WWE Announces Rey Mysterio Match for SmackDown 1000

Rey Mysterio will officially make his WWE return at SmackDown 1000 and he'll be doing a lot more than waving to the crowd—the former World Champion has a match.

WWE announced that Mysterio will meet United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura in a non-title match. However, there are stakes. The winner will earn the right to compete at the World Cup Tournament at WWE Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on November 2.

While WWE hasn't gone into the details of the World Cup, we do know that Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, and Randy Orton have all qualified. Here's WWE's statement on Mysterio's return match and upcoming schedule.

Rey Mysterio returns full-time to WWE

Rey Mysterio is back with WWE on a full-time basis, meaning the WWE Universe will have the opportunity to see The Master of The 619 live and in person in the very near future.

The masked marvel's return begins on SmackDown 1000 next Tuesday when he faces Shinsuke Nakamura in a WWE World Cup Qualifying Match. In addition, WWE fans in the following cities will get to see Mysterio in action on the below dates:

Hartford, Conn. – Oct. 20
Boston, Mass. – Oct. 21
White Plains, N.Y. – Oct. 22
Cardiff, Wales – Nov. 3
Aberdeen, Scotland – Nov. 4
Birmingham, England – Nov. 5

For more information on how you can see Rey Mysterio live with WWE, visit WWE.com/events.

It's worth underlining that WWE assigned Mysterio a "full-time return." With this specified, we can expect to see the future WWE Hall of Famer on a regular basis, if not every episode of SmackDown.

The 43-year old has been attached to WWE return rumors ever since his stellar cameo at the 2018 Royal Rumble, but new of him actually inking a deal didn't surface until the fall. The details of his contract are still limited, but the common belief is that it's a two-year deal that gives Mysterio to opt-out after 18 months.

His upcoming match with Nakamura is about that few would have ever expected to see in a WWE ring. With both men having successful careers outside of Vince McMahon's bubble, the idea of them wrestling on SmackDown was farfetched just a few years ago. But Nakamura vs. Mysterio serves as a microcosm for WWE's latest war cry: collect the best wrestlers in the world and use them. It sounds simple sure, but WWE has never been this active in the market of acquiring talent. As NXT continues to balloon, WWE has arguably the best "independent" promotion in the world and the Yellow Brand serves and the ideal holding cell for international stars who await WWE's bright lights. However, Nakamura and Mysterio are already there and could easily have a show-stealing match next Tuesday.