Dominik Mysterio Captures Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 41 in Stunning Betrayal
Las Vegas, NV – April 20, 2025
“Soiled” Dominik Mysterio etched his title into WWE historical past on Night time 2 of WrestleMania 41, successful his first foremost roster singles title by capturing the Intercontinental Championship in a chaotic Deadly 4-Manner match at Allegiant Stadium. The 28-year-old son of WWE legend Rey Mysterio pinned his Judgment Day stablemate Finn Balor to dethrone champion Bron Breakker, with Penta El Zero Miedo additionally competing, in a match that electrified the Las Vegas crowd and marked a pivotal second in Mysterio’s profession.
The match, the third of the evening following IYO SKY’s Ladies’s World Championship retention and Drew McIntyre’s victory over Damian Priest, was a high-octane conflict from the beginning. Breakker, who boasted a “129.2-percent likelihood” of retaining, showcased his uncooked energy with a double German suplex on Balor and Penta and a jaw-dropping spear that despatched Judgment Day’s Carlito crashing via an announce desk. Penta dazzled in his WrestleMania debut with a headscissors takedown and Penta Driver, whereas Balor and Mysterio initially teamed as much as neutralize Breakker’s dominance.
Tensions inside The Judgment Day, simmering for months, boiled over when Mysterio tried a 619 on Balor, signaling the tip of their alliance. Balor countered with a beatdown, however the match’s turning level got here when Balor hit Breakker with a Coup de Grace and went for the pin. Mysterio, ever the opportunist, soared off the highest rope with a Frog Splash—paying homage to his father’s 2009 WrestleMania 25 Intercontinental title win—and pinned Balor to steal the victory. The Las Vegas crowd erupted, chanting Mysterio’s title in a uncommon present of assist for the sometimes reviled heel.
“DOM DOES IT! Now we have a NEW Intercontinental Champion at #WrestleMania!” WWE posted on X, sharing a clip of Mysterio’s triumphant second. Triple H congratulated Mysterio, tweeting, “Love/hate…and no matter it takes. Congrats to the NEW Intercontinental Champion @DomMysterio35.” The win marked Mysterio’s first Intercontinental Championship reign and his first foremost roster singles title, following earlier stints as SmackDown Tag Group Champion together with his father and NXT North American Champion.
The victory signaled the implosion of The Judgment Day, already weakened by the 2024 departures of Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest. Mysterio’s betrayal of Balor, coupled together with his pinning of a stablemate, has sparked hypothesis about his future management of the faction or the creation of a brand new group. “The Judgment Day’s on borrowed time,” Vice famous, whereas The Sportster argued that Mysterio’s win “solves artistic issues” for WWE’s RAW midcard, positioning him as a cowardly heel champion to raise the division.
Mysterio, one among WWE’s most hated heels since becoming a member of The Judgment Day in 2022, thrived on the gang’s power, working up and down the ramp to have a good time with the title. Regardless of his on-screen estrangement from his father, Rey Mysterio, who was sidelined from WrestleMania 41 on account of harm, expressed delight in an April 18 WrestleZone interview, saying, “As a father, that might give me the most important sense of delight to see him as IC Champion.”
The match delivered unforgettable moments, from Breakker’s Frankensteiner on Balor to Penta’s Mexican Destroyer on Mysterio, but it surely was “Soiled Dom’s” crafty that prevailed. “Dominik Mysterio is the NEW Intercontinental Champion! What an superior match,” Cageside Seats declared, reflecting the sentiment of followers on X, the place @MikeWorthman known as it a “actually good” shock and @Taranje89706973 shared the viral pinfall clip.
Mysterio’s win not solely cements his rise as a prime heel but in addition units the stage for brand new rivalries, with Penta doubtlessly chasing the title and Balor searching for retribution. As Yahoo Sports activities put it, “Mysterio lived as much as his nickname,” turning WrestleMania 41 right into a defining chapter in his ascent to WWE stardom.
Sources: Cageside Seats, Yahoo Sports activities, WrestleTalk, Vice, Wrestling Inc., Fightful, The Sportster, WrestleZone, WWE on X
