20 Mind-Blowing Facts About WCW

19. Eric Bischoff Didn't Feel Masked Men Were Marketable

One thing WCW deserves a lot of credit for is realising that the show was about more than just hulking great beasts in the main event scene, fans required more bang for their buck across the card by the mid-90's. Seeking out opportunities to give his audience as much variety as possible, Eric Bischoff started using stars with international flavour, such as Psichosis, La Parka and Rey Mysterio Jr.

This was all well and good, and fans were suitably enthralled by the action they were witnessing on a weekly basis. Tune into most WCW broadcasts, it was theorised, and you were likely to see a lot of different things - not only could fans see the top stars of the time, such as Hulk Hogan, Sting and Ric Flair, they could also see superlative wrestling from the likes of Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero, along with the high-flying exploits of Mysterio and pals.

It was a formula that worked, which made it all the more confusing when Bischoff decided to start unmasking some of his Mexican wrestlers, most notably Juventud Guerrera and Rey Mysterio. Without the masks, these men didn't have quite the same appeal, even if their matches were largely the same. Also, what a dumb move, WWE made an absolute fortune from replica masks for Mysterio just a few years later.