Lost pairing with Watch after downgrading to IOS 15.7 in order to recover CarPlay functionality.

I have an Apple Watch and new (refurbished) Iphone 12 mini. I upgraded from IOS 15.7 to 16.0.2 and lost CarPlay (there was also an automatic upgrade of the watch). To remedy the loss of CarPlay, I downgraded to IOS 15.7 and CarPlay is working just fine now.

However, the watch is no longer paired with the phone, although the watch seems to be responding to something ??? I get notifications and calls on the watch, but it is not showing on my Watch app on the phone.

I know I can't downgrade the watch to the previous os. If I wait for the fix to IOS 16.0.2+ that will hopefully fix the SIRI/CarPlay issue, can the watch be re-paired with the phone?