Dark Horse: Rey Mysterio
While Penta goes against the grain in this ladder match, there is a constant who goes by the name of Rey Mysterio. Due to his lingering injury trouble, he was inserted in this match at the last minute as a seasoned veteran in a match with a plethora of upstarts.
As the veteran, he will be relied on to use his experience to add structure to this match and assure that all of the rising talent look their very best. As for winning the match, that is not out of the question for Mysterio, as he is great at swerving and shocking the crowd.
The last time Mysterio won the IC Title was in 2009 after an epic Mania 25 moment against JBL. He always treasured the workhorse title and wanted to hold it longer. Mysterio did miss Mania last year due to injury and he almost missed Mania this year due to injury, so it would not be a smart business decision to put the title on him at this stage in his career. However, the idea of Mysterio winning the title that his son recently held would be a good “spit in the face” moment and could lead to higher stakes for his retirement match.
