According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter , by way of Ringside News , Rey Mysterio has reportedly signed a three-year contract extension with WWE . This should end the ongoing negotiating saga between the legendary luchador and Vince McMahon’s promotion.
As documented by The Inquisitr , Mysterio spent most of the summer trying to come to terms on a new deal. The superstar reportedly wanted a pay rise, but the company wasn’t willing to meet his financial demands due to having to make cutbacks as a result of the pandemic.
As noted by WhatCulture , the promotion made record profits this year. It’s possible that officials may have met the superstar’s demands after this news became public knowledge.
It was also believed that officials wanted Mysterio to commit to five more years. The veteran reportedly didn’t want to dedicate himself to that length of time, however, due to his age. The former World Champion is 45-years-old as of this writing, and the next three years could be his final days as an active competitor.
Mysterio worked on Monday Night Raw as a free agent during the negotiation period, but he was written off of television at Extreme Rules in case he decided to leave. He was embroiled in a feud with Seth Rollins that’s still going on, with Mysterio’s son Dominik set to face the “Monday Night Messiah” at this weekend’s SummerSlam pay-per-view.
Dominik also played an important part in Mysterio’s decision to say, according to the reports. The veteran supposedly wanted assurances about his son’s future, and WWE was willing to meet his demands . That’s perhaps why the young performer has a huge pay-per-view match this weekend, despite his lack of in-ring experience.
As The Inquisitr article highlighted, AEW also matched Mysterio’s match fee offer during his free agency. However, his decision to remain where he is was supposedly down to him being offered more dates by WWE.
AEW showing interest could have factored into McMahon fighting to keep Mysterio. Several wrestlers have noted how they were offered big money in an effort to prevent them from defecting to the rival promotion. Mysterio’s star power would certainly have helped AEW.
Mysterio returned to television on the latest episode of Monday Night Raw , and he’ll be in Dominik’s corner at SummerSlam this Sunday. His recent appearances more or less confirm that he’s sticking around, or else the promotion wouldn’t have brought him back to programming.