After having to keep the peace while his DX buddies Shawn Michaels, Road Dogg, and X-Pac ran wild around the RAW backstage area, Paul “Triple H” Levesque was likely expecting to have a quiet night at the office, if you will, when WWE brought the show to New Orleans for a special running of SmackDown. Sure, Bray Wyatt was scheduled to make his re-debut in WWE on national television following his not-so-surprise return at Extreme Rules, but Levesque booked that segment last, leaving the rest of the show to run smoothly without interference.

Little did he know that one of the most interesting challenges of his time atop the WWE Creative Team, as, after watching Drew Mcintyre attack Karrion Kross after being part of a car crash at the start of the show, the former 14-time champion was approached by none other than Rey Mysterio, a RAW performer, who had something to say about his future in The Fed.

“Hunter, I know this is a bad time, but can I have a word?” Mysterio asked after flagging Levesque down on SmackDown. “This isn't really easy for me to say, but everything that's been going on on RAW, I've reached my breaking point. Everything that's happening with Dominik, I just don't see a way moving forward. Hunter, I won't fight my son, not even when he's at his worst. Yelling in my face, taunting me to fight him, do you know how I feel? I still see that little boy who used to sit on my lap, who I used to bounce around, and would fall asleep on my shoulders. I can't do this anymore, I'm sorry, you know I love WWE, it's my home, but I wanted to come to you tonight, and look you in the eyes, to tell you I quit.

Oh no, did Judgement Day get their wish and finally run Rey off out of WWE for good? Were Mysterio's convictions of refusing to fight his son a shoot, not a work, and he was willing to give up a Hall of Fame career while he could very much still go to avoid having to take part in a blood vs. bloodbath?

Fortunately, Levesque invited Mysterio into his office and came up with a creative solution that worked for all parties involved.

Rey Mysterios' role in WWE won't be the same moving forward.

With Kross unable to wrestle due to the effects of his aforementioned car crash, Levesque had to think on the fly about who would fill out the Fatal Fourway match to decide on the next challenger for Gunther's Intercontonintle Championship. Fortunately, with Mysterio already in his office, Levesque didn't have to look far to find a fourth man.

Joining the match as a surprise entrant, it was announced by Michael Cole and Wade Barrett that Mysterio would now be a member of SmackDown, which should allow him to keep wrestling impressive, high-profile matches without having to always be looking over his shoulder wondering when Dominik, Finn Balor, Damian Priest, or Rhea Ripley would turn up to ruin it for him. Free of the fears that have been holding him back over the past few months, Mysterio turned in a classic with Sheamus, Solo Sikoa, and most notably, Ricochet, hitting WWE's other top high flyer with a brutal spike piledriver on the way to becoming WWE's new number one contender for the IC Title.

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Triple H next to The Rock with the WWE logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Kevin Nash with a text bubble reading "It shows why he’s an indie-riffic guy" next to Will Ospreay with the AEW logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Will Ospreay with a text bubble reading "You have no idea what I fight for!" with Triple H on his left and Dave Meltzer on his right and the AEW Dynamite logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Will this change work? Will Mysterio finally find success on SmackDown after being down in the dumps as a member of the RAW roster post-Dominik's decision to turn on Edge at SummerSlam? Or will the favorite son of the 619 instead find that the more things change, the more they stay with same, with members of Judgement Day making their way over to the blue brand to take the fight to their long-time foe's home turf? And what about Edge? After taking a massive loss to Balor at Extreme Rules, things aren't going too well within the confines of The Fed for the man affectionately known as the “Rated R Superstar.” Could his struggle to hold things down against the entirety of Judgment Day prove to be too much for the newest star of Disney+'s Percy Jackson series, and he will be forced to call upon his long-time friend for some tag team help once more?

With a Rey-Dom match still very much a future bout fans would pay to see – or at least tune into Peacock to see – it's clear this is simply the next chapter in the Mysterio family's story, as opposed to the end of the story.