Early Contenders For Pro Wrestling Breakout Star Of The Year

In the professional wrestling industry, it's important to build up new talent in order to keep the wheels turning. Over the past several years, we've seen breakout performers like Bianca Belair, Orange Cassidy, and Drew McIntyre rise into new roles that have helped them shine like never before. 2022 has been a marquee year for wrestling, and a number of performers have used the opportunities they've been given to step up into new levels of prominence.

During a recent episode of the Wrestling Inc. podcast, hosts Jimmy Korderas, Jack Farmer, and Justin Labar discussed contenders for breakout performances this year, and the name that initiated the entire conversation was Dominik Mysterio. The son of future WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio, Dominik is one of the few young talents who has been able to bypass the "NXT" developmental system completely, making his main roster debut back in 2020. In his early days, Dominik showed plenty of promise and even won the WWE Tag Team Championship with his father, but it took time for him to stand out on his own accord. This year, he may have done just that — though he's far from the only one.

Dominik began 2022 by teaming up with Rey, as usual; he made a short appearance in the 2022 Royal Rumble before being eliminated by Baron Corbin, and then continued participating in tag team matches alongside his father. The two faced off against The Miz and Logan Paul at WrestleMania 38 – an event that helped showcase Paul more than anything else.

However, things really began to heat up for the young star when Dominik and Rey became embroiled in a feud with The Judgment Day. As the feud went on, it became clear that Rhea Ripley and her associates were attempting to seduce the younger Mysterio to the dark side. The rivalry reached its first crescendo at WWE SummerSlam in July, when the Mysterios faced Finn Balor and Damian Priest. With the help of a returning Edge, Dominik and his father were able to pick up the victory in an impressive showing, but following SummerSlam, an accidental spear from Edge would push Dominik further down a dark path.

At WWE Clash at the Castle in September, Dominik turned on both Edge and his own father, becoming an official member of The Judgment Day. Since joining the group, Dominik has only wrestled a few matches, including a surprising upset victory over AJ Styles on the October 17 edition of "WWE Raw."

It was that match with Styles that helped Dominik stand out to the hosts of the Wrestling Inc. podcast.

"I thought the match was really good. Dominik seems to be in a comfort zone, especially in there with someone like an AJ Styles," Korderas said. "Let's put it this way, you talk about huge wins for someone, this is probably biggest win for anybody in I don't know how long. I wish I could pick a match out of my head to compare it to. This is huge. Dom seems like he's in a comfort zone right now and seems to be he's finding his way, and this was a big boost up for him."

"Is Dom making the case for breakout star of the year?" Farmer asked.

"Maybe. Quite possibly," Labar responded.

Since that match, Dominik has faced off against another veteran in Shelton Benjamin, and walked away with another encouraging win. There's no doubt that the young Mysterio is on the rise.

Two more wrestlers who might have a claim as breakout performers of the year are The Acclaimed. Anthony Bowens and Max Caster have been AEW stalwarts since signing with the company in 2020, but over the course of 2022, the duo have risen to new heights.

After a slow start to the year, including an injury to Bowens, the team would start to pick up steam around July. They formed a brief alliance with The Gunn Club and their father, Billy Gunn, who had clear chemistry with the Acclaimed. That alliance wouldn't last, and The Acclaimed soon began to feud against the Gunn Club, also known as the "Ass Boys," with Billy having trouble deciding which team to support. He would eventually side with The Acclaimed, and the "Scissor Me, Daddy Ass" celebration would catch on with fans like wildfire.

From there, the popularity of the Acclaimed skyrocketed. At All Out in September, the team faced off against AEW World Tag Team champions Swerve in Our Glory. Though they lost the match, fans made it clear that The Acclaimed were their champions, and a rematch was booked for "AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam." That night, Caster and Bowens defeated Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland to become the new AEW World Tag Team Champions. The duo are now set for a rematch against Lee and Strickland at Full Gear this upcoming weekend, but win or lose, 2022 has inarguably been the year of the scissor.

As of this writing, and including house shows, Liv Morgan has wrestled 99 matches in 2022, and a great many of those matches have been competing for or defending either the "Raw" or "Smackdown" Women's Championships. That includes this year's women's Money in the Bank ladder match, which she won, using the briefcase to become "SmackDown" Women's champion that very same night.

Perhaps even more importantly, Morgan pinned Ronda Rousey to win that title, and would successfully defend the championship against Rousey at WWE SummerSlam. While some might call the veracity of those wins into question, what cannot be denied is the fact that Morgan has greatly elevated her position on the roster in 2022, having become the only person to defeat Rousey twice in WWE.

Morgan held the "SmackDown" Women's title for over three months before losing it back to Rousey at Extreme Rules in October. Since then, Morgan has seemingly been feuding with her former Riott Squad partner Sonya Deville, who she defeated in a No Disqualification match on a recent episode of "WWE SmackDown," and seems to be undergoing a slightly psychotic change in character. While Morgan has been visible on WWE's main roster for about 5 years, 2022 is the first time she has stepped up to the main event level, with those two wins over Rousey solidifying her credibility as a performer.

After spending years building up a reputation on the American independent scene, Daniel Garcia signed with AEW in the latter part of 2021, and it didn't take long for the talented young grappler to start making a name on a larger stage. In March 2022, Garcia helped form the Jericho Appreciate Society along with 2point0 alongside Jake Hager, "Cool Hand" Angelo Parker, and "Daddy Magic" Matt Menard. Together, the group began dominating in AEW in the name of sports entertainment, and under the leadership of Chris Jericho, who took on Garcia as something of an onscreen protégé.

In the spring, the Jericho Appreciate Society found themselves in a feud with the Blackpool Combat Club — a rivalry that still continues today. Garcia has been a key part of the feud, defeating BCC member Wheeler Yuta for the Ring of Honor Pure Championship in his hometown of Buffalo, New York, in September, after which his hero, the BCC's Bryan Danielson, attempted to convince Garcia that he was a wrestler rather than a sports entertainer. For a time, it seemed as though Garcia might leave the JAS; however, after competing in a series of matches both with and against Danielson, Garcia made his intentions clear by fully re-aligning himself with Jericho and the JAS in October.

Regardless of where his future ultimately lies, fantastic matches and a high-profile angle with two of the best in the business tell the story of Garcia's 2022.

Trained by Booker T and known on the independent scene as Rok-C, Roxanne Perez began the year as the inaugural Ring of Honor Women's World Champion before dropping that title to Deonna Purazzo on January 9. By March, she had made the decision to sign with WWE and debuted for the company the following month under her new ring name.

At only 20 years old, Perez quickly became a fixture of "NXT" television. Throughout May and into June, Perez competed in and eventually won the first "WWE NXT" Women's Breakout Tournament, then formed a tag team with fellow "NXT" roster member Cora Jade. The two challenged Toxic Attraction for the "NXT" Women's Tag Team Championship several times before finally coming up victorious at The Great American Bash in July.

Just one week later, Perez challenged Mandy Rose for the "NXT" Women's Championship. While she came up short due to Jade turning on her, the bout showed that Perez was a serious player in the brand's women's division, and set Perez and Jade up for a heated rivalry. Jade picked up a win against Perez in August, while Perez defeated Jade last month at Halloween Havoc in a Weapons Wild match. October also saw Perez make her WWE main roster debut, as she competed in a trios match teaming with Raquel Rodriguez and Shotzi against Damage CTRL. Based on her performances this year, it's safe to say the future looks bright for Perez.