When news broke that Dominik Mysterio was going to defend his NXT North American Championship belt on RAW against Dragon Lee one week before his match against Mustafa Ali at No Mercy – though that match now has to change, considering Ali has officially been released – it turned more than a few heads around the WWE Universe.

Sure, Mysterio and Lee have wrestled before, on two occasions to be exact, but this match held particular significance because it marked the rare North American Championship defense on the Main Roster, with Mysterio having avoided such a situation since all the way back in July, when he took care of business against Sami Zayn on RAW.

If Mysterio pulls out the win, he'll look great, as only a small fraction of RAW‘s weekly viewership watches NXT with regularity and thus haven't been seeing his efforts in developmental, but whenever there's a reward, it comes with a risk too, and in this case, there's no exception, as a loss to a relatively unknown like Lee would look really bad on his resume, especially since many, if not most main roster fans don't think the second-generation Superstar is particularly good in the ring.

Sitting down for an interview on the In The Kliq podcast ahead of his big match, Mysterio let it be known that he isn't afraid of Lee, as he's been dealing with diminutive luchadors his entire life.

“Now, I wouldn't say I'm intimidated by Dragon Lee. You know, I've dealt with guys like Dragon Lee my entire life growing up in this Lucha Libre style of wrestling, especially someone who's trying to be like my dad. So, you can say I have some experience with it,” Dominik Mysterio said via Fightful. “So, I don't think I'm intimidated by him at all. I've already beaten him. Unfortunately, he has also had a victory over me, but it was a fluke victory. I have a clean victory over him. So, I don't think I'm really intimidated by it, and I see myself walking out still the NXT North American Champion.”

Mysterio then turned his attention to the man many outside observers compare to Dragon Lee to, his father, WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio. In “Dirty” Dom's not-so-humble opinion, neither Lee nor anyone will be the next Rey Mysterio, but not because he holds his father in particularly high regard; no, Dom believes there won't be a next Rey Mysterio because the only Mysterio that matters now is a member of Judgment Day.

“I don't think there will ever be the next Rey Mysterio. Not because he's my dad, but because the Mysterio that matters is me,” Mysterio announced. “I'm the one out here putting the Mysterio name on my back and taking the NXT North American Title to literally all of North America, which is Canada, Mexico, and the United States. No one's ever done that. So the fact that I'm main eventing all three shows in one week, literally the main event of Raw every week. There is no ‘next Rey Mysterio.' I'm the Mysterio that matters, plain and simple.”

Will Dominik pull out the dub on RAW? Or will WWE opt to take things in another direction, setting up a rematch at No Mercy to help make up for the release of Ali? Fans will have to tune into RAW to find out.

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Dominik Mysterio weighs in on Mustafa Ali's release before No Mercy.

Elsewhere on the In The Kliq podcast, Dominik Mysterio was asked about the release of Mustafa Ali and how that impacted their promoted match at No Mercy in Bakersfield, California.

While Mysterio didn't disclose what Shawn Michaels has up his sleeve just yet, as he might not even know, he did tip his cap to the former leader of Retribution before doubling down on his commitment to professionalism.

“Yeah, you know, it's a very unfortunate situation that very talented people have to go through situations like this. At the end of the day, it's out of our control,” Mysterio said via Fightful. “We just do whatever we can to put our best foot forward. But as far as No Mercy goes, I'm just gonna have to wait and see who my opponent will be.”

Could WWE have simply waited a week to release Ali, or better yet, opted to make his match a Loser Leaves WWE sort of spectacle? Sure thing, typically exiting performers get a chance to lay down for one final loss before moving on to greener pasters, but hey, like Mysterio said, all he can do is work with what he's given, for better or worse.