Dominik Mysterio’s evolution to a faux-hardened convict and despicable estranged son is one among WWE’s largest success tales in 2023. However earlier than that, Dominik’s run as Rey Mysterio’s plucky son had viewers begging to get him off their screens.
Dominik’s first WWE match was a road battle in opposition to Seth Rollins at SummerSlam in 2020. It was a remarkably high-profile spot for a debut match. {Most professional} wrestlers spend their whole careers wrestling on small impartial phases. Dominik debuted in opposition to a multi-time world champion on a “Large 4” pay-per-view for the trade chief. 9 months later, Dominik and Rey captured the SmackDown tag crew championships. It was an excessive amount of too quickly for younger Dominik as fan and critic sentiments turned in opposition to him.
“There can be quite a lot of comparisons made between you and your father,” Rey and coach Lance Storm advised Dominik early into his coaching, one thing Rey reiterated to CBS Sports activities whereas discussing A&E’s “Biography WWE Legends – Eddie Guerrero” premiering Sunday. “You allow them to are available one ear and out the opposite. You follow your path and also you follow your targets. You do what you imagine is one of the best factor for you. Take recommendation, on the finish of the day, you dissect the recommendation and determine it out.”
Rey’s aura extends far past his five-foot-six body. The WWE Corridor of Famer succeeded on the highest ranges of WWE in an period nonetheless prioritizing muscly giants. Rey suggested his son to navigate negativity like Rey did en path to turning into professional wrestling’s final underdog.
“I’ve by no means paid consideration to negativity in my profession or life,” Rey mentioned. “I’ve all the time pushed that apart or shaken it off. I bear in mind telling Dom just a few occasions, ‘Hey, maintain going and doing what you’re feeling is correct.'”
Dominik was nosediving as a high-flying third-generation celebrity till The Judgement Day faction took him below its depraved wings. Dominik was in a position to form a definite new gimmick as soon as he distanced himself from his dad. “Soiled” Dom is a bratty deadbeat son whose comically temporary jail stint turned him right into a laughably hardened legal. Dominik flourished below the supervision of world-traveled teammates Damian Priest, Finn Balor and Rhea Ripley. He was quickly drawing the loudest boos of any WWE celebrity. This time it was intentional.
“Quite a lot of the recommendation was not coming from me,” Rey mentioned. “We had been separate and he was doing his factor. I believe that was in all probability one of the best factor that might have occurred. He did not have his dad yapping in his ear telling him ‘Do that’ or ‘Attempt that.’ He was figuring it out on his personal, which is what must be accomplished. If you let your children off the leash they usually’re taking off, you anticipate them to search out development and determine it out.”
Rey and Dominik’s careers stay intently tethered regardless of their storyline cut up. The daddy-son duo wrestled in opposition to one another in a singles match at WrestleMania 39 and a tag crew match at WrestleMania 40. The elder Mysterio had his hand raised each occasions. Rey has no rapid timeline for retirement however has the proper situation ready for his send-off. Rey desires to stake what’s most essential to him in opposition to the particular person most essential to him.
“The right situation is that Dom can be the suitable particular person,” Rey mentioned. “And never essentially to retire me however put what issues most to me on the road and that is my masks. It is one thing I might be keen to do.”
Dominik is likely to be Rey’s son however he is generally the spitting picture of Eddie Guerrero, from their storyline relationships with Ripley and Chyna, respectively, to their questionable mullets. It spawned numerous jokes about Rey and Guerrero’s “Custody of Dominik” ladder match at SummerSlam in 2005 after Guerrero claimed to be Dominik’s organic father.
“I’ve to say this and my spouse goes to kill me,” Mysterio teased. “However I’ve advised her a number of occasions, ‘Did you cheat on me with Eddie? As a result of Dom — I do not know.’ And he or she says, ‘Yeah, and I by no means advised me!’ I yell, ‘No!’
“I really imagine that Eddie is getting a kick out of this and, to a sure diploma, Eddie has been in Dominik’s nook from the start. It’s extremely particular and nostalgic to see my son’s development and to see every so often a little bit Eddie-ish in his character and his growth and the way in which he carries himself. To a big diploma, there’s quite a lot of satisfaction once I see him and it jogs my memory a lot of moments I lived with Eddie… Generally once I see footage of them, it is simply scary.”
Rey and Guerrero had been expensive buddies who wrestled with and in opposition to one another globally earlier than and through their WWE careers. Guerrero, 38, died of acute coronary heart failure on Nov. 13, 2005. His sudden passing rocked everybody however hit Rey significantly laborious. Rey famously defeated Shawn Michaels the subsequent night on WWE Uncooked in a major occasion devoted to Guerrero. Rey gave a speech in Guerrero’s honor to the dwell viewers. Rey discreetly eliminated his masks afterward, one thing he hardly ever does publicly.
“The masks in lucha libre could be very sacred. It is one thing that we defend and we cherish,” Rey defined. “Particularly when it is inside generations of a household. When it is generational and also you’re carrying the identify of your father or somebody who got here earlier than you — in my case Rey Misterio Sr. and Rey Mysterio Jr. — you even defend it along with your life just about.
“I bear in mind throughout that incident, I needed the followers to listen to Rey Mysterio however I additionally needed them, in a means, to know who was behind the masks and the emotions I felt. As a result of the connection that I felt with Eddie within the ring was lovely and unimaginable. However the connection we had exterior of the ring was even deeper.”
Take a look at the complete interview with Rey Mysterio under.
Followers keen on listening to Rey and Dominik share extra about Guerrero can watch Guerrero’s episode of “Biography: WWE Legends” premiering Sunday on A&E.