WWE Raw: Gran Metalik could finally shine vs. Rey Mysterio

For the first time since he first came to WWE for its Cruiserweight Classic, Gran Metalik has the opportunity to show everyone he’s a star worth showcasing.

WWE have just announced that on this upcoming Monday episode of Raw, Rey Mysterio will be taking on Gran Metalik. Honestly, in the scope of Mysterio’s current storyline, this match came out of left field (unless it’s apart of some Retirement Tour he’s approaching), but we won’t complain about it.

Not just because Metalik vs. Mysterio is bound to supply us with some good ole cruiserboy goodness filled with wonderful lucha things, but because for the first time since his WWE debut, Gran Metalik has a chance to finally shine as a singles star in the company.

Let’s wind the clocks back to three years ago. The summer of 2016 was when WWE revived its long dormant Cruiserweight division and did so by crafting the Cruiserweight Classic, a tournament comprised of 32 men fighting for a giant trophy and, as we’d find out later, to become the first man to hold the rebooted Cruiserweight Championship. One of those 32 men was Gran Metalik.

Prior to WWE, Gran Metalik made a name for himself under the name Mascara Dorada. Internationally, he was regarded as one of the best junior heavyweights on the face of the planet. He especially gained notoriety and success in NJPW and CMLL. Under the rebranded guise of Gran Metalik, he was expected to be a star. In many ways, early on at least, Metalik lived up to his potential, however inadvertent as it may have been.

Metalik made it all the way to the finals of the CWC, but that wasn’t always the plan. Originally, he was going to lose in the semi-finals to Zack Sabre Jr., who was supposed to meet Kota Ibushi in the finals after the latter defeated TJ Perkins. Plans were changed when neither man opted to sign a WWE contract. Thus, we got TJ Perkins vs. Gran Metalik in the finals.

Unfortunately, the crowd reaction for the match was lukewarm more than anything. Not because they disliked either competitor, but because the prospect of ZSJ vs. Ibushi was far too enticing to the indie-rific audience and they were deflated to be deprived of that match-up on a WWE stage. This wasn’t the best of starts for Metalik’s WWE career and, perhaps, could be cited as reason why WWE have been hesitant to use him.

Post-tournament, WWE have done practically nothing with Metalik, especially as a singles star. More often than not, he was used as the fall guy in matches to put over other Superstars.

While the bright spot of his career has been forming Lucha House Party, he has never been showcased as a centerpiece of that group and everyone in the stable is essentially interchangeable. It feels like they were merely brought together because WWE did not know what else to do with three luchadors. Sometimes, they have entertaining tag team matches on 205 Live vs. the likes of The Singh Brothers and [insert randomly paired duo here]. What can I say? 205 doesn’t have a tag division apart from two or three teams.

Anyway, other times on Raw, they’re used as fall guy fodder for incoming monsters like Lars Sullivan, or just a filler team to fill out a random multi-tag team match.

The state of Gran Metalik’s booking has been bittersweet to witness. Even worse seeing as he’s hinted at preparing to leave the company when his contract is up next year. It’s a shame, really, because Metalik truly is a fantastic athlete. He may not have been one of WWE’s first choices to enter the CWC finals, but he made the most of his time. Most of his matches in the tourney – including those against Tajiri, the finals vs. TJ Perkins and even the aforementioned semi-finals vs. Zack Sabre Jr – were hailed as some of the very best matches that the tournament had to offer and of the whole year.

It’s a testament to what Metalik can do in the ring with anybody if given the opportunity. Now, tomorrow night, he has that opportunity against Rey Mysterio.

While his last few years in WWE have been disappointing, things could go up for Metalik as long as he has a great match against the former World Heavyweight Champion. As WWE have shown in the past year with Superstars like Ali, Cedric Alexander and Drake Maverick, the company is much more willing to give a push to lesser tier Superstars they didn’t have plans for as long as the crowd warm up to them.

Ali’s call-up to SmackDown Live was supposed to be a one-off, but because the crowd loved him and his match in the ring with Daniel Bryan, he was promoted from 205 Live immediately. WWE had no plans for Drake Maverick until he managed to be a consistent highlight in the 24/7 Championship picture. Same for Cedric, as he had no plans until he started stealing the show in segments vs. Drew McIntyre.

Gran Metalik’s match vs. Rey Mysterio could either make or break his career and given how much of a tremendous performer the man is, we really hope it makes him into a new star.