Rey Mysterio Says He Would Love to Return to WWE

Former three-time WWE World Champion Rey Mysterio recently spoke to ESPN and talked about the circumstances regarding his departure from WWE back in early 2015. He also revealed that he would be interested in returning to WWE, even if it's for a relatively short run.

His current wrestling status:

"I'm not locked up to any company. I'm an independent contractor, as we say," Mysterio said in an interview with ESPN.com. "I could go work wherever I want. That's the beautiful thing about being on this side of the fence. You don't have a commitment with only one company. You can go around and pretty much wrestle wherever you want. You can choose when you want your off-days to be. That was one of my main priorities when I left WWE."

Why he left WWE in 2015:

"I told myself, once I started feeling aching and I was having hard times getting up from my bed in the morning when I woke up, it was gonna start getting close to that time [to quit]. I was feeling that right towards my end of the last year or so of WWE," Mysterio said. "It came to the point where I was feeling like that constantly. I didn't want to fall into another phase of taking either medication to ease my pain. I wanted to use the rest way to heal my body up. Believe it or not, the last two years, I don't think I've felt better."

Being open to returning to WWE:

"This is the way I was thinking at the time, and I still think that to this day. When I left WWE, from my understanding and from the time that we sat down ... that I decided not to re-sign another contract with WWE was for me to get some off time," Mysterio said. "I never meant or insinuated in any way or form that I was gonna leave for good. I think that should say a lot. I wasn't announcing that was the end of Rey Mysterio's career.

"I would definitely love to go back and finish up. Whether it's one year or whatever the case might be. Whether it's a farewell. I owe a lot to that company. That company gave me such an amazing opportunity, and I took advantage of every single moment I was with WWE to the fullest. I wouldn't want to just be remembered as 'Oh, man, he never re-signed and he never came back.' I would definitely love to come back and do a last run and say goodbye to my WWE fans. Tell them goodbye in a proper way."

"I don't think I can go back [to a full-time schedule]. There's just no way," Mysterio said. "I can't go back to that schedule. It would be common sense for them as well. That was my main motive for stepping away. I wanted to be able to have some free time. I'm still working really hard right now on the independent scene, but I control my schedule. I might get booked three days -- Friday, Saturday, Sunday, come home Monday, and the following weekend I don't have to work. That right there gives me a peaceful state of mind like you have no idea."