Rey Mysterio's Definitive 10 Best WWE Matches, Ranked

July 16, 2024

Rey Mysterio is unquestionably one of the best luchadores in wrestling history. After making a name for himself all over the world in the 1990s and becoming one of WCW's best cruiserweights, Rey finally arrived in WWE in 2002.

10 Wrestlers Rey Mysterio Surprisingly Never Faced In A Major Match

Rey Mysterio is one of the biggest WWE and WCW names of the past 30 years, yet somehow he never faced these wrestlers in a major match.

Against all odds, Mysterio eventually broke the proverbial glass ceiling and went way beyond the cruiserweight division, becoming a three-time WWE World Champion and WWE Hall of Famer competing against some of the biggest stars in history. Here are Mysterio's ten best WWE matches, ranked.

To learn more about how we rank wrestling matches on TheSportster, please check out our match ranking criteria guide here.

10 Rey Mysterio Vs. Jack Swagger - World Heavyweight Championship (Money In The Bank 2010)

Overall Rating From TheSportster: 8/10

Storytelling	1.75/2.5
Technical Ability	2/2.5
Character Work/Psychology	2.25/2.5
Crowd Reaction	2/2.5

Dave Meltzer's Rating: 4 Stars
Cagematch.net Rating: 7.29

Everyone has talked about how bad Jack Swagger's run as World Heavyweight Champion was. Make no mistake about it, the reign was terrible and Swagger was booked poorly, but people seem to forget an underrated match he had with Rey Mysterio during that time.

Just one month after losing the gold to The Master Of The 619 at the Fatal 4 Way pay-per-view, Swagger had his one-on-one rematch at Money in the Bank the next month. It was a fantastic match, easily the best of Swagger's career. The finish was inspired by Kurt Angle vs. Eddie Guerrero, with Rey untying his boot before Swagger applied the Ankle Lock, allowing him to escape before winning with a quick hurricanrana.

9 Rey Mysterio Vs. Kurt Angle (SmackDown, February 10, 2005)

Overall Rating From TheSportster: 8/10

Storytelling	1.5/2.5
Technical Ability	2.5/2.5
Character Work/Psychology	2/2.5
Crowd Reaction	2/2.5

Dave Meltzer's Rating: 4 Stars
Cagematch.net Rating: 8.10

Speaking of Angle, Rey Mysterio had some of the best matches early in his WWE career against The Olympic Hero. Both men spent most of their time on SmackDown, and one of those awesome matches happened on the blue brand itself.

As part of a tournament to determine JBL's challenger for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 21, Mysterio and Angle killed it on a unique episode of SmackDown taped in Japan. Angle advanced in the tournament over Mysterio, and would only lose in the finals to John Cena at No Way Out.

8 Rey Mysterio Vs. Andrade (SmackDown LIVE, January 15, 2009)

Overall Rating From TheSportster: 8/10

Storytelling	1.75/2.5
Technical Ability	2.5/2.5
Character Work/Psychology	1.75/2.5
Crowd Reaction	2/2.5

Dave Meltzer's Rating: 4.25 Stars
Cagematch.net Rating: 8.51

Nearly a decade and a half after Mysterio's match with Angle in Japan, the masked superstar had yet another barnburner on SmackDown, this time against the young up-and-comer Andrade.

A little over three months into his second WWE run, Mysterio proved he hadn't missed a beat and had no problem going toe-to-toe with the current generation of athletes. Mysterio put Andrade over in this encounter, and the two would meet many more times over the next year.

7 Rey Mysterio Vs. John Morrison - WWE Intercontinental Championship (SmackDown, September 4, 2009)

Overall Rating From TheSportster: 8/10

Storytelling	1.5/2.5
Technical Ability	2.5/2.5
Character Work/Psychology	2/2.5
Crowd Reaction	2/2.5

Dave Meltzer's Rating: 4.25 Stars
Cagematch.net Rating: 8.76

It should be apparent by now that Rey Mysterio has competed in some of the greatest matches in SmackDown history. As good as the aforementioned matches were, Mysterio's best match on the blue brand happened against the impressive John Morrison in 2009.

Mysterio was suspended due to a WWE Wellness Policy violation and was forced to drop his Intercontinental Championship, but he made the most of the situation. Mysterio and Morrison competed in a breathtaking match, culminating with Morrison hitting Starship Pain for the win and the title.

6 Rey Mysterio Vs. Dominik Mysterio (WrestleMania 39)

Overall Rating From TheSportster: 8.25/10

Storytelling	2.25/2.5
Technical Ability	1.75/2.5
Character Work/Psychology	2/2.5
Crowd Reaction	2.25/2.5

Dave Meltzer's Rating: 4 Stars
Cagematch.net Rating: 7.53

Mysterio is a family man, and some of his most emotional battles had his family members involved, most notably his son Dominik. Ever since Dom made his WWE debut, fans knew a match between the Mysterios was inevitable. After teaming up for two years, Dominik turned on Rey at Clash at the Castle 2022 to begin their feud.

Their story got more and more personal as time progressed, leading up to an emotional roller coaster of a match at WrestleMania 39. Fans were deeply invested into it from start to finish, and while Bad Bunny's involvement in such a personal match was a bit unnecessary, they loved when Rey picked up the win over his arrogant son.

5 Rey Mysterio Vs. Chris Jericho - WWE Intercontinental Championship (Judgment Day 2009)

Overall Rating From TheSportster: 8.25/10

Storytelling	1.75/2.5
Technical Ability	2.25/2.5
Character Work/Psychology	2.25/2.5
Crowd Reaction	2/2.5

Dave Meltzer's Rating: 3.75 Stars
Cagematch.net Rating: 8.27

When people think about the greatest Intercontinental Championship reigns of all time, Rey Mysterio's name rarely comes up. However, Mysterio's best year in WWE in terms of consistency was arguably 2009, with Rey having some fantastic IC Title bouts with the likes of Dolph Ziggler, John Morrison and Chris Jericho.

10 Best Wrestlers Who Beat Chris Jericho For A Championship

Chris Jericho has held so much championship gold throughout his career, losing a lot of those titles to quality opponents.

Mysterio's most notable feud that year was against Jericho. The story slowly progressed as the months went by, with their first encounter at Judgment Day not being as heated as the ones that followed. Regardless, it was a fantastic match from bell to bell, with Mysterio retaining the strap over Jericho.

4 Rey Mysterio Vs. Eddie Guerrero - Ladder Match (SummerSlam 2005)

Overall Rating From TheSportster: 8.25/10

Storytelling	2.25/2.5
Technical Ability	2/2.5
Character Work/Psychology	2/2.5
Crowd Reaction	2/2.5

Dave Meltzer's Rating: 3.5 Stars
Cagematch.net Rating: 7.53

It's no secret how close Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero were. Obviously, their feud over Dominik's custody in 2005 was special to Rey because it involved his family and his best friend. Rey and Eddie had a heated feud throughout 2005, which culminated in a unique Ladder Match over the custody of Dominik at SummerSlam.

The stipulation sounds silly on paper and had everything to be a major flop, but it worked because of the talent involved. After a grueling encounter, Mysterio grabbed the briefcase and walked away the winner.

3 Rey Mysterio Vs. Chris Jericho - No Holds Barred, WWE Intercontinental Championship (Extreme Rules 2009)

Overall Rating From TheSportster: 8.5/10

Storytelling	2/2.5
Technical Ability	2/2.5
Character Work/Psychology	2.25/2.5
Crowd Reaction	2/2.5

Dave Meltzer's Rating: 4 Stars
Cagematch.net Rating: 8.54

As mentioned earlier, Rey Mysterio's feud with Chris Jericho got more personal and intense with each pay-per-view meeting they had. After coming up short at Judgment Day, Jericho was willing to pull out all the stops in order to walk out champion.

That's exactly what the Ayatollah of Rock 'n' Rolla did at Extreme Rules 2009. While he could technically do anything under No Holds Barred rules, Jericho still found a way to get a cheap win. Jericho unmasked Mysterio as he was going for the 619, rolling up Rey to capture his record 9th IC Title.

2 Rey Mysterio Vs. Kurt Angle (SummerSlam 2002)

Overall Rating From TheSportster: 8.5/10

Storytelling	1.75/2.5
Technical Ability	2.5/2.5
Character Work/Psychology	2/2.5
Crowd Reaction	2.25/2.5

Dave Meltzer's Rating: 3.75 Stars
Cagematch.net Rating: 8.30

Mysterio made his WWE debut in the summer of 2002. His first in-ring performance happened against Chavo Guerrero on SmackDown, a solid cruiserweight bout that introduced the exciting Mysterio to WWE fans. Mysterio's first notable feud began shortly afterwards, against former WWE Champion and established main eventer, Kurt Angle.

First 10 WWE Wrestlers To Defeat Rey Mysterio (In Chronological Order)

Who were the first few wrestlers to pin Rey Mysterio in WWE?

The two men opened that year's SummerSlam with a banger. They got 9 minutes from bell to bell, but that didn't stop them from having one of the best matches on the show. Mysterio surprised Angle right from the get-go and took him to the limit, but eventually lost after tapping out to the Ankle Lock.

1 Rey Mysterio Vs. Chris Jericho - Title Vs. Mask, WWE Intercontinental Championship (The Bash 2009)

Overall Rating From TheSportster: 9/10

Storytelling	2.25/2.5
Technical Ability	2.25/2.5
Character Work/Psychology	2.25/2.5
Crowd Reaction	2.25/2.5

Dave Meltzer's Rating: 4.5 Stars
Cagematch.net Rating: 9.27

Rey Mysterio covering his exposed face at Extreme Rules cost him the Intercontinental Championship at Extreme Rules, as we've already discussed. Mysterio was granted his rematch at the next pay-per-view, The Bash, under one condition - he had to put his mask on the line against Jericho's title.

Mysterio accepted and the match was on. Fans were excited to see what would happen, and they weren't disappointed. Mysterio and Jericho put on a fantastic match that night, and Mysterio was able to put Jericho away and reclaim his Intercontinental Championship.

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