One of the stupidest moves that WCW ever did was taking the mask off Rey Mysterio. It was completely unnecessary and a way for them to generate attention without having any long term goal behind the move. Mysterio started in WCW in July 1996. By February 1999 he lost his mask. It was way too soon. Rey Mysterio without the mask is your regular short bald guy with a bunch of tattoos. Mysterio with a mask on is a guy that the kids watching love because he looks different because of the mask and fans remember him for that reason. They also want to buy his mask from WWEShop. Others can have their t-shirts, but if you're a fan of Rey you can support with a mask. Kids love that. Give WWE a lot of credit for never having Rey take off his mask. He's worked in WWE for 12 years and nobody that watches WWE programming has ever seen him without the mask on. If you watched WCW then you've seen it or if you search for it online you'll find it. However, it has never happened on WWE TV and it may never happen. Mysterio is the poster child for guys that are bigger stars because of the mask they had on. It really made a difference for him. Assuming he goes into WWE's Hall of Fame one day, that might be the moment where he takes off the mask at the end of his speech. Until then, keep it on whether he works another match in WWE or not.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
