My Favorite Wrestling Feuds #9: Rey Mysterio vs Dom Mysterio

I only support corporal punishment when it involves you and your adult children who've been abusing you and the rest of your family.

There have been a few intra-family feuds in wrestling history that deserve attention: Bret Hart vs Owen Hart, Bret Hart vs Davey Boy Smith (his brother-in-law), Vince McMahon vs Shane McMahon, Vince McMahon vs Stephanie McMahon, and The Bloodline drama (but not any particular combination within the Bloodline). Most of the rest of the family storylines in wrestling history were boring. I'd much rather watch The Steiners wrestle as a tag team than see them battle each other. Ditto, The Hardys (Ultimate Deletion Match not withstanding). And while there is one excellent Dustin Rhodes vs Cody Rhodes match, I would rather go back and watch them team up and battle The Shield.

The best intra-family feud, though, was the Very Slow Burn destruction of The Mysterio family. Rey Mysterio is an all-time babyface. He just exudes goodness. Even when he was supposed to be a rapscallion in the WCW, his adorable unmasked face just didn't mesh with his cheat-to-win tactics. He was never going to as believable a villain, even when they glued horns on his head. He just seems relentlessly positive and desperate to be liked.

During one of his many feuds with Eddie Guerrero (which almost made my honorable mentions), they fought over custody of his son. Eddie claimed that Rey's son, Dominik, was his own. And the cherubic little wrestling fan was totally believable as a child who loved his dad and was worried he's be taken away. When, almost twenty years later, he popped up as an adult(ish) guy in tights who just wanted to keep his dad safe, he was a bit less believable. He wasn't a bad actor or a terrible wrestler, he was just bland. He didn't have his dad's infectious energy.

When Rey Mysterio "lost his eye" in a match with Seth Rollins, Dominik battled Rollins to restore his father's honor. It was a forgettable match and storyline, even though it supposedly involved a beloved wrestler Losing His Eye. There were other matches where either Rey needed to protect Dom or vice-verse. They won the tag team titles. They lost the tag team titles. None of it really sticks with me. But at some point, it became clear that Dominik was growing tired of being in his father's shadow.

The turn wasn't subtle so much as it moved at a galacial pace. They could have easily had Dominik turn villain a year earlier, and it might have been an even more powerful story. Instead, they dragged another beloved wrestler, Edge, into the Mysterio story, and after a mostly forgettable wrestling match in England, Dominik first low-blowed Edge, and when his father tried to come him down, he attacked his father, too.

Ever since this moment, Dominik Mysterio has been one of the most compelling villains in the WWE. There is currently a faction of spooky superpowered weirdos who debuted by wandering around the arena massacring other wrestlers. Not a single one of those Wyatt Sicks has a quarter of the charisma of Dominik Mysterio, who's just a brat with a terrible mustache and mullet.

Dominik and his father have only actually had two solo matches against each other. Their first, at Wrestlemania in 2023 was fantastic. Their second one, over a year later, was fine.

What made this feud were Dominik's promos. Sure, we're supposed to feel bad for his dad that his terrible son turned on him but his terrible son is a joy to watch, perhaps moreso than Rey was during his early WWE run. 

As soon as Dominik betrayed his father he was welcomed into a faction called The Judgement Day, who were already feuding with his dad and Edge. Before Dominik joined, the group seemed powerful but aimless and none of their actions were logical or very interesting. The addition of Dom changed that. Whereas they'd been a band of  spookyish creeps, pre-Dom, they were now a ruthless group of regular humans who just behaved badly and wanted to win titles and settle personal grudges. Their mission statements were clear for a while, and they were fun to watch. While the rest of The Judgement Day story has been very muddied in the past year, Dominik's story hasn't changed. He's just a shit. You can point him at any wrestler, and they're going to want to hurt him, and the audience is going to watch him get hurt.

After Dominik and Rhea Ripley beat up his father, in their home, on Thanksgiving, the two returned for Christmas and Evil Dom got arrested and "sent to jail". He returned buffer and badder and became an actual threat who was incredibly fun to watch.

The feud has been fairly quiet over the past year, as, ever the betrayer, Dominik broke up with Rhea Ripley after she returned from a serious injury, only to begin dating the woman who injured her. Meanwhile Rey has been in some underwhelming feuds involving the Latino World Order.

It's only a matter of time, though, before the intra-Mysterio feud kicks off again. It's been widely speculated that when Rey Mysterio is ready to retire, it's going to be Dominik who takes him out. I hope the buildup is so good that this feud goes up another place or four on my list.