YMMV / Dominik Mysterio

• Funny Moments: Every time Dominik tries to act like a prison-hardened criminal after spending maybe 2 hours in a county lockup.
  • When Dominik won the NXT North American Championship, thanks to interference from Rhea Ripley, the entire audience was cheering him on for getting a singles accolade...but then they remembered that this was Dominik Mysterio they were cheering, and they went back to booing him.
  • In the Royal Rumble 2024 match, Dominik is in desperate need of help trying to escape Gunther's chokehold on him. His only hope is R-Truth... who thinks this is a tag team match and is waiting for Dominik to tag him in so he can give Gunther an ass-whooping. Eventually, Dom finally manages to slam his way out and gives Truth the hot tag (complete with a ridiculous leap that would make Shawn Michaels proud) just to get the hell away from Gunther. The crowd ate up every minute of it.
• Growing the Beard:
  • His Face–Heel Turn. Dom's early years on the main roster were considered rather lackluster due to is bland, babyface persona and the perception he only had his spot because of his father. This changed in late 2022 when he turned heel and betrayed Rey and Edge at Clash of the Castle to join The Judgement Day. Dom's heel turn saw him develop a Smug Snake, Boisterous Weakling, Prison Changes People character who seems to be hell-bent on making his father's life hell whenever possible. He also changed his moveset and mannerism by emulating his Honorary Uncle Eddie Guerrero more, addressing the problem of Dom not being able to emulate Rey's moves well thanks to his larger build. The improvements on both in-ring and promo work as a heel, coupled with his entertaining character work, got him so over that he quickly became a huge Hate Sink that constantly generates nuclear heat whenever he went. Not bad considering where he was less than a year ago.
  • To a lesser extent, he also did this for the Judgement Day. The faction had a hard time finding their footing and getting over with the crowd thanks to their underlining supernatural influences, which was considerably out-of-place in the generally grounded (if somewhat wacky) atmosphere of WWE, and the inherent oddity of immediately betraying Edge, who put the stable together in the first place, then immediately feuding with him as if nothing had happened and Edge had always been a babyface, which got them off to a rocky start. Dom's inclusion into the group saw them gradually transition from this into a more delusional, high school bully-esque stable of heels, which everyone agrees works much better for them.
• He Really Can Act:
  • From a charisma standpoint, Dominik's skills as as a slimy Dirty Coward are quite a sight to behold and a huge contrast to the utter mediocrity of his bland babyface sidekick persona.
  • From a wrestling standpoint, compare Dom's 4+ star matches with Dragon Lee in late 2023 to his outings as a face in 2020 and you can really see where Rey's and Eddie's legacies have lived on.
• Heartwarming Moments: In a twisted way, Judgment Day cheering Dominik when he became NXT North American champion is this, as Finn, Damian and Rhea are so happy for their little bro having a belt.
• Love to Hate: Dom is a natural-born heel in the mold of MJF and plays an unrepentant prick to a degree of legitimacy way above most wrestlers, let alone those of his age, to the point that certain crowds have been known to refuse to so much as let him speak. As a result, the fans love him, way more than they ever did as his dad's babyface sidekick. Notably, when he became the NXT North American Champion due to interference from Rhea Ripley, the crowd instinctively cheered in genuine joy for Dom's first singles accolade...then remembered who he was and booed him out of the building.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Ex-Con Dom.^ExplanationOn Christmas Eve 2022, Dom alongside Rhea Ripley decided to pay a visit to his parents where he got into an altercation with them and police had to get involved, arresting him and taking him to the station. He was released the next day, having spent only about 3 hours behind bars, but he started claiming that prison had changed him forever. Since then, he started dressing up in typical cholo style clothes and posing as a hardcore criminal, even getting a fake teardrop tattoo as part of the new character. Dom has also started calling himself "ex-con Dom", which quickly caught on with fans due to the similarity to the word "condom".
  • Where's Nick Mysterio?^ExplanationOn the 1/8/24 RAW, R-Truth posted a Judgment Day PSA over the good times he had with the Judgment Day. He lists all of them (except JD), and calls Dominik "Tom and Nick" Mysterio. Fans immediately ran with it, stating that they too are wondering where Nick Mysterio is at. WWE would later sell shirts with two Dominiks and R-Truth, labeling them "Tom and Nick Mysterio".
• Play-Along Meme: After R-Truth mistakingly calls him "Tom and Nick" Mysterio, along with saying he's never met Nick, fans and online websites played along by also asking where Nick is.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: After turning heel. At the start of his run and til Clash at the Castle, Dominik was simply known as Rey Mysterio's son with decent but unspectacular ring work that needed some polishing and not a lot of charisma. When he aligned himself with Judgement Day, Dominik transformed from a bland babyface who was there simply because of who his father was into a petulant spoiled brat who took every opportunity to bad mouth his father, even beating him up on Thanksgiving no less, while Rey Mysterio, beloved elder statesman of professional wrestling, couldn't bring himself to lay a hand on the son he still loved despite everything^note until Dom decided it was a smart idea to insult Angie (aka Rey's wife and Dom's mother). It helped immensely that his fellow stable members are all experienced workers and had instant chemistry with all of them, especially Rhea Ripley. Dominik has since grown into being one of the most properly-hated superstars on the rosters, reaching level of boos not seen in years.
• Signature Scene: Take your pick.
  • His Face–Heel Turn during Clash at the Castle by attacking his father with Finn, Priest, and Rhea laughing in approval.
  • Showing up at Thanksgiving ‘22 - with Rhea Ripley - and again beating him down.
  • Two months later, he enters the 2023 Royal Rumble at #18 and Dominik is wearing Rey’s mask. Rey was #17 but didn’t enter the stadium. It doesn’t take a genius people.
  • The Smackdown on 3/24/2023. Rey finally has enough of his ungrateful son’s bull*** and knocks him down.
  • WrestleMania 39. Rey gives Dominik a good whipping with his belt. Glorious!!
• Wangst: Dom's heel run is best described as a rebellious teen phase cranked up to a violent extreme, as he constantly whines about how terrible his childhood was because of his constantly working father and uses that as an excuse to lash out at everyone but his fellow bullies. However, this same exaggerated realism is what makes it work so well.