part these days, probably as important as anybody who isn't John Cena himself. The guy could almost carry a Lexmark printer to a *** television match in about six minutes.
And on this week's Smackdown, the audience appreciated just how menacing a figure Wade Barrett is in a visceral way (beyond conconcted storylines, which definitely serve their own purpose when well-executed) since the salad days of the original Nexus/Cena angle over on Raw. The fact that Justin Gabriel distracted Mysterio does nothing to take away from Barrett's victory. Barrett, Gabriel and The Corre as an entity are mercenary heels out for their own collective (and individual) agenda(s), and fit the template of heels not cheating because they necessarily have to, but because they want to, and because they want a sure thing every time they can possibly get it.
And a quick point to the obvious counter point that losing to such a small guy hurts the other guy's credibility. This may be reverse psychology, but look at it from a purely kayfabe perspective. The only way such a small guy's victories over much larger opponents can even vaguely look optically credible from an instinctual perspective is to make the smaller man seemingly invulnerable against the "average" opponent. In other words, you have to pour a lot of credibility to Mysterio first, before anyone can look "good," because otherwise logic dictates that it doesn't mean much for the bigger man to beat the little guy since he's a little guy anyway and if the little guy wins, it doesn't make sense--in other words, if a man as small as Mysterio is to be as heavily featured as he is in the main event mix, tangling with large, imposing figures such as McIntyre, Barrett, Kane, Undertaker, et. al., you have to make it a clear point to your viewing audience that he belongs there and then some. And like it or not, through his own push WWE has succeeded in doing just that with its audience, and by succeeding, they have allowed others to conversely look good by defeating him (think of how hot Alberto Del Rio became by the close of his debut night when he made Rey weakly tap out to his submission).
In closing, Rey Mysterio receives a ton of hate here, lots of almost apparent apathy, and, yes, a kind of taking for granted by many. But he's still one of the best guys out there, banged up, broken-down, heavier, less agile than he once was... Yet he's still able to be instrumental in mapping out and executing a terrific match from bell to bell, constructing wonderful storytelling with his opponent almost every time out when given some time in which to do so, and, from a brass tacks meat and potatoes viewpoint, incongruously making his opponents (such as Barrett this week) look like the proverbial million bucks.
If you're watching through the jaded, seen-it-all, "Well, this is how the match is supposed to go, because Guy A benefits more if Scenario E unfolds, but Guy B has to look strong regardless," outlook, well, sure, we can see the strings, but even then I think we should be able to appreciate Mysterio's work and talents. If you're one of those first, second or third grade kids sitting on the bench in a school gym half an hour before the game starts, though, what Rey Mysterio does for WWE is nearly invaluable and has to be appreciated, and, at least, respected.
