Rey Mysterio In the world of pro-wrestling, many hide their true identities behind a mask. This is simply done because of either the style they perform in or a simple family or wrestling tradition they want to stick to or uphold.Several top performers like Jushin “Thunder” Liger and Rey Mysterio spent most of their careers behind a mask. Rey was known for a variety of them while people like Liger mainly stuck to one look. Some wrestlers worked behind the mask for comedy reasons or to get ahead for the time being.John Cena, for example, was fired from the WWE storyline wise. However, WWE needed to use him on the Mexican Tour. So Cena’s cousin, Juan Cena, ended up working in his place. Cena simply put on a mask to hide his real identity. Of course, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to know it was him.Juan ended up being fired after the tour, for whatever reason. For others, the tradition is a big deal behind the mask. Lucha Libre includes many mask for mask matches, which are seen as the end of rivalries. Many a time, a mask is simply used for a small period of time. We decided to count down the top five times pro-wrestlers unmasked on television.
#1 Hogan is Mr. America?
WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan is one of the biggest names in pro wrestling history. Everyone knows who he is and even if you don’t know much about wrestling, you know the face of Hulk Hogan.
That said, if you wanted to hide your true identity, you would obviously need to put on a mask. However, a guy like Hogan cannot truly hide.
In 2002, Hogan made his comeback to the WWE. He and NWO members Scott Hall and Kevin Nash would team up for a period of time to be a thorn in the side of WWE Superstars. The Rock would go on to face Hogan in a huge match at WrestleMania 18 where he beat the Hulkster. The NWO would go on to turn on Hogan and Rock would come out to help his fallen opponent.
Hogan turned babyface the following night.
In 2003, Hogan was told by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon that his services were no longer required and he would be forced to sit out the rest of his very big contract with WWE. This did not settle well with Hogan. On May 1st, Smackdown General Manager Stephanie McMahon had a talk with people about the hiring of Mr. America. He was not seen at the time, but came out later on during a Piper’s Pit segment.
When Vince McMahon came out to say that it was Hogan in disguise. Hogan would say "I am not Hulk Hogan, brother!" Stephanie kept Mr. America on the roster simply to get back at her father, whom she had a rivalry with during that time period.
Finally, McMahon was able to prove after a period of time that Hogan was in disguise. The reason many believe this was done was due to Hogan quitting in real life in June that year. McMahon would go on to “fire” Hogan on TV, but of course Hogan had quit in real life. The reason for his departure was due to issues with the creative team. Hogan would not be seen again in WWE until 2005.
#2 Black Scorpion
In one of the weirdest angles in WCW history, Sting would have to run into a former person from his past who went by the name of Black Scorpion.
All that was really known about the man at the time was that he was from Sting’s past and that he had a score to settle obviously. It was August of 1990 and WCW, still part of NWA at the time, he was trying to do everything to stand out.
Sting was NWA World Champion at the time and would need a good opponent to help him continue to get over, which is why the Black Scorpion made some sense in theory. Many thought that since the Scorpion said he was Sting’s past and a former friend, that the man was the Ultimate Warrior, a friend and former tag team partner with Sting years ago.
He finally made his debut at Clash of the Champions XII on September 15, 1990. The wrestler playing the character then was known as Al Perez, who was set to remain the man behind the character until the unmasking that would eventually happen. Suddenly, Perez quit and that meant the character would need to be recast.
Scorpion would also perform magic and illusions to help add on to the mystique of his character. He would perform often at ringside for fans. The magic was done by a known illusionist at the time, Franz Harary.
Finally, a match was signed where Scorpion would take on Sting at Starrcade for the NWA World Title. If he won, he would claim the championship but if he lost, he would be forced to unmask. To make sure he wouldn’t run, the match was done in a steel cage to settle the rivalry.
Sting would beat the Black Scorpion and unmask him. The man turned out to be Ric Flair, who made total sense for the role at the end of the day. It was a last minute thing. According to Flair, it was set to either be him or Barry Windham. Flair claimed that he felt he was best for the part, because if the angle turned out bad it wouldn’t hurt him at all, but it could hurt Windham who was an imposter Sting at Halloween Havoc previously.
Sting would lose the NWA World Title to Flair less than a month later, which only added to their terrific rivalry.
#3 Abyss
In 2012, TNA Wrestling had a big opportunity to do a big angle with Abyss. The former TNA World Champion was always known to be a bit psychotic, but no one really knew to what extent.
On the March 8th Impact Wrestling show of that year, Joseph Park would come out and cite himself as Abyss’ brother. He claimed to be looking for his brother, who happened to be missing after TNA Genesis earlier that year.
Park would question several TNA wrestlers about his brother and where he could be. Bully Ray, the leader of the top faction at the time in the company known as Aces and Eights, would be blamed by Park for the disappearance of Abyss. This led to Abyss returning on May 10th of that year and would tell his brother that he was “getting too close to the fire.”
Whenever Abyss was present, Park would not be. The same in reverse. It became obvious that the two were one in the same and Abyss was suffering through a split personality disorder.
The angle went on for what seemed like forever. Finally, things came to a close on Feb. 6th, 2014 when Eric Young ripped off the mask of Abyss to reveal he was really Joseph Park. Abyss would confront Young the following week and tell him that he was leaving to fix Young’s mistake
Abyss would return on March 9th where he would turn heel and he has remained such. Many believe it was a fun angle at first, but it went on far too long and seemed to insult everyone’s intelligence after a while.
#4 Rey unmasks
In 1999, WCW was getting closer and closer to closing it’s doors. Many believe that creative was not only idiotic in this time period, but it was forcing WCW to lose the Monday Night Wars.
People began leaving left and right, and although Rey Mysterio was loyal to WCW at the time, he was not happy with them. In 1999, there was a faction called the LWO or Latin World Order. It was used as a dig at the NWO or New World Order, the notable WCW faction.
After the two NWO factions formed, they demanded that the LWO disband. Mysterio and Konnan of the group would wrestle Scott Hall and Kevin Nash at Superbrawl IX in a mask vs hair match. The NWO members won and Mysterio was forced to remove his mask. This was the ultimate insult to any lucha libre performer. The mask is seen as a sacred thing and only done in major rivalries.
In America, this very rarely happened. In fact, many Lucha performers never unmasked in America. Mysterio spoke out about his displeasure in having to take his mask off, saying...
“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.”
He added, ”The same thing happened to Juventud and Psicosis and psychology wise it was a bad move by Eric Bischoff. I think the fans understand that I was in a position where I had no option. I either had to lose my mask or lose my job?”
He would call his uncle, Rey Mysterio, Sr. and tell him about what he had to do. WCW tried to make it up to Mysterio later on when they gave him World Title matches and dubbed him “The Giant Killer” after he would defeat big men like The Giant, Big Bam Bigelow, and others.
Mysterio would obviously put his mask back on and when he came to WWE, the company never forced him to show his face on TV out of major respect for him and his background. Although he has been unmasked before to help his opponent beat him.
#5 Kane
For what seemed like forever, WWE Superstar Kane had a mask that hid his real identity from the world. The masks he wore changed over the years, but they always seemed to remain.
The reason he wore the mask originally was because the storyline of his character spoke of a fire he and The Undertaker were in. Taker made it out and didn’t know his little brother did. He found out for real when Kane tore off the Hell in a Cell door at WWE Bad Blood in 1997 and attacked his brother in one of the greatest debuts in WWE history.
However, due to the fire, Kane was said to have a burnt face. He wanted to keep the face hidden so that no one would see it. On June 23, 2003, following a match in the main event of WWE RAW. The reason for it was due to a match he had with Triple H. If Kane won the match, he won the World Heavyweight Championship.
If he lost, he would have to unmask. Kane lost the match after Evolution helped Triple H get the win. However, he did not unmask here. Rather, he did so at that very WWE RAW episode. He would unmask showing a semi-burnt face and half of his hair.
He would turn on his friend and teammate Rob Van Dam. It was one of the most shocking and greatest moments in WWE RAW history. Kane would go on a memorable heel run that consisted of him burning Jim Ross and delivering the tombstone to Linda McMahon.
