“WrestleMania Goes Hollywood”
The tagline that dominated airwaves nearly two decades ago has made its way back onto our television screens and on social media with WWE staging the 39th edition of what many consider to be the ‘Super Bowl of Sports Entertainment’ at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
And as was the case in the build-up to ‘Mania 21, WWE superstars once again are promoting the event by performing in commercials that are based on popular Hollywood scenes. Whether it was the Undertaker performing Clint Eastwood’s iconic ‘Do you feel lucky, punk?” line from Dirty Harry in 2005 or Roman Reigns and The Bloodline recreating the iconic “Funny how?” scene from Goodfellas that has been making headlines in recent weeks.
And among the superstars excited for WrestleMania’s return to Hollywood is rising star Dominik Mysterio, who will be squaring off against his father, WWE legend Rey Mysterio, in a singles match at the ‘Showcase of the Immortals’.
“I’m excited for WrestleMania to go back to Hollywood. Last time WrestleMania was in Hollywood, my dad wrestled Eddie Guerrero, and there was a very special moment in WrestleMania 21,” Dominik told Firstpost in an interaction, referring to the match between Rey and the late Eddie Guerrero, which Rey ended up winning.
Dominik followed into his dad’s footsteps and entered the world of professional wrestling in 2020, debuting against Seth Rollins at SummerSlam and competing in singles for a while before teaming up with his father in early 2021. The Mysterios would go on to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania Backlash, marking the first time a father-son duo had won a tag team title in the WWE while also being Dominik’s first WWE title.
Relations between father and son, however, would sour after Dominik attacked Rey and the ‘Rated R Superstar’ Edge at Clash in the Castle in September last year, a moment that he describes as a “very big career-changing moment”. After crossing his father and Edge, Dominik would join the villainous stable ‘Judgement Day’ comprising Finn Balor,Rhea Ripley and Damien Priest.
Dominik would attack his parents at every given opportunity since then and while Rey held himself back for months, he accepted an official match by fighting back in the latest edition of SmackDown.
When asked about the reason behind the breakdown in relations with his father that has led to a showdown at WM 39, Dominik said training with and later working alongside his father was a “frustrating” experience.
“It was very frustrating to work with my dad coz he didn’t always understand where I came from or what I wanted, or understood what was going through my head. But, don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy the time when I was able to soak in all the knowledge from him, but I think it’s different being able to work with a group like the Judgement Day because we’re not family but we are like one. We treat each other like family, we all hang out, we’re like family, so I think the dynamic there is definitely of a family dynamic. It just definitely works out for us.
“I think it’s a better relationship than what me and my dad had just because we understand each other, we all communicate. We’re all equals, no one’s trying to fight for power here. We understand what’s at stake here, we’re all trying to work together to create the best opportunities for each other,” Dominik elaborated.
And ‘Dom Dom’, as he is affectionately called by his ‘Mami’ Ripley, is quited pumped about what the Judgement Day will bring to the table at WrestleMania, which he expects to be just as special as the last ‘Mania hosted in Los Angeles.
“I think this WrestleMania is going to be just as special, if not more special, because I know for a fact that Rhea Ripley will be walking out as the new SmackDown Women’s Champion. Because she’s untouchable right now. So I think she’ll come out champion, and whatever the Judgement Day has in plan for WrestleMania, I think we’re all going to come out victorious coz why not, we’re the Judgement Day and we’re the best,” said Dominik, referring to Ripley’s match against Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
Not only has Dominik taken to the role of a heel (wrestling term for the ‘bad guy’) like fish to water, he has also incorporated a number of changes into his character. And a lot of those changes are inspired by none other than ‘Latino Heat’ Eddie Guerrero, someone he considers his ‘real dad’ and one he looks up to both as a wrestler and a father figure.
Guerrero, after all, was involved in a storyline with Rey in the build-up to SummerSlam 2005 claiming himself to be Dominik’s ‘Papi’, with the feud between the two culminating in a ‘Custody of Dominik’ match at the Pay Per View.
“Being able to tap into a little bit of Eddie Guerrero, and I understand I’m in no way shape or form hold any flowers to what he’s done in the ring or ability wise. But I just think it’s fun because it makes the people angry. It makes people angry when they see me going out there and doing Eddie stuff because they’re like, ‘You shouldn’t be doing that, that’s Eddie’s stuff’. But, he was my dad. He fought for my custody at the end of the day, so I think I can do what I want,” Dominik added.
The 25-year-old also opened up on working with some of the Indian talent in the WWE roster such as Veer Mahaan and the love that he’s received from the WWE Universe in India, a country he would love to perform in some day.
“Veer Mahaan debuted against my dad and myself when he came out and attacked us. And then the following week I had a match against him and he actually took me out and sent me out on a stretcher one time. But it was interesting to work with Veer, super good guy until I got in the ring with him and he took me out.
“But it was a lot of fun being able to work with him and I saw all the love I got from fans in India, the support and why Veer would do that to us. Then there were couple of other fans that were excited because they’re big Veer Mahaan fans. So I’m excited to be able to go to India and perform for you guys,” Mysterio signed off.
WrestleMania 39, will take place this weekend on 1-2 April, this being the fourth consecutive year that the ‘Show of Shows’ has been split into two parts. Besides Dominik clashing against father Rey and Ripley taking on Flair, the other Judgement Day member in action will be Balor, who faces Edge in a ‘Hell In A Cell’ match.
Watch the LIVE coverage of WWE WrestleMania 39 on Sony Sports Ten 1, Sony Sports Ten 3 (Hindi), & Sony Sports Ten 4 (Tamil & Telugu) channels on 2nd & 3rd April at 6:30 am IST
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