Dominik Mysterio reflects on being John Cena’s final PLE opponent

Dominik Mysterio recently shared insight on being John Cena’s last PLE opponent.

Mysterio appeared on The Collection with Brad Gilmore and discussed several moments from his career, including beating Cena at Survivor Series to regain the Intercontinental Championship.

He said:

“Super, super surreal. Not only was it John Cena’s last PLE, last Survivor Series, it was the first wrestling event ever held at Petco Park in San Diego. Bro, I’m born and raised in San Diego. I’ve gone to (San Diego) Padres games my whole life. I lived there. Did a bunch of sh*t I shouldn’t have done downtown San Diego as well, but, got some great stories I can’t tell. But man, that was just so surreal for me. Walking in, in the city where I’m from, walking out as a double champion, beating John Cena, that sh*t’s insane. You can’t write it. Stuff like that, it just writes itself. It’s like a fairytale ending for me.”

Mysterio also discussed fan reactions he has received throughout his career and said his AAA debut last year produced the loudest response.

“You want to know something crazy? I think the wildest one for me was showing up in AAA for the first time in Juan de la Barrera. Obviously, winning my I.C. Championship at WrestleMania, insane. Beating John Cena at Survivor Series, insane. WrestleMania against my deadbeat dad, two hours from San Diego in L.A., insane. But the reaction, the thing is all of those were very large, open stadiums. Like, massive, massive crowds. Juan de la Barrera, AAA, people weren’t expecting me. I showed up, I think that show was on a Saturday. The show started at 8. I got to the arena at like 8:15. So, no one knew I was coming, and I showed up, it was insane” said Mysterio. 

What I was told, this could all be bullsh*t, but I was told this. Allegedly, when they were recording, the speakers, it was so loud that the speakers blew out of the cameras. They couldn’t capture the full audio of it because it was so loud, and it gave me goosebumps and for me, it was just something that I always wanted to do and it was like wrestle in Mexico with AAA, and getting that reaction, showing up randomly, out of nowhere, nobody knew about it. It was f*cking insane, and showing up with the I.C. Championship too, of all things.”

Mysterio dropped the Intercontinental Championship to Penta on the March 2, 2026 edition of WWE Raw. It was his second reign with the title. His first began at WrestleMania 41, where he took it off Bron Breakker in a four-way match that also included Balor and Penta. Mysterio later lost the belt to Cena on the November 10 edition of WWE Raw in Boston. He regained it from Cena at Survivor Series: WarGames later that month in San Diego.

Report: Ex-champion identified as mystery man at WWE Survivor Series

Multiple reports have now emerged on the identity of the mysterious figure at WWE Survivor Series: WarGames 2025.

The final moments of the men’s WarGames match saw a mysterious hooded figure interfere. The unidentified man went onto superkick and stomp CM Punk, allowing Bron Breakker to spear Punk and secure the victory. Now, multiple reports have emerged confirming the identity of the mysterious man.

According to PWInsider, Austin Theory was the one in the black outfit who got involved in the main event. Even before the segment happened, PWInsider had noted that Theory was present backstage, and the plan was to get him involved in a disguise.

Shortly after the match finished, Fightful Select published a similar report. Fightful Select noted that WWE sources close to them claimed that the masked figure tonight was Austin Theory.

During the Survivor Series post-show, Paul Heyman was asked to reveal the identity of the attacker, but Heyman refused to answer the question on multiple occasions. Despite numerous reports circulating, WWE has yet to officially acknowledge the situation.

Austin Theory, a former United States Champion, has been absent from WWE television for several months. Previously reported as dealing with an injury, Theory may now be on his way back. Also, before plans changed due to Seth Rollins’ injury, he was planned to be part of the WarGames team alongside Bronson Reed, Bron Breakker, and Seth Rollins.

WWE announces Survivor Series WarGames team changes

Multiple changes to the Survivor Series WarGames matches were revealed during Friday’s WWE SmackDown episode.

Men’s Survivor Series WarGames changes —

In the show-closing angle on SmackDown, Drew McIntyre aligned with The Vision team by attacking Rhodes and signed an agreement to team with the Paul Heyman-led group in WarGames.

Earlier on SmackDown, Jimmy Uso was officially added to the babyface side. That team is currently comprised of WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk, Jey Uso, and Jimmy Uso.

Each team now has one open spot ahead of the match set for Saturday, November 29, unless the plan is to do a four-on-four, which would mean the teams are now set. Each main roster men’s WarGames match in WWE to this point has been five-on-five.

Women’s Survivor Series WarGames changes —

In SmackDown’s opening segment on Friday, Charlotte Flair withdrew from the babyface team in the women’s WarGames match, stating that she could not put aside her storyline differences with Rhea Ripley in order to team with her.

The women’s babyface team currently consists of Ripley, Alexa Bliss, and IYO SKY. The heel side is made up of Lash Legend, Nia Jax, Asuka, and Kairi Sane.

Survivor Series takes place at Petco Park in San Diego on Saturday, November 29.

Update on WWE’s plans for Survivor Series: WarGames

Though Seth Rollins is unable to compete, it doesn’t look like WWE will be changing up its WarGames plans too drastically.

Dave Meltzer reports in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that — as of now — WWE’s plans for the men’s WarGames match at Survivor Series is still for CM Punk & Roman Reigns to lead a babyface team against The Vision. Rollins was originally supposed to be the leader of the heel team until his shoulder injury, which led to WWE running an angle where his Vision teammates Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed turned against him.

Meltzer wrote:

Since many have asked, as of press time, the men’s WarGames match was still a Punk & Reigns team against The Vision-led team. Some thought with all the injuries that it would be changed to the Wyatts vs. MFTs since they are clearly doing a multi-person program there as well.

At one point, the WarGames plan was for Punk, Reigns, Jey Uso, Jacob Fatu, and a fifth partner to face Rollins, Breakker, Reed, Brock Lesnar & Austin Theory.

Fatu is out of action right now due to a dental procedure but might be cleared to return by Survivor Series weekend.

It was reported this week that, after Rollins’ injury, there are still voices within WWE pushing for Theory to remain in creative plans in a significant manner. It remains to be seen whether Theory will be joining Breakker & Reed in The Vision when he returns.

Rollins has undergone surgery for the shoulder injury after suffering it at Crown Jewel: Perth against Cody Rhodes. The injury forced Rollins to vacate the World Heavyweight Championship. A new champion will be decided at Saturday Night’s Main Event on November 1 when Punk and Jey Uso face off for the vacant title.

Survivor Series: WarGames is being held in San Diego on Saturday, November 29.

WWE announces Survivor Series 2025 for outdoor venue

WWE Survivor Series is set to be held outdoors on the West Coast this November.

During tonight’s Raw after WrestleMania broadcast, WWE confirmed that Survivor Series 2025 will take place at Petco Park in San Diego, California on Saturday, November 29. It’s the first time Survivor Series has been held at an outdoor venue in its nearly four-decade history.

Petco Park is the home stadium of Major League Baseball’s San Diego Padres. It has a listed capacity of 39,860 without considering stage configuration.

WarGames has been the theme of Survivor Series since 2022, but it has not been announced if that will be the case this year. There was no WarGames branding on the Survivor Series logo in WWE’s announcement tonight.

November 29 is the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend.

WWE’s PLE schedule for the rest of 2025 is starting to fill out with the company also recently announcing that Los Angeles will host Money in the Bank this June. Here’s a look at the main roster PLE dates WWE has confirmed for 2025 so far:

  • Saturday, May 10: Backlash at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri
  • Saturday, June 7: Money in the Bank at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California
  • Saturday, August 2 and Sunday, August 3: SummerSlam at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey
  • Sunday, August 31: Clash in Paris at Paris La Defense Arena in Paris, France
  • October (date TBA): PLE at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia
  • Saturday, November 29: Survivor Series at Petco Park in San Diego, California