Rey Mysterio officially returned to WWE on Tuesday during SmackDown's 1000th episode. He looked better than ever and qualified in a World Cup match.

Rey's return was a long-awaited one. First making his surprise appearance at the Royal Rumble in January, he then came back for the Greatest Royal Rumble but all the while, WWE and Mysterio were working on a contract that would see Mysterio return on a more regular basis.

The sticking point was a full-time contract and during negotiations, Rey was competing for other promotions around the world including showing up at All In, a show produced by former WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes. Clearly, Mysterio has been keeping himself in great shape.

It was announced a few weeks ago Mysterio would make his official return and in a match against Shinsuke Nakamura. While the 1000th show was often rushed due to a lot of returns, promos and video snippets talking about the history of SmackDown, Rey and Nakamura got enough time to put on a quality match, showing, not only does Rey look good, he's arguably in fantastic ring shape, having not lost a step.

Mysterio was flying around the ring, reminding fans about why he was one of the most popular Superstars on the SmackDown brand when he was last a regular and eventually he defeated Nakamura with a 6-1-9 and a frog splash off the top rope. Mysterio will now go on to Crown Jewel as one of the competitors set to compete for the World Cup.

WWE is wasting no time in getting Rey involved at the top level of the program. He's slated to be a SmackDown Live regular and it appears as though the company intends to push his return. He started with a victory over the United States Champion and that says a lot considering Nakamura is one of the brands top heels.

Mysterio looks great, he looks ready to wow the fans and WWE seem ready to promote him as one of the brands top stars.

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