WWE: El Generico Wrestles On NXT Without Mask

By Matt Aspin /

There was always going to be a little concern when independent wrestler El Generico signed with WWE that they would tamper with his gimmick a little and those concerns have proved to be founded after he made his WWE NXT debut last night without his trademark mask and under a new name. Generico, who was trained by Savio Vega, gained a cult following on the indies working as a masked Luchador despite being a red headed Canadian. His hilarious antics and insistence that he is from Tijuana, Mexico coupled with his 'use' of a translation device on Twitter because he "doesn't speak English" have made him an overnight sensation and he could easily have been slotted into WWE's mid card comedy crowd alongside Santino as is. However despite making an initial appearance alongside Brodus Clay under the mask he last night competed under his real name of Rami Sebei in generic looking ring gear sans mask as the partner of Kassius Ohno (Chris Hero). This continues a pattern of repackaging talents from the indie circuit who have had success under other names when they arrive in WWE. One person who was surprisingly not repackaged was current top WWE heel CM Punk but he is the exception rather than the rule. It is unclear what plans WWE has for Sebei and whether this was simply a trial to see how he gets over without his previous gimmick or whether WWE will get rid of the character all together and it is probably too early to get our knickers in a twist just yet but it seems very short sighted of WWE to dismiss such a popular masked character as they slowly attempt to find a replacement for former World Champion Rey Mysterio. You can view the masked El Generico as he is more regularly known below;