Dominik Mysterio has had a unique path to becoming a WWE Superstar, starting in 2020 when he made his in-ring debut against… Seth Rollins. Before the match, the son of the WWE Hall of Famer thought he had earned the respect of the locker room quickly.
Unlike the majority of WWE wrestling prospects, Dominik did not go through the developmental system. He trained under a variety of wrestlers, such as Lance Storm, Konnan, and Jay Lethalbefore making its way to the main menu.
His first feud was against Rollins, who he faced in a Street Fight at SummerSlam 2020. During the build-up to the match, The Visionary, along with Buddy Murphy, brutalized Dominik with a kendo stick.
talking on Wrestling without competition podcast, “Dirty” Dom spoke about the clip in which he took a large number of shots to his chest, stomach and back. He was given the name “Crucified Kendo” and was believed to have earned the boys' respect by taking a beating, demonstrating his affiliation.
“I like to call it crucified kendo when I was tied up in the ropes and I was completely beaten up. I think it was a total of 37 kendo shots that I ended up landing. I remember that night, I got a lot of what seemed like a lot of respect from the guys in the back,” Dominic said. And it's like a “welcome to the entrepreneur” moment. (from 11:23 – 11:51)
After surviving a barrage of kendo sticks, Dominik Mysterio He put up a valiant effort against Seth Rollins at SummerSlam 2020. However, The Visionary had too much smarts in his game to pull off the victory.
Dominik Mysterio believes his run in 2023 has earned him more respect
The biggest year of Dominik Mysterio's career to date was in 2023, when he appeared on RAW, SmackDown, and NXT. There was also a week that year in which he was the main event of each show.
In the same interview on Wrestling without competition podcast, “Dirty” Dom felt like the boys in the locker room respected him more because he grinded it out in the ring. He had 106 total games, which was seven fewer Cody Rhodes“Total and the same as Seth Rollins.
“Dude, the struggle at that time was definitely real,” Dominic said. “I feel like that was another point in time where I was able to get a lot of respect from the guys at the back.” (from 20:06 – 20:21 of the video above)
Dominik Mysterio has come a long way in all aspects of being a WWE Superstar. He was so good that ESPN named him the best wrestler under 30.
Edited by Sanchari Bhattacharya
