Rey Mysterio is the latest addition to the 2023 annual Royal Rumble match fray following the January 13 episode of WWE Smackdown as declared his entry into the annual set within two weeks' time.

During the last night’s Smackdown which took place at the RESCH Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the legendary WWE Superstar made a live-in-person appearance in the ring for the first time in a few weeks to address his issues with his son Dominik and Judgment Day stable.

Rey added that he won’t allow Dom to ruin his future planning. With that, he also confirmed to enter the 2023 Royal Rumble match via the following statement, "I came to SmackDown for a fresh start. And I'm not gonna let Dominik provoke me. To prove my point, I know exactly what I need to do to get back on track — and that is by entering and winning the Royal Rumble Match."

After this, Karrion Kross with his wife Scarlett made their way to the ramp and continued taunting Mysterio by saying that he failed to raise his son just like he’s a failure in his career.

Rey wasn’t patient enough to listen to those cruel words and he started a brawl with Kross. Scarlett tripped Rey as he was going for 619 which allowed Kross to lock in The Kross Jacket submission to pass out Rey.

It was later announced that Kross vs. Mysterio will headline the January 27 episode of SmackDown which will be the final stop before the Royal Rumble, the very next day.

Besides Mysterio, Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER and Baron Corbin also made their entries into the Rumble match. Overall nine superstars made their entry leaving 21 spots to be filled in that match.

From the women’s side, Raquel Rodriguez declared her entry into the Women's Royal Rumble on Smackdown. Liv Morgan, Candice LeRae, and Rhea Ripley are other confirmed participants leaving 26 spots to be filled.

The 2023 WWE Royal Rumble premium live event takes place Saturday, January 28 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The updated match card for the event goes as follows:

- Undisputed WWE Universal Championship Match: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Kevin Owens

- Pitch Black Match: Bray Wyatt vs. LA Knight

- Men's Royal Rumble Match: Rey Mysterio, GUNTHER, Baron Corbin, Kofi Kingston, Ricochet, Santos Escobar, Seth Rollins, Austin Theory, Bobby Lashley, and 21 Superstars TBA

- Women's Royal Rumble Match: Raquel Rodriguez, Liv Morgan, Candice LaRae, Rhea Ripley, and 26 Superstars TBA

In another big news from this week’s Smackdown, WWE Official Adam Pearce announced a new tournament that will determine the new number-one contenders for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships.

Pearce specified that it will be for the blue brand Tag Team Championships, suggesting that the Raw and SmackDown Titles will be split or at least be treated as separate titles from now onward.

Pearce stated that the winner of the tournament can face The Usos for the Smackdown Tag Team Titles while Judgment Day already defeated The OC pair of Gallows and Anderson, Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander, Alpha Academy’s Otis and Chad Gable, and The Street Profits to become new number-one contenders for Raw Tag Team Titles.

The Usos have been in the hold of the SmackDown Tag Team Championships for over 540 days and thereby became the longest-reigning WWE Tag Team Champions of all time. They won the Raw Tag Titles from Team RK-Bro in May 2022.