Whether you like hin or not, the first SmackDown after the 2023 WWE Elimination Chamber might as well have been subtitled “The Dominik Mysterio Edition,” because the third-generation luchador was all over the show, cutting into a touching segment between his father Rey and Santos Escobar, the man he almost views like a father, fighting for his “Mami” against Charlotte Flair, and even mixing it up in the ring a bit after Karrion Kross' match against his “Deadbeat Dad.”

That's right, after explicitly trying to switch brands to avoid having to deal with his uber-heel son and his Judgement Day pals, Dominik rolled through SmackDown with his gal Rhea Ripley to bring his unique brand of… smarminess to the blue brand. After watching his father take an L to Kross, which he totally didn't have any involvement with, Dominik saw an opportunity to strike and jumped into the ring, pushing and hitting his father while he begged him to take a swing. Rey didn't, mind you, though he came darn close a few times, but in the end, the older Mysterio kept his cool and left the ring with his integrity intact, even if he looked like he really wanted to give his 25-year-old son a good spanking.

So why, you may ask, does Dominik want his father to hit him? Well, maybe it's because he really wants to fight his father, and that opening shot would mean the gloves are off. Maybe he's more concerned with breaking his father mentally and knows that taking that shot would be as shameful as losing his match to his babyface father. Either way, it looks like a Mysterio-Mysterio match is very much a possibility heading into WrestleMania 39 – while it may not be as heralded as Cody Rhodes-Roman Reigns, fans would pop like nobody's business to see Rey finally 619 the you-know-what out of his annoying son.

Dominik Mysterio would happily accept a match with his father Rey.

Speaking of the potential of a match with his father at WrestleMania 39 on Cheap Heat, Dominik said straight up he would happily accept a match with his father, because after taking physical punishments from his dad as a small child, he's ready for the tables to turn now that he's much bigger and stronger.

“I think it would definitely be a full story moment, I just don’t know if he’d do it man. I don’t know if he has it in him to put his hands on me,” Mysterio said via Fightful. “Yeah, he would do it when I was a kid. He’d be more than happy to come home and put his hands on me and discipline me when I was a kid but now that I’m five, six inches taller than him, he doesn’t [want to]. Is this not true? Is this not factual? He is 5”4, I am 6”1. I don’t know if he is scared of me, but he definitely doesn’t want any. Like I said, I’ve put my hands on him, I’ve 619ed him, I’ve thrown him against the post, I’ve betrayed him, I’ve ruined his holidays. I don’t know what else I can do at this point. I just don’t know if he has it in him to put his hands on me to be honest.”

Alright, is Rey's reason for not putting his hands on Dominik actually their size difference, or does it have more to do with the integrity of being the biggest person – emotionally – and not simply whooping his son for being kind of a jerk? Either way, if the match does get booked, it's safe to say these differences will finally be solved once and for all, even if Dominik may not like the results. Unfortunately for the younger Mysterio, before he can finally take a shot at his “deadbeat dad,” he might first have to get in the ring with “El Hijo del Fantasma,” Santos Escobar, who felt disrespected by Dom's interruption during his very touching interview on SmackDown. Though he didn't place his hands on Dom during any of his subsequent appearance on SmackDown, he did take to social media to send a message to the younger Mysterio about messing with himself or Rey again on his show SmackDown.

Jeez, I get that's a popular meme, and it's a fun way to extend a storyline outside of the two-hour time constraints of SmackDown, but that photoshop job is perfect. Either Escobar secretly moonlights as a graphic designer, or he really means business against his fellow legacy luchador.