return to the US, he worked in IWA Mid-South, the Xcitement Wrestling Federation and the Heartland Wrestling Association, with the likes of Eddie Guerrero and CM Punk. Mysterio traveled to Puerto Rico for the World Wrestling Council and wrestled Eddie (Primo) Colon over the WWC World Junior Heavyweight Championship in early 2002. World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE Championship reigns (2002–2004) In June 2002, Mysterio signed with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and promos that hyped his debut began airing. The "Jr." was dropped from his name and was billed simply as Rey Mysterio. Mysterio, with his mask, made his WWE debut on the July 25, 2002 episode of SmackDown! as a face, defeating Chavo Guerrero. He eventually began a feud with Kurt Angle, culminating in a match at SummerSlam on August 25, which Angle won after forcing Mysterio to submit to the ankle lock. He later formed a tag team with Edge; the two participated in a tournament for the newly created and SmackDown!-exclusive WWE Tag Team Championship. They lost to Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit in the finals of the tournament at No Mercy on October 20; the match was voted Match of the Year by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. They won the titles when defeated Angle and Benoit in a two out of three falls match, but lost it to Los Guerreros in a Triple Threat Elimination match on November 17. At WrestleMania XIX, hefaced the cruiserweight Champion Matt Hardy for the title, but lost after Shannon Moore interfered. On the June 5 episode of SmackDown!, he defeated Hardy to win the title. After losing the championship to Tajiri on September 25, he regained it on January 1, 2004. After a successful title defense against Jamie Noble at the Royal Rumble on January 25, Mysterio lost the title to Chavo Guerrero at No Way Out on February 15. At WrestleMania XX on March 14, Mysterio took part in a Cruiserweight Open for the title, but Guerrero retained the title. On the June 17 episode of SmackDown!, he defeated Chavo Classic to win the title for a third time. He lost the title to Spike Dudley on the July 29 episode of SmackDown!. Teaming and feuding with Eddie Guerrero (2004–2005) After an unsuccessful attempt at regaining the Cruiserweight Title, Mysterio formed a tag team with Rob Van Dam, and went on to win the WWE Tag Team Championship from Kenzo