WWE’s Rey Mysterio Reveals the Reason He Missed WrestleMania 36

WrestleMania 36 took place this past weekend, and Rey Mysterio was one of the Superstars who missed the event. Mysterio was reportedly set to compete for a match for the U.S. Championship, but he entereted quarantine due to him being sick before the match was officially announced. Because of that, Mysterio hasn’t talked about his absence on social media, but when he appeared on Fox Sports this week, he talked about why he was missing from the show.

As mentioned by our sister site, ComicBook.com, Mysterio explained (in Spanish) that he was feeling sick when WWE started taping shows at the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. It led to WWE doctors telling him to stay home and avoid any issues due to the coronavirus pandemic. Mysterio also said he showed no symptoms of COVD-19, and he speculated he felt ill due to traveling from Orlando to San Diego. The current U.S. Champion, Andrade, was booked with Angel Garza to face the Street Profits for the Raw Tag Team Championships. However, Andrade was pulled from the card because he suffered a rib injury, and Austin Theory took his place.

Along with Mysterio being quarantined, Dana Brooke was pulled from WrestleMania due to her feeling ill. She was scheduled to compete for the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Bayley (champion), Sasha Banks, Naomi, Tamina, and Lacey Evans. Also, This Miz missed the show, and he was set to team up with John Morrison to face The New Day and The Usos for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship.

But the biggest name to miss WrestleMania was Roman Reigns, and he was set to face Bill Goldberg for the WWE Universal Championship. Reigns was not feeling ill, but he decided not to compete. He went to social media to explain why he made the decision. He said: “You already know what’s going on, it’s all over the news, the dirtsheets, whatever you wanna call them that I pulled out of WrestleMania. It’s funny because for years, people were like ‘don’t show up to WrestleMania, we don’t want you in it.’ There was a handful of dudes and haters that didn’t want me there but the moment I make a choice for me and my family, [I’m called] a coward, a sissy.”

Braun Strowman took Reigns’ place and defeated Golberg to win the title. WrestleMania 36 aired on Saturday and Sunday night in front of no fans. The show was taped the previous week, which made it the first WrestleMania to air two nights, and not be a live broadcast.