Rey Mysterio breaks down the two matches.
Rey Mysterio's last appearance for WWE prior to this January's Royal Rumble match was in 2014 the day after WrestleMania XXX. Just four months prior to Rey's last appearance on WWE television in 2014, he was seemingly booed out of the building by the Philadelphia crowd as he entered at the #30 spot in the Royal Rumble match. It soon came to the light the Philly faithful were not booing Rey Mysterio but they were hoping that Daniel Bryan who was defeated earlier in the night by Bray Wyatt was going to compete in the Rumble match.
It wasn't until Rey watched the 2014 Royal Rumble PPV back that he realized that the fans were not booing him. Four years later Rey received the biggest reaction of the night in the 2018 Royal Rumble match in the same city that showered his entrance music with boos.
The former WWE Champion Rey Mysterio compared the two reactions he received in that four year time span when he joined the 'Apter Chat' podcast. Rey stated that his adrenaline was running high this past January opposed to the confusion he felt in 2014.
“Well the first one was definitely no hard feelings against the fans or anyone. I think I was just put in a spot that wasn’t meant to be for me." Rey agreed. "It was meant to be for Daniel Bryan - the fans wanted to see [him]. So when you don’t cater to the fans [and] what they want, that negativity and that booing, I now understand that it wasn’t directed towards me. It was directed towards the booking. So, at the time I didn't understand what was going on. I was like why are they booing me? What’s going on here? And after watching the event, I understood exactly why it happened. Now in comparison to this year’s Royal Rumble, they kept it a very good surprise, and to come out at number twenty-seven when the fans didn’t even expect it and the ovation was tremendous. My adrenaline was going at 1000 [miles] per hour, and one thing is talking about it. Another is being there in the moment and the moment was like no other." He said.
Rey Mysterio has had a busy 2018 with appearing on WWE programming and being featured in high-profile matches on the independent wrestling scene.
If you are going to use the quote above, please credit the 'Apter Chat' podcast with an H/T to Fightful for the transcription.
