Rey Mysterio has become the WWE United States Champion for the third time.
The 48-year-old was a substitute in the billed title match with Austin Theory on Friday Night SmackDown. In storyline, the original challenger Santos Escobar could not compete after two pre-match attacks.
Escobar had won a mini-tournament to earn the title challenge. However, Theory took him out during a backstage interview segment and again when Escobar was on his way to the ring.
Adam Pearce ruled that Theory would still have to defend his title, and the challenger would be Escobar’s LWO stablemate, Mysterio.
Mysterio beat Theory with the 619, putting an end to the latter’s reign with the US Title at 258 days.
It is the first title Rey Mysterio has held since he and son Dominik Mysterio won the SmackDown Tag Team Championships in May 2021.
