Lucha-libre legend Rey Mysterio and his son Dominik spoke with ESPN to hype Dominik’s in-ring debut at Sunday’s SummerSlam pay per view against Seth Rollins. Highlights can be found below.
On Dominik making his in-ring debut at SummerSlam against Seth Rollins:
DOMINIK: My dad [was the one who] told me. I initially thought he was joking. I was like, ‘What are you talking about? That’s not happening. I’m not under contract, I’m not.
REY: You said, ‘I’m not even ready yet,'” Rey recalled, as he sat next to his son on the couch at their family home in San Diego in early August. “He thought I was messing with him.
DOMINIK: I was speechless. The fact that my first official match would be at SummerSlam against Seth Rollins, it’s …”
REY: It’s mind-blowing.
On Dominik getting involved in the Rey Mystero and Eddie Guerrero ladder match for his custody:
DOMINIK: I was nervous. They’re like, ‘Don’t shake it too hard,’ because they didn’t want me to knock Eddie off. I couldn’t even move the ladder when I was trying.”
REY: We make fun of him still to this day.
DOMINIK: I get the bleach blond hair jokes all the time. Ever since that custody match, that’s all I hear.
REY: We’re actually trying to convince him to bleach his hair again for SummerSlam.
Dominik talks following in his father’s footsteps:
REY: For me, I never wanted to push him to follow in my footsteps. He’s been around this industry since he was a little kid. I always thought in the back of my mind that this would eventually be his. When I saw his passion more over towards football, I kinda lost a train of thought that he’d eventually want to start wrestling.
DOMINIK: I told my dad, ‘I want to start wrestling.
REY: Deep down inside I was hoping that one day he would ask for that.
DOMINIK: I always wanted to give it a shot and just jump in the ring and see how I felt. As soon as I stepped in there, it was a different feeling. I loved it, man. I couldn’t let it go at that point.”
REY: I spotted right away that he was picking it up pretty fast. Not only myself, but Konnan as well. He would tell me pretty much every other third roll or third bump, ‘Man, he’s a natural, bro. He’s picking it up really fast.’ It’s something that really surprised us, and didn’t, because he’s been around it from the outside. He’s been seeing this his whole life, but to be in there is completely different.