Dominik Mysterio’s Heel Turn Compared To The Rock

The Rock blew up and made WWE history when he turned heel and let the people know what was on his mind. Much like Dwayne Johnson, Dominik Mysterio’s heel turn was also met with a resounding reaction.

Dominik Mysterio generates a chorus of boos whenever he opens his mouth at this point. Booing him out of the building is almost a fun thing for fans to do at every show. The Rock used to generate a reaction like that when he was destroying people on the microphone.

Nick Khan recently discussed WWE’s approach to allowing talent to evolve their personas, drawing a comparison between Dominik Mysterio’s heel turn and that of The Rock. Khan shared his insights on this topic during his appearance on the Bill Simmons Podcast.

“When I started with WWE … height of COVID, Dominik — young wrestler, Rey’s son, seen as Rey’s son, nice young man — but it wasn’t really working. I think the patience that Vince and Paul Levesque, Triple H, show with the talent, you saw it with Roman, where people were not buying him as the monster face, if you will. And then, all the sudden during COVID, he came back to the Florida facility when we were taping down there, came back as a heel and boom! Roman Reigns takes off. Dominik Mysterio — ‘Hey, I’m the good son of Rey Mysterio.’ It was great, they stuck with it … turned him into a heel, amazing!”

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“I think sticking with it and really giving people a shot to be the best versions of themselves on the mic… I think sticking with what you think can work is probably a good plan.”

“When The Rock came in as Rocky Maivia … boos throughout — even worse than boos, no response. He sort of lit it up and The Rock took fire…. There tends to be that moment where all of the sudden it catches fire.”

The Rock returned on SmackDown this week, but he didn’t mix it up with Dominik Mysterio. Perhaps he will find time to do that in the future.

Dominik Mysterio is still NXT North American Champion, and he’s going strong with that role. So far, he hasn’t reached The Rock’s heights, but you never know what can happen in pro wrestling.

Keep checking back with us here at Ringside News for more on this story, and so many more in the pro wrestling world.