Dominik Mysterio’s evolution to a faux-hardened convict and despicable estranged son is certainly one of WWE’s greatest success tales in 2023. However earlier than that, Dominik’s run as Rey Mysterio’s plucky son had viewers begging to get him off their screens.

Dominik’s first WWE match was a road combat in opposition to Seth Rollins at SummerSlam in 2020. It was a remarkably high-profile spot for a debut match. {Most professional} wrestlers spend their total careers wrestling on small unbiased phases. Dominik debuted in opposition to a multi-time world champion on a “Large 4” pay-per-view for the trade chief. 9 months later, Dominik and Rey captured the SmackDown tag crew championships. It was an excessive amount of too quickly for younger Dominik as fan and critic sentiments turned in opposition to him.

“There might be plenty of comparisons made between you and your father,” Rey and coach Lance Storm advised Dominik early into his coaching, one thing Rey reiterated to CBS Sports activities whereas discussing A&E’s “Biography WWE Legends – Eddie Guerrero” premiering Sunday. “You allow them to are available one ear and out the opposite. You keep on with your path and also you keep on with your objectives. You do what you consider is the perfect factor for you. Take recommendation, on the finish of the day, you dissect the recommendation and determine it out.”

Rey’s aura extends far past his five-foot-six body. The WWE Corridor of Famer succeeded on the highest ranges of WWE in an period nonetheless prioritizing muscly giants. Rey suggested his son to navigate negativity like Rey did en path to turning into professional wrestling’s final underdog.

“I’ve by no means paid consideration to negativity in my profession or life,” Rey stated. “I’ve at all times pushed that apart or shaken it off. I keep in mind telling Dom a couple of instances, ‘Hey, preserve going and doing what you are feeling is correct.'”

Dominik was nosediving as a high-flying third-generation celebrity till The Judgement Day faction took him below its depraved wings. Dominik was in a position to form a definite new gimmick as soon as he distanced himself from his dad. “Soiled” Dom is a bratty deadbeat son whose comically temporary jail stint turned him right into a laughably hardened legal. Dominik flourished below the supervision of world-traveled teammates Damian Priest, Finn Balor and Rhea Ripley. He was quickly drawing the loudest boos of any WWE celebrity. This time it was intentional.

“A number of the recommendation was now not coming from me,” Rey stated. “We had been separate and he was doing his factor. I believe that was in all probability the perfect factor that would have occurred. He did not have his dad yapping in his ear telling him ‘Do that’ or ‘Attempt that.’ He was figuring it out on his personal, which is what needs to be carried out. Whenever you let your children off the leash and so they’re taking off, you count on them to search out progress and determine it out.”

Rey and Dominik’s careers stay carefully tethered regardless of their storyline cut up. The daddy-son duo wrestled in opposition to one another in a singles match at WrestleMania 39 and a tag crew match at WrestleMania 40. The elder Mysterio had his hand raised each instances. Rey has no fast timeline for retirement however has the right situation ready for his send-off. Rey needs to stake what’s most vital to him in opposition to the individual most vital to him.

“The proper situation is that Dom could be the proper individual,” Rey stated. “And never essentially to retire me however put what issues most to me on the road and that is my masks. It is one thing I would be keen to do.”

Dominik is likely to be Rey’s son however he is typically the spitting picture of Eddie Guerrero, from their storyline relationships with Ripley and Chyna, respectively, to their questionable mullets. It spawned numerous jokes about Rey and Guerrero’s “Custody of Dominik” ladder match at SummerSlam in 2005 after Guerrero claimed to be Dominik’s organic father.

“I’ve to say this and my spouse goes to kill me,” Mysterio teased. “However I’ve advised her a number of instances, ‘Did you cheat on me with Eddie? As a result of Dom — I do not know.’ And she or he says, ‘Yeah, and I by no means advised me!’ I yell, ‘No!’ 

“I really consider that Eddie is getting a kick out of this and, to a sure diploma, Eddie has been in Dominik’s nook from the start. It is very particular and nostalgic to see my son’s progress and to see once in a while a bit of Eddie-ish in his character and his growth and the best way he carries himself. To a big diploma, there’s plenty of delight after I see him and it jogs my memory a lot of moments I lived with Eddie… Generally after I see photos of them, it is simply scary.”

Rey and Guerrero had been expensive pals who wrestled with and in opposition to one another globally earlier than and through their WWE careers. Guerrero, 38, died of acute coronary heart failure on Nov. 13, 2005. His sudden passing rocked everybody however hit Rey notably laborious. Rey famously defeated Shawn Michaels the subsequent night on WWE Uncooked in a foremost occasion devoted to Guerrero. Rey gave a speech in Guerrero’s honor to the reside viewers. Rey discreetly eliminated his masks afterward, one thing he not often does publicly.

“The masks in lucha libre may be very sacred. It is one thing that we shield and we cherish,” Rey defined. “Particularly when it is inside generations of a household. When it is generational and also you’re carrying the identify of your father or somebody who got here earlier than you — in my case Rey Misterio Sr. and Rey Mysterio Jr. — you even shield it along with your life just about. 

“I keep in mind throughout that incident, I wished the followers to listen to Rey Mysterio however I additionally wished them, in a means, to know who was behind the masks and the sentiments I felt. As a result of the connection that I felt with Eddie within the ring was lovely and unimaginable. However the connection we had exterior of the ring was even deeper.”

Try the complete interview with Rey Mysterio under.

Followers concerned with listening to Rey and Dominik share extra about Guerrero can watch Guerrero’s episode of “Biography: WWE Legends” premiering Sunday on A&E.