7 Times It Sucked To Be Rey Mysterio
6. Removing His Mask In WCW
Outside of the combat vaudeville known as professional wrestling, it’s rather easy to catch Rey Mysterio without his iconic mask. You could even do a search for him without it, and you’d have dozens of relevant results. No one expects the man to wear it 24/7, and it probably reeks after a few shows.
But the mask was important to Mysterio’s family legacy as well as fan familiarity. They were aspects he was careful to protect during his public appearances. Despite his efforts though, WCW decided to strip him of it.
First, Eric Bischoff informed him he would lose it to Eddie Guerrero, and after hearing Mysterio might no-show, threatened him with his job. ‘The Master of the 619’ agreed to follow suit, but by then, the plan was changed. He would go on wearing the hood…for a short while at least.
It finally happened in 1999 when he teamed up with Konnan to face Kevin Nash and Scott Hall in a Hair vs. Mask match. The idea was to generate heat for the nWo, as well as give Mysterio a chance to try working with his face exposed - something several other luchadores did at the time. Yet, if it had to be done, it should have been handled in an enormous way. Not for Mysterio. It soon watered-down his character and reduced any chance of making mad money off of mask replicas.