Great-ing Gimmicks of the Past: The Unmasking of Rey Misterio, Jr. – WCW, 1999
History
We’re going to go back a little further for this one. In Mexico, there’s nothing more sacred than a luchador’s mask. The mask defines the luchador’s identity, and makes him instantly recognizable. It is so respected that when El Santo (one of the most popular luchadors even today, 20 years after his death) passed away, he was buried in his mask.
The mask can even be passed down from generation to generation (Rey himself is an example of this, using the same style of mask as his uncle Rey Misterio. Another example is Juventud Guerrera, whose original style was identical to his father Fuerza Guerrera’s). It is the ultimate disgrace for a luchador to lose his mask to a hated enemy. In the heat of battle, luchadors may tear at each other’s masks, which helps to build to a mask vs. mask match, which almost always guarantees a packed house for the event that night.
After a wrestler loses his mask, the second most embarrassing event would be to lose his hair. The major difference is that hair grows back. The mask, once lost, is gone forever (a rule strictly enforced by the lucha commissioners in Mexico).
Enter Eric Bischoff.
Rey Misterio, Jr. had been a phenomenon in Mexico’s AAA promotion and eventually caught the eye of Paul Heyman, who promptly brought luchadors such as Rey, Juventud Guerrera, Psicosis, and Eddie Guerrero in to ECW, likely due to Konnan’s influence (Konnan had joined ECW in 1995). All of them, especially Rey, began rapidly gaining popularity in the United States.
WCW soon came calling and the luchadors began to depart for Ted Turner’s promotion (again, likely due to Konnan’s influence). Rey would go on to have a great deal of success in WCW, racking up 5 Cruiserweight title reigns, 3 tag team reigns, and one reign as cruiserweight tag champions (with Kidman) before the promotion closed. But there were some dark days as well…
On the January 28, 1999 Thunder, Rey was teaming with Konnan to take on Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. After being beaten down, Rey finally tagged in Konnan, who hit his Tequila Sunrise finisher on Nash and was promptly blindsided by Lex Luger. That brought out the full NWO. The NWO obliterated Konnan and Rey, then spray painted their initials on Rey’s back.
Gene Okerlund had a chat with Konnan and Rey on the following Nitro. Rey challenged Luger and Nash to a match with any stipulations they wanted.
Later in the show, Nash and Luger accepted. They decided it would be a mask vs. hair match – Rey’s mask vs. Miss Elizabeth’s hair.
On Thunder Rey and Konnan took on Disorderly Conduct and won easily.
Nitro only saw promos airing to help build up to the match.
The same happened on Thunder.
It was February 18th before we actually got any sort of build for the match. Konnan and Rey caught Luger (who was reportedly injured at the time) outside the arena and slammed his arm in a car door.
Konnan and Rey went on to defeat Hector Garza and Silver King later in the night.
That brought us to Superbrawl IX. Now the match was set as Rey and Konnan vs. Nash and a mystery partner. Of course, it was Nash, so there was only one partner he’d pick – Scott Hall. Things looked promising as Rey knocked out Nash with a knee strike to the face. However, Hall sneaked into the ring, hit the Outsider’s Edge on Rey, and rolled Nash on top of him. Rey was forced to unmask, while Nash mocked him. As a matter of fact, Hall went on to win the US title from Roddy Piper later in the night.
Analysis
This was a joke, pure and simple. Rey loses a match that would have sold out any arena in Mexico in a glorified squash match against Hall and Nash that had little buildup and no long-term booking plans.
The end of the match was never even in doubt. Is there anyone who thought that Elizabeth would have let them shave her bald? No way. This is just further evidence of how the inmates were running the asylum backstage at WCW during this time period, and how the company’s nosedive would soon begin.
Where are they now?
Rey Misterio Jr. remained with WCW until the company closed. Following the sale, Rey returned to Mexico, where he began working with the CMLL promotion. Rey also worked with various US independent promotions, including IWA:Mid South where he competed in a three-way dance for the IWA:MS Heavyweight title against CM Punk and Eddie Guerrero (who won the match).
In 2002, Rey was signed by the WWE with one provision – he had to wear the mask again, which is a strong violation of the lucha tradition and could lead to fines or even suspension by the lucha commission. Rey agreed, but only wears his mask in Mexico while wrestling on WWE tours. While making non-wrestling appearances, he still appears unmasked.
Today, Rey remains on the Smackdown roster. In 2006, he won the Royal Rumble. He went on to Wrestlemania, where he defeated Kurt Angle and Randy Orton to win the WWE World Heavyweight title.
Next Week
It’s Psicosis’s turn.
