'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
WWE has showcased some of the most impressive masked wrestlers ever over the years, with Rey Mysterio easily being seen as the best known - outside of Mexico, anyway. Since Mysterio's success in WWE in the early 2000s, the former World Champion has gone on to inspire an entire generation of masked superstars.
At present, there aren't many masked WWE stars, since Sin Cara was released and Andrade opted to no longer wrestle under a mask, but the Lucha Libre style is still represented in the company thanks to The Lucha House Party.
Many of these masked WWE stars have never been seen without a mask on WWE TV since they would prefer to keep their identity a secret and not link it to the character that they are portraying in a WWE ring. There's also the tradition in lucha libre of never being seen in public without your mask.
This doesn't always work out well for masked stars, however, since a number of wrestlers have been unmasked in the past either by accident. Sometimes by an interesting, uninentional botch that was spotted by members of the live and/or television crowd - a blink and you'll miss it type of situation.
So, let's take a look at a few.
#5. Luchasaurus - AEW Dynamite
Luchasaurus has been one of the most dominating figures on AEW Dynamite over the past year, either alone or as part of Jurassic Express.
This past week on AEW TV, Luchasaurus was part of a 10-man tag team match that also included The Inner Circle, Best Friends, Orange Cassidy, and the star who has the gimmick of a dinosaur.
At one point in the match, according to a report by Wrestling-Edge, Luchasaurus had a back and forth with Jake Hager where his mask came undone and the star was almost completely unmasked. Luckily, the other wrestlers in the match acted quickly enough so that Luchasaurus could take some time to fasten his mask and then continue with the intended spot.
#4. Gran Metalik
Gran Metalik has kept his identity a secret for a number of years, to the point where many WWE fans aren't even aware of his real name. The star has been seen as part of The Lucha House Party over the years and is affectionately known as The King of the Ropes by the commentary team on SmackDown.
Whilst the masked star hasn't been part of a storyline where he loses his mask on WWE TV in the past, he was a star who fell foul to a botch during a match against Neville back in 2017.
Neville was pulling on Metalik's mask as a way for the heel to look as though he's about to unmask the star. It seemed as though it went wrong because The former Cruiserweight Champion actually pulled the mask too hard and revealed Metalik's face on live TV something that GiveMeSport saw as an accident.
Neville was the Champion at the time and went on to win the match after ruining Metalik's mask. That being said, this hasn't prevented the high flying star from continuing to wrestle under a mask on WWE TV.
#3. Kalisto
Kalisto has been part of WWE for almost seven years and in that time he has been both the United States and Cruiserweight Champion. He has also been in some high profile feuds in the past including an interesting one against Braun Strowman where he was able to win a dumpster match.
Whilst Kalisto has become known for his antics under his mask, there are a few times when he has accidentally been unmasked on WWE TV, the most well-known one came back at WWE's Fastlane event in 2016. Interestingly, this isn't the first time that Del Rio removed Kalisto's mask since there was a similar accident on RAW in the fall of 2015.
Alberto Del Rio was fighting against Kalisto in a two out of three falls match for the United States Championship on the pre-show when Del Rio accidentally pulled Kalisto's mask off in the middle of a spot on the top rope.
It's unclear what Del Rio was aiming for here, but he pulled the mask completely off Kalisto's face so that he could be seen beneath it. Needless to say, Kalisto taught him a lesson by going on to win the match and retain his title.
#2. Rey Mysterio
Rey Mysterio has been unmasked a number of times on WWE TV, most recently in his feud with Andrade, which many fans believed would lead to a hair vs mask match between the two men, even though this is yet to take place.
Despite being unmasked on live TV earlier in his career, Mysterio has continued to wrestle under a mask and has become one of the most famous masked wrestlers in the WWE history.
That being said, Mysterio has also fallen foul to his own fair share of botches throughout his WWE career, the most obvious coming back at Money in the Bank in 2011 when Mysterio was accidentally unmasked by Alberto Del Rio as the star went on to win the breifcase.
Del Rio unmasked Mysterio and then threw him onto another ladder before the entire finish to the match turned into a bit of a mess when Del Rio then fell off his ladder. Mysterio was forced to stay down since his mask had been removed as Del Rio went on to climb the ladder and win the contract.
Of course, none of this involved the time he wrestled sans mask in WCW. But the less said about that, the better.
#1. Kane
Kane has wrestled under a mask for much of his career, but opted to unmask on a number of occasions as well. The Big Red Machine went through a lengthy portion of his career without a mask before deciding to put it back on again and become the once feared star.
When Kane returned to WWE to help his "brother" The Undertaker back in 2018, Kane decided to return with his mask which may have been a vital mistake.
Kane and The Undertaker teamed up to take on Shawn Michaels and Triple H at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia and it was a match that all four men would rather forget.
The match was riddled with botches but perhaps the most amusing came when Kane was on the top rope and a punch to the side of his head from Michaels forced his mask to fall off and hit the floor. Triple H later recalled that he thought that Kane's head had fallen off.
It wasn't as much as of a shock as many of the other unmaskings on this list, but since Kane is still listed as an active WWE talent on WWE's official site, this was a deserved addition to the list.
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
