Dominik Mysterio Explains The Meme That Inspired The Creation Of ‘Prison Dom’

Dominik Mysterio’s “Prison Dom” persona was unveiled this past January, and the wrestler took some time to explain the inspiration for the character on a recent appearance with the Ringer Wrestling Show (via Fightful). Mysterio credits the idea to a GIF he used in a text conversation with a writer for WWE who then pitched the concept. You can find a highlight from Mysterio and listen to the full episode below.

On how “Prison Dom” was born: “Honestly, I think Prison Dom started as a joke. I was talking with one of the writers. I had texted him, he said thank you, I said thank you back, and I sent a picture of Michael Scott [Prison Mike] as a meme because in our texts I like to send GIFs. I was sending a GIF and he didn’t reply. Three or four days later, I get a text and it’s, ‘Hey, can you do this interview of you going to prison and doing this hard time.’ I didn’t think anything of it, to be honest, I was just like, I did get arrested and said I wouldn’t make it, but I was like, ‘I might be able to make it in there.’ We knocked out this video and somehow that video of me in the white tank top and white background took off. The funniest thing about the whole thing was right behind me was a beautiful beach.”