Rey Mysterio's Run Without His Mask Is Actually Underrated

• Rey Mysterio unmasked at SuperBrawl 9.
• The plan was to give Mysterio a singles push in WCW.
• Rey got the chance to work with names like Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Lex Luger.

By the time of that fateful SuperBrawl 9, Rey Mysterio was only 24 years old but already a four-time WCW World Cruiserweight Champion and a multi-time champion in Mexico’s AAA promotion. At the time, he was also a member of the Latino World Order faction, which he was forced to join following a defeat at the hands of faction leader Eddie Guerrero.

Meanwhile, the infamous January 4th, 1999 episode of WCW Monday Nitro delivered the infamous “Fingerpoke of Doom,” which resulted in the merging of the nWo Wolfpac and nWo Hollywood as the heel group nWo Elite in early 1999. Now that the New World Order was a united heel group at full power again, the LWO was abruptly broken up by the bad guys’ request, with Rey Mysterio taking a beating from the New World Order when he refused to give in to their demands. Konnan’s sympathy for Mysterio led to the nWo Elite ousting him from the group, resulting in Konnan turning babyface and partnering with Mysterio.

At SuperBrawl 9, Rey Mysterio and Konnan took on The Outsiders — Kevin Nash and Scott Hall — with Rey putting his mask on the line against Outsiders manager Miss Elizabeth’s hair, giving the match greater importance. Nash’s backstage role in creative saw him suggesting that Mysterio losing the mask could help make him a bigger star. The loss was meant to give him sympathy with the unmasking, so the company could move forward with giving Mysterio a bigger singles push. One of the biggest criticisms of WCW was that the younger rising stars rarely worked with the established top stars. Rey getting to have a program with Nash and Luger was uncharted territory for the Cruiserweight division. WCW fans got to see Mysterio looking like an equal to two former WCW Champions, even if he ended up taking the loss to unmask.

Rey Mysterio Developed A Giant Killer Gimmick

A Push Outside The Cruiserweight Scene Was Coming For Rey Mysterio

• Wins over Bam Bam Bigelow and Scott Norton gave Mysterio the "Giant Killer" nickname.
• Mysterio would receive a WCW World Heavyweight Championship match against Ric Flair.
• Celebrity involvement saw Rey Mysterio join a new faction.

A forgotten after-effect of WCW unmasking Rey Mysterio was the push that followed. Mysterio developed a new push as “the giant killer”, scoring victories against bigger wrestlers. Another match against Nash saw Rey scoring a shocking upset victory on Nitro. Future victories over Scott Norton and Bam Bam Bigelow continued the momentum.

Mysterio’s biggest match came when he received a WCW Championship match against Ric Flair. The match took place on a Spring Break-themed episode of Nitro where the finish ended via DQ, but Mysterio threw Flair into a pool to come out looking better for it. WCW seemed ready to push Mysterio into an upper-card role as the giant killer until some unfortunate timing changed that.

Eric Bischoff, working out a deal for rapper Master P to join the company, was done as another celebrity involvement for attention. WCW needed to find a couple of wrestlers who enjoyed hip-hop and could fit into Master P’s No Limit Soldiers faction. Konnan and Rey were the best fits, and it led to them teaming up more frequently again. The duo became secondary to Master P, and it led to Mysterio’s singles push slowing down, but he was still a constant part of the show in a relevant way.

Rey Mysterio Expanded His Horizons Without A Mask

The Filthy Animals Faction Started Up In WCW

The Filthy Animals had a pretty sweet entrance in 2000.byu/Honkmaster inSquaredCircle

• The Filthy Animals also consisted of Konnan, Eddie Guerrero, and Billy Kidman.
• This new faction made Mysterio a heel for the first and only time in his career.
• Mysterio participated in storylines that he wouldn't have with his mask.

Once Master P departed, Rey Mysterio and Konnan stuck together, forming the faction Filthy Animals with Eddie Guerrero and Billy Kidman, both of whom Rey put on great Cruiserweight matches with when he wore a mask. Mysterio got to work with his closest friends in the company, basically playing versions of themselves and having fun each week. WCW moved Rey back and forth between the Cruiserweight division and the mid-card picture.

In addition to being able to show more personality in the fun-loving group, at one point the Filthy Animals actually turned heel, marking the first and only time in his career that Rey Mysterio was a bad guy. On top of that, Mysterio ended up entering a romance angle with the Nitro Girl Tygress, which is something that certainly wouldn’t have happened if Mysterio had kept his mask on in WCW.

Rey Mysterio Continued To Wrestle Unmasked After WCW

Rey Mysterio A Few Matches In CMLL, IWA Mid-South, And More

• Mysterio kept working without his mask after WCW ended.
• Remasking in Lucha Libre is taboo.
• Mysterio had to get permission from the Lucha Libre commission to wear a mask in WWE.

When WWE bought WCW in 2001, Vince McMahon was interested in Rey Mysterio, but he chose to let his WCW contract run out rather than spend money on buying it out. As a result, Mysterio continued to wrestle internationally, making some rare appearances for CMLL as well as venturing to Puerto Rico to perform for Carlos Colon’s World Wrestling Council.

Mysterio wrestled all of these matches without his signature mask and only put it back on at WWE’s request when the company signed him. An unmasked luchador remasking is a pretty big taboo, so Mysterio had to reportedly request that Mexico’s Lucha Libre commission allow him to wear the mask again.

Rey Mysterio Had An Underrated Unmasked Run In WCW

Fans Look Back Fondly On The Rey Mysterio's Time Without A Mask

• Rey's time without his mask has become a cult classic.
• Mysterio himself talked about some of the positives of his unmasked run.
• Overall, putting the mask back on was the best decision for Rey Mysterio.

The last few years of Rey Mysterio’s time in WCW featured him still having great matches every week and being an important part of the company. Master P leaving allowed Rey to become part of the Filthy Animals faction with Konnan, Billy Kidman, and Eddie Guerrero. Few wrestlers were as consistent in the ring as Mysterio, and it continued with the polarizing unmasked look. The younger look of Rey did help him appeal to kids even without the mask, so it wasn’t a total loss. WCW trusted Mysterio to deliver matches and segments every week when other names would be off television at random points. Rey even admitted that there were positives to wearing the mask during his appearance on The Kurt Angle Show podcast.

WWE signed Mysterio a couple of years after WCW ended, and putting the mask back on him made it seem like the unmasking ruined him. There is no arguing that his time in the mask created more success with his main event run, but that doesn’t mean his final WCW run was a waste. Rey was still among the most compelling WCW stars with his biggest push in the company and underrated matches coming without the mask. It seems like things ended up going quite well for Rey Mysterio as he easily became one of the most beloved professional wrestlers of all time, captured several championships over his illustrious career, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2023. Rey still competes in the WWE and is able to wrestle like a man half his age.