WWE Reportedly Considered NXT Run For Featured WrestleMania Performer
A wrestler that had a big match at Wrestlemania 39 was considered for an NXT run, but the company decided not to do it and that appears to be the right call.
One of the matches that had the longest build going into WrestleMania 39 was Rey Mysterio facing his son Dominik.
It was all the way back at Clash at the Castle in September 2022 when Dominik Mysterio turned on Rey and his “uncle” Edge after a tag team victory over The Judgment Day. The next Monday on Raw, Dominik was part of The Judgment Day.
Since then, Dominik has thrived in the heel role as the “boyfriend” of Smackdown Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley. Whenever Dominik does a promo in WWE, he gets a lot of heat even before he says a single word because the WWE Universe truly hates him for betraying his father.
For about six months, Rey refused to hit his son even though Dominik hit his father regularly. Rey was finally pushed over the edge when Dominik told his own mother (Rey’s wife) Angie to shut up, so Rey punched his son and agreed to the WrestleMania match.
The interesting thing about Dominik’s WWE career is that he had his first match at SummerSlam 2020 against Seth Rollins. Unlike most of the WWE roster, Dominik didn’t have to wrestle due to the storyline he was in as Rey’s son. The father-son team won the Smackdown Tag Team Titles together and obviously, they have been feuding for the past several months.
In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer revealed that WWE thought about moving Dominik to NXT prior to his heel turn against his father Rey Mysterio.
“While there is no chance of this happening now, before the decision to start the Rey vs. Dominik program, there was serious thought given to sending Dominik to NXT.”
Considering Dominik is one of the better heels in WWE these days and one of the most improved performers over the last few years, WWE made the right call in not moving him to NXT because he has been doing just fine as part of The Judgment Day.