Exclusive: Dominik Mysterio on His Best Match Yet and the Secret to Being WWE’s Top Heel

Dominik Mysterio is arguably the hottest act in the WWE today.

Since evolving into the "Dirty Dom" character, the 28-year-old has become known as his own man rather than just being known as Rey Mysterio's son. 

From Rey’s Son to WWE’s Top Draw

The former Intercontinental Champion has one of the biggest matches on the card at Survivor Series: WarGames, which just so happens to be in his hometown of San Diego, against John Cena. 

Cena, a 17-time World Champion, is calling it a career, with his final match taking place at Saturday Night's Main Event on Dec. 13. 

In other words, Mysterio, who has wrestled Cena in two of his most recent Raw appearances, will have wrestled arguably the greatest of all time in three of his four final matches. Furthermore, he'll always be known as Cena's last-ever major feud as a wrestler.

Mysterio will look to regain his IC Title against Cena at Survivor Series: WarGames this Saturday. 

Why Being a Heel Rules

And in an exclusive interview with SportsBoom.com, he details the reason why he likes being a heel a lot better than being a babyface.

"You gotta worry about as a baby face, you don't want to do things that make you look like a bad guy, because then you don't want the parents and their children to look into this, and then they're like, Oh, he's doing this. You don't want that. You don't want your kids to look up to that," says Mysterio, who is speaking on behalf of his partnership with Lids.  

"Every time I can, or every time I see little kids, what's the first thing? When Santa sees a little kid he says, 'Oh, you better behave, or you're not going to get presents.' Every time I see a little kid, and he's a Dirty Dom fan, first thing I tell him as he's walking away, I tell him, 'You better keep misbehaving. Go do bad in school. Go do whatever you want. Don't listen to your parents.' Man, I'm going to create some chaos. Why not?"

The younger Mysterio has only been a professional wrestler for five years, but he's already among the top acts in the company. 

Outside of holding the IC Title for 204 days, he's currently the AAA Mega Champion and has held the NXT North American Championship.

His Top Matches So Far

When asked what it is his top match since joining the WWE, he picks two, his debut match against Seth Rollins and his fatal four-way match at Wrestlemania 41 to win the IC Title for the first time.

"Either the WrestleMania match I had recently when I won the IC title," says Mysterio. 

"I feel like that really kind of not solidified me, but started the journey with this whole Dirty Dom stuff. Also I want to say either that one or my debut with Seth. I just feel like my debut with Seth was very special in a way where I was fortunate enough to be in the ring with someone like Seth Rollins, who is probably, if not currently, the greatest wrestler we have of our generation. Just to have him have the trust and want to do that for me, that's huge. That meant a lot."

Lessons from a ‘Deadbeat Dad’

Although Mysterio and his dad, Rey, have feuded over the years, he does give credit to his "deadbeat" dad for giving him the right advice when it comes to having good matches. He says he instilled in him to rely on instincts and gauge the crowd.

"I've gotten so much advice from him throughout the years," says Mysterio. 

"But I remember one time being in a match, and because during those early years where I was tagging with him, he would be ringside for all of my matches. It was like a cheat sheet, having a cheat code, because I would just look at him and go, 'What's next? What do I do?' He would just tell me exactly what I needed to do. It's like a cheat sheet. But I think the best advice, I remember one time I was in there and I got super frustrated. He just told me not to panic. He said, 'Don't panic. Just react.'" 

"Something clicked in that moment where I stopped panicking and I was just able to listen and react to the crowd and what was going on in that moment," Mysterio continues. 

"That's when I was like, 'Oh shit, maybe don't do what I've been doing to make me panic and kind of freak out a little bit. I would say he definitely helped me with that."