Rey Mysterio just accepted another championship match on RAW. Hours later, he admitted he’s finally started wondering how much longer he wants to keep doing this.
Speaking on WWE Now after the August 10 episode of RAW, Mysterio was asked about his future following the recent in-ring retirements of fellow WWE veterans including AJ Styles and John Cena. For the first time, Rey admitted retirement has become something he’s actively wrestling with himself.
“Man, I honestly, most recently have been battling with, ‘Is it getting close to my time to retire?’ I certainly don’t feel like I am. Like my body is saying, ‘Okay, now it’s time.’ And I always like to listen to my body.”
That’s the strange position Mysterio finds himself in right now. He’s already in the WWE Hall of Fame and has increasingly taken on responsibilities outside the ring, including serving as AAA General Manager. Rey said he’s enjoying watching younger wrestlers rise through lucha libre, even if it means accepting that some of the opportunities he once would’ve received now belong to somebody else.
“I am enjoying the position of being AAA’s GM and seeing young rising stars come up in the game. But at the end of the day it’s like, man, I really enjoy what I do on every level. Obviously I enjoy wrestling a lot more than being behind the cameras, but I do understand that opportunities are very little and there’s others that are going to come before me right now because it’s time to make—or to give—the spotlight to other superstars, especially in the lucha libre world.”
None of that means Rey is ready to disappear. If anything, RAW showed exactly how much he still wants to compete. Chad Gable approached Mysterio after praising Penta’s performance and Rey’s work with AAA, before calling the ongoing tournament one of the coolest things he’d seen in a long time. Gable then offered to defend his Intercontinental Championship against the man he called the greatest luchador of all time.
Rey’s answer was simple: he still has plenty left in the tank. He accepted. That makes his comments after RAW hit a little differently. Mysterio isn’t mapping out some elaborate retirement tour or counting down a predetermined number of matches. He doesn’t even know when the end will come.
“So I am okay with that. And I think as far as tapping out, you know, never say never, but it can just pop up one day just out of nowhere and say, ‘Okay, now it’s time.’”
For now, that day isn’t here. Rey Mysterio may finally be thinking about retirement, but he’s also staring down another championship opportunity. Whenever his body finally tells him it’s over, Rey sounds prepared to listen. Until then, Chad Gable has a challenger.
How much longer do you think Rey Mysterio should continue wrestling, and would you like to see him get another championship run before he calls it a career? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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