14 Time WWE Champion Triple H has revealed a feud with Rey Mysterio was his dream rivalry in WWE, and regrets the fact that the pair could never face off inside the ring.
The two former World Champions were two of the biggest stars of the Ruthless Aggression era, with The Game being one of the top heels during this time and Mysterio a beloved babyface. Triple H usually spent his time as the main event on Monday Night Raw whilst Mysterio made his name on Friday Night Smackdown.
Despite being part of the WWE together for over a decade, we never got to see Triple H vs Rey Mysterio in a singles match. They teamed together in 2010, along with Edge, to take on the Straight Edge Society and were both a big part of the 2006 Royal Rumble, but a one-on-one match eluded them their entire careers.
Both men entered at number one and two respectively, in the 2006 Royal Rumble. Number one entrant Triple H lasted until the final three until he was eliminated by Mysterio. The Luchador then eliminated Randy Orton to win the Rumble match, lasting over an hour in one of the greatest performances the match has ever seen. He also paid tribute to his late friend Eddie Guerrero during the match.
This Royal Rumble would be the only real time we would see Triple H vs Rey Mysterio. The pair looked to have great chemistry during their brief interactions, although a fight never materialised. The Game, however, would reveal why they never faced off in the WWE – and it wasn’t for a lack of trying.
Speaking with LadBible, former WWE Champion Triple H revealed that Rey Mysterio was the wrestler that he most wanted to do a storyline with but never got the chance. He pitched the match to Vince McMahon multiple times, but the match was rejected for a number of reasons – most notably because the pair were always on opposite brands and the stars never truly aligned.
“I mean, I think there’s periods of time like — so when once we win the Monday Night Wars and we sort of take over WCW, and guys come in. I always wanted to work with Rey Mysterio, you know? But I think I’ve been in the ring with him like twice my entire career. You know, there’s certain guys like that that I always would watch them work and be like, ‘Oh, I’m such a fan of his work. And I could just feel what working with him would be like and how easy that would be, and how big we could make it.’”
“We just never ended up in the same place in the same storylines. And I’ve thrown it out there a lot over the years of like, ‘Hey, what if Rey and I did something?’ But he was always like on SmackDown, I was on Raw or vice versa. It just never panned out, but he’s always a guy that I always thought ‘Man, I would have loved to have gone and done something big with him’”
Triple H vs Rey Mysterio is a match that will never happen now, due to Triple H retiring from the ring in 2022 due to a Cardiac Arrest suffered the year prior. Rey Mysterio however continues to wrestle on Smackdown, having split from his son Dominik earlier this year.