10 Wrestlers That Were Better Off Without The Mask
No, Rey Mysterio is not one of them.
Masks and professional wrestling go way back. You've got to trawl back some 101 years to find the first masked wrestler in North America, and then a further 50 years (as well as heading over to Paris) to find the first known masked wrestler, the imaginatively named 'The Masked Wrestler'.
Countless men have made their mark in pro graps in the century since by donning the mask and keeping their identity a closely-guarded secret.
Most closely associated with Mexico and lucha libre, masked wrestlers have found success all over the globe. Men like Jushin Thunder Liger, Rey Mysterio, Ultimo Dragon and more have wowed audiences and critics alike, and sold a heck of a lot of merchandise in the shape of replica masks along the way.
Every now and then, however, a wrestler will lose his mask. This could come after losing a Lucha de Apuestas (match with wager), or purely for storyline purposes.
On a number of occasions a wrestler has lost the mask and floundered, seemingly losing value without the mask (I'm looking at you, Rey Rey).
On rare occasions, though, the removal of the mask can lead to bigger and brighter things for an individual.
Here are 10 guys whose careers benefited from having their faces shown to the world...
10. Chris Kanyon
Who better?
Chris Kanyon was a true wrestling innovator, to the point where Mike Tenay frequently referred to him as the 'Innovator of Offence'. You have him to thank for the Flatliner and a host of other moves. Kanyon was a consistently entertaining character in both WCW and WWE, whether teaming with Diamond Dallas Page and Bam Bam Bigelow or asking the crowd who was better than he.
He was even somewhat entertaining as Mortis, the character he portrayed upon initially entering World Championship Wrestling (we should try to forget about Men At Work). Mortis was a masked grappler who seemed to feud with Glacier forever, in a beef that was a video game come to life. The whole thing was an attempt to cash-in on the success of Mortal Kombat.
It was also pretty terrible, and when Mortis morphed into Kanyon nobody was particularly sad about the change.
The masked Mortis had a relatively low ceiling, whereas unmasked Chris Kanyon was able to win the United States Championship as well as the Tag Team Championship in WCW.