Long before Dominik Mysterio became WWE’s most despised heel, he was just a curious kid with a dangerous fascination that nearly derailed his future.
In a candid interview on Stephanie McMahon’s “What’s Your Story” podcast, the 28-year-old superstar revealed the shocking sixth-grade incident that resulted in his suspension—a story involving knives, poor decision-making, and a lesson in consequences that would shape his character both in and out of the ring.
“I was a very curious kid, and I liked knives as a kid,” Mysterio admitted. “I had two little knives that I had found in, you know, probably one of my dad’s gyms.”
The trouble began on the school bus when a friend claimed to have a bigger knife. Young Dominik, thinking like the future negotiator he’d become, proposed a trade. “I said, let’s make a trade here. I have two little knives, you have one big knife. Let’s make a trade,” he recalled. “In my head that made logical sense. I said, Rambo’s got a big knife. I want a big ass knife.”
The elementary school knife exchange quickly went sideways when they were caught red-handed. “We meant no harm. We were just trading knives,” Dominik explained, though he now recognizes how terrifying the situation must have been for others. “Looking back at it now I’m 28. Like, you have two 12 year olds rolling into this bus full of kids with knives.”
When called to the principal’s office, Dominik’s first instinct was deception—he claimed he didn’t have a backpack, having tossed his bright green JanSport into the bushes. “Thinking that I was gonna get away,” he laughed. “But no, that was not the case.”
The incident resulted in police involvement and a suspension that disappointed his parents. But rather than breaking him, the experience taught Dominik his most valuable life lesson: persistence in the face of adversity.
“I guess for me, you gotta get comfortable in your own skin,” he reflected. “I feel that’s the only way you’ll ever succeed because you can’t pretend to be anyone else.”
That authenticity and willingness to embrace his rebellious nature has become Dominik’s calling card as “Dirty Dom,” proving that sometimes our biggest mistakes become our greatest strengths.