Former US Champion on why Vince McMahon pushed Dominik Mysterio so early

Dominik Mysterio is just 23 years old and made his debut at SummerSlam 2020 against Seth Rollins. However, since the storyline ended, he has taken a back seat in WWE.

SK Wrestling's Chris Featherstone interviewed wrestling legend Konnan on the latest edition of UnSKripted. Among the many topics discussed was one of WWE's biggest prospects - Dominik Mysterio.

We asked the former United States Champion Konnan about his thoughts on Dominik Mysterio taking a backseat in WWE programming after his push in the summer of 2020.

Konnan responded by saying that it's a good thing that he isn't getting the same level of exposure.

"That's cool, they weren't going to keep him on top forever. And it's good for him - they're building him back up, that's what I think they're doing," said Konnan.

When talking about Dominik Mysterio being given the spotlight so early into his WWE career, Konnan said that he would have done it differently, but he understands the window of opportunity.

"I wouldn't have done that myself, but they did do it, and if they're telling you to do it...if it isn't you, it'll be someone else. So you take advantage of it," said Konnan.

He compared Dominik Mysterio to his early days in Mexico when he had a meteoric rise.

"Me, when I came to Mexico, I didn't grow up wanting to be a wrestler, so I didn't know who these guys were. In Mexico, I'm new, I don't know who they are, and in one year, I have a meteoric rise too. Which brought upon a ton of jealousy. But I'm going to take advantage of this push and make sure you see that you made the right investment in me," Konnan addded.

Konnan said that every now and then, a talent gets a meteoric rise and said that Vince McMahon probably saw something in Dominik Mysterio that made him want to give him exposure at such a young age.

"Every now and then, you're going to see a Goldberg, or a Dominik, like they're doing with Kevin (Karrion) Kross in NXT. That guy who they fast track because they think they have something special. I don't know if maybe Vince saw in Dominik a kid who he knew when he was little, and he's trying to get a younger face out there to attract younger viewers. He saw something in him, you can say that I'm biased, but I'd also keep it 100. I thought he passed with flying colors," said Konnan.

Konnan thinks Dominik Mysterio handled the pressure brilliantly

It was a tough spot for Dominik Mysterio. He skipped WWE developmental, and his debut match was on the second biggest PPV of the year - SummerSlam.

There's much more where that came from out of @35_Dominik.#SummerSlam @reymysterio pic.twitter.com/N7fccYoK4H

— WWE (@WWE) August 24, 2020

At 23 years old, it's a lot of pressure to deal with. But Konnan felt that Dominik Mysterio did amazing considering the circumstances.

"And he didn't drop the ball - a lot of bad things could have happened. He was a rookie. That was his first match, his second match, his third match was all on TV. Big time matches and I thought he handled it well," said Konnan.

Things take time in WWE, and given that Dominik Mysterio is among the youngest Superstars on the entire roster, it's safe to assume that his rise will be a slow and organic one. Ultimately, that's the best way to ensure that he's protected on his way to the top.