Dominik Mysterio’s evolution should be studied ahead of WWE SummerSlam. A beneficiary of professional wrestling nepotism, Dominik’s early run with his father, Rey Mysterio, was heavily panned by fans. It was too much, too soon, even by Dominik’s admission.

Dominik defends his intercontinental title against future WWE Hall of Famer AJ Styles on the fifth anniversary of his debut in a tag team match with Rey against Seth Rollins and Murphy. It’s a spotlight he deserves, a statement his detractors wouldn’t believe five years ago. Dominik, 23 at the time, had two years of training under the tutelage of renowned wrestler Jay Lethal. Such guidance can only prepare you so much for WWE’s bright lights. The fans didn’t buy it, and neither did Dominik.

“As soon as I saw myself on TV for the first time, I thought, ‘What are they thinking?'” Dominik said while discussing his collaboration with Chase Freedom. “I understand it was the COVID era, and they were trying things.

“There is no reason, rhyme or manner why I should have been out there in any way, shape or form wrestling with any of these guys. I thought, ‘This is not going to work.'”

It took years for Mysterio to get the right kind of boos. He turned a corner once by betraying his father and aligning with Judgment Day. The split allowed Dominik to form his own identity — a petulant, ungrateful nepo-baby cosplaying as a hardened prison thug. Mysterio can’t pinpoint exactly when it happened, but he knew he was onto something when crowds started drowning him out with jeers. WWE fans shifted from disliking the performer to despising the character.

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“I’ve been learning on the job since I debuted,” Dominik said. “All of this is new for me. Even some of the moves you see me do, I’ve never done them until the first time on live television. That’s how I’ve been learning. That’s how I’ve been taught. That’s how things go. So when I started getting that reaction, I was very shocked and didn’t know how to navigate it.”

The Judgment Day was invaluable to Dominik’s upward trajectory. Mysterio had a new on-screen family with a vested interest in his success. Three years ago, Finn Balor — who Mysterio refers to as his wrestling step-dad — told CBS Sports he wanted to make Dominik “comfortable,” acknowledging his opportunity was “rushed in a cutthroat business.”

“I had a lot of people help me in the back to learn how to react depending on what reaction I got, how to play with the crowd. That’s when you started seeing me get more comfortable playing with the crowd… I’m still learning to this day and figuring it out.”

SummerSlam also marks 20 years since the infamous “Custody of Dominik” ladder match between Rey and Eddie Guerrero, a surreal milestone for a now-grown Dominik, who’s commemorating the occasion with a campaign for Chase Freedom.

“I remember specifically asking my deadbeat dad, ‘Do you think I should grow a mullet?’ He said, ‘I don’t know, you can try. It’s not for everybody.’ Sure enough, he was wrong once again,” Dominik said. “I should have slapped him with my Chase Freedom card.”

As part of the campaign, Dominik showed off his road gear, including a Michelle Pfeiffer “Scarface” shirt.

“Being on the road constantly with my rental cars, hotels and food, all the cash back I’m able to get is honestly super, super helpful,” Mysterio said. “I don’t do this, as far as talking about things I use or like, so the fact I’m doing it with something I use on the daily is cool.”

Dominik received one of WrestleMania 41’s loudest cheers when he captured his first main roster singles title, a reward justifying his professional growth. The response was unfathomable from an audience that had scolded him years earlier. Between his intercontinental title defense at SummerSlam and headlining AAA’s TripleMania later this month, the sky is the limit for this once maligned Mysterio.