Why Did Rey Mysterio Miss This Week's WWE Raw?

04/12/2022 10:13 am EDT

Rey Mysterio was originally advertised for this week's episode of Monday Night Raw in Detroit in a match with Veer Mahaan following "The Lion's" arrival last week. Instead, Dominik Mysterio was paired up with the big man and wound up getting carried out of the ring in an ambulance after Mahaan repeatedly locked him in his submission hold. Mysterio's absence was, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, caused by a medical issue and not a case of WWE changing their minds at the last minute. This episode also featured a WWE Women's Tag Team Championship match getting postponed by a week due to Rhea Ripley being in COVID-19 protocol. 

Rey has been working on TV alongside his son for a couple of years and the pair have talked often in interviews about Dominik taking over the Mysterio luchador heritage once his father retires. They've also repeatedly shot down the idea of splitting up, even after teasing it for a while. 

"I've told my son from the beginning, you're gonna be better than your old man and I keep saying this over and over and over to him," Mysterio told TMZ Sports last year. "I can't wait for the day for him to become his own man, although in a way he already is and for me it's hard as a father to kind of let him go and fly on his own, but I truly believe in my heart, and I don't just say this so he can stamp it in his head, but he's gonna be better than his old man."

"That was definitely up to destiny," Rey told Bleacher report following the 2021 WWE Draft. "We did talk about [the possibility of being split up]. I said, 'If we eventually get split up, then it was meant to be. You go your way, I'll go mine.' At the same time, it would've given my son some independence to grow on his own. Pretty much the story we were telling right before we got drafted to Raw. It was in the back of our minds, but it wasn't anything we were worrying about. If anything, it probably would have been good. It's a change."

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