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The latest episode of the 'ARN' podcast on AdFreeShows focussed on the WWE Elimination Chamber PPV of 2011. That was the year when the original Sin Cara, aka Mistico or Carístico, joined WWE.
The Luchador had a forgettable time in the WWE, and he left the company in 2014, after which the popular Sin Cara character was given to Hunico. Arn Anderson, a producer in the WWE at that time, revealed his honest assessment about the Mistico on ARN.
Anderson revealed that the original Sin Cara didn't impress him at all and added that Mistico even had a bad attitude. The veteran explained that WWE wanted to push a new Hispanic Superstar as Rey Mysterio's replacement, and a hasty decision was made to give Mistico the spot.
Anderson said Mistico only knew the Mexican style that had no selling and was devoid of any in-ring psychology. The WWE product was not ready for such an in-ring offering.
"Well, this guy didn't show me anything. Not a damn thing. He had a bad attitude. If he spoke English, he acted like he didn't. Now, we're not talking about Hunico. That guy. We're talking about the original Sin Cara. Yes. He was one of those guys that flat just brought the Mexican style. That's what he brought to our product. Our product was not ready for that lack of contact, lack of selling, all those things, just that stuff that had no psychology behind it. And, I don't know."
All that stuff was lost on him: Arn Andeson explained the original Sin Cara's one-dimensional work in WWE
Anderson added that he loved Rey Mysterio because the legendary Superstar was small but had found a way to use his entire body as a weapon. Arn noted that Mysterio sold a lot during his matches, and he'd have one big comeback that would take him closer to a win. Mysterio's ideas and the execution were effective, and they stayed true to the fundamentals of wrestling psychology.
"I liked Rey Mysterio because of several reasons. He is small, but he figured out a way to work his matches where he used every bit of his body to knock you down or chip away at you and get you in a position where he could do a springboard or whatever it was and knock you down."
"At the end of the day, he spent most match selling. He had one flurry that made sense. That was able to get him almost to winning or winning, but in a way that made sense."
Anderson would state that the original Sin Cara lacked the understanding that Rey Mysterio possessed. Anderson was brutally straightforward while sharing his views about Mistico and the AEW personality said that the Hispanic wrestler had heat with almost everyone in the WWE locker room. According to Anderson, the original Sin Cara was a terrible performer all around.
"None of that reasoning was in this guy. He thought he would just bounce guys around twice his size, very little selling. Just pop up out of nowhere. Everything I had been taught about this business and everything that the audience loves, the storytelling, the selling, the underdog, all that stuff was lost on him. But it came from the top. We had to have a star. Those of us that had these feelings and relayed these feeling just got heat. Just like everything else, when you point out the obvious, they don't like the fact; when they hear it, they go, 'You know, he's right."
"This guy had heat with everybody. His selling was terrible. His everything was terrible."
The original Sin Cara's WWE highlight reel is just another episode of Botchamania, and Arn Anderson's comments now provide a clear picture of why it didn't quite work out for the Mexican wrestler in the WWE.
Please credit ARN and give a H/T to SK Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
