“The Kendo Crucified” – Dominik Mysterio describes the BRUTAL way he earned the respect of the WWE locker room

Dominik Mysterio has had a unique journey to becoming a WWE Superstar, starting in 2020 when he made his in-ring debut against Seth Rollins. Before the match, the son of the WWE Hall of Famer felt he had quickly earned the respect of the locker room.

Unlike most wrestling prospects in the WWE, Dominik did not go through the development system. He trained under various wrestlers, such as Lance Storm, Konnan and Jay Lethalbefore breaking into the main roster.

His first feud was against Rollins, whom he faced in a street brawl at SummerSlam 2020. During the build-up to their match, The Visionary, along with Buddy Murphy, brutalized Dominic with a kendo stick.

Speaking of Wrestling without competition podcast, “Dirty” Dom opened with a segment where he took a bunch of shots to the chest, stomach and back. He called him “Kendo Crucified” and believed he earned the boys’ respect by taking a beating, showing he belonged.

“I like to call it Kendo Crucified when they just tied me to the ropes and beat me up completely. I think I ended up doing a total of 37 Kendo kicks. I remember that night, there was a lot like it seemed like a lot of respect from the guys in the back and almost like a ‘Welcome to business kid’ type moment,” said Dominik. (from 11:23 – 11:51)

After surviving a barrage with a kendo stick, Dominic Mysterio put forth a valiant effort against Seth Rollins at SummerSlam 2020. However, The Visionary had too much wisdom in his game to get the win.

Dominik Mysterio believes his run in 2023 has earned him more respect

The biggest year in Dominic Mysterio’s career so far was 2023, when he was featured on RAW, SmackDown and NXT. There was even a week that year where he was in the main event of every show.

In the same interview on Wrestling without competition podcast, “Dirty” Dom felt that the guys in the locker room respected him more because he worked hard inside the ring. In total, he had 106 matches, seven less than Cody Rhodes‘ total and same as Seth Rollins.

“Dude, the effort for that time was definitely real. I feel like that was another point in time where I was able to get a lot of respect from the guys behind,” Dominik said. (From 20:06 – 20:21 of the video above)

Dominik Mysterio has come a long way in all aspects of WWE Superstardom. He was so good that ESPN named him the best wrestler under 30.