'Dirty' Dominik Mysterio Cleans Up

There might not be a single person in modern wrestling who ignites a visceral gut reaction quite like “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio.

The moment live crowds watch him walk into a ring and grab a microphone, a chorus of boos rumbles through the arena so loud that it forces him to scream into the mic just to get a few words out.

Behind the screams is a mantle of a Mexican family legacy Mysterio is the latest wrestler to carry; that legacy includes his father, Rey Mysterio Jr., and great uncle Rey Mysterio Sr. The crowd’s first look at Dominik came as an 8-year-old in 2005, when his father, Rey and the late great Eddie Guerrero fought in an infamous “Custody battle” ladder match, as Guerrero rage-baited Rey in a storyline where he repeatedly told him that Dominik was not his legitimate son.

Fast forward 21 years and Mysterio’s combination of charm, magnetism and a bit of “Latino heat” has had him called upon to represent the WWE in commercials, podcasts and have his face plastered across billboards when the company comes to your hometown.

Mysterio is taking advantage of new public-facing opportunities as WWE enters the zeitgeist like never before. In 2025, WWE signed a multi-year deal to stream its flagship program, Monday Night Raw, on Netflix, becoming the streaming service’s first-ever weekly live program. In early 2026, WWE made another major media move, signing a deal with ESPN to stream its monthly “Premium Live Events,” formerly known as Pay-Per-Views.

A quick look into the live crowds and you’ll see celebrities sitting ringside every week. There’s also the star power of WWE legends such as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and John Cena, who have successfully stepped into the silver screen, paving the way for wrestlers-turned-actors today. “Before they were big-name movie stars, they were big-name WWE stars, which I think is just insane,” Mysterio tells PAPER. “They've gotten so big that some people forget that they were wrestlers.”

While wrestling has always claimed its piece of the pop culture pie, its presence has exploded of late, leading to sold-out arenas and cameos everywhere one looks. In the midst of this, Mysterio is leading a youth movement in the WWE as some of the older guard has slowly made their way out, giving young wrestlers like Mysterio a chance to grab the metaphorical brass ring and run with it.

Dom entered Boston’s TD Garden Arena early, as is part of his fight-night ritual. He helped himself to a seat in the stands to take our call, as the WWE production crew below him prepared the lighting, stage and pyrotechnics for the show later that night.

“Oh, fuck!” Dom yells mid-call, as a camera drone buzzes by his head. “Sorry, a drone just flew by. I thought it was going to hit me!”

Just another day of spectacle that is heightened every spring as the company leads into its marquee live event, WrestleMania, taking place in Las Vegas this year. Mysterio prepares for a heated match against his old mentor, Finn Balor, as Dom looks to prove he can reach greater heights without Balor.

Leading up to WrestleMania, Mysterio recently took an unforgiving chair shot to the head while wrestling in Mexico for WWE’s sister company, Lucha Libre AAA. After taking a much needed few weeks off, PAPER caught up with him before his return to Monday Night Raw. Read our entire conversation below.

Was this the first fashion photoshoot you've done?

This was my first ever photo shoot of any kind. Honestly, it felt super surreal. The way they were styling me out and making me look. It's crazy seeing behind the scenes, how everything goes and gets put together.

What’s the ideal first impression you want new fans to have of “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio?

The reaction I would want to get is that they hate me. Hate me enough to want to come and boo. I think that's the goal. At the end of the day, you can hate me or love me, but if this is your first time seeing this or watching me and you dislike me, come to a show and boo me. But at the same time, appreciate the mullet and the mustache.

You seem to have gotten pretty good at inciting reactions from the audience, have you always naturally drawn heat from people?

What I do and how I interact with the crowd has been something that I've had to develop and work for. At the end of the day, it's our craft. Physical wrestling isn’t the only thing we do; it’s also about our engagement with the audience and how we interact with them and how they're responding to what we're doing. The fact that I can even get a reaction out of anybody is really cool to see. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. As long as I get a little something out of them.

What’s the most common misconception about wrestling?

I feel the most common misconception is that it's fake, but it's like, brother, tell me what do you watch on television that is real? Just sit down and enjoy the show. We're putting our bodies on the line, doing all this crazy stuff, like taking chair shots to the head. At the end of the day, we're just trying to do our best to entertain you guys. My best advice is, just put it on. Put on Raw and see if you like it, because I promise you, at the very least, you will be entertained.

WWE seems to be crossing into pop culture more than ever. Why do you think that is?

It’s the reach we've been able to get through Netflix. Nothing against USA Network, it was the home of Monday Night Raw for a lot of years… the longest-running episodic televised show in history, but Netflix just brought the viewership from around the world and really just globalized it. It also doesn't hurt that some of the top movie stars in Hollywood right now are wrestlers. You know, you got guys like Dwayne Johnson, Dave Bautista and John Cena.

What are some ways you hope to elevate the Mysterio name?

What makes wrestling so much more appealing right now?

I feel like so much has changed in this business. The storylines are getting better and I feel like people respect it more because they see that we don't have an off season. People see how hard we work. We're on the road 300 days out of the year and I feel like people really started to recognize that and started to see the hard work that we put in, and started giving us more respect for it.

And it’s non-stop, right?

Yeah, like I said earlier, we don't have an off-season. So we're 365 days a year on the road.

Do you have an arena ritual once you get to a new city?

I definitely like to come and see the arena before everyone comes out, before the doors open. Basically, just get a feel for it. I'm not superstitious. I am a little stitious. So every now and then, I take note if it’s an arena I like. I'll also remember if I got hurt somewhere. I'm like, “I'm back in an arena where I got hurt.” But I try not to think about it too much. Before every match, I always say a prayer and just do my best.

The audience has changed a little bit over the years, are there any celebrities who’ve left you star-struck?

Seeing Vanessa Hudgens out in the crowd, I was like, ‘Oh, man, that's crazy.’ I watched High School Musical when I was a kid. There’s also Lil Yachty, guys like Mario Lopez and even Jelly Roll. Seeing Topanga (Danielle Fishel) from Boy Meets World, that's so crazy. I was just on the Boy Meets World podcast, too. I grew up watching and listening to some of these people. They come to the show, obviously, not just to see me, to see the whole show. It's still really cool to see.

You come from a family rich in wrestling history. What was it like growing up in that environment?

Every childhood memory I have is wrestling. My mom sent me a picture not too long ago, of me when I got baptized. I have six godfathers, and they're all wrestlers from WCW (World Championship Wrestling) and lucha libre. So it's funny seeing them all in the picture, holding me.

That sounds like a good group of bodyguards for you growing up.

Most definitely. I grew up in it, going into the Auditorio in Tijuana, Mexico, just having all my godfathers paint my face. I have masks from the original La Parka with blood on them. I remember I came home with a super bloody La Parka mask, and I was so excited. And my grandma just, like, took it from me and threw it in the wash, and I woke up the next morning and she's like, ‘Yeah, here I washed it for you.’ And I was like, you just ruined it! She even stitched it back together because it was all ripped up. I was like, “No, no! What are you doing?!” I wanted the bloody and torn mask.

Do you have any other unique wrestling memories growing up?

One of my first wrestling memories is watching my dad getting hit with a guitar by Jeff Jarrett. That's like, that's the first thing I remember, that instantly pops in my head. My dad getting hit in the head by Jeff Jarrett with the guitar just out of the air. That and watching all my godfathers wrestle my uncle back in the day. I remember all the stuff with Eddie Guerrero in 2005. I was about 8-years-old. I have memories with Eddie that pop into my head. Every now and then, I’ll have a flashback like, “Man, that happened with Eddie.”

What’s your experience been like working alongside so many talented women?

The talent on the roster right now is absolutely insane. Women's wrestling has evolved throughout the years and given more time to wrestle. I grew up in an era where they had “bra and panties” matches, but now, these women are super athletic and can tear the house down. We've had women who have main-evented WrestleMania now. Women's wrestling finally gets the respect it deserves. When the girls get involved, it's just cool because they get in on the action and beat up the boys. They're going to go all-in. The girls can get a little heavy-handed.

What's life like with Liv Morgan?

Man, she's the absolute best. She brings out the best in everybody because she's always just so positive, very encouraging, honestly, just a joy to be around and absolutely blessed to be able to work with her. I started off with Rhea Ripley, went on to Liv Morgan. Two of the best of the best. Honestly, I can't say enough good things about Liv, and I hope that we stay together. We work for a reason. There's lots of gold around the Judgment Day, and it's thanks to her.

Rhea Ripley didn’t seem to hold back a couple of years ago.

She did not hold back. I broke her heart for real, and she showed it and punched me right in the face. She gave me a straight-up black eye. I remember the following TV date, I came out and showed my eye, and it was, like, all bloodied up. I was like, damn, bro.

Are you surprised that you've been entrusted with so much responsibility early on in your career?

Yeah, that definitely surprised me. I didn't expect it, and I didn't know I had the company's trust. I'm a soldier for the company when it comes to WWE. This is where I've been my whole life, since I was 8 years old. Not only that, but the people that I've wrestled, like Randy Orton’s first match back after back surgery. I was his first match back. And CM Punk. They trust me with guys like John Cena on his retirement tour and AJ Styles during SummerSlam, right before he took off. He retired that same year as well. Looking back at it now, it's super cool and surreal to see that they trusted me with all these opportunities with such big names.

What type of headspace are you in before you go out there to meet the crowd and work a match?

There's a lot of emotions that are constantly going through my head. I feel like the main one is just trying to stay composed, because there's so much going on. We're always live, and you've got to be on your A game. It's a live show where anything can happen. You know, it happened to me a couple of months ago. I hurt my shoulder at a AAA show. They asked me if I wanted to stop, and I was like, “Man, just keep going.” If we stop right then and there, that ruins everything. That ruins the match, probably adds more time to wrestlers that were going out after us, and you don't want to put that on them.

Is there a past match our readers should watch that defines Dominik Mysterio?

I would give them two. The first match, I'm not in it, but I'm involved. The “Custody Match,” during SummerSlam 2005, with Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio. You get a little introduction to why I do what I do. You get the little 8-year-old Dom. Fast forward to 2023 at WrestleMania 39, Dirty Dominic Mysterio against Rey Mysterio in Los Angeles. I think those two matches show my villain arc and get people to say, “Okay, I understand him now.” Reel you in with the Eddie story, then hook you with my match against my dad.

How do you think Dominik Mysterio will impact the industry and what do you see in your future?

I mean, look what I've done now in five years, so imagine the next five. I would definitely say winning the Royal Rumble and being WWE Champion. Or being a multiple-time world champion, because what's the point of being here if you don't want to be a world champion? At the end of the day, my goal is to get that Mysterio name to places it's never been before. If that means doing things the “dirty” way, then so be it.

Do you see yourself wrestling into your 50s like your dad?

I don't know. Not if I keep taking these chair shots. [Laughs]. I still like to think I'm young. My body feels good, so who knows? As long as my body holds up, I'm gonna keep doing it until the wheels fall off.

Was there ever a plan B?

I didn't even have a plan A, but wrestling's been my whole life. I always knew it would be there. It almost seemed inevitable. It's been in my family, it's been in my blood and it's something that I hope I can continue. I've just been trying to have fun and try not to let the pressure of the family name get to me. I just want to enjoy and live in the moment, man.