WWE Backstage Rumors on Rey Mysterio's Injury, Street Profits' Absence and Leon Slater's TNA Status

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Rey Mysterio Reportedly Dealing with Minor Injury

WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio reportedly had an injury-related absence from Monday night's episode of Raw.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), Mysterio was not on Raw because of a minor injury, but it is not expected to keep him out for long.

On the previous week's episode of Raw, Mysterio got involved in the World Heavyweight Championship match between CM Punk and Bron Breakker.

Mysterio, Dragon Lee and Penta all showed up to neutralize interference from The Vision, and they played a sizable role in Punk winning the match and retaining his title.

Because of his absence, Mysterio was not part of the follow-up this week. Instead, Lee and Penta beat The Vision's Bronson Reed and Austin Theory by disqualification thanks to interference from Breakker, who viciously speared both Lee and Penta.

Mysterio, 51, suffered a groin injury the day before WrestleMania 41 last year, and he went on to miss about seven months of action before returning in November.

While Mysterio is banged up again, Meltzer's report suggests it is not serious, which is good news for WWE since it will be all hands on deck for the Royal Rumble premium live event at the end of the month.

Reported Reason for Street Profits' WWE TV Absence

The Street Profits have been absent from WWE programming since October, and some new details have emerged regarding their hiatus.

According to Meltzer (h/t Upton), neither Montez Ford nor Angelo Dawkins are injured. Rather, they have been kept off television in an effort to give them a creative reset.

Prior to being taken off TV, The Street Profits were embroiled in a rivalry with The Wyatt Sicks over the WWE Tag Team Championships.

Ford and Dawkins dropped the titles to Dexter Lumis and Joe Gacy of The Wyatt Sicks in July, and The Street Profits were unsuccessful in several attempts to win them back.

They were on the losing end of a six-team ladder match at SummerSlam, and although they won multiple matches in a row to become No. 1 contenders once again, they lost to The Wyatt Sicks at Clash In Paris in August and on the Oct. 10 episode of SmackDown.

Aside from some matches on Main Event, that loss on Oct. 10 was the last time Ford and Dawkins were seen on WWE programming.

As three-time tag team champions on the main roster and one-time NXT tag team champions, The Street Profits are among the most accomplished tag teams in WWE.

However, now that they have been out of the fold for the past few months, it is fair to wonder if WWE should consider giving Ford and Dawkins a chance to show what they can do on their own when the time comes for them to return.

Reported Details Behind Leon Slater's SmackDown Appearance

Leon Slater was a surprise challenger for Carmelo Hayes' United States Championship during Friday night's episode of SmackDown in London, and a change of plans by TNA reportedly allowed it to happen.

According to Fightful Select (h/t Steve Carrier of Ringside News), TNA originally intended for Slater to be part of the debut episode of Impact on AMC on Thursday, as well as Saturday's Genesis pay-per-view.

However, visa issues reportedly prevented Slater from traveling from his home country of England to the United States, and since he was already overseas, TNA granted permission for Slater to appear on SmackDown.

Fightful noted that although there was speculation TNA allowed Slater to be on SmackDown in exchange for WWE letting AJ Styles appear on Impact, there is no evidence that a formal trade was made.

Slater, 21, is the reigning TNA X-Division champion, and he is already among TNA's top stars.

Given his ability and potential, it is no surprise that he has been a central figure in the working relationship between TNA and WWE. Slater has made multiple appearances on NXT and teamed with Je'Von Evans on the December edition of Saturday Night's Main Event.

Challenging Hayes on Friday was one of Slater's highest-profile appearances yet, and although he lost, he turned in a highly impressive showing.

While TNA undoubtedly would have loved for Slater to have been able to appear on Thursday's historic episode of Impact, getting him some exposure on a highly viewed show like SmackDown was a nice consolation prize.