Rey Mysterio On If He’s Interested In A WWE Return, Why 205 Live Isn’t More Popular, His Current Status

In an interview with ESPN.com, Rey Mysterio gave his thoughts on possibly returning to WWE and the state of 205 Live. He first cleared the air on his contractual obligations, saying that he’s not stuck with any one company right now. Mysterio seems to be pretty happy with his open independent schedule.

“I’m not locked up to any company. I’m an independent contractor, as we say,” Mysterio said.

“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.”

Mysterio, widely-regarded as the greatest cruiserweight in pro wrestling history, struggles to understand why 205 Live hasn’t grown in popularity despite the depth of its roster.

“I don’t know [why 205 Live isn’t more popular],” he says. “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.”

Mysterio knows the ending of his WWE career wasn’t fitting for a star of his magnitude. He last appeared for the company the day after WrestleMania 30 [in April 2014] and had to wait nearly a year before his contract expired. Mysterio hopes he can still have a proper send-off with WWE.

“This is the way I was thinking at the time, and I still think that to this day. When I left WWE, from my understanding and from the time that we sat down … that I decided not to re-sign another contract with WWE was for me to get some off time,” Mysterio said. “I never meant or insinuated in any way or form that I was gonna leave for good. I think that should say a lot. I wasn’t announcing that was the end of Rey Mysterio’s career.

“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.”

While Mysterio hopes a final WWE run is in his future, he also knows at 43, with his history of injuries, he’d have to work on a part-time basis.

“I don’t think I can go back [to a full-time schedule]. There’s just no way,” Mysterio said. “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.”

For the full interview with Mysterio, click here.