Rey Mysterio Injured During ‘WWE SmackDown,’ Match Against Santos Escobar Stopped

Rey Mysterio suffered a concerning injury during Fox’s WWE SmackDown on Friday night, and it does not appear to be part of a storyline. The WWE Hall of Famer, age 48, was facing his Latino World Order teammate, Santos Escobar, in a one-on-one match as part of the U.S. Title Invitational tournament. The winner was set to be the No. 1 contender for Austin Theory‘s United States Championship.

At one point in the match, Mysterio performed a face-first baseball slide from the inside of the ring to the outside. He missed Escobar but seemed to land pretty hard on the ground. Escobar then returned to the ring, only to dive back out and tackle Mysterio. As Mysterio went down, it appeared that his head and neck slammed against the floor in a whiplash-type fashion. 

Mysterio was soon checked on by WWE officials, and the referee stopped the match, awarding Escobar the victory. The two wrestlers then embraced in an emotional moment. Several wrestling news outlets, including Fightful, reported that Mysterio’s injury was not real and was staged as the finish of the match. However, Fightful soon pulled its tweet about the matter, clarifying that it had additional sources saying the injury was legitimate. WWE reportedly planned for Escobar to win the match, but it was not supposed to end in such an upsetting manner.

“After speaking with additional sources, we’ve learned the Mysterio injury was not storyline as originally suggested,” Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful tweeted late Friday night. “Santos Escobar was scheduled to go over clean and there was to be a backstage segment follow up that got nixed. We’re wishing Rey Mysterio a speedy recovery.”

WWE, Fox nor Rey Mysterio have confirmed the news of a legitimate injury as of press time. Mysterio’s son, fellow WWE Superstar Dominik Mysterio, has also not commented on the incident. Best wishes to Rey Mysterio as he recovers.