Jonathan Coachman can’t figure out what happened to Dirty Dom. Less than a year ago, Dominik Mysterio looked like one of WWE’s next breakout main-event stars. Now, Coachman says he’s been reduced to a comedy character heading into SummerSlam—and he believes it might be one of the biggest creative fumbles WWE has made in years.
Speaking on 2 Count Tuesday, Coachman said he still can’t understand how Dominik’s momentum disappeared so quickly. Looking back just nine months, he remembers a heel who had the kind of crowd reactions most wrestlers spend an entire career chasing.
“Dirty Dom, and I said this on Twitter, he was on pace and he was projecting a trajectory to becoming a legend in 10 years. He had the kind of heat you could only dream about. As a former heel, I know about heat. And now, nine months later, JD, he’s in a rivalry with a human money on a pole match at the second biggest event of the year. You can’t even say it without laughing.”
That wasn’t the part Coachman found most shocking. What really makes the current booking impossible for him to understand is how much faith WWE had in Dominik not that long ago. During John Cena’s retirement tour, the company trusted Dominik with two matches against one of the biggest stars in wrestling history—a spot reserved for talent WWE sees as a major attraction. Coachman says it’s hard to reconcile that version of Dominik with the one fans are watching today.
“Nine months ago, he got to wrestle John Cena twice on the go-home tour. That’s how big this guy was… Period. Period. And that’s what you’re doing to this guy.”
Coachman even found himself wondering what some of the people closest to Dominik’s career would think if they saw his current direction. He mentioned the late Pat Patterson, Rey Mysterio and Dominik himself, arguing that the former Judgment Day standout has become trapped in storylines that don’t reflect the level he had already reached.
“I thought about Pat Patterson last night… I try to think about what Rey Mysterio in real life, what he thinks about the use of Dirty Dom. I think about Dirty Dom not being old enough, not having a voice big enough in order to walk in and say, ‘This is absolute dog [__]. I’m not going to do it.'”
Then came Coachman’s biggest accusation. He questioned whether WWE is intentionally damaging one of its hottest young stars because he simply can’t find another explanation. If that’s not the case, Coachman believes the company’s handling of Dominik could go down as one of the worst examples of creative booking he’s ever seen.
“If they’re not doing this on purpose, then it might be the worst creative that I’ve ever seen for a guy who was over. And then for those fans who always want to go back to the money with Danhausen, he’s selling 50 different things. Well, guess what? If you keep shoving him down our throats like this, in four months, in six months, he will not be doing that because it’s going to be overkill. He’s already showed you that he can make money. Now take him off television and get him the hell off my television and start giving me an adult-like product that we can all be proud of going into SummerSlam.”
Nine months ago, Dominik Mysterio looked destined to spend the next decade as one of WWE’s biggest heels. Coachman now believes that momentum is slipping away—and unless WWE changes course soon, he thinks one of the company’s brightest young stars could end up becoming one of its biggest missed opportunities.
Do you agree with Jonathan Coachman, or do you think WWE still has a bigger plan for Dirty Dom? Let us know in the comments below.
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