Ryan Garcia walking to the ring with Rey Mysterio already gave boxing fans a wild WWE crossover, but there may have been an even bigger story behind it. Dave Meltzer says one version of events had Oscar De La Hoya originally lined up for Garcia’s entrance before the boxer changed course and went with Mysterio at the last minute.
The situation was already strange because De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions was technically involved with Garcia’s fight under the Zuffa Boxing banner, yet Oscar was nowhere to be seen. Garcia is under contract with Golden Boy, which made De La Hoya’s absence stand out even more.
Mysterio’s involvement didn’t come completely out of nowhere. Ringside News previously covered how Rey Mysterio joined Garcia at the ceremonial weigh-in alongside WWE President Nick Khan, with Rey carrying a Mexican flag as Garcia faced off with Conor Benn.
Things got even crazier once fight night arrived. Mysterio had just been through a physical TripleMania 34 match with Omos, where Omos defeated Rey to earn his reinstatement in AAA. Meltzer noted that Rey was taken out on a stretcher after the wrestling match, only to turn up a few hours later walking Garcia toward the boxing ring.
While discussing the situation on Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer explained that there were several different stories surrounding why De La Hoya wasn’t there. One explanation from boxing journalist Dan Rafael was that Oscar was never credentialed, while Dana White said he didn’t know why De La Hoya was absent. Meltzer then brought up another version of the story — one where Garcia himself made the change.
“And then, you know, Rey later that night is, you know, he goes out on a stretcher and then he’s walking Ryan Garcia three hours later down to the ring, you know, because Ryan Garcia asked for that. I don’t think that was planned originally because there’s a lot of controversy about the Ryan Garcia walkout because people expected it to be Oscar De La Hoya, which was a big thing because, you know, Oscar is, you know, the mortal enemy of Zuffa Boxing. But he’s also was also technically the co promoter, you know, Golden Boy, because Ryan’s under contract to Golden Boy. Golden Boy technically was co promoting this with Zuffa Boxing. But Oscar had like nothing to do with the promotion at all. And so they were expecting it. And I guess there were all kinds of stories that went on about like, why, why was Oscar not at the show? And Dan Rafael, Dan Raphael said that it was because he was never credentialed. Dana White was asked about it and said he knew nothing of this. He had no idea why Oscar wasn’t there. Another story that came out was that he was that that Garcia had asked Oscar to walk him to the ring. And then like at the last minute he changed his mind and asked Rey Mysterio to do it.”
Meltzer then connected that version of events to Rey making the appearance despite having just been stretchered out of TripleMania. His theory was that Mysterio wasn’t going to turn down such a visible opportunity after Garcia personally asked him to be there.
“So if it’s so, you know, Ray goes out on a stretcher, but he’s, you know, he can’t not do it on such a high profile thing. So Rey Mysterio did it. So I guess that’s why Oscar didn’t show up because at the last minute he’s kind of told, hey, you’re being replaced by Rey Mysterio in the walkout. So it turned out to be, you know, a, you know, that’s what it turned out to be. So, so Ray couldn’t sell it. I know he did a meet and greet with a neck brace, but then he goes out there, you know, in the thing. So there you go.”
That last part remains Meltzer connecting the dots rather than confirmation from Garcia or De La Hoya. What isn’t in question is that Oscar was missing, Rey suddenly had a major role in Garcia’s presentation, and Mysterio somehow went from getting stretchered out of a wrestling show to accompanying one of boxing’s biggest names only hours later.
If Garcia really did swap Oscar De La Hoya out for Rey Mysterio at the last minute, that makes an already bizarre night even messier. Rey got the massive crossover moment, Garcia got the entrance he wanted, and Oscar was left out of the picture completely.
Do you think Ryan Garcia really replaced Oscar De La Hoya with Rey Mysterio at the last minute, or is there more to De La Hoya’s absence than what has come out so far? Let us know what you think and leave your feedback in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
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