Rey Mysterio's recent injury problems continue to bother him and on Raw, he was forced to relinquish the US Title.
Rey Mysterio has not had the best of luck since he returned to WWE for his most recent run. The luchador re-signed for WWE towards the end of 2018 and since then has been trying to shake off a number of niggling injuries. Those injuries led to him having an extremely short match at WrestleMania. Then this week, he had to give up the US Title.
Honestly, perhaps the worst part of Mysterio having to give up the title was us forgetting he had it in the first place. WWE struggles to spotlight its secondary titles, and the US Championship is a perfect example of that. The only time in recent years it has really had a prominent place on the show is while around John Cena's waist. His weekly challenges made the title mean something.
PREVIOUSLY: REY MYSTERIO ADMITS HE DOESN'T EXPECT TO WRESTLE MUCH LONGER
Back to this week's Raw, and Mysterio came to the ring with his arm in a sling to relinquish the title. In a weird twist, the championship did not merely become vacant. The veteran had to literally hand the title over to Samoa Joe who is now the new US Champ. It sort of makes sense as Joe lost the title to Mysterio under controversial circumstances at Money In The Bank.
Joe was sure to bring that up as Mysterio handed him the title. However, that wrong being corrected, at least in Joe's eyes, wasn't enough for The Destroyer. After literally being handed the title, Joe grabbed Mysterio and put him in the Coquina Clutch. Unnecessary, but Joe wouldn't be Joe if he didn't introduce unnecessary violence into everything he does.
As disappointing as it is to see Mysterio sidelined yet again, we are big fans of Joe being US Champion. It also rectifies what we still think was an inadvertently controversial finish at MITB. However, what we hope above all else is that Mysterio's injury build-up doesn't prematurely end his career. He has previously said he wants to retire with WWE, and all these injuries might force him to hang up his mask sooner rather than later.