WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.099 Okay, so let's unpack this because, frankly, 00:00:04.219 --> 00:00:06.980 if you had told me, if you told me five years 00:00:06.980 --> 00:00:09.080 ago that we would be having this specific conversation. 00:00:10.130 --> 00:00:12.429 I probably would have laughed you right out of 00:00:12.429 --> 00:00:14.009 the room. Oh, absolutely. I think everyone would. 00:00:14.130 --> 00:00:17.250 Right, because it is currently February 21st, 00:00:17.250 --> 00:00:21.750 2026. And if you were to walk into a frantic 00:00:21.750 --> 00:00:24.730 betting parlor in Las Vegas, say five years ago, 00:00:24.929 --> 00:00:27.829 and place a wager on the future of professional 00:00:27.829 --> 00:00:30.390 wrestling, you probably would have bet on... 00:00:30.649 --> 00:00:32.729 i don't know roman reigns or maybe cody rhodes 00:00:32.729 --> 00:00:35.409 yeah cody rhodes or perhaps some rising star 00:00:35.409 --> 00:00:37.729 from japan to be the ultimate face of the industry 00:00:37.729 --> 00:00:41.570 but if you had put your money on the skinny awkward 00:00:41.570 --> 00:00:44.049 kids standing in the corner of the ring the one 00:00:44.049 --> 00:00:46.090 who looked like he was literally afraid of his 00:00:46.090 --> 00:00:48.149 own shadow you would be a very very rich person 00:00:48.149 --> 00:00:52.590 today extremely rich and um Probably investigated 00:00:52.590 --> 00:00:54.990 for insider trading because nobody saw this trajectory 00:00:54.990 --> 00:00:57.310 coming. No one at all. Because we are looking 00:00:57.310 --> 00:00:59.329 at a landscape right now that defies all the 00:00:59.329 --> 00:01:01.070 conventional logic of the wrestling business. 00:01:01.409 --> 00:01:04.650 We're looking at a man who is currently, as we 00:01:04.650 --> 00:01:07.750 speak, holding the WWE Intercontinental Championship. 00:01:08.129 --> 00:01:10.930 Or workhorse belt. Exactly. The workhorse belt 00:01:10.930 --> 00:01:14.049 of American wrestling. And at the exact same 00:01:14.049 --> 00:01:18.400 time, he is holding. The Lucha Libre AAA Mega 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:21.060 Championship, which is the top prize in Mexico. 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:23.260 And we really need to pause right there for a 00:01:23.260 --> 00:01:25.579 second because I don't think people outside the 00:01:25.579 --> 00:01:29.239 industry realize just how impossible that sentence 00:01:29.239 --> 00:01:33.579 is. It sounds made up. It does. Because WWE is, 00:01:33.719 --> 00:01:36.560 well, they are a walled garden. Historically, 00:01:36.599 --> 00:01:38.819 they just do not play nice with others. They're 00:01:38.819 --> 00:01:40.760 like the Disney of wrestling. That's a great 00:01:40.760 --> 00:01:42.859 way to put it. They want to own the IP. They 00:01:42.859 --> 00:01:45.280 want to own the image. And they strictly control 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:48.659 the narrative. And AAA is a completely different 00:01:48.659 --> 00:01:51.799 political ecosystem down in Mexico with its own 00:01:51.799 --> 00:01:54.400 massive TV deals and internal rivalries. Right. 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:56.719 So for one human being to hold the top gold in 00:01:56.719 --> 00:01:59.120 both companies simultaneously, it's not just 00:01:59.120 --> 00:02:01.799 a push. And, you know, that's the industry term 00:02:01.799 --> 00:02:03.579 for when a company decides to make you a star. 00:02:03.840 --> 00:02:06.180 It's a diplomatic miracle. It really is a diplomatic 00:02:06.180 --> 00:02:08.020 miracle. And we are, of course, talking about 00:02:08.020 --> 00:02:09.919 Dominic Mysterio. But for you listening right 00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:11.759 now, this isn't just a story about a guy winning 00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:14.439 shiny belts. Not at all. This is a case study 00:02:14.439 --> 00:02:17.219 in psychological warfare, in brand management, 00:02:17.340 --> 00:02:20.219 and honestly, how to weaponize the concept of 00:02:20.219 --> 00:02:23.020 a nepo baby. That is the core of it right there. 00:02:23.340 --> 00:02:25.819 Because we live in an era where nepotism babies 00:02:25.819 --> 00:02:29.240 are, well... They're critiqued really heavily 00:02:29.240 --> 00:02:31.319 in pop culture. No, heavily. The Internet loves 00:02:31.319 --> 00:02:34.159 to tear them down. But Dominic Mysterio didn't 00:02:34.159 --> 00:02:36.639 run from that label. He didn't come out and try 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:38.860 to prove he was this self -made man initially. 00:02:38.879 --> 00:02:41.099 Yeah, he leaned into it. He took that label, 00:02:41.159 --> 00:02:43.199 he wrapped it in barbed wire, and he basically 00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:45.139 smacked the audience in the face with it until 00:02:45.139 --> 00:02:47.479 they had no choice but to respect him. So the 00:02:47.479 --> 00:02:50.400 mission for today's deep dive is simple but also 00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:53.500 incredibly complex. We want to figure out how 00:02:53.500 --> 00:02:55.840 we got here. The evolution. Yes, the evolution. 00:02:56.139 --> 00:02:59.259 How did Dominic Gutierrez evolve into Dirty Dom 00:02:59.259 --> 00:03:02.099 and then evolve again into this conquering double 00:03:02.099 --> 00:03:05.120 champion powerhouse that we see today in 2026? 00:03:05.460 --> 00:03:06.939 And we've got a lot of material to get through 00:03:06.939 --> 00:03:09.930 to figure that out. We do. We have. stacks of 00:03:09.930 --> 00:03:12.349 dirt sheet reports. We have match archives from 00:03:12.349 --> 00:03:15.990 2005 all the way to 2026. And we have hours of 00:03:15.990 --> 00:03:18.129 backstage interviews. We are going to trace the 00:03:18.129 --> 00:03:20.689 line from a terrified eight -year -old in a literal 00:03:20.689 --> 00:03:23.430 custody battle to the double champion of the 00:03:23.430 --> 00:03:25.110 world. And along the way, we have to answer the 00:03:25.110 --> 00:03:28.849 big question, which is, is Dominic Mysterio actually 00:03:28.849 --> 00:03:32.090 a wrestling genius? Or is he just the greatest 00:03:32.090 --> 00:03:34.870 beneficiary of the wildest soap opera ever written? 00:03:35.090 --> 00:03:37.129 Exactly. And to understand that, we have to look 00:03:37.129 --> 00:03:38.750 at the psychology of it. We have to look at the 00:03:38.750 --> 00:03:41.250 relationships. With his father, with Rhea Ripley, 00:03:41.349 --> 00:03:44.090 with Liv Morgan. Because this isn't just a sports 00:03:44.090 --> 00:03:46.949 story. It's a study in escaping a massive shadow. 00:03:47.389 --> 00:03:50.460 It's about identity. And honestly, it starts 00:03:50.460 --> 00:03:53.560 way back in 2005 with something that might be 00:03:53.560 --> 00:03:55.639 the most bizarre origin story in the history 00:03:55.639 --> 00:03:57.860 of televised media. Oh, I know exactly where 00:03:57.860 --> 00:03:59.680 you're going. The custody battle. The custody 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:01.840 battle. To really get this, we have to go back 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:04.560 way back. You mentioned the origin story earlier. 00:04:04.599 --> 00:04:06.840 And usually in sports, an origin story is something 00:04:06.840 --> 00:04:09.379 like, you know, he played football in high school 00:04:09.379 --> 00:04:12.580 or he was a standout amateur wrestler. Right. 00:04:12.659 --> 00:04:15.139 A normal athletic background. But Dominic's origin 00:04:15.139 --> 00:04:18.779 story is. Well, it's legal trauma. It's barely 00:04:18.779 --> 00:04:21.939 legal is what it is. We're talking about SummerSlam 00:04:21.939 --> 00:04:26.620 2005. Dominic is eight years old. We fact -checked 00:04:26.620 --> 00:04:30.379 this. His birth date is April 5th, 1997. So he 00:04:30.379 --> 00:04:34.319 is a literal child. A third grader. Yes, a third 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:36.839 grader. And he is thrust into a central storyline 00:04:36.839 --> 00:04:40.560 between his real father, the legendary Rey Mysterio, 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:43.709 and the late, great Eddie Guerrero. And for those 00:04:43.709 --> 00:04:45.389 of you who didn't watch wrestling in the mid 00:04:45.389 --> 00:04:47.050 -2000s, you need to understand this wasn't just 00:04:47.050 --> 00:04:48.870 a rivalry about who was the better athlete. Oh, 00:04:48.870 --> 00:04:52.069 no. This was a telenovela. A completely unhinged 00:04:52.069 --> 00:04:54.230 telenovela. This was a soap opera written by 00:04:54.230 --> 00:04:56.110 people who were clearly on very strong energy 00:04:56.110 --> 00:04:58.699 drinks. because Eddie Guerrero's character claimed 00:04:58.699 --> 00:05:01.220 on national television that he was Dominic's 00:05:01.220 --> 00:05:04.639 actual biological father. Which is wild. He clowned 00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:06.620 he had an affair and that Ray and his wife couldn't 00:05:06.620 --> 00:05:08.660 conceive, so Eddie just gave them Dominic. Which 00:05:08.660 --> 00:05:11.139 is an insane concept to broadcast. But here is 00:05:11.139 --> 00:05:13.019 what I find fascinating from the research pile 00:05:13.019 --> 00:05:15.240 we have here. They played this so straight that 00:05:15.240 --> 00:05:17.360 Child Protective Services were actually called 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:20.540 by concerned viewers. Yeah, that is a very persistent 00:05:20.540 --> 00:05:23.360 rumor. And while we can't verify the specific 00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:27.589 911 calls from 2005, The heat surrounding this 00:05:27.589 --> 00:05:29.930 was incredibly real. They blurred the lines of 00:05:29.930 --> 00:05:32.579 reality. What the industry calls kayfabe. Right, 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:35.279 kayfabe. They blurred it so effectively. You 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:37.600 really have to imagine being eight years old. 00:05:37.699 --> 00:05:40.980 You are on live global television. There are 00:05:40.980 --> 00:05:43.560 20 ,000 people in the arena screaming at the 00:05:43.560 --> 00:05:45.300 top of their lungs. And you are just standing 00:05:45.300 --> 00:05:48.379 in the ring while two grown men scream into microphones 00:05:48.379 --> 00:05:50.740 about who owns you. And it all culminates in 00:05:50.740 --> 00:05:52.579 the ladder match. Okay, yes. We need to explain 00:05:52.579 --> 00:05:54.060 the mechanics here for anyone who doesn't know 00:05:54.060 --> 00:05:56.740 wrestling lingo. What exactly is a ladder match? 00:05:56.920 --> 00:05:59.000 So a ladder match is traditionally used to decide 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:02.129 a championship belt. The promoters hang the belt 00:06:02.129 --> 00:06:04.870 about 20 feet above the ring. They set up these 00:06:04.870 --> 00:06:07.970 extremely tall metal ladders, and the wrestlers 00:06:07.970 --> 00:06:10.790 had to physically climb up and retrieve the belt 00:06:10.790 --> 00:06:13.449 to win. It sounds dangerous. It is incredibly 00:06:13.449 --> 00:06:15.930 dangerous. People get legitimately hurt. It involves 00:06:15.930 --> 00:06:18.889 falling from massive heights directly onto unforgiving 00:06:18.889 --> 00:06:22.230 steel. But in this specific match at SummerSlam 00:06:22.230 --> 00:06:25.589 2005, they didn't hang a championship belt. No, 00:06:25.589 --> 00:06:28.389 they did not. They hum a literal briefcase containing 00:06:28.389 --> 00:06:31.420 legal custody papers. I just I have to stop you 00:06:31.420 --> 00:06:33.199 there because every time I read that in the sources, 00:06:33.319 --> 00:06:36.879 my brain short circuits. They hung custody papers 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:38.860 from the ceiling of an arena. They absolutely 00:06:38.860 --> 00:06:41.540 did. And the winner of the match by climbing 00:06:41.540 --> 00:06:43.740 the ladder and grabbing the briefcase became 00:06:43.740 --> 00:06:46.959 Dominic's legal guardian. It's so absurd. Now, 00:06:47.019 --> 00:06:49.839 obviously, for you listening in real life, custody 00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:52.990 is decided by family courts. Right. Not by. Who 00:06:52.990 --> 00:06:54.910 can climb a ladder faster while avoiding a steel 00:06:54.910 --> 00:06:57.790 chair? Right. We hope so anyway. But in the universe 00:06:57.790 --> 00:07:02.230 of WWE, this was a binding legal contract. So 00:07:02.230 --> 00:07:05.389 you have Rey Mysterio, his dad, fighting Eddie 00:07:05.389 --> 00:07:08.949 Guerrero. And if you watch the tape. The camera 00:07:08.949 --> 00:07:11.250 cuts to Dominic constantly. He's sitting in the 00:07:11.250 --> 00:07:13.930 front row. He looks absolutely terrified. And 00:07:13.930 --> 00:07:15.990 looking at this as analysts, we have to ask, 00:07:16.069 --> 00:07:18.329 was he acting? That's the million -dollar question, 00:07:18.430 --> 00:07:20.310 isn't it? At eight years old, how much of that 00:07:20.310 --> 00:07:22.509 is acting, and how much is just a kid being completely 00:07:22.509 --> 00:07:25.110 overwhelmed by sensory overload? It has to be 00:07:25.110 --> 00:07:28.029 mostly the latter. But that fear, that specific 00:07:28.029 --> 00:07:31.230 image of the innocent child caught in the crossfire 00:07:31.230 --> 00:07:35.110 of these two massive egos, that is the seed for 00:07:35.110 --> 00:07:37.889 everything that comes later. Because 20 years 00:07:37.889 --> 00:07:40.370 later, when Dominic finally turns into a villain, 00:07:40.529 --> 00:07:43.550 what does he do? He references Eddie. He references 00:07:43.550 --> 00:07:45.550 Eddie Guerrero. He actually starts calling himself 00:07:45.550 --> 00:07:48.209 Latino Heat, which was Eddie's nickname. He starts 00:07:48.209 --> 00:07:50.970 using the three amigo suplexes, which was Eddie's 00:07:50.970 --> 00:07:53.029 signature move. It's almost like this really 00:07:53.029 --> 00:07:55.410 dark psychological twist. Like he's saying, you 00:07:55.410 --> 00:07:57.370 guys made me a victim of this Eddie Guerrero 00:07:57.370 --> 00:07:59.250 drama when I was a kid, so now I'm going to become 00:07:59.250 --> 00:08:01.470 Eddie Guerrero to punish you all. Precisely. 00:08:01.470 --> 00:08:04.009 He internalized the trauma of that storyline, 00:08:04.269 --> 00:08:07.300 and he weaponized it. He realized pretty early 00:08:07.300 --> 00:08:10.120 on that being Ray's son was a burden. Because 00:08:10.120 --> 00:08:12.839 Ray is a superhero to the fans. Exactly. And 00:08:12.839 --> 00:08:14.740 you can't live up to a superhero. You just can't. 00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:17.540 But being Eddie's son, metaphorically speaking, 00:08:17.740 --> 00:08:20.959 gave him permission to be wicked, to lie, cheat, 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:23.790 and steal, which was Eddie's famous motto. It's 00:08:23.790 --> 00:08:25.970 brilliant character work, but we're jumping ahead 00:08:25.970 --> 00:08:27.589 a bit. We should quickly look at what the sources 00:08:27.589 --> 00:08:30.250 call the fan years, because he didn't just disappear 00:08:30.250 --> 00:08:32.970 after 2005. Now he pops up again at WrestleMania 00:08:32.970 --> 00:08:37.049 22 in 2006. He's there in 2010 during Rey's feud 00:08:37.049 --> 00:08:39.269 with CM Punk and the Straight Edge Society. He 00:08:39.269 --> 00:08:41.950 was always around. Right, he was a fixture. We 00:08:41.950 --> 00:08:44.269 essentially watched him grow up on camera in 00:08:44.269 --> 00:08:46.950 these brief flashes. So when he finally decides 00:08:46.950 --> 00:08:50.090 to get in the ring for real as an adult, the 00:08:50.090 --> 00:08:53.230 expectations were sky high. And this brings us 00:08:53.230 --> 00:08:55.490 to what I want to call the Prince debut era, 00:08:55.610 --> 00:08:59.889 which covers roughly 2019 to 2022. The Nepo baby 00:08:59.889 --> 00:09:01.909 era, if you want to be a bit cynical about it. 00:09:01.990 --> 00:09:04.070 And honestly, the fans are very cynical at the 00:09:04.070 --> 00:09:06.269 time. Yeah, of course they were. He starts his 00:09:06.269 --> 00:09:08.429 formal training right. And the sources show he's 00:09:08.429 --> 00:09:11.690 being trained by Jay Lethal, Lance Storm Conan, 00:09:11.769 --> 00:09:13.570 and of course his father. Those are absolute 00:09:13.570 --> 00:09:15.830 legends of the business. Handpicked elite trainers. 00:09:16.049 --> 00:09:18.649 A luxury most rookies never get. Exactly. And 00:09:18.649 --> 00:09:20.590 then he just shows up on SmackDown in 2019 to 00:09:20.590 --> 00:09:23.429 support his dad against Samoa Joe. But the real 00:09:23.429 --> 00:09:25.389 turning point the moment it gets real is 2020. 00:09:25.990 --> 00:09:28.970 SummerSlam 2020. His debut match is a street 00:09:28.970 --> 00:09:31.389 fight against Seth Rollins. Talk about a trial 00:09:31.389 --> 00:09:33.789 by fire. Those wrestlers debut in a high school 00:09:33.789 --> 00:09:36.120 gym in front of maybe... Maybe 50 people. If 00:09:36.120 --> 00:09:39.100 they're lucky. Right. Dominic Mysterio debuts 00:09:39.100 --> 00:09:40.700 at one of the biggest pay -per -view events of 00:09:40.700 --> 00:09:43.820 the year against one of the absolute best wrestlers 00:09:43.820 --> 00:09:47.399 of his generation in Seth Rollins. And a street 00:09:47.399 --> 00:09:49.980 fight isn't normal wrestling match. Break that 00:09:49.980 --> 00:09:52.200 down for us. What does a street fight actually 00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:55.539 entail in WWE terms? In WWE terms, it means there 00:09:55.539 --> 00:09:58.019 are no disqualifications. It means weapons are 00:09:58.019 --> 00:10:00.740 entirely legal. You can use kendo sticks, tables, 00:10:00.899 --> 00:10:02.759 steel chairs, anything you can find under the 00:10:02.759 --> 00:10:04.960 ring. And Seth Rollins didn't take it easy on 00:10:04.960 --> 00:10:06.779 him. He beat the kid with a kendo stick until 00:10:06.779 --> 00:10:09.840 Dominik was quite literally covered in welts. 00:10:10.059 --> 00:10:12.299 I remember looking at the photos in the archives 00:10:12.299 --> 00:10:14.700 after that match. His back looked like a roadmap. 00:10:14.980 --> 00:10:17.240 It was completely purple and red. And that was 00:10:17.240 --> 00:10:19.480 the entire point of the booking. They needed 00:10:19.480 --> 00:10:22.299 to prove to a very skeptical audience that this 00:10:22.299 --> 00:10:24.799 kid was tough. That he wasn't just coasting on 00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:27.539 his dad's name. Right. He lost that match, obviously, 00:10:27.620 --> 00:10:29.179 because he's a rookie facing a world champion. 00:10:29.299 --> 00:10:31.779 But he proved he could take a severe beating. 00:10:32.179 --> 00:10:34.460 He earned a modicum of respect from the hardcore 00:10:34.460 --> 00:10:37.379 fans. That's the key here. He took the bumps, 00:10:37.500 --> 00:10:39.820 which is the industry term for falling down and 00:10:39.820 --> 00:10:42.360 taking physical impact. And he just kept getting 00:10:42.360 --> 00:10:45.559 back up. And then just a week later at the payback 00:10:45.559 --> 00:10:48.960 event in 2020, he gets his first actual win. 00:10:49.139 --> 00:10:51.639 He teams up with Reggie to beat Seth Rollins 00:10:51.639 --> 00:10:54.379 and his disciple Murphy. It felt like a fairytale 00:10:54.379 --> 00:10:56.320 finish, didn't it? It really did. The father 00:10:56.320 --> 00:10:58.279 and son fighting side by side, getting retribution. 00:10:58.379 --> 00:11:00.860 And then they actually made history. WrestleMania 00:11:00.860 --> 00:11:04.059 backlash in May of 2021. I remember watching 00:11:04.059 --> 00:11:07.279 this vividly. They beat Dolph Ziggler and Robert 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:09.980 Roode to win the SmackDown tag team titles. The 00:11:09.980 --> 00:11:13.200 first father -son tag team champions in WWE history. 00:11:13.529 --> 00:11:15.289 which is a statistic that will stand forever 00:11:15.289 --> 00:11:17.610 in the record books. It will. And on the surface, 00:11:17.669 --> 00:11:19.850 it was this beautiful, emotional moment. You 00:11:19.850 --> 00:11:22.090 have Rey crying in the ring, Dominic holding 00:11:22.090 --> 00:11:24.389 the belt up high. But do you look closer at the 00:11:24.389 --> 00:11:26.309 footage from that specific era? If you really 00:11:26.309 --> 00:11:28.850 analyze the matches, there were massive cracks 00:11:28.850 --> 00:11:31.470 forming. Oh, absolutely. I watched those tag 00:11:31.470 --> 00:11:33.610 matches back recently during our research prep, 00:11:33.710 --> 00:11:37.289 and the dynamic was very heavily skewed. It was 00:11:37.289 --> 00:11:40.850 almost always a case of Rey has to save Dominic. 00:11:40.950 --> 00:11:43.710 Because Dominic was the rookie. He was a liability 00:11:43.710 --> 00:11:45.889 in the ring sometimes. He was quite literally 00:11:45.889 --> 00:11:49.289 learning on the job on live television. And when 00:11:49.289 --> 00:11:52.830 they lost those titles to the Usos just 63 days 00:11:52.830 --> 00:11:55.649 later, you could physically see the frustration 00:11:55.649 --> 00:11:58.289 building in his body language. He was trying 00:11:58.289 --> 00:12:01.129 so hard to be Rey Mysterio 2 .0. He was trying 00:12:01.129 --> 00:12:03.389 to do the intricate flips, the high -flying Lucha 00:12:03.389 --> 00:12:06.250 Libre moves, but he's significantly taller than 00:12:06.250 --> 00:12:09.279 Rey. He's lankier. His center of gravity is completely 00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:11.220 different. He just doesn't move the same way. 00:12:11.320 --> 00:12:13.259 And the reality is you can't be Rey Mysterio 00:12:13.259 --> 00:12:15.240 2 .0. There is only one Rey. It's like trying 00:12:15.240 --> 00:12:17.320 to be Michael Jordan's son and playing basketball 00:12:17.320 --> 00:12:19.159 for the Chicago Bulls. You're setting yourself 00:12:19.159 --> 00:12:21.120 up to fail before you even lace up your boots. 00:12:21.259 --> 00:12:23.960 But it is a perfect comparison. And because of 00:12:23.960 --> 00:12:25.879 that awkwardness, the audience started to turn 00:12:25.879 --> 00:12:28.059 on him. Not aggressively at first, though? Not 00:12:28.059 --> 00:12:30.279 aggressive hostility. It was worse. It was apathy. 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:32.360 The crowd was basically saying, OK, kid, we get 00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:34.279 it. You're here because of your dad. What else 00:12:34.279 --> 00:12:36.679 have you got? They had those frictions with The 00:12:36.679 --> 00:12:38.820 Miz and Logan Paul leading into WrestleMania 00:12:38.820 --> 00:12:42.970 38. But Dominic was still playing the role of 00:12:42.970 --> 00:12:45.950 the good prince. The respectful son. Right. And 00:12:45.950 --> 00:12:47.809 in professional wrestling, being a boring good 00:12:47.809 --> 00:12:50.789 guy is the absolute kiss of death for your career. 00:12:51.009 --> 00:12:52.769 It really is. You would always rather be intensely 00:12:52.769 --> 00:12:56.289 hated than completely ignored. Exactly. Which 00:12:56.289 --> 00:12:58.970 brings us to a massive turning point. Clash of 00:12:58.970 --> 00:13:03.330 the Castle. September 2022. Cardiff, Wales. Here 00:13:03.330 --> 00:13:06.490 is where the story gets really interesting. This 00:13:06.490 --> 00:13:09.450 is the exact moment the timeline splits. The 00:13:09.450 --> 00:13:10.990 pivot point. The pivot point. So you have this 00:13:10.990 --> 00:13:13.250 faction called the Judgment Day. At the time, 00:13:13.250 --> 00:13:16.429 it's Finn Balor, Damian Priest, and Rhea Ripley. 00:13:16.570 --> 00:13:19.610 They were this dark, goth, manipulative group, 00:13:19.730 --> 00:13:21.750 and they had been whispering in Dominic's ear 00:13:21.750 --> 00:13:24.009 for months. Just poisoning the well. Exactly. 00:13:24.750 --> 00:13:26.590 Telling him things like, your dad doesn't actually 00:13:26.590 --> 00:13:28.149 respect you. You're always going to live in his 00:13:28.149 --> 00:13:30.909 shadow. He only keeps you around as his tag partner 00:13:30.909 --> 00:13:33.409 to make himself look younger and better. It's 00:13:33.409 --> 00:13:36.169 classic psychological manipulation, just textbook 00:13:36.169 --> 00:13:38.929 cult recruitment tactics. But the thing is, it 00:13:38.929 --> 00:13:42.769 worked. At Clash at the Castle, Dominic helps 00:13:42.769 --> 00:13:46.149 his dad and Edge win a grueling tag team match 00:13:46.149 --> 00:13:48.750 against the Judgment Day. They're in the ring 00:13:48.750 --> 00:13:51.110 celebrating, the crowd is cheering, and then 00:13:51.110 --> 00:13:54.769 bam! He hits a low blow on Edge. A vicious low 00:13:54.769 --> 00:13:57.090 blow. And then he turns around and hits a massive 00:13:57.090 --> 00:13:59.490 clothesline on his own father. And the crowd 00:13:59.490 --> 00:14:02.960 in Cardiff went... absolutely feral feral is 00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:05.299 the right word it wasn't just a standard heel 00:14:05.299 --> 00:14:07.940 turn which is when a good guy turns bad it was 00:14:07.940 --> 00:14:10.039 a psychological break for the character he wasn't 00:14:10.039 --> 00:14:12.639 just attacking his dad physically he was rejecting 00:14:12.639 --> 00:14:14.679 the entire expectation of being a good person 00:14:14.679 --> 00:14:17.679 yes He was done being the prince. And immediately 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:19.840 he aligns himself with a judgment day. And this 00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:22.399 brings us directly into the birth of the Dirty 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:25.100 Dom persona. And I have to say, as someone who 00:14:25.100 --> 00:14:27.440 studies media character dynamics, the Mammy dynamic 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:29.659 with Rhea Ripley was nothing short of genius. 00:14:29.700 --> 00:14:32.240 It was a masterclass. But why do you think it 00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:35.200 worked so well? Because on paper, putting this 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:38.580 skinny, awkward kid with this dominant powerhouse 00:14:38.580 --> 00:14:41.399 woman is a strange pairing. Why did it click 00:14:41.399 --> 00:14:44.080 with the audience instantly? It worked precisely 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:46.240 because it subverted all the usual wrestling 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:49.139 tropes. Usually in wrestling, the male competitor 00:14:49.139 --> 00:14:51.919 is the muscular protector and the female valet 00:14:51.919 --> 00:14:54.500 is the one cowering at ringside being protected. 00:14:54.500 --> 00:14:57.620 Right. The classic damsel dynamic. Exactly. But 00:14:57.620 --> 00:15:00.879 here, Rhea Ripley was the absolute monster. She 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:03.080 was the muscle of the group. She was the women's 00:15:03.080 --> 00:15:05.759 world champion who could and would physically 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:09.190 rip male wrestlers apart. And Dominic became 00:15:09.190 --> 00:15:11.809 what the Internet would call the simp, for lack 00:15:11.809 --> 00:15:13.769 of a better term. He absolutely did. He just 00:15:13.769 --> 00:15:15.830 hid behind her constantly. He became this arrogant 00:15:15.830 --> 00:15:18.169 mouthpiece who talked endless trash on the microphone. 00:15:18.409 --> 00:15:20.730 But the second anyone stepped up to him, he would 00:15:20.730 --> 00:15:23.570 cower behind Rhea and let her handle it. He started 00:15:23.570 --> 00:15:26.629 slicking his hair back like a greasy 1980s villain. 00:15:26.710 --> 00:15:28.629 He started wearing these sleeveless black shirts. 00:15:28.889 --> 00:15:30.490 And then, of course, we have to talk about the 00:15:30.490 --> 00:15:32.649 prison dom gimmick. Oh, my goodness. Prison dom. 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:34.899 Please, we have to spend a minute on this because 00:15:34.899 --> 00:15:37.580 going through the archives, this was pure comedy 00:15:37.580 --> 00:15:42.139 gold. It was brilliant satire. OK, so for context, 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:44.879 for you listening at home, Dominic gets arrested 00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:47.519 in a storyline over the holidays. He essentially 00:15:47.519 --> 00:15:51.240 invades his dad's house on Christmas Eve with 00:15:51.240 --> 00:15:53.940 Rhea Ripley causing a disturbance. And Ray finally 00:15:53.940 --> 00:15:57.179 calls the cops on his own son. Right. So Dominic 00:15:57.179 --> 00:15:59.980 spends maybe, what, four hours in a suburban 00:15:59.980 --> 00:16:02.799 county. Holding cell. At most. I mean, he probably 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:04.899 had a juice box and a quick nap. But he comes 00:16:04.899 --> 00:16:07.519 back the next week on television completely changed. 00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:10.460 He's wearing a plaid flannel shirt, but it's 00:16:10.460 --> 00:16:12.220 only buttoned to the very top button. The classic 00:16:12.220 --> 00:16:15.919 Chalo aesthetic. Yes. He's got this fake. pier 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:17.960 drop tattoo on his face that looks like he drew 00:16:17.960 --> 00:16:20.799 it on in the car with a sharpie. And he suddenly 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:23.179 starts talking with this exaggerated swagger 00:16:23.179 --> 00:16:26.220 about doing a hard time and basic survival. It 00:16:26.220 --> 00:16:28.200 was ludicrous. He's standing there telling his 00:16:28.200 --> 00:16:30.259 stablemates, who are actual hardened veterans, 00:16:30.500 --> 00:16:32.799 you guys don't know what I've seen on the inside. 00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:34.919 You don't know how the clink changes a man. It 00:16:34.919 --> 00:16:37.750 was so deeply satirical. And that is exactly 00:16:37.750 --> 00:16:41.330 what the audience loved to hate. He was a visibly 00:16:41.330 --> 00:16:44.850 privileged suburban kid who was cosplaying as 00:16:44.850 --> 00:16:48.279 a hardened criminal. It was so deeply delusional 00:16:48.279 --> 00:16:51.559 that you literally had no choice but to boo him 00:16:51.559 --> 00:16:53.539 out of the building. And the boos. I mean, we 00:16:53.539 --> 00:16:56.419 watched the audio clips from 2023. They are jarring. 00:16:56.799 --> 00:16:59.240 Literally deafening. I remember watching segments 00:16:59.240 --> 00:17:01.179 where he would step into the ring. He would just 00:17:01.179 --> 00:17:02.860 hold the microphone up to his mouth, not even 00:17:02.860 --> 00:17:05.539 saying a word yet. And the wall of sound from 00:17:05.539 --> 00:17:07.599 the arena would just drown him out completely. 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:09.420 He couldn't even get his lines out. You just 00:17:09.420 --> 00:17:11.539 stand there and smirk. Which only made them boo 00:17:11.539 --> 00:17:13.900 louder. And in the industry, that is what we 00:17:13.900 --> 00:17:17.289 call good heat. That is pure money. Wait, let's 00:17:17.289 --> 00:17:18.769 pause and distinguish that for the listeners. 00:17:18.910 --> 00:17:21.289 What is the difference between good heat and 00:17:21.289 --> 00:17:25.390 bad heat in wrestling psychology? Okay, so heel 00:17:25.390 --> 00:17:29.230 heat or good heat is when the audience boos you 00:17:29.230 --> 00:17:31.650 because you are effectively playing a villain 00:17:31.650 --> 00:17:34.029 and they desperately want to see you get beat 00:17:34.029 --> 00:17:37.349 up. They are emotionally engaged. They are paying 00:17:37.349 --> 00:17:39.609 for a ticket specifically to see the hero punch 00:17:39.609 --> 00:17:41.589 you in the mouth. They are buying into the fiction. 00:17:41.789 --> 00:17:45.289 Right. Bad heat, on the other hand, which is 00:17:45.289 --> 00:17:48.309 often called expat heat, named after a wrestler 00:17:48.309 --> 00:17:51.009 from the late 90s, is when the audience boos 00:17:51.009 --> 00:17:53.529 you because they genuinely want you off their 00:17:53.529 --> 00:17:56.250 television screen. They are just annoyed by your 00:17:56.250 --> 00:17:58.589 actual existence. And changing the channel. Exactly. 00:17:59.049 --> 00:18:01.410 Now, Dominic started his career with a bit of 00:18:01.410 --> 00:18:05.029 that expat heat when he was the boring good guy, 00:18:05.190 --> 00:18:08.009 but he miraculously converted it into genuine 00:18:08.009 --> 00:18:10.930 nuclear heel heat. Pro Wrestling Illustrated 00:18:10.930 --> 00:18:13.130 actually named him Most Hated Wrestler of the 00:18:13.130 --> 00:18:15.589 Year in 2023, and then he won it again in 2024. 00:18:16.220 --> 00:18:18.279 He also won the Slammy Award for Villain of the 00:18:18.279 --> 00:18:20.599 Year. He leaned into the character so hard that 00:18:20.599 --> 00:18:22.920 the fans had to respect the commitment. And all 00:18:22.920 --> 00:18:24.880 of this character work culminated at WrestleMania 00:18:24.880 --> 00:18:28.319 39 in Los Angeles, the highly anticipated father 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:30.960 -son match, Rey versus Dominic. Which Rey ended 00:18:30.960 --> 00:18:33.200 up winning. Rey did win, yes. But looking at 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:35.500 the sources, Dominic completely solidified himself 00:18:35.500 --> 00:18:38.039 as a top -tier main event star, even in that 00:18:38.039 --> 00:18:39.980 loss. Do you remember his entrance? How could 00:18:39.980 --> 00:18:42.559 I forget? He entered the massive stadium in a 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:46.609 literal police riot van. Handcuffed. Escorted 00:18:46.609 --> 00:18:49.369 by armed guards. He was wearing a Rey Mysterio 00:18:49.369 --> 00:18:51.450 mask that he dramatically ripped off at the top 00:18:51.450 --> 00:18:53.589 of the ramp. The symbolism was just dripping 00:18:53.589 --> 00:18:56.269 from every moment. It was cinematic. So even 00:18:56.269 --> 00:18:58.349 in losing the match, he won the ultimate war 00:18:58.349 --> 00:19:00.970 of relevance. But the thing is, Dominic is smart. 00:19:01.410 --> 00:19:03.730 He knew he couldn't just rely on being a fun 00:19:03.730 --> 00:19:06.829 character forever. To survive in WWE, you have 00:19:06.829 --> 00:19:09.289 to... be what they call a worker. You have to 00:19:09.289 --> 00:19:11.609 be able to go in the ring. Exactly. So moving 00:19:11.609 --> 00:19:15.150 into late 2023 and early 2024, Dominic makes 00:19:15.150 --> 00:19:17.690 a really strategic choice. He starts proving 00:19:17.690 --> 00:19:20.230 he's a worker. He actually goes down to NXT, 00:19:20.410 --> 00:19:22.690 which is WWE's developmental brand. Which is 00:19:22.690 --> 00:19:25.049 an interesting move. Why go back to the developmental 00:19:25.049 --> 00:19:27.150 brand if you're already one of the most talked 00:19:27.150 --> 00:19:30.130 about stars on the main roster? Reps. Plain and 00:19:30.130 --> 00:19:32.579 simple, he needed ring time. He needed to show 00:19:32.579 --> 00:19:34.400 the office and the fans that he could carry a 00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:37.019 singles championship without Rey Mysterio out 00:19:37.019 --> 00:19:38.839 there holding his hand and calling the match. 00:19:39.019 --> 00:19:41.220 And he won the NXT North American Championship. 00:19:41.480 --> 00:19:45.180 Not once, but twice. Yes. And he didn't just 00:19:45.180 --> 00:19:47.720 win it. He defended that belt across all three 00:19:47.720 --> 00:19:50.779 brands simultaneously. He was wrestling on Raw 00:19:50.779 --> 00:19:54.779 on Monday, NXT on Tuesday, and SmackDown on Friday. 00:19:54.960 --> 00:19:57.680 He became the undisputed workhorse of the company 00:19:57.680 --> 00:20:00.079 for a solid year. And just to clarify, being 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:02.160 a workhorse in wrestling means you are physically 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:04.740 wrestling three to four times a week. You are 00:20:04.740 --> 00:20:07.460 traveling, constantly driving from town to town 00:20:07.460 --> 00:20:10.819 and taking bumps every single night. It is grueling. 00:20:11.390 --> 00:20:13.349 But doing that earns you immense respect in the 00:20:13.349 --> 00:20:16.130 locker room. The veterans see you grinding, and 00:20:16.130 --> 00:20:18.130 they realize you aren't just a gimmick. But then 00:20:18.130 --> 00:20:21.069 April 2024 hits. Legitimate physical setback. 00:20:21.130 --> 00:20:23.509 He suffers a real elbow injury that sidelines 00:20:23.509 --> 00:20:26.009 him from actual in -ring competition. And typically 00:20:26.009 --> 00:20:28.390 in wrestling, a serious injury cools a performer 00:20:28.390 --> 00:20:31.130 off entirely. You disappear from TV, the fans 00:20:31.130 --> 00:20:33.309 forget about you. But for Dominic... It just 00:20:33.309 --> 00:20:35.589 launched the most insane soap opera storyline 00:20:35.589 --> 00:20:37.549 of the entire year. The Liv Morgan storyline. 00:20:37.869 --> 00:20:39.849 The Liv Morgan storyline. Okay, so we have to 00:20:39.849 --> 00:20:42.390 map this out carefully. Rhea Ripley, his mammy, 00:20:42.470 --> 00:20:45.069 gets legitimately injured and has to vacate her 00:20:45.069 --> 00:20:48.049 title. She's off television. Liv Morgan, who 00:20:48.049 --> 00:20:51.230 injured Rhea, decides to go on this massive revenge 00:20:51.230 --> 00:20:54.089 tour to take literally everything Rhea loves. 00:20:54.490 --> 00:20:56.990 And naturally, she sets her sights squarely on 00:20:56.990 --> 00:20:58.910 Dominic. It all started with an accident, right? 00:20:59.390 --> 00:21:01.829 Dominic accidentally helps Liv beat Becky Lynch 00:21:01.829 --> 00:21:03.990 for the Women's World Championship at the King 00:21:03.990 --> 00:21:07.390 and Queen of the Ring event in May 2024. He tried 00:21:07.390 --> 00:21:09.269 to help Becky, but it backfired. But then Liv 00:21:09.269 --> 00:21:12.660 pivots. She realizes she can use him, so she 00:21:12.660 --> 00:21:15.359 starts wooing him, flirting with him openly on 00:21:15.359 --> 00:21:17.640 television. It was such a brilliant slow burn 00:21:17.640 --> 00:21:20.380 seduction. She was leaving him room keys. She 00:21:20.380 --> 00:21:22.619 was buying him gifts. She was purposely helping 00:21:22.619 --> 00:21:24.900 his friends in the judgment day win their matches. 00:21:25.140 --> 00:21:26.940 She even brought him chicken nuggets. I forgot 00:21:26.940 --> 00:21:28.599 about the chicken nuggets. She was literally 00:21:28.599 --> 00:21:31.119 buying him chicken nuggets. The fastest way to 00:21:31.119 --> 00:21:34.539 a 20 -something man's heart. But looking at the 00:21:34.539 --> 00:21:37.119 psychology of the performance, Dominic played 00:21:37.119 --> 00:21:39.720 the conflicted loyalist so perfectly. He really 00:21:39.720 --> 00:21:42.640 did. He was resisting and resisting, trying so 00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:45.440 hard to stay loyal to Mammy while she was recovering 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:48.839 at home. He would awkwardly pull away when Liv 00:21:48.839 --> 00:21:52.460 touched his arm. But Liv was relentless. And 00:21:52.460 --> 00:21:55.700 it all boiled over at SummerSlam 2024. The betrayal 00:21:55.700 --> 00:21:58.930 heard around the world. Rhea is back. She's fighting 00:21:58.930 --> 00:22:01.910 Liv for the title. And Dominic completely turns 00:22:01.910 --> 00:22:04.490 on Rhea Ripley. He helps Liv Morgan retain her 00:22:04.490 --> 00:22:06.910 championship. And then he leaves the arena holding 00:22:06.910 --> 00:22:09.069 Liv's hand. It was the definitive end of the 00:22:09.069 --> 00:22:11.490 Mammy era and the launch of the Liv and Dom power 00:22:11.490 --> 00:22:13.950 couple era. And we cannot forget the shark cage 00:22:13.950 --> 00:22:17.029 match at Bad Blood in October 2025. Oh, the visual 00:22:17.029 --> 00:22:19.829 of that alone. So Dominic is suspended 20 feet 00:22:19.829 --> 00:22:22.369 above the ring inside a tiny steel shark cage 00:22:22.369 --> 00:22:24.890 just dangling there in the air while Liv fought 00:22:24.890 --> 00:22:27.599 Rhea in the ring below. A shark cage? That is 00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:30.619 such an old school 1980s wrestling trope. Right. 00:22:30.740 --> 00:22:32.400 Why do you think they brought that specific gimmick 00:22:32.400 --> 00:22:34.660 back for him? It was a direct callback to his 00:22:34.660 --> 00:22:36.940 heritage, to the absurdity of those early Guerrero 00:22:36.940 --> 00:22:39.240 and Mysterio storylines we talked about. It is 00:22:39.240 --> 00:22:41.319 physically humiliating to be locked in a cage 00:22:41.319 --> 00:22:43.160 dangling above the ring wearing street clothes. 00:22:43.319 --> 00:22:45.200 It strips away all his fake tough guy armor. 00:22:45.660 --> 00:22:48.579 Exactly. It reinforces the narrative that he 00:22:48.579 --> 00:22:50.599 is fundamentally a coward who needs to be contained 00:22:50.599 --> 00:22:53.630 so he can't cheat. But paradoxically, it also 00:22:53.630 --> 00:22:57.369 keeps the literal spotlight firmly on him even 00:22:57.369 --> 00:22:59.250 during a highly anticipated women's championship 00:22:59.250 --> 00:23:02.049 match. He is always the focal point. So that 00:23:02.049 --> 00:23:03.910 brings us through the heavy drama, the soap opera 00:23:03.910 --> 00:23:06.250 stuff. But now we really need to shift gears 00:23:06.250 --> 00:23:08.410 and look at what the sources are calling the 00:23:08.410 --> 00:23:11.630 year of dominance. Because 2020, well, 2025 was 00:23:11.630 --> 00:23:13.990 a totally different beast entirely. It really 00:23:13.990 --> 00:23:17.059 was a massive shift in tone for his career. In 00:23:17.059 --> 00:23:20.640 March of 2025, something subtle but highly significant 00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:24.039 happened across all WWE platforms. Right. He 00:23:24.039 --> 00:23:26.779 dropped the dirty from his name. Yes. The website 00:23:26.779 --> 00:23:28.839 roster page changed. The television graphics 00:23:28.839 --> 00:23:31.140 changed. The announcer stopped saying it. He 00:23:31.140 --> 00:23:33.259 was just Dominic Mysterio again. What was the 00:23:33.259 --> 00:23:35.259 strategic purpose of that? It signaled to the 00:23:35.259 --> 00:23:37.740 audience that the prison jokes were over. The 00:23:37.740 --> 00:23:39.680 comedy era had served its purpose, but it was 00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:41.950 done. He was bulking up his in -ring work with 00:23:41.950 --> 00:23:44.009 Sharper, and he was ready to be taken seriously 00:23:44.009 --> 00:23:46.410 as a top -tier contender. And that rebrand led 00:23:46.410 --> 00:23:49.349 us directly to WrestleMania 41 in April of 2025. 00:23:49.630 --> 00:23:53.049 The fatal four -way match. Right. A fatal four 00:23:53.049 --> 00:23:55.329 -way for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. 00:23:55.750 --> 00:23:58.329 You have Dominik going up against Finn Balor, 00:23:58.390 --> 00:24:00.910 who was his former mentor in Judgment Day. You 00:24:00.910 --> 00:24:03.849 have Penta, who is a modern Lucha Libre legend. 00:24:04.289 --> 00:24:06.670 And you have the defending champion, Braun Breaker, 00:24:06.849 --> 00:24:10.049 who is quite frankly an absolute... freakish 00:24:10.049 --> 00:24:12.930 monster of a human being. Braun Breaker is terrifying. 00:24:13.390 --> 00:24:16.890 And against all odds, Dominic wins. He pins them 00:24:16.890 --> 00:24:19.049 in the middle of the ring to become the Intercontinental 00:24:19.049 --> 00:24:21.170 Champion. And you have to understand the lineage 00:24:21.170 --> 00:24:23.890 of that specific title. That is the workhorse 00:24:23.890 --> 00:24:26.130 belt. That is the championship that Randy Savage 00:24:26.130 --> 00:24:28.269 held, that Shawn Michaels held, that Bret Hart 00:24:28.269 --> 00:24:31.150 held, that his own father, Ray, held. It's the 00:24:31.150 --> 00:24:33.630 wrestler's championship. Exactly. Winning that 00:24:33.630 --> 00:24:35.650 belt in a match of that high caliber entirely 00:24:35.650 --> 00:24:38.150 legitimized him as an in -ring competitor. He 00:24:38.150 --> 00:24:40.319 beat three... highly credible, dangerous threats 00:24:40.319 --> 00:24:42.480 on the biggest stage possible, the narrative 00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:44.319 that he was just a comedy act was completely 00:24:44.319 --> 00:24:46.640 dead. It wasn't a fluke. But the wild thing is 00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:49.079 he wasn't done making history in 2025. Yeah. 00:24:49.119 --> 00:24:50.920 And this is where this deep dives gets truly 00:24:50.920 --> 00:24:54.799 global in scale. Because in July of 2025, Dominic 00:24:54.799 --> 00:24:57.400 Mysterio shocks the wrestling world and shows 00:24:57.400 --> 00:25:00.009 up in Mexico. lucha libre triple a worldwide 00:25:00.009 --> 00:25:02.690 yes and we have to impress upon you how important 00:25:02.690 --> 00:25:06.529 triple a is this is sacred ground for lucha libre 00:25:06.529 --> 00:25:09.730 this is the exact promotion where the mysterio 00:25:09.730 --> 00:25:12.920 legacy was essentially born and cultivated before 00:25:12.920 --> 00:25:15.759 Rey ever came to the States. And Dominic doesn't 00:25:15.759 --> 00:25:18.920 just make a cameo. He debuts at their major event, 00:25:19.160 --> 00:25:22.619 Alianzas. He attacks the popular star, Dragon 00:25:22.619 --> 00:25:25.660 Lee, and then he brutally attacks the AAA mega 00:25:25.660 --> 00:25:28.619 champion himself, El Hijo del Vikingo. And for 00:25:28.619 --> 00:25:30.400 anyone listening who hasn't seen El Hijo del 00:25:30.400 --> 00:25:32.299 Vikingo wrestle, you need to go to YouTube right 00:25:32.299 --> 00:25:34.079 now. Try to describe him for a second. It's almost 00:25:34.079 --> 00:25:35.960 impossible. The Kingo's like a customized video 00:25:35.960 --> 00:25:38.259 game character where someone went into the settings 00:25:38.259 --> 00:25:40.460 and just turned the gravity completely off. That's 00:25:40.460 --> 00:25:42.509 incredibly... accurate. The physical things that 00:25:42.509 --> 00:25:45.170 guy can do, he does these spinning 630 sit -ins 00:25:45.170 --> 00:25:47.849 to the floor. He runs the top ropes like a cat. 00:25:48.309 --> 00:25:51.869 He bends physics. He is the undisputed standard 00:25:51.869 --> 00:25:54.970 bearer for modern high -flying lucha libre. So 00:25:54.970 --> 00:25:57.589 for Dominic, who has explicitly rejected his 00:25:57.589 --> 00:25:59.930 lucha roots to step into Vikingo's world and 00:25:59.930 --> 00:26:02.809 challenge him, that is incredibly gutsy. It was 00:26:02.809 --> 00:26:05.029 a massive statement. Yeah. Because Dominic isn't 00:26:05.029 --> 00:26:07.470 the most acrobatic guy anymore. He evolved into 00:26:07.470 --> 00:26:10.049 more of a grounded brawler and technical hybrid. 00:26:10.269 --> 00:26:13.089 So how did those two totally opposite styles 00:26:13.089 --> 00:26:15.650 mesh in the ring? It was the perfect contrast. 00:26:16.329 --> 00:26:18.950 Vikingo is the ultimate high -flying noble hero, 00:26:18.990 --> 00:26:21.930 and Dominic is the grounded, vicious, cheating 00:26:21.930 --> 00:26:25.019 villain who wants to ground the high flyer. It 00:26:25.019 --> 00:26:27.299 all culminated at the Worlds Collide event in 00:26:27.299 --> 00:26:31.220 Las Vegas on September 12, 2025. Dominic Mysterio 00:26:31.220 --> 00:26:33.839 versus El Hijo del Vikingo for the top prize 00:26:33.839 --> 00:26:36.819 in Mexico. And he won. He actually beat Vikingo. 00:26:36.839 --> 00:26:38.559 He pinned him in the middle of the ring and became 00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:41.640 the AAA Mega Champion. And that moment right 00:26:41.640 --> 00:26:44.039 there, that three count, is the history maker. 00:26:44.299 --> 00:26:46.539 He became the first professional wrestler ever 00:26:46.539 --> 00:26:49.559 to hold major championships in WWE and AAA at 00:26:49.559 --> 00:26:51.619 the exact same time. We really have to pause 00:26:51.619 --> 00:26:53.980 on that corporate dynamic again. Because wrestling 00:26:53.980 --> 00:26:57.059 is a notoriously putty business. Why did WWE 00:26:57.059 --> 00:26:59.420 executives allow their contracted talent to do 00:26:59.420 --> 00:27:02.259 this? And conversely, why did AAA allow an outsider 00:27:02.259 --> 00:27:04.240 to hold their top belt? It always comes down 00:27:04.240 --> 00:27:06.619 to business. It comes down to cold, hard metrics. 00:27:07.000 --> 00:27:09.160 Dominic Mysterio is what promoters call a needle 00:27:09.160 --> 00:27:11.720 mover. Meaning, he moves the needle on business 00:27:11.720 --> 00:27:14.420 metrics. Right. When his segments air on television, 00:27:14.680 --> 00:27:17.990 the quarterly ratings visibly spike. When WWE 00:27:17.990 --> 00:27:20.410 posts clips of him and Liv Morgan on TikTok or 00:27:20.410 --> 00:27:23.289 YouTube, they instantly generate tens of millions 00:27:23.289 --> 00:27:27.450 of views. He drives engagement. So AAA sees that 00:27:27.450 --> 00:27:30.269 and wants a piece of it. Exactly. AAA management 00:27:30.269 --> 00:27:32.569 knows that having a prominent mainstream WWE 00:27:32.569 --> 00:27:36.089 star holding their top championship brings global 00:27:36.089 --> 00:27:39.670 American eyes to their Mexican product. It raises 00:27:39.670 --> 00:27:42.180 their international profile. And what does WWE 00:27:42.180 --> 00:27:44.880 get out of it? WWE knows that letting Dominic 00:27:44.880 --> 00:27:47.339 conquer Mexico validates him as a legitimate 00:27:47.339 --> 00:27:50.579 global superstar. Plus, it helps him sell a massive 00:27:50.579 --> 00:27:52.619 amount of merchandise to the Latin American demographic. 00:27:53.440 --> 00:27:55.819 It's a highly symbiotic relationship, but it 00:27:55.819 --> 00:27:58.160 requires a talent that both corporate sides absolutely 00:27:58.160 --> 00:28:01.099 trust to deliver. And clearly they trust Dominic. 00:28:01.140 --> 00:28:02.839 So he's standing there as the champ -champ. He's 00:28:02.839 --> 00:28:04.980 walking around television every week with two 00:28:04.980 --> 00:28:08.039 massive world -class belts draped over his shoulders. 00:28:08.299 --> 00:28:09.700 But of course, in wrestling, the wheel never 00:28:09.700 --> 00:28:13.799 stops turning. Late 2025 approaches and he runs 00:28:13.799 --> 00:28:16.160 headfirst into a brick wall named John Cena. 00:28:16.559 --> 00:28:19.680 Ah, yes, the John Cena farewell tour. We all 00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:22.160 knew Cena was winding down his legendary career. 00:28:22.380 --> 00:28:25.099 He announced it was his final year. And on November 00:28:25.099 --> 00:28:28.150 10th, 2025. On a live episode of Monday Night 00:28:28.150 --> 00:28:31.250 Raw, Cena actually defeats Dominik for the Intercontinental 00:28:31.250 --> 00:28:33.849 title. Ending Dominik's incredibly impressive 00:28:33.849 --> 00:28:36.869 204 -day reign. And I remember reading the dirt 00:28:36.869 --> 00:28:38.650 sheets that week and thinking, OK, that makes 00:28:38.650 --> 00:28:41.589 sense. Cena gets one last nostalgic run with 00:28:41.589 --> 00:28:44.769 a championship gone to feel. Dominik had a fantastic 00:28:44.769 --> 00:28:47.390 year. He did his job good for him. That is exactly 00:28:47.390 --> 00:28:49.269 what everyone in the industry thought was happening. 00:28:49.549 --> 00:28:52.710 The veteran gets his moment in the sun. But then 00:28:52.710 --> 00:28:55.789 came the Survivor Series War Games premium live 00:28:55.789 --> 00:29:00.240 event. November 29th, 2025. In San Diego, California. 00:29:00.579 --> 00:29:03.519 San Diego. Dominic's literal hometown. And more 00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:05.940 importantly, Rey Mysterio's hometown. The symbolism 00:29:05.940 --> 00:29:08.900 was just off the charts. Dominic invokes his 00:29:08.900 --> 00:29:11.720 mandatory rematch clause against Cena. And the 00:29:11.720 --> 00:29:14.059 atmosphere in that arena in San Diego was deeply, 00:29:14.119 --> 00:29:16.420 deeply conflicted. Because they love John Cena. 00:29:16.599 --> 00:29:19.059 He's a global icon. Dominic is their hometown 00:29:19.059 --> 00:29:21.160 boy. Yeah. Even if he's a despicable villain 00:29:21.160 --> 00:29:23.720 on television, he represents their city. So break 00:29:23.720 --> 00:29:25.910 down the match for us. It was a modern classic. 00:29:26.250 --> 00:29:29.450 Cena is hitting all his legendary moves. He hits 00:29:29.450 --> 00:29:31.769 the attitude adjustment, which usually ends matches, 00:29:31.950 --> 00:29:34.470 but Dominic keeps kicking out at the very last 00:29:34.470 --> 00:29:37.029 second. He's surviving the legend. Showing that 00:29:37.029 --> 00:29:39.349 toughness we talked about from the Rollins match 00:29:39.349 --> 00:29:41.990 years ago. Exactly. And then, of course, because... 00:29:42.269 --> 00:29:44.509 A villain is fundamentally always a villain. 00:29:44.650 --> 00:29:47.130 Yeah. There's a referee distraction. Liv Morgan 00:29:47.130 --> 00:29:49.930 slides into the ring, causes chaos, provides 00:29:49.930 --> 00:29:52.289 the crucial assist. And Dominic goes through 00:29:52.289 --> 00:29:54.430 the top rope. He hits the frog splash, another 00:29:54.430 --> 00:29:57.230 tribute to Eddie Guerrero, and he pins John Cena 00:29:57.230 --> 00:29:59.779 right in the middle of the ring. He regains the 00:29:59.779 --> 00:30:02.079 Intercontinental Championship. He beat John Cena 00:30:02.079 --> 00:30:05.079 in San Diego to win back his title. That really 00:30:05.079 --> 00:30:07.200 feels like a definitive passing of the torch, 00:30:07.279 --> 00:30:09.160 even if it was technically a stolen victory. 00:30:09.460 --> 00:30:12.000 In the wrestling business, a win is a win. The 00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:13.619 history books don't record the interference. 00:30:13.819 --> 00:30:16.519 They just record the title change. He didn't 00:30:16.519 --> 00:30:19.839 just beat Cena. He actively retired Cena's final 00:30:19.839 --> 00:30:23.170 championship reign. He reclaimed his spot on 00:30:23.170 --> 00:30:25.589 the mountaintop on his own terms. So as we sit 00:30:25.589 --> 00:30:28.349 here recording this in February 2026, he is a 00:30:28.349 --> 00:30:31.650 two -time WWE Intercontinental Champion and the 00:30:31.650 --> 00:30:35.269 reigning AAA Mega Champion. It is truly mind 00:30:35.269 --> 00:30:37.990 -blowing when you lay the whole timeline out 00:30:37.990 --> 00:30:40.930 sequentially like that. From the terrified kid 00:30:40.930 --> 00:30:44.329 in a ladder match at age 8 to the confident double 00:30:44.329 --> 00:30:47.589 champion at age 28. It's a 20 -year arc that 00:30:47.589 --> 00:30:49.809 nobody could have successfully written. And, 00:30:49.849 --> 00:30:51.809 you know, we should probably mention the personal 00:30:51.809 --> 00:30:54.309 side of his life briefly. Because amidst all 00:30:54.309 --> 00:30:57.950 this chaotic on -screen drama, the intense Liv 00:30:57.950 --> 00:31:01.269 Morgan storyline, the Rhea Ripley betrayal, the 00:31:01.269 --> 00:31:04.630 prison stints, he actually had a major life event 00:31:04.630 --> 00:31:07.009 happen off -camera. He got married. Yes, he did. 00:31:07.150 --> 00:31:09.670 He married Marie Juliet, his childhood sweetheart. 00:31:09.970 --> 00:31:11.410 They'd been together since they were 14 years 00:31:11.410 --> 00:31:14.789 old. They got married in March of... 2024, right 00:31:14.789 --> 00:31:16.490 in the middle of his hottest run as a villain. 00:31:16.670 --> 00:31:18.869 Why do you think that context is so important 00:31:18.869 --> 00:31:20.910 for the audience to understand? Because it shows 00:31:20.910 --> 00:31:23.329 the stark contrast between the performer and 00:31:23.329 --> 00:31:26.410 the performance. Despite this incredibly sleazy, 00:31:26.470 --> 00:31:29.329 dirty persona he portrays on television, despite 00:31:29.329 --> 00:31:31.690 the highly publicized on -screen romances and 00:31:31.690 --> 00:31:35.089 bequeaths, he is clearly an incredibly grounded 00:31:35.089 --> 00:31:37.710 individual in reality. He has a stable foundation. 00:31:38.150 --> 00:31:40.390 Exactly. He has a deep stability in his real 00:31:40.390 --> 00:31:44.369 life that allows him the emotional freedom to 00:31:44.369 --> 00:31:48.210 perform this unhinged, chaotic character so effectively 00:31:48.210 --> 00:31:51.150 without losing himself in it. That is a fascinating 00:31:51.150 --> 00:31:53.869 insight. He plays an absolute mess of a human 00:31:53.869 --> 00:31:56.529 being, but he is clearly not a mess behind the 00:31:56.529 --> 00:31:58.730 curtain. Not at all. And the industry accolades 00:31:58.730 --> 00:32:00.630 reflect that professionalism. If you look at 00:32:00.630 --> 00:32:04.019 the stats. ESPN ranked him number one in their 00:32:04.019 --> 00:32:07.180 top 30 under 30 list for pro wrestling in 2024. 00:32:07.759 --> 00:32:10.299 He won male wrestler of the year across multiple 00:32:10.299 --> 00:32:14.160 publications for 2025. And Judgment Day won PWI 00:32:14.160 --> 00:32:16.240 faction of the year. Right. So the entire industry 00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:19.559 universally recognizes the high level at which 00:32:19.559 --> 00:32:21.640 he is currently operating. So what does this 00:32:21.640 --> 00:32:24.160 all mean for us? We've traced the 20 year journey. 00:32:24.200 --> 00:32:26.259 We've seen the physical and psychological evolution 00:32:26.259 --> 00:32:29.059 of the character. Why does Dominic Mysterio's 00:32:29.059 --> 00:32:31.160 story actually matter to someone listening to 00:32:31.160 --> 00:32:33.240 this deep dive right now? I think it matters 00:32:33.240 --> 00:32:36.380 fundamentally because it is a masterclass subversion 00:32:36.380 --> 00:32:39.839 of the nepo baby trope we see everywhere in media 00:32:39.839 --> 00:32:42.500 today. We see so many second generation stars 00:32:42.500 --> 00:32:45.799 in sports and entertainment who just try to quietly 00:32:45.799 --> 00:32:48.839 copy their famous parents and they almost always 00:32:48.839 --> 00:32:51.799 fail. Or they rest on their laurels and expect 00:32:51.799 --> 00:32:53.759 respect to be handed to them. Like they're entitled 00:32:53.759 --> 00:32:57.119 to it. Exactly. Dominic did the exact opposite. 00:32:57.339 --> 00:33:00.259 He weaponized his lineage. He didn't run from 00:33:00.259 --> 00:33:03.180 the fact that he was Rey Mysterio's son. He leaned 00:33:03.180 --> 00:33:06.339 into it and used that exact fact to make people 00:33:06.339 --> 00:33:08.880 despise him. He stepped out of that suffocating 00:33:08.880 --> 00:33:11.740 shadow by consciously choosing to become the 00:33:11.740 --> 00:33:14.329 complete antithesis of his father. Because Ray 00:33:14.329 --> 00:33:18.250 is the ultimate pure underdog hero. So Dominic 00:33:18.250 --> 00:33:21.089 became the ultimate entitled cowardly villain. 00:33:21.250 --> 00:33:23.789 And in doing so and embracing the hate, he ironically 00:33:23.789 --> 00:33:26.130 became his own man. Completely his own man. And 00:33:26.130 --> 00:33:28.390 honestly, that leads me to the final provocative 00:33:28.390 --> 00:33:30.009 thought I really want to leave you with today. 00:33:30.210 --> 00:33:32.670 All right, hit me. Let's hear it. For 20 years, 00:33:32.789 --> 00:33:34.849 the prevailing question surrounding this kid 00:33:34.849 --> 00:33:36.589 was always, is Dominic going to be good enough 00:33:36.589 --> 00:33:38.690 to be Ray Mysterio's son? Right. That was the 00:33:38.690 --> 00:33:41.089 massive yardstick he was measured against. That 00:33:41.089 --> 00:33:43.500 was the shadow he was trapped in. But when you 00:33:43.500 --> 00:33:45.180 look at the gold he is holding right now today, 00:33:45.279 --> 00:33:47.900 when you look at the unprecedented heat he generates 00:33:47.900 --> 00:33:51.200 and the fact that he is simultaneously main eventing 00:33:51.200 --> 00:33:54.579 in two entirely different countries across two 00:33:54.579 --> 00:33:56.880 different promotions. You think the dynamic has 00:33:56.880 --> 00:33:59.420 shifted? I think the dynamic is completely flipped. 00:33:59.619 --> 00:34:01.839 How exactly? I think the question is no longer 00:34:01.839 --> 00:34:04.059 is he Ray's son. I think the question moving 00:34:04.059 --> 00:34:07.059 forward is going to be, is Ray just Dominic's 00:34:07.059 --> 00:34:11.250 dad? Ooh, wow. Well, that's definitely going 00:34:11.250 --> 00:34:13.230 to make some traditional wrestling purists very 00:34:13.230 --> 00:34:16.199 angry. It might. But the numbers don't lie. You 00:34:16.199 --> 00:34:18.900 might be right. He really has surpassed his father's 00:34:18.900 --> 00:34:22.179 achievements in very specific, modern, metric 00:34:22.179 --> 00:34:24.820 -driven ways. He isn't just a legacy act. He 00:34:24.820 --> 00:34:28.099 is the undeniable face of a new generation. He 00:34:28.099 --> 00:34:30.719 absolutely is. Wow. From the custody ladder match 00:34:30.719 --> 00:34:32.900 all the way to the absolute top of the world. 00:34:32.960 --> 00:34:36.059 What an incredible deep dive this has been. Dominic 00:34:36.059 --> 00:34:38.739 Mysterio, the double champion. It is a brave 00:34:38.739 --> 00:34:40.719 new world out there, folks. Thank you so much 00:34:40.719 --> 00:34:42.440 for joining us and listening to The Deep Dive. 00:34:42.500 --> 00:34:43.380 We'll catch you on the next one.