Former WWE Champion Injured, Ongoing Tournament Plans Changed

WWE's ongoing SmackDown World Cup tournament was initially announced to have former WWE Champion Rey Mysterio as one of the competitors. However, when the bracket was shown on last Friday's episode, the luchador legend had been swapped out with Mustafa Ali without any reason being given. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer then cleared up the situation, stating Rey is out with an injury (believed to be either a foot or ankle issue) and should be out for a few weeks. The winner of the tournament will get a shot at Gunther's Intercontinental Championship, something Mysterio recently failed to win when he came up short against "The Ring General."

At 47 years old with more than 30 years of in-ring experience, the question of when Mysterio will choose to retire has been floating around for the past few years. Mysterio has addressed that in a few interviews. 

"I'll be 45 in December. And I don't see myself going past 50, that's for sure. My body feels great right now. I've been doing new methods of therapy – STEM cells, hyperbaric chambers, cryo chambers, CBD's, you know, a lot of things that benefit me. I think that has given me more longevity," Mysterio said on Chasing Glory back in 2020.

Mysterio recently teased quitting WWE following Dominik Mysterio's heel turn, but Triple H convinced him to join the SmackDown brand instead to create separation between the former father-son tag team. The two became the first-ever father-son tag team champions back in 2021, but Dominik turned heel to join The Judgement Day a couple of months ago.

Stay tuned for more updates on Mysterio's situation as they become available. The SmackDown World Cup will continue this week with Braun Strowman and Santos Escobar having already advanced past the first round. WWE's next pay-per-view, Survivor Series WarGames, will take place on Nov. 26 at Boston's TD Garden.