If you haven’t been keeping up with Lucha Underground (SHAME), you may not know that Rey Mysterio has been spending his time in Meme Wolverine’s bedroom, nursing an injury and trying to keep his hot-headed mentee from falling in league with any number of literal devils. So he has a lot of free time on his hands, is what I’m getting at.
Sports Illustrated recently asked Mysterio who he thinks is the best wrestler in WWE, and while a lot of veteran and legendary wrestlers tend to make picks like John Cena or Dolph Ziggler, Mysterio went with a certain Apex Predator.
“Randy Orton is, in my eyes and in my heart, the best wrestler in that company,” said Mysterio. “I’m not talking about high flying, I’m not taking about the fast-paced acrobatic style. To me, he’s the best in WWE right now. I don’t think there is ever going to be a guy that works the style he does. The way he carries himself in the ring means a lot to me. Randy has a great presence and style that can’t be compared to anyone, and nobody can imitate his style.
“I actually use Randy Orton as an example to my son because he wants to start training in January,” said Mysterio, whose son was involved in WWE storylines in 2005. “My son is a big kid—he’s 6’1”, 205—and I insist that he must watch and learn from Randy’s style. Not to imitate, but just to learn from what he has done over the years and see his evolution into who he is now. I have tremendous respect for that man. He’s an awesome human being, and he’s a general in the ring.”
Randy Orton has long been a very divisive figure among the internet wrestling intelligentsia. His popularity has always remained consistent over the last decade, pretty much, as has his spot at or near the top of the card. He’s a 12-time world champion and dependable performer, but he never gets a whole lot of credit for being a spectacular performer or all-around complete wrestler. I attribute that largely to his long stretches as a main event heel, where his in-ring work focuses on him being slow and methodical, which has led many fans to understandably equate him with being boring as a performer.
But Orton has remained a legitimate main eventer for this long for a reason, and Dominick can certainly do a lot worse as far as wrestlers to look up to. I just hope Rey has warned his son about the dangers of hearing voices in your head.
