On the 30th September 2019 episode of RAW, the young Dominick, son of Rey Mysterio, was physically involved for the first time. He’s no stranger to appearing in WWE. As you may know, 2019 wasn’t even the first time he started appearing the way he has. We can go all the way back to 2005 in the rather uncomfortable storyline between Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio, where the two fought in a SummerSlam ladder match to determine the custody of Dominick.
In retrospect, that was a very awkward storyline but WWE let bygones be bygones. Rey Mysterio has been very vocal about supporting his son and his dream of following in his footsteps as a professional wrestler. He has been training with Lance Storm in his Wrestling Academy, which means that he’s in very good hands.
Mysterio spoke with Wrestlezone earlier this year and talked about wanting to pass on his legacy to his son.
“It cost me a lot of work and sacrifice to gain the respect of my uncle in order for him to pass on the legacy of the ‘Mysterio’ name onto me. I can’t even count how many times as a kid that I would cry, I was bleeding, I was injured, but I still worked through all of that to get back in the ring and do what I’m doing now. It cost a price to be who I am, and to be able to see my son grow up in a different style, but to see him grow outside of a professional ring and during his training stages, I see that it’s in the bloodline. For me to be able to share the ring and to have a match with him at my side, and just seeing his performance—not in the front row, but in the corner, standing next to him, waiting for him to tag me in—it’s something that once he told me he wanted to break into this business, I’ve imagined that moment ever since.”
It comes as no surprise that Dominick is gearing up for an eventual run in WWE. What is, however, slightly surprising is that he will most probably end up skipping the entire NXT process and jump straight to the main roster. Whether that will be detrimental or not, we’re yet to see, but normally, it isn’t a wise idea to expose a green talent to international television so early on as it may hamper their progress.
However, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE does, in fact, have the intention of signing him full-time and debuting him next year. That was all but confirmed on television when Mysterio was on the verge of retirement, only to be stopped by Dominick, who reminded him of his promise that when he debuted, they would team up together.
That looks to be the endgame of all of this and it’s going to be interesting to see how they handle his debut. Naturally, since he’s very young, WWE will do the best they can to protect him as much as possible. Having Brock Lesnar beat him down was an unexpected move but just goes to show that he is ready to take some serious bumps.
But is it the right move to make? Would WWE be doing justice to him by exposing him to a big stage so early on? We often criticize WWE in such cases, but the reality is that this isn’t the first time they would do something like that. Normally, they know how to handle and protect their superstars, especially the greener ones.
One thing is for sure, it would make for a fantastic storyline. Whether he teams up with his father, turns on his father or takes revenge against the men who wronged his father, there’s clearly a lot of potential for Dominick right from the get-go. However, his career would need to be in multiple different phases and it’s also evident that there’s only so long that he can have the cloud of being “Rey Mysterio’s son” hanging above his head.
As we know, these comparisons do no favor and in this case, will make no sense as the two come from completely different backgrounds and are physically very different as well. Mysterio had to scratch and claw in Mexico and it took him a long time before he reached the big stage. Even to reach the World title level, it took him a few years and he wasn’t able to stay on top for too long as well.
Hopefully, when Dominick does debut, he will be able to handle the bright lights and the pressure right off the bat. If he wants to see an example of a superstar who has overcome their father’s legacy, Charlotte Flair is a great reference point. He has a lot of potential and can achieve great things.
