Dominik Mysterio has been a member of the WWE Universe since all the way back in 2003, when the then elementary school-aged child celebrated his father, Rey Mysterio, winning the Cruiserweight Championship on SmackDown.

From there, Dom worked a program with Rey and Eddie Guerrero in 2005, with the duo arguing over who was his real father, and appeared on WWE from time to time ever since, growing up in front of fans all over the world.

So naturally, when the younger Mysterio decided to get into the family business and pursue professional wrestling as his occupation, fans had a pretty good idea that he'd end up working for the same company as his father, especially after the former WWE Champion reportedly turned down a deal with AEW to ensure his son got the best training in Orlando.

But could you believe that Dom Dom almost took a very different path to professional wrestling stardom? It's true, as, in an interview with G-Moniy, Mysterio detailed his plan to pursue wrestling on the indies before WWE came calling, with a debut scheduled before landing at the PC instead.

“Originally, we had plans for me to go independently and had a scheduled debut independently and go through the whole process of doing indie wrestling and hopefully get a tryout with WWE, but I was very blessed and very fortunate to be in the position I'm in and be given these opportunities,” Mysterio said via Fightful. “Living up to the Mysterio name, there is definitely some pressure that comes with it, but I'm out there having fun and doing what I can. I can't get too caught up on the pressure and having to live up to the name because he's done so much for the business and the Mysterio name, taking from Mexico, my uncle Rey Mysterio Sr. to making Rey Mysterio a worldwide name. Being able to take Dominik Mysterio and continue the legacy is a blessing. I'm very happy to be a part of it, and hopefully, I continue to do the name justice and slowly start erasing the name Rey Mysterio and keeping Dom Mysterio.”

First off, nice dig on Rey; it's almost like the younger Mysterio can't give an interview without throwing a (not so) subtle dig at his deadbeat dad. Still, in a way, Mysterio has to be forever grateful to his father for holding the door open, as it's hard to imagine the 26-year-old rising to the top of the indie scene when in-ring wrestling is probably the least interesting part of his current presentation.

An ex-WWE referee believes Dominik Mysterio needs to get his finisher over.

After watching Dominik Mysterio and Xavier Woods work a match on RAW, a match the former won with a small package, former WWE referee Jimmy Korderas took to social media to discuss the match's finish, which he took some issue with. Though the match as a whole was, as Korderas noted, pretty good, the decision to kick out of multiple big moves before securing a “cheap” win created an uneven finish.

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Rey Mysterio with Lane Johnson on his left and Jason Kelce on his right with the WrestleMania 40 logo as the background.

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“I get that this business evolves, but when did the most devastating finishing maneuver in all of pro wrestling become one of the simplest old-school moves of all time?,” Korderas said via E Wrestling News. “Going back to Monday Night’s Raw, Dominik Mysterio — who’s getting tremendous heat — vs. Xavier Woods, who’s still getting a great babyface reaction, had a pretty good match going on.”

“We get the obligatory interference twice by Rhea Ripley behind the referee’s back, leading to the finish. But my only issue was the finish was a small package, aka roll-up, whatever you want to call it. It’s — you know, what happened? They kick out of the 450, twisting, Burning Hammer Phoenix Splashes, but at the same time, why not when they have the interference, go right to your finish? It helps get the finish over.”

Does Korderas have a point? In a word, yes; Dominik Mysterio and Woods hit each other with big move after big move during their match, before having the former secure the win with “the most devastating finish in sports entertainment” instead of hitting the frog splash, the finish he borrowed from Eddie Guerrero, to secure the clean win in the ring following Ripley's interference. Though the match's outcome did come back into play later, with Woods attacking Mysterio during the main event, it wouldn't be the worst idea to see WWE put a bit more effort into getting over Dom's finish, assuming, of course, they want him to have a formidable finisher, instead of being a schoolboy specialist.