Rey Mysterio on Wrestling Status, 205 Live Struggles, Possible WWE Return

ESPN held a recent interview with Rey Mysterio discussing his current wrestling status, WWE’s struggles with 205 Live, and a possible return to the WWE in the future.

On the topic of his wrestling status, Mysterio stated he is currently a free agent and is not locked to any company at the moment. He mentioned this was one of his main priorities when he left the WWE since it allows him full control over his wrestling schedule.

“I’m not locked up to any company. I’m an independent contractor, as we say. I could go work wherever I want. That’s the beautiful thing about being on this side of the fence. You don’t have a commitment with only one company. You can go around and pretty much wrestle wherever you want. You can choose when you want your off-days to be. That was one of my main priorities when I left WWE.”

On the topic of WWE’s on-going struggles with 205 Live, Mysterio stated the cruiser division should be a lot more popular in the WWE but does not believe the fault lies with the division’s talent. He mentioned a big issue might be the restrictions placed on the division which is limiting its potential for greatness.

“I don’t know [why 205 Live isn’t more popular]. To be honest with you I can scratch my head all day and not figure it out because they do have talent. I don’t know if they’re limited to doing so much in the ring that they don’t go all out versus Lucha Underground. It’s Johnny Mundo versus Rey Mysterio and 15 minutes. We’ll go ahead and tear the house down without limitation. We’ll be coming up with new moves and still trying to innovate the game. With [205 Live] and the comparison with WCW, it was just a different time. Back then, we had no competition. The cruiserweight division had no competition. Nobody was out there doing the stuff we were doing. You have to get really creative now to blow the fans’ minds away. I think it’s gotten to that point where there’s another phase of the evolution of the sport and it’s changing right now as we speak. I see guys like Ricochet. I see guys like Will Ospreay. And I’m going, ‘what the hell, where are these guys coming up with all these moves?’ Sometimes I pause and think, ‘I was like that when I was breaking into the business.’ I was always being creative and thinking of new stuff. We’re in a new era right now. I think if they just let the guys from [205 Live] go a little bit more, feel free to do whatever they want to do, maybe they might get a different reaction. I could be wrong.”

On the topic of a possible return to the WWE in the future, Mysterio stated he would love to have one more run in the company. He feels he owes the WWE and its fans a proper goodbye moment.

“I would definitely love to go back and finish up. Whether it’s one year or whatever the case might be. Whether it’s a farewell. I owe a lot to that company. That company gave me such an amazing opportunity, and I took advantage of every single moment I was with WWE to the fullest. I wouldn’t want to just be remembered as ‘Oh, man, he never re-signed and he never came back.’ I would definitely love to come back and do a last run and say goodbye to my WWE fans. Tell them goodbye in a proper way. I don’t think I can go back [to a full-time schedule]. There’s just no way. I can’t go back to that schedule. It would be common sense for them as well. That was my main motive for stepping away. I wanted to be able to have some free time. I’m still working really hard right now on the independent scene, but I control my schedule. I might get booked three days — Friday, Saturday, Sunday, come home Monday, and the following weekend I don’t have to work. That right there gives me a peaceful state of mind like you have no idea.”