Mysterio made his WWE debut on the July 25, 2002, episode of "SmackDown!" as a fan favorite in a match against Chavo Guerrero, which Mysterio won. He eventually began a feud with Kurt Angle, which culminated in a match at SummerSlam that 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; the match was voted Match of the Year by the "Wrestling Observer Newsletter". After they failed to win the title, Mysterio and Edge defeated Los Guerreros in a number one contender's match on the October 24 episode of "SmackDown!" to earn a title shot. Two weeks later on November 7, they defeated Angle and Benoit in a two out of three falls match to win their first Tag Team Championship. They soon lost the tag titles to Los Guerreros in a Triple Threat Elimination match that also involved former champions Angle and Benoit at Survivor Series. Shortly after the loss, Mysterio and Edge disbanded as a tag team.