Rey Mysterio was born to play the role of a masked babyface, as proven by the immense popularity he enjoyed - and the vast amount of merchandise he shifted - during his time in the WWE. The mask and colourful luchadore attire made him stand out on a roster of much larger figures, and immediately made him a favourite of the promotion's crucial younger demographic. In WCW, however, he was inexplicably stripped of this unique selling point after a feud with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. After losing a hair-vs-mask match against both (alongside tag partner Konnan), Rey was forced to remove his mask, an incident which he has since spoken out publicly against, stating: "I was strongly against it! I don't think WCW understood what the mask meant to me, to my fans and to my family. It was a very bad move on their behalf. The fans wanted Rey Mysterio with the mask and losing it hurt me a lot. It was also frustrating that it didn't come as the climax to a feud with another masked wrestler, but in a throwaway match."
