Any WWE fans who saw The Great Khali vs Rey Mysterio in 2006 have one image burned into their memory, even to this day.
After Rey Mysterio won the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 22, the Luchador was not booked particularly well.
He was placed in matches with much bigger stars, who could easily physically dominate the five-foot six superstar.
Mysterio was booked to lose in matches against the likes of Mark Henry and The Big Show, never being given the chance to get over as a fighting World Heavyweight Champion.
One of these giants he had to wrestle was The Great Khali, the barely-mobile Indian who may be the worst World Champion in the history of WWE.
Nevertheless, he took on Rey Mysterio in a huge match on Friday Night Smackdown, that fans will never forget.
Rey Mysterio vs The Great Khali
On the May 12, 2006 episode of Friday Night Smackdown, The Great Khali wrestled Rey Mysterio in one of the biggest physical mismatches in WWE history.
Despite Mysterio winning the World Heavyweight Championship from Kurt Angle at WrestleMania, this was a non-title match for some reason.
It was lucky it was – in a short, three-minute squash, Khali decimated Mysterio in a sorry display by the champion.
The size disparity between the two was frankly laughable, Rey Mysterio barely coming up to the Great Khali’s knees, but the plucky underdog, as JBL kept shouting on commentary, tried his best and gave us all.
Unfortunately, his all made no mark on Khali at all. The only offence Mysterio managed to get in was a dropkick, which Khali took in the chest and didn’t even wince.
He didn’t move an inch, and follow it up by holding Rey up by his throat for nearly 30 seconds, before hitting the devastating Khali Bomb.
This made Khali look like even more of a monster, and also helped derail Mysterio’s World title run, making his lose matches every week to the likes of Mark Henry and Great Khali, and made his run as champ look more like a fluke than Mysterio finally reaching his potential.
To add insult to injury, Khali pinned the diminutive Mexican by placing his boot on the face of the masked wrestler.
The Great Khali Squeezed Rey Mysterio’s Head Until It Bled
One of the most horrifying moments in WWE history came a year later, following a match between Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero.
Avenging a similar match from the year prior, Mysterio defeated Chavo in an I Quit match, putting an end to the legendary feud the pair had against one another.
However, it was the post-match attack that would be burned into the memory of the children watching for decades to come.
After the match, as Mysterio was tending to his injured knee, then-World Heavyweight Champion The Great Khali strode down to the ring, clutching his title belt onto his shoulder.
He proceeded to attack Mysterio, who was his opponent at Unforgiven 2007. Khali applied his vicious Vice Grip submission move, squeezing the skull of the Latino star with all his might.
Rey Mysterio flailed around as much as could, as the frying pan-sized hands of the Indian giant engulfed his skull. His eyes soon closed and he lost consciousness, only being supported by the man squeezing him into unconsciousness.
As he passed out, blood began to run from the mouth of Mysterio. This is an absolutely horrifying sight, one that has been burned into my memory. It is terrifying, and made The Great Khali look like a murderous tyrant in the WWE.