The Rise and Fall of WWE's Dominik 'Dirty Dom' Mysterio

Dominik Mysterio, once a can't-miss prospect for WWE, has lost a lot of his luster with how he's been booked in 2026.

A year ago, the self-professed King of the Luchadors was not only riding high as both the AAA Mega champion and intercontinental champion, but he was also being positioned prominently on Raw as the focal point of The Judgment Day.

Following his failure to qualify for the men's Money in the Bank ladder match, fans are understandably concerned that he'll continue to suffer from a serious lack of direction going forward.

Despite being without gold for the first time since WrestleMania 41, Mysterio at least has his alliance with Liv Morgan and the rest of The Judgment Day to fall back on for the foreseeable future. However, a case can be made for the group doing more to hold him back than elevating him to the next level.

As impressive as Mysterio's ascent to stardom was, his gradual fall from grace has been equally striking.

Early Exposure on WWE TV and Teaming with His Father

Dominik Mysterio's earliest appearances on WWE TV as a child during his father Rey's rivalry with Eddie Guerrero in 2005 and the important part he played in that storyline helped lay the groundwork for his eventual introduction as a full-time talent 15 years later.

His official in-ring debut against Seth Rollins at SummerSlam 2020 went about as perfectly as it could have given his level of inexperience, but he failed to further flesh out his character beyond being the son of Rey Mysterio in the months that followed.

Dom spent his entire 2021 in the tag team division with Rey and even held the WWE Tag Team Championship for a two-month stretch, but his inability to establish an identity of his own prevented him from evolving.

Rey and Dom's various tag team battles with The Bloodline, The Judgment Day and the duo of The Miz and Logan Paul kept them busy during their time together, but it wasn't until Dom severed ties with his father that he finally started to come into his own, both as an in-ring competitor and as a character.

How Joining The Judgment Day Saved His Career

The idea of Dominik Mysterio turning heel and being a successful singles star felt too far-fetched to ever truly work.

It's possible he would have fallen flat had he been on his own, but it was more a matter of him finding the right people to bring the best out of him in that role. Just joining The Judgment Day was enough to get him comfortable as a character and make a meaningful connection with the audience.

His alliance with Rhea Ripley in particular as well as his heated rivalry with Rey Mysterio heading into WrestleMania 39 saved his career. The time he spent in NXT in the latter half of 2023 also helped him hone his skills and give him the development reps he missed out on earlier in his career.

Dirty Dom spun his wheels for the first several months of 2024 before reemerging as a key player on Raw after he helped oust Damian Priest from The Judgment Day and brought Liv Morgan into the fold to replace Ripley as his main squeeze.

Being right in the middle of that months-long feud guaranteed Mysterio a recurring role on Raw and opened fans' eyes to his potential as a future top talent.

Coming Into His Own as AAA Mega and Intercontinental Champion

Dominik Mysterio eventually became so entertaining as a heel that fans started to organically cheer for him in the early months of 2025.

All signs then pointed to him breaking away from Finn Bálor and the rest of The Judgment Day as a babyface, with his Intercontinental Championship win at WrestleMania 41 being the catalyst.

While Mysterio did walk out of 'Mania with the intercontinental title, the tension teased between him and Bálor going into the event was never followed up on. Nonetheless, Mysterio was booked strong for the remainder of the year and knocked off the likes of AJ Styles, Rusev and Penta to retain the title.

He simultaneously made a splash in WWE's newly acquired promotion AAA, where the audience got behind him in a big way and led him to capturing the AAA Mega Championship that September. As a dual champion, Mysterio was at the peak of his popularity and really starting to hit his stride.

That was especially evident when he was handpicked to work with John Cena in the 17-time world champion's final premium live event match at Survivor Series.

Dirty Dom handed Cena a rare defeat (albeit with an assist from all of The Judgment Day) to regain the Intercontinental Championship and set himself up for what should have been an even bigger 2026.

Mere weeks removed from his career-defining win over John Cena at Survivor Series, Dominik Mysterio suffered a shoulder injury while wrestling at an AAA event.

It sidelined him indefinitely and brought an abrupt halt to any plans WWE had for him to start 2026, including his involvement in the men's Royal Rumble match.

Mysterio ultimately returned to television on the post-Rumble Raw to celebrate Liv Morgan's women's Royal Rumble win, but he remained a background player until after Elimination Chamber. As a result, the Intercontinental Championship became a total afterthought and wasn't defended on WWE TV for over two months.

The injury obviously wasn't something WWE planned for him, but the lack of follow-up with him once he was ready to return to the ring was definitely the fault of those in charge creatively. It was almost as if he lost his spot to some of the newer names getting called up such as Oba Femi and Je'Von Evans and was never able to bounce back.

His loss of the Intercontinental title to Penta in early March marked the beginning of his downfall. It was wise to have him get beaten for the belt instead of having him relinquish it due to his injury, but any momentum he gained from defeating Cena by that point was all but gone.

Failing in Feuds with Finn Bálor and Danhausen

Despite doing little of note in the first few months of 2026, he did make the WrestleMania card for the fifth consecutive year by taking on Finn Bálor.

The two revisited their tension from the year prior, this time with Bálor going babyface and splitting from The Judgment Day on his own terms.

Their match was given a No Disqualification stipulation shortly before showtime, which did make it more enjoyable than it may have been otherwise. They had a quality contest, but Bálor winning sent the message that WWE had bigger plans for him coming out of WrestleMania, not Mysterio.

Once that rivalry ran its course, he shifted his focus to Danhausen, who "cursed" Mysterio backstage the night he lost the Intercontinental Championship to Penta. That program was a waste of Mysterio's entire summer and culminated in an abysmal "Human Monies on a Pole" match between the two at SummerSlam, which was won by Danhausen.

That was in addition to him not having won a match that mattered almost all year. He was eliminated from the King of the Ring tournament in the semifinals, lost the AAA Mega Championship to El Grande Americano at Triplemania 34, and failed to qualify for the men's Money in the Bank ladder match.

As of this writing, Mysterio's stock is as cold as it's been in years, but that isn't to say he can't turn his luck around on the sooner side.

Why He'd Benefit From Hitting the Reset Button Completely

There's no doubt Dominik Mysterio still generates great heat any time he has a microphone in his hand, but without a stable direction, fans aren't going to view him as anything other than the average midcarder.

With the work he's put into improving as a wrestler and creating his character, it'd be a big step backward for WWE to continue utilizing him as a stepping stone the way they have been.

The Money in the Bank briefcase would have been the perfect gimmick to keep him busy until cashing in down the card, but now WWE must seek alternate routes with Mysterio.

There will come a time when he embraces the audience as a babyface, but that shouldn't and doesn't necessarily need to happen in the near future. He can instead take the time to reestablish himself, get back in the win column and reclaim his spot as The Judgment Day's de facto leader.

The alliance with Liv Morgan has been mutually beneficial so far and should continue for as long as they remain a mildly interesting act. It would make the most sense for them to target real-life couple Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins at some point, which would get Mysterio back in the spotlight where he belongs.

Dirty Dom appeared to have a limited ceiling when he formally debuted for WWE in 2020, and now it's unfathomable that the company would cool him off so considerably after a few fantastic years.

Mysterio can and should still be a world champion in WWE, but it will take him much longer to get there if WWE continues to mishandle him.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant , and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.