When Dominik Mysterio defeated Damian Priest on the October 28th episode of Raw, he earned himself a spot in the #1 Contender’s Match for Gunther’s World Heavyweight Title.
I don’t know about you, but my immediate thoughts went to how hilarious it would be to see Dom become the #1 Contender and face off with The Ring General.
Not only is Gunther one of the most terrifying men to ever step foot inside of a wrestling ring, but he demands respect, not only for himself, and perhaps more importantly, for the sport of professional wrestling.
Dom’s character, of course, doesn’t respect anything.
The promos, the build, and the match itself… everything about Gunther vs Dominik Mysterio would’ve been a ton of fun to watch.
Seven days later, all of that seemed to go out the window, though, as Damian Priest would go on to win the #1 Contender’s Match and is next-in-line for a shot at Gunther. Don’t get me wrong… I’m going to enjoy watching those two big badasses face each other again, but…
What if?
As I said, everything about Gunther vs Dom would’ve been a blast. Dom trying to find his nuts in an attempt to be tough in Gunther’s face and impress Liv Morgan… Gunther essentially turning face by ripping Dom to shreds on the mic, both in a menacing fashion and reverting back to trolling like he did with Bret Hart and Goldberg… the sound of Gunther’s strikes echoing off of Dom’s chest, face, back, and wherever the World Champion wants to hit him… all of it, entertaining as hell.
The match wouldn’t need to main event a pay-per-view or anything. Giving it the final slot during an episode of Raw, though? That would work. After “playing with his food” for a bit, Gunther would obviously come out victorious and retain his title. Again, though…
What if?
When you’re done reading this sentence, I want you to close your eyes and try to imagine the crowd reaction if Dominik Mysterio pinned Gunther in the center of the ring to become the brand new World Heavyweight Champion.
I’ll be here waiting.
Did you picture it?
Do you see it?
Can you hear it?
Heat. Like the asphalt in Phoenix during the month of August.
To say that Dominik Mysterio is a heat magnet right now would be a tremendous understatement. How many times have we seen arenas shower him with boos as soon as he makes an appearance? What about all the times when live crowds wouldn’t even let him speak and would drown him out with negativity as soon as he raises a microphone to his face?
Every single time he gains something, the WWE Universe hates him even more. The initial heel turn started things off. Then, he got an ambiguous on-screen “relationship” with Rhea Ripley. Next up was another on-screen pairing, this time with Liv Morgan.
Imagine if, on top of all that, he was able to add the World Heavyweight Title to the mix. More specifically, he was able to add the World Heavyweight Title after some heavy interference from The Judgment Day. His character would become even more insufferable, and because of it, so would the character of Liv Morgan.
I’ve said it a million times in the past… WWE loves to focus more on the heat, the reactions, and the “moments” than they do with who is the “best” at this or that. Obviously, that isn’t the case 100% of the time, but they have an extensive history of making moves based on the aforementioned things. Putting the World Heavyweight Title on Dominik Mysterio is a decision that is right up WWE’s alley.
Do I want to see this happen? Yes. Absolutely.
Do I think it will happen? No, I don’t.
I just think that it’s the type of shake-up that makes things fun in the sport from time-to-time. Even if the title reign lasted from one pay-per-view to the next pay-per-view, it could, and maybe should, be something that is worth the company’s time. With Monday Night Raw’s imminent move to Netflix, a title change like that could drum up the type of buzz and unpredictable crowds that would have the bigwigs at the streaming giant rubbing their hands together like Birdman.
How would you react if Dominik Mysterio won the World Heavyweight Title? Would it change your enjoyment level of the WWE product, either positively or negatively? Hit me up in the comments section below and let me know what’s on your mind. Now, let’s move on to my Weekly Power Rankings, followed by wrapping things up with the list of music I was listening to as I put this very column together.
Weekly Power Rankings
Giulia, Stephanie Vaquer, Zaria, Kelani Jordan & Jordynne Grace vs Roxanne Perez, Cora Jade & Fatal Influence: An absolutely stacked group of competitors here. Tons of star power, both of the current and future varieties. Plenty of chaos. Future matches and title challengers being set up. I really couldn’t ask for much more out of this one.
Je’Von Evans vs Wes Lee: The amount of electricity in their combined offenses could power a large city for a week. I’m a little concerned about Lee’s current trajectory, though. At one point, he seemed like someone who was on the verge of potentially being pushed as a main event guy in NXT. His injury really derailed any momentum, but it seemed like he could get that back with a surprise heel turn. Well… he is 1-4 since the heel turn, with his only victory coming over Zachary Wentz, who isn’t even a WWE contracted wrestler. He deserves better, to be honest.
Ricochet & Powerhouse Hobbs vs Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher: It was really good to see Hobbs make his return to the ring after six-and-a-half months on the shelf with a knee injury. The match itself was a lot of fun, too, with a few different in-ring styles being showcased well. I do have one complaint, though. Ricochet… you did a fucking dab… in late 2024… cut that shit out.
Seth Rollins vs Sheamus vs Damian Priest vs Dominik Mysterio: As I just wrote up there ^^^, I have no problem with seeing Gunther and Damian Priest tear it up again. I just can’t help but think about the wild spectacle that we would’ve had with a Gunther vs Dominik Mysterio feud.
WWE ID: I really love the idea of this program, which builds relationships with promising independent wrestlers and promotions, providing working relationships with multiple wrestling schools, and hopefully building for the future of the sport on multiple levels.
Claudio Castagnoli, Pac & Wheeler Yuta vs Kyle O’Reilly, Mark Briscoe & Tomohiro Ishii: For about the 9,583rd time, I get to say that AEW really puts on some entertaining trios matches. When you see one of them on the card of an AEW show, you know you’re in for a treat, and this was no different.
Piledriver: Sure, it wasn’t the “prettiest” Piledriver you’ve ever seen, but the fact that we saw the move on WWE programming was still a super fun surprise. It has been on the company’s “banned moves” list for a long, long time now. It really helps to put Kevin Owens over as a sadistic bastard, trying to end the career of Randy Orton, who has been dealing with a career-threatening neck injury for a few years now.
Komander vs Lio Rush: They made my list last week, and they’re here again this week. Exciting stuff from bell-to-bell, as expected. Now, with both men having a victory against the other, that leads to a third bout. Can they make the list again for that one? Tune in and find out.
O.G. Bloodline: After everything we’ve been through with this story over the last few years, it still felt really cool to see Roman Reigns, The Usos, and Sami Zayn standing tall, side-by-side, once again. With War Games a few short weeks away, business is really picking up at the right time.
Motor City Machine Guns vs A-Town Down Under: The Guns continue their hot streak since making their WWE debuts a few short weeks ago. They still have a bunch of fresh matches they can have, too, which makes things even better.
Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods vs War Raiders: The “will they split or won’t they” drama between Kofi and Woods continues on, but what also continues on is their ability to have entertaining matches against anyone they step in the ring with. If we really are in the final days of The New Day as a group, it has been an incredible Hall Of Fame ride.
Women’s United States Title: On paper, I really dig the idea of WWE having a midcard singles title for the women on the main roster. However, I also freely admit that WWE still has a lot of trouble with creating regular avenues for more than one women’s feud to get television time at any point. You could make the argument that the Women’s United States Title will do just that, allowing for another feud to take place on Raw and/or Smackdown, but it’s still backwards. You should be strengthening the divisions, giving a bunch of women time for stories and matches, and THEN creating new titles, but we’ll see what happens. It’s all about how WWE decides to follow through with this.
AR Fox vs Nick Wayne: Maybe it’s just me, but it feels like Nick Wayne rarely wrestles singles matches on television. I get that he isn’t even 20 years old yet, and that he’s probably still training and preparing for the next “jump” in his career, but it’s just a little weird to me, that’s all.
ECW: The general nostalgia during the entire NXT episode from the ECW Arena was really fun. There was a really solid mix of old school ECW and new school NXT, which made things more entertaining to watch. It was cool to see the Dudleyz reunite, even if D-Von wasn’t cleared for any sort of physicality. Seeing Rhyno deliver a Gore is always a treat. Speaking of treats… Francine looks absolutely incredible. Not “incredible for her age,” but incredible, period.
Lola Vice vs Jaida Parker: Yes, it was an “NXT style” hardcore match, so it wasn’t ever going to reach the levels of things we see in, say, AEW. With that said, both women worked really hard, and they showed why they have very bright futures in NXT and probably beyond.
This Week’s Playlist: “Little Things” by Ella Mai… “Demons” by A$AP Ferg & Denzel Curry… “A Martyr Left Alive” by Counterparts… “Forever Cold” by All That Remains… “Diabolic Seer” by The Hate Project… “I’m Not Him” by Celly Cel, Snoop Dogg, Suga Free & Kokane… “Bottom Of The Bottle” by Curren$y, Lil Wayne & August Alsina… “Ego Maniacs” by Ice Cube, Busta Rhymes & Killer Mike… “What Do You Want Me To Be” by Bukowski… “Promise I Won’t Call” by Tarnish… “No Apologies” by Paul Wall, Bun B, Termanology & DeAndre Nico… “Landmines” by Sum 41… “Call Me Little Sunshine” by Ghost… “Don’t Stop The Rock” by Freestyle… “Stutter” by Marianas Trench… “Want You Bad” by The Offspring… “(sic)” by Slipknot… “Psychosocial” by Slipknot… “Eyes Closed” by Majid Jordan… “Ralph Wiggum” by Bloodhound Gang
