10 Most Shocking Wrestling Unmaskings

7. La Sombra

Liger Unmasked
CMLL

In Mexico, there's nothing more important than a mascara contra mascara (mask versus mask) match between two top stars, and in 2015, CMLL's 82nd Anniversary Show was headlined by a mascara contra mascara bout between two of the sport's finest.

In one corner was Atlantis, the then-52-year-old legend who was arguably Mexico's greatest active enmascarado. In the other was La Sombra, who was only 25, but had already headlined some of the company's biggest recent shows. With his mix of youth, skill, and charisma, he was the most promising young star in all of Mexico, and he'd already won the masks of some very respectable opponents.

Sombra's potential meant that there was doubt as to who would win. Atlantis beat top star Ultimo Guerrero for his mask at the 81st Anniversary Show, but that was expected - that was like Undertaker versus Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 25. The Sombra match was more akin to an undefeated Undertaker going up against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 32... if people liked Roman Reigns.

The bout was a traditional two-out-of-three falls match, and it was a classic. Atlantis quickly scored the first fall on a disqualification after Sombra's stablemate, Rush, interfered, but Sombra evened the score with a pin following his Brillante Driver. After that, the two battled for twenty more minutes, with Atlantis finally gaining the submission with his Atlantida backbreaker rack.

In a tear-filled ceremony involving his parents, La Sombra was unmasked as Manuel Alfonso Andrade Oropeza.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried. *Best Crowd of the Year, 2013