Mysterio made his return on the June 23, 2008, episode of "Raw", as the first wrestler to be drafted in the 2008 WWE Draft from SmackDown brand to the Raw brand. Mysterio made his Raw in-ring debut on July 7, pinning Santino Marella after a 619. General Manager Mike Adamle announced that John Cena was injured and that Mysterio would replace him in the Championship Scramble at Unforgiven. The next week, Mysterio made his return to Raw after an extended absence by attacking Kane, turning back numerous claims that Kane had "ended his career". Mysterio then made his in-ring return at Unforgiven, competing in the World Heavyweight Championship scramble match, which was won by Chris Jericho. Mysterio put his mask on the line in a singles match at No Mercy, which he won by disqualification after Kane attacked him with a steel chair. He defeated Kane again at Cyber Sunday, this time in a No Holds Barred match, and again at Survivor Series, when the pair were on opposing sides in a five-on-five elimination match. Mysterio participated in the 2009 Royal Rumble match, entering first and spending 49 minutes and 24 seconds in the match, before being eliminated by Big Show. The following night on "Raw", he qualified for the Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship at No Way Out, but was eliminated by Edge when the two were the last men in the Chamber match.