The second feud a performer has in WWE can make or break their entire run with the company. Now sure, sometimes, performers don't even make it to their second feud, as Karrion Kross learned all too well during his first run on RAW, but for the most part, first feuds are easy; creative introduces a new performer with a concerted plan, it does what it does, and the performers go their separate ways when their time together is done. The second feud, however, is tricky, especially for mid-carders who aren't headed for a championship reign.
For every LA Knight-Bray Wyatt – which is technically Knight's first feud on the main roster under this current gimmick but his second after a run with the Maximum Male Models – there's Hit Row's current program with… The Viking Raiders? Legado Del Fantasma? Los Lotharios? It's really unclear.
Fortunately for Kross, his second run in WWE's main roster looks like it's off to a much better start than his first, as, after spending the fall wrestling with Drew McIntyre across multiple “Premium Live Events,” he's lucked into a feud with another one of the best in-ring performers in the entire industry in Rey Mysterio, the diminutive dynamo from San Ysidro, California who has been looking for an angle of his own following his move to SmackDown and his loss to GUNTHER in a battle for the Intercontinental Championship. With Mysterio still recovering from a leg injury, an injury made all the worse by a Thanksgiving attack by his son and Rhea Ripley, Kross showed up in WWE's physical therapy area to tell the second-generation superstar a story about Scarlett's family horse back in Romania, who had to be put out of his misery after going from show horse to workhorse to useless.
Theoretically, suggesting that one would like to retire arguably the greatest luchador to ever work in the United States would make for an awkward encounter back in catering but curiously enough, that isn't the case, as, according to the former “Killer” in an interview with Peter Rosenberg, he's “over the moon” to wrestle with the certified all-timer, as transcribed by Fightful.
“There were like three luchadors that I had on my list, four, actually, for many years,” Kross said. “I spent half of my career in Mexico. I was in (Lucha Libre) AAA, working major cities and television programs. I'm a very big lucha libre fan, I understand it and speak the language. (The list) was Dr. Wagner, Pentagon, Fenix, and Rey. Getting Rey, checking that name off the list after all these years had been very difficult and it seems like it's going to happen right now. I remember the first I saw Rey, it was against Juvi [Juventud Guerrera] in ECW, I want to say 96. The powerbomb on the car on the outside. It was unbelievable, it was like hardcore lucha libre. I'm very excited about this and I'm getting ready to give people something unique and interesting to Rey's total overall story arc that they haven't seen yet before. I'm going to get into some really interesting things, if permitted to, and I think I will be. We're collaboratively and creatively ready to embrace that process. So far, since I'm gone back, I've been very happy.”
Goodness, you have to give it to Kross; between this interview and his praise for McIntyre after their Extreme Rules match, it's clear he doesn't give a you-know-what about Kayfabe in a very peel-back-the-curtain sort of way. Fortunately, once Mysterio is healthy enough to return to the ring, Kross should be able to cross him off his proverbial wish list.
Titus O'Neal has nothing but nice things to say about his WWE coworker too.
Changing gears ever so slightly, another WWE superstar, Titus O'Neal, was incredibly complimentary of Mysterio during his appearance on The Dad Edge Podcast with
“My favorite would probably be Rey Mysterio,” O'Neal said h/t Fightful. “It was like one of my first few televised matches ever, and it was so fun. He’s so good at what he does. He’s smaller, so you can do a lot of cool stuff with him, throw him around and everything. He’s also a phenomenal human being. He wants the best for the business, wants you to be the best, wants the best outcome for both parties. He’s a great family man, a great father, Dominik is in the fold now. Great husband, great friend. He’s been a great friend to one of my best friends for years, Dave Batista. I know how solid Dave is, and Dave thinks the world of him as well. Everyone does in the locker room. Rey Mysterio is definitely my favorite.”
Hmm… while some – read: Thanksgiving attacker Dominik Mysterio – may take umbrage with calling Mysterio a good father, it is interesting to see that even now, over 20 years after his initial debut in WWE, “Mistery King” remains one of the most popular and well-respected performers in professional wrestling.
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