When Dominik Mysterio first appeared on WWE programming, viewers simply knew him as Rey Mysterio’s son.
While carrying the Mysterio name means Dominik is constantly linked to his legendary father, the past few years have shown his ability to craft a unique persona of his own on WWE programming.
Over the past year, Dominik has become one of the biggest names in the heel faction The Judgement Day, generating negative reactions significantly larger than teammates like Finn Balor and JD McDonagh. He has also played an important role in the feud featuring Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan, bouncing from partner to partner after Ripley was kicked from his group last year.
Dominik’s ability to separate himself from the identity of his father, one of the most iconic wrestlers currently on the WWE brand, has impressed Rey.
“Walking in, in my shoes? Had to have been the hardest thing he’d ever done,” Rey Mysterio said during a recent appearance on Unlikely with Adrian Hernandez. “But the fact that we’re so detached, it’s like that umbilical cord has been snatched. He’s his own entity now, which is so cool.”
Rey likened Dominik’s ability to form his own persona to comments made by WWE newcomer Penta.
When Penta was recently asked by Chris Van Vilet how he felt about being compared to Rey, he said: “I don’t want to be the next Rey Mysterio, I want to be the first Penta … Rey Mysterio inspired me, of course, but I don’t want to say I’m like this.”
Rey said that he liked the attitude Penta carried, wanting to be his own person instead of being similar to another great.
“He’s correct,” Rey said. “I don’t think you can ever duplicate another persona. There’s only going to be one Eddie [Guerrero], one Brock [Lesnar], the list goes on and on. The fact that Penta understood that from the moment he stepped here was incredible. Now he’s creating his own journey.”
