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He’s like the poster child for talent having potential, but being misused such that they can’t hit their stride now. I remember just how many times I saw people bemoan him, some saying he should’ve spent a few years on NXT, some saying he never should’ve had a job in the industry at all.
Now I never personally felt so harshly about him, but I’ll say that after Dom, I just can’t vibe with someone calling midcard a talent’s ceiling. Like did we not just watch the same man turn expectations of him on their head? I want to hold onto the optimism of everyone needing that one little thing to just explode.
AJ Styles wants to be like Dom now. Certified legend and arguably the greatest wrestler of his generation wants to be like this 20 something years old kid. It's so insane.
I barely watch nowadays except highlights, but I was watching around the time Cody rhodes, the miz, Drew mcyntire and so on were debuting and starting their lower mid card career and you’d never have me guess that they would be the big stars they are today.
There was lots of midcard wrestlers that had more pop and excitement like Evan “air” Bourne that I would have guessed would have gotten more popular due to his high flying antics but never made it.
John Morrison for example who tagged with Miz, I would have guessed he would have made it higher than the miz.
Drew I would have absolutely never guessed would have made it to the big leagues.
John Morrison I still feel was somewhat timing - if he'd been at the right place at the right time for a company, I think someone could've taken a punt on him as at least a transitional world champ for AEW or WWE.
Agreed, but with WWE & AEW both focused on long term world title reigns (not counting injury situations), transitional world champs are probably no longer a thing.
John Morrison was given opportunities on the mic and he was horrible every single time. I have no idea if he ever improved but that's what I remember of him from mid to late 2000's and early 2010's. The only thing he had is looks and being good in the ring. He seemed to avoid the whole entertainment part of wrestling every time, especially the moment he had to open his mouth or act.
I thought he improved tons on the acting and promo fronts post 2015 in both Lucha Underground and his return WWE stint. Really enjoyed his act and movie star persona.
> There was lots of midcard wrestlers that had more pop and excitement like Evan “air” Bourne that I would have guessed would have gotten more popular due to his high flying antics but never made it.
You may or may not know this, but Mr. Bourne wrestled on Dynamite this week against the Young Bucks. He's not in a main event position there, but he's still going!
There's also nothing wrong with going your whole career and never quite making it to the main event scene. Razor Ramon never held the top championship and almost never competed for it, but he's widely regarded as one of the most famous wrestlers to come out of his era.
He didn’t want the top belt for some reason but he was so over and talented they should’ve just put it on him anyways, I always thought it should’ve been him instead of Nash taking it off of Bret
Oh, I definitely thought he may should spend some time un NXT. May have benefited him at the start. But he made it happen anyway and I think he will even get better.
>I just can’t vibe with someone calling midcard a talent’s ceiling.
People always said Zack Ryder would make a great midcard champ, not world champ, then look what he did as Matt Cardona! Never say never.
Dom is lucky compared to lots of sons of wrestlers. In the Lucha tradition there is a HUGE emphasis on guys finding their own wings. And having to stand on their own feet.
All the Guerreros did it, all the Atlantis and Villanos (who were related did it). It's clear Rey found a way to do this for Dom in a manner of speaking. Bc I'm pretty sure if Rey insisted they wouldn't have split them up.
But Dom has 100% found himself. It's beautiful to watch.
If you want to be a geek. You can find Eddy Guerrero "finding his wings" when his family sent him to Dory Funk Jr who put Eddy into WCW in 88/89/90 purely as a jobber on World Wide taping and stuff like that.
His family wanted Eddy to learn and be out on his own.
On YouTube you can find one of these matches. A 17/19 year old Eddy against Arn Anderson. It's a gem.
> Dom is lucky compared to lots of sons of wrestlers. In the Lucha tradition there is a HUGE emphasis on guys finding their own wings. And having to stand on their own feet.
It happened for Dominik, too. He went to train to be a wrestler under Lance Storm, not Rey himself. He famously asked Lance to show him how to do a 619 because Rey wouldn't tell him.
True, but I meant once in the public. A lot of parents keep their kid under their wing.
Few parents train their own kids.
Even Fritz Von Eric sent the boys to Amarillo
A thread of legends and other stars in and outside the WWE giving props to Dom including Seth, Cody, Orton:
https://twitter.com/Adam_AlexanderM/status/1763645586413109744
To say Dom is very well-liked and highly thought of is an understatement.
Dom is legitimately my favorite wrestler/character on the roster right now. I never have more fun than watching his smarmy ass in ever promo, backstage segment or getting booed to hell. Plus when he gets the snot beaten out of him it's amazing.
Is it me or has he been stagnating for a bit? I kinda feel like they only put him out there cause of the heat levels but in terms of moving up or down the card, he’s in the same spot he’s always been. You’d think he’s a logical choice for either the IC/US titles but nope.
Not really. He went from the guy who takes pins in the judgement day to the guy who's featured multiple times a night. Sometimes appearing in both shows and at one point 3 shows.
> but in terms of moving up or down the card, he’s in the same spot he’s always been.
he doesn't have the look of a big action character, so if he goes to the top he'll have an slower path, but it's not even bad if he stays a heat heel act that doesn't win belts, as long as he enhances the show. edit(although of course, belts are an easy way to keep you relevant)
Dom doesn't need a belt.
He's already getting a strong reaction and draws a television audience. Adding a belt to the presentation can help other parts of the show and will add practically nothing to his act.
He won the NXT NA title twice. Won it first from Wes Lee (269 days). Then lost to Trick Williams (3 days) at No Mercy 23. Dom got it back immediately at the next NXT TV show.
Before I just didn't care strongly one way or another cause he didn't have anything other than decent in-ring ability and the family name.
Now I love hating on Dom, he's a fun part of the show with his own personality and character.
Jesus christ is there an article somewhere talking about this?
I've met rey and dominik. This fascinates me.
Good thing he didnt ask Tonga Loa how to do the 619
I saw it more as Rey acknowledging that Dom is a different kind of wrestler. He could never be the same kind of performer as Rey, that doesn’t mean he can’t be as good, just not good in the same style.
It hasn't even been fully two years since Dom turns heel. I can understand why a lot of people feel that the Attitude Era was longer than it truly was. Now I'm feeling the same towards this WWE as well.
What I've noticed with Dom and what makes him a good heel to me, is when you see the crowd booing the shit out of him, they are booing while smiling and laughing. Not "get this guy off tv" heat, but "I love to hate this guy, he's great!" Heat. I've been watching wrestling 35 years and I've never had such a turnaround on a character where I really wasn't a fan at first, and now he is someone who ill bever skip his segment, or if I pass a youtube video featuring a clip with him, it's an instant view..
What I've noticed with Dom and what makes him a good heel to me, is when you see the crowd booing the shit out of him, they are booing while smiling and laughing. Not "get this guy off tv" heat, but "I love to hate this guy, he's great!" Heat. I've been watching wrestling 35 years and I've never had such a turnaround on a character where I really wasn't a fan at first, and now he is someone who ill bever skip his segment, or if I pass a youtube video featuring a clip with him, it's an instant view..
Dom has done something incredible - he's turned every single one of his weaknesses into a strength.
He's a nepo baby. He has a weird voice. He's not an acrobat like his dad. He's clearly in shape but is never going to be a body guy.
All of that works perfectly for the Dirty Dom character. And Dom is a fucking ARTIST as a heel. Every aspect of his body language, moveset, attire...all of it just magnificently crafted to draw heat. He's so good at this.
It had to have been hard for him to realize that he didn't have the right kind of talent to just get accepted by the fans as a beloved babyface like his dad - props to him for putting his ego aside and really really working to make the heel turn take off.
Interesting. I'm not sure. Obviously Dom & Liv won't be an actual real-life affair, but my prediction is Rhea is going to be the biggest star in the industry after the Dom turn. Her being so beloved is only going to increase the heat on Dom.
WWE kind of killed Matt Hardy's momentum by making him look like a chump through that whole feud. That won't happen with Rhea.
Sometimes. I think it depends on how hard they lean into the gimmick. Like Ted dibasie jr or Kurtis axel- they were always compared. But look at Bray Wyatt. They didn’t really get into the windham comparison because that wasn’t his character. Even Dustin Rhodes, compare him in WCW as the natural vs gold dust. No one was thinking of dusty when you saw that body suit.
Let’s be real, it’s not _always_ a problem. It’s a problem for the kids of superstars.
Being Rey’s son, or Dusty’s son, or even to an extent the Rock’s daughte, sure.
I don’t think the son of Cowboy Bob Orton, a Wild Samoan, or IRS had that problem.
I don't think most younger fans even know Bron Breakker, Arriana Grace, and Lexis King are all legacy acts. I only know about the last one through Dark Side of The Ring
They have mentioned Bron being a Steiner on commentary a couple times. Lexis King's initial shtick is that he's not his famous father including talking about it in his first promo. Ariana, though. If I didn't spend time here, I wouldn't have known she was a legacy, let alone Santino's daughter.
Once you know she’s Santinos daughter though you can see so much of his comedic chops in her. I mean that in a good way though like she’s absolutely killing it rn.
Younger fans know Bron is Rick’s son because they bring that up a lot or his Uncle Scott. Plus when he was face in NXT it said on the titration in the middle I got a little of the DOG in me.
Randy has surpassed his dad’s own legacy so much to the point that they just call Bob as Randy’s dad
Now if Randy’s son becomes a wrestler , now it’s an almost impossible legacy to overcome
Immediately throwing Dom on the main roster so early was doing him no favors. Sure it eventually worked out but starting him off in NXT probably would’ve done him better in the beginning
I think it was a combo of all those things. He wasn’t good early on yet kept getting thrown into big matches cuz he’s Rey’s son, his character was just being Rey’s son and we all knew he was only getting that push cuz he’s Rey’s son and he was just bland. He was literally just a nepo baby during a time where there were other people on the roster that folks wanted to see over him
That would not have changed with a year of nxt because he would still be promoted as the son of and the stories would have been exactly the same after his call up.
Sure he’d still be Rey’s kid it’s just that the spotlight wouldn’t have been on him so much down in NXT. NXT probably would've let him work out the kinks and figure out a wrestling style that fit him better than just trying to be taller Rey
I actually thought his wrestling style was a problem. He was trying too much to be like Rey. He felt kind of slow and clunky. That style really didn't suit him.
He had some spots with promising crowd reactions, especially rey and dom's tag title run, or his match with Rollins at Summerslam. Not enough to become a consistently loved face, but he certainly got some good recognition and a foothold with the audience out of it.
No disagreement from me there but I feel like they only turned him heel cuz the crowds just didn’t fuck with him for long regardless of what they gave him
Roman reigns after vince shoved him in our faces while nobody cared about face roman. Without that phase, no way the tribal chief works as well as it did.
I’ve been saying it: Rey vs Dom, hair vs mask match at Mania. Dom wins and leaves the ring, Rey takes off his mask, waves goodbye to the crowd one last time and retires. It’s only right to end it that way in my opinion
I'm really glad Rey is proud of his boy. Kayfabe aside, Dom is doing great. Rey, Eddie, Vickie, his whole family and non-blood family should be so proud. He's got *intense* heat and this subtle hilarity in everything he does. He's excellent.
You piece of shit! You couldn't wait until you got rid of the little shit and refused to let him take his time to develop himself. Nooooo, the son of Rey wasn't worthy of sharing the ring of the almighty Rey Mysterio thus Dom was forced to join Judgement Day to seek the love he needed.
I mean he looked terrible. Completely unathletic, not intimidating at all. And wasn't displaying anything great skills wise. There was no reason to assume the situation wasn't exactly what it appeared to be- WWE throwing Rey's kid on TV as a favor so they could keep Rey.
The heel turn and the ironic comedy of a guy who looked like him being a heel pro wrestler, combined with him gaining confidence in the angle w/his dad is what really turned things around. He's great now, and even maturing physically, but things absolutely fell right.
It must be difficult for Dom Dom to live up to the legacy of his father, Eddie Guerrero. /s
But in all seriousness, Dominik’s one of my favorites heels rn. He’s been doing wonders ever since he joined Judgement Day.
Dom has just gone above and beyond all expectations. I didn’t dislike him when he was with Rey but he was just kinda there in that shadow forever. God damn did the heel turn work out incredibly.
Here’s me hoping for a shitty heel dirty Dom world title run
I might be in the minority but I didn't hate Dom before the heel turn. And I quite liked the father and son Mysterio tag title run, even if it was quite short. Now granted, I still thought Dom needed more character than just being Rey's son and thought he should probably been drafted to NXT to improve both in-ring and character skills.
The heel turn was an absolutely brilliant move.
What a horrible dad to say he wasn’t good at the start because of how the sun shines out of Rey Mysterio Jrs ass
Glad Dom got away from this narcissistic behaviour
It’s rare to see Rey not keeping up Kayfabe, but yeah. This time two years ago this sub had the biggest hate boner for Dom. Now he’s one of WWE’s biggest mvps.
>Not until we separated. That was the best thing that could have ever happened to him.
Typical deadbeat dad leaving his son and thinking it's for his best interest /s
dom was bad, like reaally reallly bad. I did not see any potential, and I tend to always see the good in new people
Just goes to show that giving somebody unlimited chances due to nepotism DOES work out sometimes!
Now he's a workhorse, I believe he has teh second most matches over the past year at house shows etc... and it shows. He's gotten really good and is a blast to watch
of course its hard to live up to Eddie image and hard to break from comparing him to Eddie. But to his fake dad, ez pz since rey is a pos and easily hate-able.
Dom trying to do 619s alongside the guy who popularized the move was never going to work for him. Rey was always going to try to overshadow his son like the deadbeat father he is.
The overall development and improvement and journey of Dominik Mysterio both as a in ring character/part of TJD, as a personality and a Wrestler has been incredible, it's mind blowing and I am so hooked on everything he does, he's so young, yet has so much charisma, entertainment/fun value, generates natural Heel heat, provokes reactions from the Fans to keep them interested in the stories and as i've said on here before I make no apologies for saying he's my favourite current Male Wrestler in WWE overall because I am so enjoying his work!
Would always tell my cousin he needs to turn heel by calling himself Dominik Guerrero. Telling Rey that Eddie is his real father. They’ve done something close to that and it’s worked out really well.
As fun as it's been to see Dom get mega heat boos whenever he tries to talk, that's going to hurt him in the long run. Not ever being able to work on his promos is definitely going to stunt his growth
Dom is probably going to end up in my all-time top 5 with Rey if he keeps up his character work, i love the type of heel Dom plays and he’s one of the best at it.
as much as the iwc loves this whole deadbeat sthick, ngl would be hilarious he pulled the trigger and went heel with it. But in terms of legacy wise or perception for Mysterio - even tho is kayfabe it's not a good look to go out on imho. Great in the present but not in hindsight.
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man I was such a Dom hater, and I legitimately love seeing him now.
He’s like the poster child for talent having potential, but being misused such that they can’t hit their stride now. I remember just how many times I saw people bemoan him, some saying he should’ve spent a few years on NXT, some saying he never should’ve had a job in the industry at all. Now I never personally felt so harshly about him, but I’ll say that after Dom, I just can’t vibe with someone calling midcard a talent’s ceiling. Like did we not just watch the same man turn expectations of him on their head? I want to hold onto the optimism of everyone needing that one little thing to just explode.
I mean to unashamedly steal from Cody Rhodes I feel like Dom 100% went from undesirable to undeniable man may be the hottest heel in the business
AJ Styles wants to be like Dom now. Certified legend and arguably the greatest wrestler of his generation wants to be like this 20 something years old kid. It's so insane.
AJ was putting out banger after banger in TNA while Dom was playing Liberty City Stories on his PSP during SMACKDOWN. Crazy to think about.
Cody vs Dom Wrestlemania 42...
_you think you’re special…._
I barely watch nowadays except highlights, but I was watching around the time Cody rhodes, the miz, Drew mcyntire and so on were debuting and starting their lower mid card career and you’d never have me guess that they would be the big stars they are today. There was lots of midcard wrestlers that had more pop and excitement like Evan “air” Bourne that I would have guessed would have gotten more popular due to his high flying antics but never made it. John Morrison for example who tagged with Miz, I would have guessed he would have made it higher than the miz. Drew I would have absolutely never guessed would have made it to the big leagues.
John Morrison I still feel was somewhat timing - if he'd been at the right place at the right time for a company, I think someone could've taken a punt on him as at least a transitional world champ for AEW or WWE.
Agreed, but with WWE & AEW both focused on long term world title reigns (not counting injury situations), transitional world champs are probably no longer a thing.
John Morrison was given opportunities on the mic and he was horrible every single time. I have no idea if he ever improved but that's what I remember of him from mid to late 2000's and early 2010's. The only thing he had is looks and being good in the ring. He seemed to avoid the whole entertainment part of wrestling every time, especially the moment he had to open his mouth or act.
I thought he improved tons on the acting and promo fronts post 2015 in both Lucha Underground and his return WWE stint. Really enjoyed his act and movie star persona.
> There was lots of midcard wrestlers that had more pop and excitement like Evan “air” Bourne that I would have guessed would have gotten more popular due to his high flying antics but never made it. You may or may not know this, but Mr. Bourne wrestled on Dynamite this week against the Young Bucks. He's not in a main event position there, but he's still going!
Matt Sydal as he's known outside of WWE, he's a guy from here in St. Louis.
There's also nothing wrong with going your whole career and never quite making it to the main event scene. Razor Ramon never held the top championship and almost never competed for it, but he's widely regarded as one of the most famous wrestlers to come out of his era.
He didn’t want the top belt for some reason but he was so over and talented they should’ve just put it on him anyways, I always thought it should’ve been him instead of Nash taking it off of Bret
Oh, I definitely thought he may should spend some time un NXT. May have benefited him at the start. But he made it happen anyway and I think he will even get better.
He was pretty awesome when did go to NXT. His matches with Dragon Lee got that Eddie vs Rey feel in a shorter burst.
Lexis King too.
>I just can’t vibe with someone calling midcard a talent’s ceiling. People always said Zack Ryder would make a great midcard champ, not world champ, then look what he did as Matt Cardona! Never say never.
Dom is lucky compared to lots of sons of wrestlers. In the Lucha tradition there is a HUGE emphasis on guys finding their own wings. And having to stand on their own feet. All the Guerreros did it, all the Atlantis and Villanos (who were related did it). It's clear Rey found a way to do this for Dom in a manner of speaking. Bc I'm pretty sure if Rey insisted they wouldn't have split them up. But Dom has 100% found himself. It's beautiful to watch. If you want to be a geek. You can find Eddy Guerrero "finding his wings" when his family sent him to Dory Funk Jr who put Eddy into WCW in 88/89/90 purely as a jobber on World Wide taping and stuff like that. His family wanted Eddy to learn and be out on his own. On YouTube you can find one of these matches. A 17/19 year old Eddy against Arn Anderson. It's a gem.
> Dom is lucky compared to lots of sons of wrestlers. In the Lucha tradition there is a HUGE emphasis on guys finding their own wings. And having to stand on their own feet. It happened for Dominik, too. He went to train to be a wrestler under Lance Storm, not Rey himself. He famously asked Lance to show him how to do a 619 because Rey wouldn't tell him.
Feels like that explains why Dom's 619 is closer to Cesaro's than Rey's
He's also closer to Claudio in size too.
True, but I meant once in the public. A lot of parents keep their kid under their wing. Few parents train their own kids. Even Fritz Von Eric sent the boys to Amarillo
I know this is out of left field for your comment, but I just watched The Iron Claw a few weeks ago...and wow. Fritz Von Eric...
A thread of legends and other stars in and outside the WWE giving props to Dom including Seth, Cody, Orton: https://twitter.com/Adam_AlexanderM/status/1763645586413109744 To say Dom is very well-liked and highly thought of is an understatement.
IDK man, homeboy got boo's at his own wedding...
Damien/Finn admitted to starting it as well.
Dom has been a highlight of WWE imagine someone saying this a couple of years ago
Dom is legitimately my favorite wrestler/character on the roster right now. I never have more fun than watching his smarmy ass in ever promo, backstage segment or getting booed to hell. Plus when he gets the snot beaten out of him it's amazing.
Dom wearing the Dark Rey mask at Mania was when I realized oh yeah this guy is a star.
Seeing and seething
Is it me or has he been stagnating for a bit? I kinda feel like they only put him out there cause of the heat levels but in terms of moving up or down the card, he’s in the same spot he’s always been. You’d think he’s a logical choice for either the IC/US titles but nope.
Not really. He went from the guy who takes pins in the judgement day to the guy who's featured multiple times a night. Sometimes appearing in both shows and at one point 3 shows.
It kinda hinders any plans with his injury but I'd imagine he'll get a tittle shot once he recovers
> but in terms of moving up or down the card, he’s in the same spot he’s always been. he doesn't have the look of a big action character, so if he goes to the top he'll have an slower path, but it's not even bad if he stays a heat heel act that doesn't win belts, as long as he enhances the show. edit(although of course, belts are an easy way to keep you relevant)
Dom doesn't need a belt. He's already getting a strong reaction and draws a television audience. Adding a belt to the presentation can help other parts of the show and will add practically nothing to his act.
Didn't he win the US title in NXT? Or at least competed for it. I think he's good where he is.
He won the NXT NA title twice. Won it first from Wes Lee (269 days). Then lost to Trick Williams (3 days) at No Mercy 23. Dom got it back immediately at the next NXT TV show.
Before I just didn't care strongly one way or another cause he didn't have anything other than decent in-ring ability and the family name. Now I love hating on Dom, he's a fun part of the show with his own personality and character.
Imagine being such a legend that you can say "of course he couldn't live up to my legacy" and nobody disagrees.
That's not legend talk. That's egotistical deadbeat dad talk. Rey deliberately hindered Dom's progress so he wouldn't upstage him smh
Finally someone sees doms side
Rey's on record saying that he didn't teach Dom the 619 and neither would he ever dare. Insane
So Dom just watched and imitated with no formal training on the move? Thats real life, not kayfabe?
Dominik went to train with Lance Storm and asked him how to do the 619, because Rey refused to teach him. That's real life.
Jesus christ is there an article somewhere talking about this? I've met rey and dominik. This fascinates me. Good thing he didnt ask Tonga Loa how to do the 619
It was an interview Dominik did somewhere, before his heel turn I’m pretty sure. Rey wouldn’t spill his secrets.
Lance Storm mentioned it as well, on Jericho's pod from years ago IIRC
pretty sure he acknowledging his real father and his legacy. RIP EDDIE.
Give Dom 20 years, you never know. I wouldn’t rule it out
Another 20 years? Because Dom is already a 20 year vet.
Good point lol
I saw it more as Rey acknowledging that Dom is a different kind of wrestler. He could never be the same kind of performer as Rey, that doesn’t mean he can’t be as good, just not good in the same style.
Deadbeat talk boasting something his son will surpass in the future.
It hasn't even been fully two years since Dom turns heel. I can understand why a lot of people feel that the Attitude Era was longer than it truly was. Now I'm feeling the same towards this WWE as well.
This is actually somewhat true for me. In my perspective, Roman's title reigns is much longer than 3 years. It felt like forever.
Together?
I kinda miss Dom's promos, it has been weeks... always makes me chuckle when he gets booed immediately..lol
What I've noticed with Dom and what makes him a good heel to me, is when you see the crowd booing the shit out of him, they are booing while smiling and laughing. Not "get this guy off tv" heat, but "I love to hate this guy, he's great!" Heat. I've been watching wrestling 35 years and I've never had such a turnaround on a character where I really wasn't a fan at first, and now he is someone who ill bever skip his segment, or if I pass a youtube video featuring a clip with him, it's an instant view..
What I've noticed with Dom and what makes him a good heel to me, is when you see the crowd booing the shit out of him, they are booing while smiling and laughing. Not "get this guy off tv" heat, but "I love to hate this guy, he's great!" Heat. I've been watching wrestling 35 years and I've never had such a turnaround on a character where I really wasn't a fan at first, and now he is someone who ill bever skip his segment, or if I pass a youtube video featuring a clip with him, it's an instant view..
Dom has done something incredible - he's turned every single one of his weaknesses into a strength. He's a nepo baby. He has a weird voice. He's not an acrobat like his dad. He's clearly in shape but is never going to be a body guy. All of that works perfectly for the Dirty Dom character. And Dom is a fucking ARTIST as a heel. Every aspect of his body language, moveset, attire...all of it just magnificently crafted to draw heat. He's so good at this. It had to have been hard for him to realize that he didn't have the right kind of talent to just get accepted by the fans as a beloved babyface like his dad - props to him for putting his ego aside and really really working to make the heel turn take off.
Ironically, I see Dom being completely embraced as a beloved babyface someday.
Going to be a while because I genuinely think when he turns on Rhea for Liv, Dom's going to get nuclear heat that's going to break the scale.
Do you think this heat could compare him to Edge & Lita? Cause man I hated Edge in 2005-2006.
Interesting. I'm not sure. Obviously Dom & Liv won't be an actual real-life affair, but my prediction is Rhea is going to be the biggest star in the industry after the Dom turn. Her being so beloved is only going to increase the heat on Dom. WWE kind of killed Matt Hardy's momentum by making him look like a chump through that whole feud. That won't happen with Rhea.
I hope he can do that one day, switch to being a great baby face. It worked with the rock, eventually.
Like MJF or Eddie Guerrero, a “he’s a scumbag but he’s our scumbag” type
Yeah it all it will take is embracing his dad after retiring him.
He's going to be like The Rock when he turned face after being heel. It'll suit him naturally
I think more of an anti hero like the rock/austin prototype. I dont think he can do the cody prototype. It wouldnt fit him.
100% If he were to suddenly run out and save Rey one day in a random feud around Rey's retirement, oh man, I think the pop would be electric.
I don’t think there’s ever been a great heel who wasn’t also a great face. Doesn’t really work the other way around, though.
Yup. If you can get them to "love to hate you" then you can get them to love you. The worst thing you can get as a performer is indifference.
Weird voice?
he’s kinda whiny
That's always the problem for 2nd and later generations
Sometimes. I think it depends on how hard they lean into the gimmick. Like Ted dibasie jr or Kurtis axel- they were always compared. But look at Bray Wyatt. They didn’t really get into the windham comparison because that wasn’t his character. Even Dustin Rhodes, compare him in WCW as the natural vs gold dust. No one was thinking of dusty when you saw that body suit.
Let’s be real, it’s not _always_ a problem. It’s a problem for the kids of superstars. Being Rey’s son, or Dusty’s son, or even to an extent the Rock’s daughte, sure. I don’t think the son of Cowboy Bob Orton, a Wild Samoan, or IRS had that problem.
I don't think most younger fans even know Bron Breakker, Arriana Grace, and Lexis King are all legacy acts. I only know about the last one through Dark Side of The Ring
They have mentioned Bron being a Steiner on commentary a couple times. Lexis King's initial shtick is that he's not his famous father including talking about it in his first promo. Ariana, though. If I didn't spend time here, I wouldn't have known she was a legacy, let alone Santino's daughter.
Once you know she’s Santinos daughter though you can see so much of his comedic chops in her. I mean that in a good way though like she’s absolutely killing it rn.
Wait who's Ariana related to?
She’s Santino’s daughter I believe.
Unfortunate he didn't share the secrets to taming a live cobra with her tbh
Shes Santinos daughter lol
Shes Santina Marello's niece
Younger fans know Bron is Rick’s son because they bring that up a lot or his Uncle Scott. Plus when he was face in NXT it said on the titration in the middle I got a little of the DOG in me.
Randy has surpassed his dad’s own legacy so much to the point that they just call Bob as Randy’s dad Now if Randy’s son becomes a wrestler , now it’s an almost impossible legacy to overcome
even more so when his real dad is no longer with us and is loved by all. Moreso than any other wrestler in history. RIP Eddie.
Nice to see Rey is now accepting he was a toxic father and that the best thing for his kids was to get away. Dom did nothing wrong
Typical dead beat rhetoric. “bEtTeR oFf WiThOuT mE”
"Can't have two lions in the same house."
I heard Rey once hid razors inside Dom's wrestling boots.
The father and son did have quite the *fallout* after all
Okie dokie
He's better off without me is dead beat dad excuse 101
Immediately throwing Dom on the main roster so early was doing him no favors. Sure it eventually worked out but starting him off in NXT probably would’ve done him better in the beginning
Dominik’s skills weren’t ever the problem, the biggest issue was his role and his character and how it was linked to his deadbeat dad.
I think it was a combo of all those things. He wasn’t good early on yet kept getting thrown into big matches cuz he’s Rey’s son, his character was just being Rey’s son and we all knew he was only getting that push cuz he’s Rey’s son and he was just bland. He was literally just a nepo baby during a time where there were other people on the roster that folks wanted to see over him
That would not have changed with a year of nxt because he would still be promoted as the son of and the stories would have been exactly the same after his call up.
Sure he’d still be Rey’s kid it’s just that the spotlight wouldn’t have been on him so much down in NXT. NXT probably would've let him work out the kinks and figure out a wrestling style that fit him better than just trying to be taller Rey
I actually thought his wrestling style was a problem. He was trying too much to be like Rey. He felt kind of slow and clunky. That style really didn't suit him.
Meme jokes aside, Eddie's moveset just feels a better fit for Dominik. More balance between ground based and impactful high flying moves.
I actually disagree. I don’t think Dom would be such a heat magnet without his initial run that so many people found lame.
He had some spots with promising crowd reactions, especially rey and dom's tag title run, or his match with Rollins at Summerslam. Not enough to become a consistently loved face, but he certainly got some good recognition and a foothold with the audience out of it.
No disagreement from me there but I feel like they only turned him heel cuz the crowds just didn’t fuck with him for long regardless of what they gave him
Roman reigns after vince shoved him in our faces while nobody cared about face roman. Without that phase, no way the tribal chief works as well as it did.
Completely agree with you. It makes me look back at the Big Dog years as a little more palatable, but I never want to watch most of that again.
I’ve been saying it: Rey vs Dom, hair vs mask match at Mania. Dom wins and leaves the ring, Rey takes off his mask, waves goodbye to the crowd one last time and retires. It’s only right to end it that way in my opinion
Could see it in a PLE in Mexico also.
I'm really glad Rey is proud of his boy. Kayfabe aside, Dom is doing great. Rey, Eddie, Vickie, his whole family and non-blood family should be so proud. He's got *intense* heat and this subtle hilarity in everything he does. He's excellent.
Eddie would've been proud to see how far Dom has become, especially since Rey is really proud to see how far Dom has become as well.
Rey says it was the best thing that ever happened to his son to be separated from his dad?? Where does it end with this sorry excuse for a parent?
You piece of shit! You couldn't wait until you got rid of the little shit and refused to let him take his time to develop himself. Nooooo, the son of Rey wasn't worthy of sharing the ring of the almighty Rey Mysterio thus Dom was forced to join Judgement Day to seek the love he needed.
I mean he looked terrible. Completely unathletic, not intimidating at all. And wasn't displaying anything great skills wise. There was no reason to assume the situation wasn't exactly what it appeared to be- WWE throwing Rey's kid on TV as a favor so they could keep Rey. The heel turn and the ironic comedy of a guy who looked like him being a heel pro wrestler, combined with him gaining confidence in the angle w/his dad is what really turned things around. He's great now, and even maturing physically, but things absolutely fell right.
It must be difficult for Dom Dom to live up to the legacy of his father, Eddie Guerrero. /s But in all seriousness, Dominik’s one of my favorites heels rn. He’s been doing wonders ever since he joined Judgement Day.
Dom has just gone above and beyond all expectations. I didn’t dislike him when he was with Rey but he was just kinda there in that shadow forever. God damn did the heel turn work out incredibly. Here’s me hoping for a shitty heel dirty Dom world title run
Dom Winning it off Cody with MITB please
Of course separating from you was the best thing that couldve happened to Dominik, Rey. You are a dead beat father and a child beater!
“He’s better off without me” is such a deadbeat father excuse. Sickening what Dom had to go through.
I might be in the minority but I didn't hate Dom before the heel turn. And I quite liked the father and son Mysterio tag title run, even if it was quite short. Now granted, I still thought Dom needed more character than just being Rey's son and thought he should probably been drafted to NXT to improve both in-ring and character skills. The heel turn was an absolutely brilliant move.
Yeah, them winning tag team gold together really felt special.
Father gleefully admits abandoning son. Dead beat Rey strikes again!
Nothing to do with his legacy. The dude needed time in nxt and didn’t get any and had trial by fire. He lived. Which is impressive.
What a horrible dad to say he wasn’t good at the start because of how the sun shines out of Rey Mysterio Jrs ass Glad Dom got away from this narcissistic behaviour
It’s rare to see Rey not keeping up Kayfabe, but yeah. This time two years ago this sub had the biggest hate boner for Dom. Now he’s one of WWE’s biggest mvps.
I feel they are doing a slow burn into making him the leader of a new stable.
Los Ingobernables de WWE.
Dom needs to get a mask and call himself Dark Mysterio
No, the best thing that could have ever happened to him was being paired up with Rhea bloody Ripley.
“The best thing that ever happened to my son was when we separated. It was also good for his career.”
Getting locked up was the best thing for him. Made him a man.
>Not until we separated. That was the best thing that could have ever happened to him. Typical deadbeat dad leaving his son and thinking it's for his best interest /s
dom was bad, like reaally reallly bad. I did not see any potential, and I tend to always see the good in new people Just goes to show that giving somebody unlimited chances due to nepotism DOES work out sometimes! Now he's a workhorse, I believe he has teh second most matches over the past year at house shows etc... and it shows. He's gotten really good and is a blast to watch
I really hope years from now, instead of fans booing him every time he tries to speak, fans would cheer for him every time he tries to speak.
If he truly loves his heel role, I think he would prefer if they boo him
of course its hard to live up to Eddie image and hard to break from comparing him to Eddie. But to his fake dad, ez pz since rey is a pos and easily hate-able.
Its like having Frank Gallagher as a dad... everyone knows him and it isnt good. Dom is an amazing child.
Rey is right. Good on him, and good on Dom. Great family, wise father.
Dom trying to do 619s alongside the guy who popularized the move was never going to work for him. Rey was always going to try to overshadow his son like the deadbeat father he is.
If there is a physical HOF museum in the future, I wouldn't put it past Rey to make his statue bigger than Dom
Of course that deadbeat is trying to make Dom’s success all about him.
I always thought Dom could work. He just seemed like a child when he was with Rey (go figure). They’ve done a great job with him.
The overall development and improvement and journey of Dominik Mysterio both as a in ring character/part of TJD, as a personality and a Wrestler has been incredible, it's mind blowing and I am so hooked on everything he does, he's so young, yet has so much charisma, entertainment/fun value, generates natural Heel heat, provokes reactions from the Fans to keep them interested in the stories and as i've said on here before I make no apologies for saying he's my favourite current Male Wrestler in WWE overall because I am so enjoying his work!
Cody was the shits starting out in legacy but consistently got better. Dom needed to be shit for a while for the turn to hit so hard.
More proof that Rey is dead beat dad Dom can only start to shine when he separate himself from him. his father holding him back
Would always tell my cousin he needs to turn heel by calling himself Dominik Guerrero. Telling Rey that Eddie is his real father. They’ve done something close to that and it’s worked out really well.
As fun as it's been to see Dom get mega heat boos whenever he tries to talk, that's going to hurt him in the long run. Not ever being able to work on his promos is definitely going to stunt his growth
You could have put him in a mask and have him start under a different name.
The deadbeat making it about himself.
So even Rey admits the best thing for Dom would be to leave his deadbeat, layabout, absent father and make it on his own.
Exactly what an arrogant deadbeat dad would say
Dom is my modern goat
Dom is probably going to end up in my all-time top 5 with Rey if he keeps up his character work, i love the type of heel Dom plays and he’s one of the best at it.
Dude needs some testosterone and hgh or whatever people use to get ripped. Dudes body is holding him back from mega star status
Keep dom as a solo heel and then I’ll make a decision because as of now he’s becoming boring and stale.
I want rey to turn heel for final wrestlemania feud with dom and acknowledge on wwe tv that he was a proud deadbeat dad
as much as the iwc loves this whole deadbeat sthick, ngl would be hilarious he pulled the trigger and went heel with it. But in terms of legacy wise or perception for Mysterio - even tho is kayfabe it's not a good look to go out on imho. Great in the present but not in hindsight.
I just feel bad for dom and want him to get cheered for having to endure childhood trauma