WWE was smart for putting the U.S. Title on Rey Mysterio

While the execution might have been lacking, WWE made the right call by putting the United States Championship on Rey Mysterio

At first, I didn’t really realize it, but Rey Mysterio has actually been the most consistently pushed face in the men’s divisions on WWE Raw over the last few weeks.

Seth Rollins has been gearing up for this heel turn, if you’re ready to call it that, for weeks now. Kevin Owens was largely absent until his show-stealing match with Drew McIntyre. That leaves Rey Mysterio with his feud with Brock Lesnar as basically the top face on Raw.

While you could certainly make the argument for how that fact makes his loss to “The Beast Incarnate” at Survivor Series all the more befuddling considering recent events, it nevertheless makes sense for WWE to give Mysterio a run with the United States Championship now.

His dual 619 with his son Dominic will be one of the most memorable moments from Survivor Series this year, and he’s delivered some of the best promo work of his storied career lately in my opinion.

Why wouldn’t you reward good storytelling, and excellent execution with a title like that then?

Now, Mysterio is free to enter into any number of other rivalries going into WrestleMania season. Feuds that will help keep the red brand’s heels busy while WWE tries to build up some more competition, like the aforementioned Kevin Owens, for Brock Lesnar.

For what it’s worth, I suspect that first challenger may be Randy Orton, who may have only helped Mysterio win the title because he felt the luchador was easier pickings than AJ Styles.

Truthfully, I have no idea if that’s a direction WWE is willing to go, but it would unquestionably be a marquee rivalry if it happened. The intensity Mysterio has shown throughout his rivalry with Lesnar could serve him wonders against the twisted deviousness of Orton.

On top of that, given Orton’s history in WWE, it wouldn’t be a stretch for him to go after Dominic just like Lesnar did in order to get into the head of Rey.

That would mean that going into Tables, Ladders, and Chairs in December, Raw would still have a major title match to promote with a red-hot build, even if Lesnar is a no-show like most should expect.

Whether WWE goes that route with Mysterio and Orton or not though, there’s any number of other heels that could do just about the same thing for Raw at the pay-per-view. Erick Rowan, a returning Samoa Joe, or even a vengeance-seeking AJ Styles would all make for a premier title match if they were paired with Mysterio at TLC.

All in all, I think factors like that should outweigh any questions about WWE and their handling of Rey Mysterio over the course of Survivor Series weekend. It just helps them too much in the long run to not give some sort of title to Mysterio, even if it seems rather abrupt.