#7 Rey Mysterio ended his 13-year tenure with WWE in 2015
In 2002, Rey Mysterio signed with WWE, and he was immediately considered one of the company's most athletic superstars. Mysterio defied the odds, and a few laws of gravity, to become one of the biggest babyfaces the company had ever featured. Of course, he first rose to fame in WCW. There, he had some legendary matches with Eddie Guerrero.
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Mysterio competed for WWE until 2014. He was a regular presence on WWE TV, and he became of the company's most decorated superstars. Still, he decided to take some time off to heal a wrist injury. He explained this absence on a recent appearance on Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia:
“You know I needed to take a break. I needed to rest. I needed to be around my family and just pick up on a lot of things that I had missed out on over the years. Just being on the road and traveling and dedicating so much time to this sport that I kinda pushed my family aside. And don’t get me wrong, my wife has always been very supportive of what I do and my kids as well. But when your kids are young, they don’t understand why dad has to leave every week.”
"The Master of the 619" was reportedly looking to leave WWE at this time. Eventually, his 13-year tenure with the company ended in 2015. Mysterio went on to compete for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide.
For a while, he competed for AAA, Lucha Underground, and several independent promotions. But Mysterio re-signed with WWE in 2018. He appeared at that year's WWE Royal Rumble. He fully returned in October 2018, and he has since regained his presence as one of the company's top stars. He's currently working alongside his son, Dominik on WWE SmackDown.