WWE Debate: Should Seth Rollins Retire Rey Mysterio?

Seth Rollins could retire Rey Mysterio at WWE Extreme Rules 2020.

With Rey Mysterio’s contract situation up in the air, this ‘eye for an eye’ match could very well write him off WWE television. This lead many to speculate: Should Seth Rollins be the one to retire Rey Mysterio once and for all?

Tom Colohue and Mark Justice, two of Daily DDT’s beloved contributors, will tackle this question and pontificate their opposing viewpoints in a reborn series called “Debate The Mark.” This debate will be eye-catching.

Without further ado, here is their riveting debate on this issue, with Tom taking the side of why Seth Rollins should not retire Rey Mysterio, and Mark taking the side of why Seth Rollins should retire Rey Mysterio.

Tom Colohue: A Household Name Should Not Retire Rey Mysterio

Tom Colohue: Rey Mysterio is a huge name in the wrestling industry across the world. When he chooses to retire, he will be a massive loss but I do not think Seth Rollins should be the one to do it. Seth Rollins is already a household name. Beating Rey Mysterio and retiring him will do nothing for him. There are a lot of people who could benefit more and particularly people who will be looking to fill Rey Mysterio’s spot.

I think Andrade or Angel Garza would be a much better fit to retire Mysterio, but I think we’re also looking quite narrowly. What about Bushi? And of course, I think the one name that a lot of people are excited to see working with Rey Mysterio is, you guessed it, Dominik Mysterio.

Mark Justice: Only A Highly Credible Superstar Should Retire Mysterio

Mark Justice: Although it would be regressive to book a household name, like Seth Rollins, to retire Rey Mysterio, Seth Rollins’ irrefutable success and credibility in the WWE that many WWE fans are cognizant of should substantiate his role as the superstar who ends Mysterio’s career. The names you mentioned, such as Andrade and Angel Garza, are irreproachable picks to be granted the ‘passing of the torch’ from a reputable legend like Mysterio.

However, their credibility and momentum in WWE has been booked in a very lackluster manner, thereby disqualifying them as prime selections for ending a legend’s career. Due to WWE’s proclivity for inane career-ending booking decisions and risible swerves, it is very likely that Andrade and Garza won’t even be considered for such a role. A prototypical example of this proclivity is King Corbin ending Kurt Angle’s career at WrestleMania 35.

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While John Cena, a superstar of unassailable stature, would have been more suitable for ending Angle’s career for obvious reasons, the WWE diminished Angle’s retirement match by booking him to lose against a superstar with a severe lack of credibility and momentum in King Corbin.

This absurdity must not happen again. If it does, there will certainly be an inaudible commiseration from the real WWE fans watching at home.

Rey Mysterio’s retirement needs to be special, and this upcoming ‘eye for an eye match’ at WWE Extreme Rules 2020 seems to be a promising end to his career.

As for the last name you mentioned and the most popular choice, Dominick Mysterio, he is still green and would not be the ideal star to be in a one-on-one retirement match with his father. Instead, he can still have his moment by betraying his father and starting his own career on a fiery heel run.

Dominick can betray his father by helping Rollins actually take Mysterio’s eye out of its socket and joining Seth Rollins’ discipleship. No one has ever retired with both of their eyes being plucked out so this would be an unprecedented method of ending Mysterio’s career while giving his son the moment he needs to become one of the top stars on Monday Night Raw.

On top of that, you say that this victory will do nothing to benefit Rollins, but this victory will actually fulfill Rollins’ gimmick of making sacrifices for the greater good. In this case, it would be Mysterio’s eye and career being sacrificed to promote his son’s career, which is an idea that is far from being myopic and/or regressive by any means.

Tom Colohue: As A Heel, Seth Rollins Should Not Succeed In His Mission To Sacrifice People

Tom Colohue: I never like reading the phrase ‘real WWE fans’ because it implies that there is a subsection of fandom that are doing it for some form of attention-seeking. Genuinely not sure what attention they might be going for but to be blunt, Corbin retiring Kurt Angle was 100% the right call.

WWE receives constant criticism for bringing back legends and not developing new stars and then when WrestleMania comes around everybody wants to see Cena come back to wrestle with Angle. Like him or not, Baron Corbin gets a very strong, intense reaction and that reaction is exactly the reaction that WWE wants him to get. Voluntarily or not, you’re playing along.

Seth Rollins is the heel here; he should not succeed in his mission to sacrifice people. The grand end to this storyline isn’t “oh, by the way, turns out Seth Rollins is genuinely god.” Meanwhile, Mysterio is already engaged in that storyline with his son. Ending it here is simply the abandonment of everything planned there which is yet another one of those things that the WWE are constantly criticized for.

Honestly, I just find the whole thing very funny. People complain and then perpetuate the situation. You’ve said there that it’s likely Andrade or Garza won’t even be considered because they’re not big enough, then accuse the WWE of dropping the ball with Baron Corbin because he wasn’t big enough. If someone is going to retire Rey Mysterio it should be someone who can step into that particular role he has. Seth Rollins is not that guy.

Mark Justice: Seth Rollins Will Fulfill Rey Mysterio’s Legacy, Like No Other

Mark Justice: To clarify the ‘real wrestling fans’ double entendre, this phrase referred to all of the fans watching at home since the makeshift fans in the live audience today are employed by WWE and quite frankly give delusive crowd reactions. Speaking of reactions, while Corbin did get the reaction he should get as a heel after ending Angle’s career, Corbin’s long term booking did not pay dividends the way it should have.

He went on to become King of the Ring but was later booked with a notorious losing streak and a character that can no longer be taken seriously. For someone who ended Kurt Angle’s career, one would think that he would be booked further up the card or be taken more seriously in his current feud with Matt Riddle, which Corbin has expressed his frustration over. However, that was unfortunately not the case.

Unlike Corbin, Rollins is a heel that the company has consistently gotten behind and booked with the momentum and credibility he needs to retire a legend. He should succeed in his mission to sacrifice Mysterio partly because that will give him the reaction or heel heat that you saw as beneficial for Corbin when he retired Angle. Additionally, this victory for Rollins will develop a new star in Dominick Mysterio, which is the true end goal of this storyline.

As for Rollins’ long term booking, it is very unlikely that he will be booked with a notorious losing streak and a character that can no longer be taken seriously like Corbin was. Instead, by retiring Mysterio and taking Mysterio’s son under his wing, Rollins’ undeniable credibility and durable momentum will allow him to continue fulfilling Rey Mysterio’s legacy, which is something Corbin has failed to do thus far after retiring Angle.

Considering that there were significant signs of discord in what was a fruitful discourse, it’s unfortunate that we did not see ‘eye’ to ‘eye’ on this issue. However, when it comes to Rey Mysterio’s retirement, there is one thing that we can find common ground on. There is more to this than meets the ‘eye.’

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What did you think of today’s “Debate the Mark,” and whose argument swayed you more? This series is brought to you by a shrewd mark who enjoys debating hot topics in professional wrestling, especially when pertaining to WWE.

It was a pleasure debating with my esteemed guest, freelance professional wrestling journalist, and fellow Daily DDT Contributor, Tom Colohue, whom you can follow on Twitter @Colohue as well as subscribe to on YouTube. If you enjoyed this debate, check out more by clicking here.

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