Is Dominik Mysterio the Next Rocky Maivia?

I will start this off by stating the obvious.  Yes, I am a Dominik Mysterio fan.  I am 100% unapologetically a Dirty Dom fan.  But I haven’t always been.  I was impressed with his debut, but it wasn’t much longer after that when I grew tired of seeing him and I was even right there with a lot of other folks that said he should go down to NXT and get better.  He was boring and he couldn’t really wrestle that well… something needed to change.

Fast forward to now and Dom gets it.  He has improved immensely in the ring, but the bigger win here is that he gets “it.”  Nobody is getting more heat on a constant basis than Dominik Mysterio, and he owns it.  He is improving each and every time he shows up on our television screens.  For years, fans have been begging for WWE to invest in a new, young star that could lead the company for the next 10-15 years and we now finally have that guy.

So, let’s now move on to why we’re really here.  To send wrestling fans into a complete whirlwind of chaos over something that will undoubtedly be blown out of proportion.

Is Dominik Mysterio the next Rocky Maivia?

The short answer to that is, I don’t know.  Subjectively, I think he is.  Objectively, we still have to see more to really know the answer to this question.  But what I do know is that wrestling tends to take things from history, put a little spin on it, and use it all over again.  What it appears is happening is that they are taking a blueprint that was wildly successful for Dwayne Johnson and is using it now with Dominik Mysterio.

The similarities:

• The Rock is a 3rd generation superstar, following in the footsteps of his grandfather Peter Maivia and his father Rocky Johnson.  Dominik Mysterio is billed as a 3rd generation superstar as well following in the footsteps of his great uncle Rey Misterio Sr. and his father, WWE Hall of Famer, Rey Mysterio.
• The Rock’s first match was on March 10th, 1996, at the age of 23 years old.  Dominik Mysterio had his first match on August 23rd, 2020, at the age of 23 years old.  And whereas The Rock was much more gifted in-ring talent upon his debut, I think Dirty Dom has now reached a level that is on par with where pre “The Rock” was.
• Rocky Maivia was turned on by the fans who rejected him after quickly growing tired of his lame schtick.  So, WWE leaned into what the fans were saying and turned him heel by having him join a faction, the Nation of Domination.  Dominik Mysterio found himself in the same scenario as WWE tried to push him as a babyface alongside his father, and it was not working.  And what does WWE do?  Turn him heel by having him join a faction, Judgment Day.  And both of them worked out far better than they could have ever dreamed as both became one of the biggest acts of their respective times.  And oh yeah, both men did these 2 years into their careers at the ripe age of 25.

It’s only 3 steps but they are eerily similar. Now, does this equate to Dominik Mysterio going on to become the next most electrifying man in sports entertainment?  Not at all.  As I pointed out earlier, he still has some growing to do before he can make that last leap to main event superstar.  But I’m not wrong to think he’s on his way there.  I’m also not trying to say that he will go on to have the kind of career outside of wrestling as Dwayne did.  I’m simply pointing out very clear similarities.

And the viewers are clearly ready for it.  Dominik Mysterio continuously gets the reactions wherever they go and now we are seeing that he has the ability to boost ratings.  His match with Sami Zayn hit the 2 million mark, which happens on Raw very rarely.  His segments on NXT are always the highest and he has currently netted them a night with the #1 ranking across cable television for the night.  The only thing we have left to see is longevity.  Can he transition out of Dirty Dom into something we will still care about?  Will he be able to hold the audience over the years?  Time will tell if he truly will be able to be the next “Great One!”

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