What Is WWE Doing With Dominik Mysterio? Seriously, What Is Going On?

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.

<

WWE is currently heating up a feud between Oba Femi and Bron Breakker that’s about who the future of the wrestling business is. I’m loving the program so far, but to be honest, it’s also making me think a lot about Dominik Mysterio. He’s certainly not playing in the same lane as those two, but based on crowd reactions and natural charisma, Mysterio has just as much potential as the other two. In fact, you could argue he was the most over act in the entire business a year ago, and yet, here we are, watching him lose televised matches to Danhausen and Dragon Lee.

What is going on? Seriously, what is going on? After defeating John Cena to win back the Intercontinental Championship in a huge match with a very invested crowd at Survivor Series back in November, he’s basically done nothing but lose. Even worse, his only real storyline has essentially been as the antagonist in a program over stolen money against Danhausen in which he was repeatedly shown to be a hapless idiot.

Now, you might be saying, but isn’t that Dominik Mysterio’s character? Hasn’t he been playing the hapless idiot for three years? Yes and no. He’s a hapless idiot, but when he’s been at his most over with the crowd, it’s been as a hapless idiot who cheats, steals and lies to ultimately get his way. He’s then been able to use those victories to brag about himself in a way that feels really cheap and inauthentic, which builds up his heat with the crowd. That doesn’t work if he’s getting his comeuppance every week on television. He’s not The Miz and shouldn’t be booked that way.

He needs something to do, and he needs it as soon as possible. Mysterio’s best ever program in WWE, the one that turned him into a heat magnet, was the plotline where he went to jail and then talked about how tough he was to survive it for the next year. He needs a 2026 version of that. Film some non-wrestling content to build his character’s aura back up and give him something to talk about.

Maybe he decides to get revenge on his enemies by showing up in people’s personal lives, slapping them in the face and then running away. Maybe he gets harassed by a teenager on the street and beats him up to show dominance. Maybe he punches someone in catering because they ran out of chicken tenders. There are a ton of options that would get people booing him everywhere he goes again.

I know he’s booked differently when he appears on AAA. He’s the World Champion and gets a level of respect he’s not afforded on the main roster, but WWE needs to accept that most fans are not watching AAA. They’re only watching the main roster, and all those people watching the main roster see are Dominik losing matches and being a side character without any agency.

Judgment Day is one of my favorite stables in the history of wrestling. I loved the OG version with Dominik, JD McDonagh, Rhea Ripley, Damian Priest and Finn Bálor, and I love the new version with Dom, JD, Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez. I even love the programs we got with R-Truth and Carlito at various points.

Between Roxanne being the only woman in the stable who is not a champion and Dominik being desperate to prove himself, there’s a ton of character development sitting right there. WWE needs to mine that, and they need to do it with backstage segments and even the occasional storyline that moves outside the arena.

I believe in Dominik Mysterio. I think he has the potential to be one of the biggest stars in the entire business, but in order to get there, WWE needs to start treating him like a star. That doesn’t mean squashing people. That doesn’t even necessarily mean winning every match, but it does mean giving him real storylines and program wins that allow him to lean into being the successful, arrogant heel we all fell in love with.