The WWE Title Reign That Lasted A Lot Longer Than Planned
One WWE star has had a very different career from most others in recent years and now they’ve lifted the lid on an unexpected title reign that lasted longer than first thought.
Dominik Mysterio burst onto the WWE main roster in 2020 alongside his father Rey during the WWE Hall of Famer’s feud with Seth Rollins. The younger Mysterio has built a name for himself in the company ever since and had a different journey than most current WWE stars as he missed out on the NXT experience.
Speaking on the Ringer Wrestling podcast, Dominik Mysterio explained how he doesn’t know why he skipped the NXT portion of WWE’s ladder and also shared that when he did head down to NXT, he believes he ended up holding the North American Title for a lot longer than planned:
It’s honestly kind of crazy. I don’t know how, but I managed to skip that whole thing that they do, that whole beginning part, and I was very blessed for that. To be able to do my career a little bit differently than everybody else, because everyone starts now in NXT and moves up.
I started on the main roster and then came down to NXT and stayed down there for a while, so for me, that felt like my career was already so much different than everybody else’s and that just made it way more different and like it stood out for me because like you said, I went down there to work with the younger talent but some of them are older than me.
To be able to go in there and mentor them, as weird as that sounds, it’s just cool man. I’m glad that Shawn Michaels was able to give me that trust to go down there and work with them for as long as I did, because I’m pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to have that NXT North American Championship for that long, but I wasn’t gonna give it up. I feel like I had some of my best work down there, so I’m really proud of the work I did in NXT.
When Was Dominik Mysterio In WWE NXT?
Dominik Mysterio embarked on a run in NXT in 2023 that saw him defeat Wes Lee for the North American Title in July. Mysterio held that title for 74 days before losing to Trick Williams at No Mercy. Just days after that loss, and with a warning from Rhea Ripley ringing in his ears, Mysterio reclaimed the title, holding it for a further 67 days before losing the gold again to Dragon Lee.
Mysterio’s title reigns dwarf in comparison to his ‘Mami’ with Rhea Ripley’s current reign as Women’s World Champion lasting well over a year. Rhea Ripley held onto her gold with a landmark win over Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 40.