10 Most Iconic Masks In Wrestling History
5. Rey Mysterio
For a generation of wrestling fans - the ones who got into the sport before, during, and in the decade-plus following the Attitude Era - Rey Mysterio is the quintessential masked wrestler. He is lucha libre's most successful export, using his size and his style to gain a reputation as one of the greatest workers who ever lived, and representing the Mexican sport for a worldwide audience.
Mysterio's masks are simple, but unmistakable - though he has many variations with different colors, they all have a cross, borders around the eyes, and eagles' heads on the sides. The mask, of course, was adopted from his uncle, Rey Mysterio Sr., but Jr. is the one who made it legendary.
The former WWE Champion also changed the way masks are treated in Mexico. After losing his mask in WCW, Mysterio was stripped of it forever, as per tradition. When he signed with WWE years later, though, the company wanted him to take up his mask once again. Mysterio feared that disrespecting tradition would earn him the ire of Mexican fans and wrestlers, but instead he became a pioneer, as some other luchadors similarly put their masks back on.