Rey Mysterio made his long-awaited return to WWE programming Tuesday on SmackDown 1000, as he defeated United States champion Shinsuke Nakamura to qualify for the World Cup Tournament at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia next month.

Nakamura whiffed with an attempted Kinshasa knee, which allowed Mysterio to turn the match in his favor. He whipped Nakamura into the middle rope to set up his patented 619, followed by a splash from the top rope for the victory.

After months of speculation regarding Mysterio making a full-time comeback with WWE, his signing was officially announced by the company last week.

The 43-year-old surprisingly appeared in the Royal Rumble match in January, and after making a great impression, he was included in April's Greatest Royal Rumble match as well.

Mysterio said on numerous occasions after those appearances that he had interest in establishing something more substantial with WWE.

The Master of the 619 first had to take care of some business on the independent scene, namely competing at the All In pay-per-view where he teamed with Fenix and Bandido against The Young Bucks and Kota Ibushi.

Once that was out of the way, Mysterio was clear to return to WWE, and the company decided there was no better platform than the 1,000th episode of SmackDown.

During his previous WWE tenure, Mysterio had a massive impact on the blue brand. In fact, his WWE debut in 2002 occurred on SmackDown when he defeated Chavo Guerrero.

Mysterio went on to team with and feud against his good friend, Eddie Guerrero, before winning the 2006 Royal Rumble and going on to win the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 22.

He held the title for 112 days and was the face of SmackDown during that time.

Injuries marred the end of Mysterio's first WWE run, but since leaving the company in 2015, he has gotten healthy and reinvented himself.

Mysterio appears to be in incredible shape, and all signs point toward him being a top Superstar on SmackDown Live moving forward.

The veteran is off to a running start with his win over Nakamura, and he figures to be a major contender in the World Cup Tournament on November 2.

Based on how Tuesday's match played out, Mysterio may also be in the mix for a United States title bout against Nakamura in the future as well.

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