Rey Mysterio is undoubtedly one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. His high flying move sets and the ability to play a sympathetic babyface on screen made him a household name among fans. Another important aspect of Rey Mysterio’s character is his mask. The veteran superstar had his iconic mask throughout his wrestling career.
Due to Rey’s Mexican heritage, he expected to wear a mask just like all the other Luchadors. The mask is a very important part of the Lucha Libre culture and removing it is seen as disrespectful. During his successful run in the WWE, some of Rey’s rivals have targeted his mask to get one over the world-famous Luchador.
The first person to remove Rey Mysterio‘s mask on live TV was his real-life best friend Eddie Guerrero. Guerrero removed the mask during a WCW match between Mysterio and Dean Malenko in 1997. Guerrero then repeated the same during a 2005 episode of Smackdown. He took off Rey’s mask and disrespected him during their feud.
One superstar who took advantage by taking off the iconic mask is WWE legend, Chris Jericho. In 2009, Y2J pulled off the mask to distract Mysterio and picked up the win. Cody Rhodes has also unmasked Mysterio on live TV during their feud in 2011. Rhodes’ father Dusty turned heel and caused the distraction which led to Mysterio getting unmasked.
Randy Orton is another person who ripped off the iconic mask. This happened during their match in 2018. The Miz is the last person to unmask Rey Mysterio on WWE TV as he took off Rey’s mask during a March 2022 edition of RAW.
Vince McMahon had to convince Rey Mysterio to wear the iconic mask in the WWE
Rey Mysterio’s mask became an instant hit among fans after he made his WWE debut. But during an appearance on “Out of Character,” Mysterio revealed that he didn’t want to wear his mask in the WWE after losing a hair vs mask match in WCW. It was WWE chairman Vince McMahon who convinced Rey to bring the mask back.
Tonight on the new @BTSheetsPod: That time when WCW unmasked Rey Mysterio, which was so stupid that the chillest major star in wrestling history got visibly legit upset over what was being done to him. pic.twitter.com/CCVDTyLFlS
— David Bixenspan (@davidbix) February 25, 2019
“Prior to coming to WWE, I was in OVW training, which was a week prior to my debut, and the office wanted to see the gear I wanted to use. When I showed it to them, I had no mask. They were like, ‘Where is the mask?’ ‘Well, I lost the mask.’ In Lucha Libre, if you lose the mask, you never put it back on. They were like, ‘No, Vince wants you to come back with the mask.’”
“I had an outfit made with the mask, and that was history. The mask was a very important piece of my career in WWE. If WCW didn’t market the mask the correct way, I knew Vince would,” Rey Mysterio said. (h/t Inside The Ropes and Sportskeeda)
“If WCW didn’t market the mask the correct way, I knew @VinceMcMahon was gonna do it.” – @reymysterio talks to @ryansatin about regaining the mask before his @WWE debut 🎧🎙️
— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) June 5, 2021
Subscribe: https://t.co/IAHY94UQzD pic.twitter.com/g9eEkHVWys
Mysterio also revealed that the crowd in Mexico welcomed his decision to bring the mask back and he didn’t face any backlash for his decision.
The legendary WWE superstar is now set to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2023. After the Hall of Fame ceremony, Rey Mysterio will square off against his son Dominik Mysterio at Wrestlemania 39.