Dominik Mysterio On Being The Bad Guy, Bringing A New Element To The Mysterio Name

Dirty Dominik Mysterio talks being a bad guy in WWE and how much he truly loves it.

Dominik Mysterio on Monday Night Raw / WWE.com

Dominik Mysterio is on the verge of making a major transition when it comes to his relationship with the WWE Universe.

The Judgement Day pillar is breaking away from 'fans truly hate him' and firmly moving into the 'fans love to hate him' category. Fueled by his on screen romance with WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Liv Morgan, the audience is slowly but surely buying into his chicken tendies loving charm.

Mysterio will compete for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 41 in a Fatal 4-Way against champion Bron Breakker, Penta and his Judgment Day counterpart Finn Balor. And there's a groundswell of online support building for Dom to walk away with the gold.

DOMINIK DESTROYER!#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/y3czFNaik5

— WWE (@WWE) April 8, 2025

He's one major act away from a full-fledged babyface turn, but if given the choice, it sounds like Dom would stay 'Dirty' for a while longer.

“I enjoy being a bad guy," Dom told Netflix in a new interview. "I feel like I have more liberty in what I can do, say, and get away with. I feel like I’m pushing the boundaries a little bit more. This might sound terrible, but kids and their dads will show up to events and I’m like, ‘Is that your dad? He’s probably a deadbeat too.’ So it’s just getting to have more fun with them other than being a good guy. I’ve witnessed that my whole life with my dad. I wanted to do something different with the Mysterio name.”

Dominik turning heel at Clash at the Castle 2022 was not only a gamechanger for the Mysterio name, but for his own WWE career.

Feuding with his father allowed Dominik to walk his own creative path and make a new name for himself, other than being known as Rey Mysterio's son.

big brother finn telling dom what he needs to hear#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/XgQAyDFfml

— WWE (@WWE) April 8, 2025

“Starting off with him by my side was a huge cheat code. The man’s been in this business for 30-plus years now, so being able to have him ringside for my first couple of matches — he was literally guiding me, yelling at me, [telling me] what to do, how to do it. That was very helpful for me to grow and learn in-ring. But being able to get away from it and realizing what I can do on my own, it’s almost like removing the training wheels off the bike. Once I realized I no longer needed them, it was game time.”

Dom made his foray into being the bad guy look effortless. He excelled at being hated for the longest time, constantly getting booed out of every building he entered for months on end.

He was so good at being loathed that he became the first performer in WWE history to turn heel, while already being a heel, when he dumped Rhea Ripley for Liv Morgan at SummerSlam in Cleveland.

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