When Dominik Mysterio met up with Wes Lee in the NXT locker room to inquire about the North American Champion's open-challenge policy, an offering the former Rascal discontinued earlier this year due to Black Friday stampede levels of interest, fans had to know something was afoot in the minds of WWE's top creative brass.

Sure, Lee is one of Shawn Michaels' favorite performers, with HBK seeing a lot of himself in the self-made high-flyer from the “Wes side,” but considering just how hard Nick Khan and company have been pushing to get more eyes on WWE's third brand, with Superstars like Seth Rollins and The Judgment Day making their ways down to Orlando to help boost the ratings, this title shot felt like more. This title shot felt like a mandate from up top to get one of the most over heels in the promotion on a show that struggles with viewership more often, with additional ring time for the 26-year-old nothing more than an added bonus.

If he lost, well, so what? Plenty of main roster performers have come down to NXT to do the job, with Ricochet about to wrestle Logan Paul at SummerSlam less than a year after taking the L to Carmelo Hayes at World's Collide in 2022. But if he won? Well, NXT would have a permanent ratings draw in their developmental brand for the foreseeable future, as The Judgment Day always roll together through thick and thin…  that one time Finn Balor and Damian Priest were feuding for a few hours notwithstanding.

Which path would HBK opt to go down? Well, assuming the decision was even his, not his former DX brother-in-arms, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, or even Khan, the decision likely wasn't hard at all, as after becoming the longest-reigning North American Champion in NXT history, Lee wasn't going to make it out of the ring without getting a little dirty.

Strapping up Dominik Mysterio was the right call for NXT AND WWE.

On paper, Dominik Mysterio is almost a perfect main roster heel. He's smarmy, a nepo baby, ungrateful, and quite possibly the most hated performer in the entire promotion, with fans routinely booing him so loudly that he can't even get a word in when The Judgment Day attempt to handle their business in the ring.

The one problem with his game, other than occasionally getting a bit shaken on the mic due to the excessive boos? His in-ring wrestling abilities.

Now sure, Mysterio has gotten much, much, much, much, much better at the actual meat and potatoes of professional wrestling since he made his debut versus Seth Rollins all the way back at SummerSlam in 2020, as his attempts to do his father's signature offense was labored to put it kindly but still, in 2023, even a match with Akira Tozawa felt like far from a guaranteed win for “Dirty Dom,” with Cody Rhodes routinely mocking the second-generation WWE Superstar in the lead-up to his match at Money in the Bank for being a below-average grappler.

Fortunately, when it actually came time to wrestle Wes Lee on NXT, Mysterio didn't have to do it alone. After the “Kardiak Kid” outsmarted and outworked Mysterio for much of the main event, the rest of The Judgment Day descended on the ring like jackals to put in a series of killing blows on the reigning champ. Rey's son then could pick the bones of his fallen foe to secure the 1-2-3 and become a singles champion for the first time in his professional career.

Now, unlike his start in professional wrestling, which saw the San Diego native working alongside his Hall of Fame-bound father against some of the best tag teams in WWE history, Mysterio will be able to hone his talents against performers with much less training. He theoretically should have an advantage over them due to his extensive tenure on the main roster.

Sure, Mysterio will all but certainly still work matches on RAW, flaunting that he and his “Mami” are both champions alongside Señor Money in the Bank and potentially the next WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Finn Balor, but now he's a borderline guarantee to appear on NXT regularly, with matches against everyone from Tyler Bate to Dragon Lee, Damon Kemp, Charlie Dempsey, and even potentially his next opponent, Mustafa Ali, all on the table to prove he can work. From helping to get over The Judgment Day even further over to helping to fortify his own in-ring abilities against more compatible talent, this move really is a no-brainer for all parties involved, even if Lee got the short end of the stick in the short term.