As his son Dominick looks on, The Ultimate Underdog squares off against The Samoan Submission Machine.

Let’s be charitable and say WrestleMania was not Rey Mysterio’s finest hour. Nor had things improved for The Ultimate Underdog upon his arrival to Raw, where he was devoured by Lars Sullivan and defeated by AJ Styles in a Triple Threat Match in consecutive weeks. WWE’s Littlest Big Man seems to have finally gotten his groove back, however, as he got sweet redemption for his WrestleMania trouncing with a gritty victory over the man who defeated him at The Show of Shows in the first place: United States Champion Samoa Joe.

In a pre-match diatribe, Joe proclaimed the match as his opportunity at redemption, given that he indirectly blamed Rey for costing him a Universal Title opportunity last week. But The Samoan Submission Machine was a step too slow against Mysterio, who fought with a little more fire than the titleholder and, save for a rough spot here and there, never seemed to be quite out of control of the match. Even Joe’s kickout of Rey’s fateful stack-up came a beat later than usual, and The Ultimate Underdog walked away with a win — much to the pride of Rey’s son Dominick, who met his father atop the stage. Joe, meanwhile, was looking somewhat justifiably shaken: He tends to think of himself as invincible, and he’s not wrong. But now Rey knows he can beat him. And usually, that’s all he needs to know.