Dominik Mysterio Looks Back On WWE Custody Match Between Eddie Guerrero & Dad Rey

In an entertainment form where stakes have ranged from kissing feet to planting an opponent in dog feces, it probably shouldn't be that surprising that the custody of a child was once on the line. Long before "Dirty Dom" Dominik Mysterio became the villainous heat magnet he is today, he was once an innocent young boy at the center of an unforgettable feud between Eddie Guerrero and his father Rey Mysterio. At SummerSlam 2005, "custody papers" for a young Dominik were dangled from the rafters, with both wrestlers vying to become his legal guardian. 

As ridiculous as that all sounds, the original plan for the SummerSlam match was even more absurd, according to Mysterio. During an appearance on Logan Paul's "Impaulsive" show, he revealed WWE's original idea.

"They wanted to hang me from a cage," Mysterio said. "Not even from a cage, they wanted to just actually hang me, like on a waist thing, and just have me dangle there." 

What fans saw instead was an 8-year-old Dominik in the front row beside a "social worker," anxiously watching as a strange man potentially became his father. While the child-dangling idea was ultimately scrapped, a person hanging from a cage in wrestling is certainly not without precedent, either. The use of a shark cage "to prevent interference" has been a recurring gimmick in wrestling dating back to the territory days. The gimmick was used as recently as 2017 when Enzo Amore was suspended above the ring while his partner Big Cass took on the Big Show. 

Fortunately, Rey Mysterio emerged victorious at SummerSlam 2005 and kept his son, raising him to be the upstanding young man WWE fans have come to know today. As for Dominik, he is currently embroiled in a storyline involving Liv Morgan and his former "mami," Rhea Ripley.