Dominik Mysterio had a unique path to becoming a WWE Superstar, starting in 2020 when he made his in-ring debut against Seth Rollins. Prior to the match, the son of the WWE Hall of Famer thought that he had earned the respect of the locker room quickly.
Unlike the majority of wrestling prospects in WWE, Dominik didn’t go through the developmental system. He trained under a variety of wrestlers, such as Lance Storm, Konnan, and Jay Lethal, before making his way onto the main roster.
His very first feud was against Rollins, who he faced in a Street Fight at SummerSlam 2020. During the build-up to their match, The Visionary, along with Buddy Murphy, brutalized Dominik with a kendo stick.
Speaking on the No-Contest Wrestling podcast, “Dirty” Dom opened up about the segment wherein he took a ton of shots to his chest, stomach, and back. He called it the “Kendo Crucified” and believed he earned the respect of the boys by taking the beating, showing that he belonged.
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“I like to call it the Kendo Crucified when I just got tied to the ropes and got beat absolutely. I think it was like 37 Kendo shots total that I ended up taking. I remember that night, I got a lot of like it seemed like a lot of respect from the guys in the back and almost like a, ‘Welcome to the business kid’ type of moment,” Dominik said. [From 11:23 – 11:51]
After surviving the Kendo stick barrage, Dominik Mysterio put on a valiant effort against Seth Rollins at SummerSlam 2020. However, The Visionary had too much savviness in his game to get the victory.
Dominik Mysterio believes his 2023 grind earned him more respect
The biggest year of Dominik Mysterio’s career so far was in 2023, when he was being featured on RAW, SmackDown, and NXT. There was even a week that year wherein he was in the main event of each show.
In the same interview on the No-Contest Wrestling podcast, “Dirty” Dom felt the boys in the locker room respected him more for grinding it out inside the ring. He had a total of 106 matches, which was seven less than Cody Rhodes’ total and the same as Seth Rollins.
“Dude, the grind for that time was definitely real. I feel like that was another point in time where I was able to get a lot of respect from the boys in the back,” Dominik said. [From 20:06 – 20:21 from the video above]
Dominik Mysterio has come a long way in all facets of being a WWE Superstar. He was so good that ESPN named him the best wrestler under 30.
Edited by Sanchari Bhattacharya
