This past Friday night on WWE Smackdown, the 2022 World Cup Tournament began featuring some international superstars from WWE. Santos Escobar of Legado del Fantasma defeated Shinsuke Nakamura in the first round to move on to the next round. Also, Braun Strowman picked up a win over former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal to advance to the semifinals.
It’s been confirmed that whoever wins WWE Smackdown World Cup will earn an Intercontinental Championship match against Gunther. Apparently, Legendary WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio was also scheduled to be a part of the tournament to possibly earn a rematch against GUNTHER for the IC Title. But an unfortunate injury ruined that opportunity as the superstar remains on hiatus.
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The Master of 619 wasn’t on WWE Smackdown during this past edition. And the injury was the reason behind the absence. Ringside News asked around about Mysterio’s status and they were told that he was backstage on the show but was not used.
A tenured member of the backstage team from WWE Smackdown told the source that Rey Mysterio was backstage, but he was found in a walking boot due to an undisclosed injury. It was then noted that this is a short-term injury that may not keep him on the sideline for a long time,
“Rey Mysterio was backstage in a walking boot. So he has a short term injury.”
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Rey Mysterio was traded to WWE Smackdown from Raw
A few weeks ago, Rey Mysterio was traded to WWE Smackdown after he tried to quit the WWE to avoid any kind of physical confrontation with his son, Dominik Mysterio, and Judgment Day on Raw. The current WWE head honcho on TV, Triple H then arranged a trade that saw Baron Corbin going over to the red brand in exchange for Mysterio.
On his first night on WWE Smackdown in 2022, Rey replaced Karrion Kross in a Fatal-4-Way after he was attacked by Drew McIntyre in the parking lot. The Mexican Superstar won that match to become the new challenger for the IC Title. But GUNTHER ultimately defeated on the November 4th edition of the show to retain the title.
The search for his next opponent is on WWE Smackdown via this ongoing World Cup tournament. Two more first-round matches are booked for this week in the form of Sami Zayn vs. Butch and Mustafa Ali vs. Ricochet.
