WWE Hall of Famer, Rey Mysterio, recently spoke on the “No-Contest Wrestling” podcast about his decision in 2002 to return to the WWE and resume wearing his distinctive mask. Despite a storyline in WCW forcing him to remove his mask in 1999, Mysterio adopted his original image once again when he moved to the WWE. The company embraced this iconic masked version of Mysterio, renewing his unique look for their audience.
Here are some main points from the podcast:
Regarding his initial thought of wrestling without the mask in WWE, Mysterio commented, “When WWE acquired me after the company closed down, I assumed I would continue wrestling without the mask – a practice I had been following for two years already,”
In explaining how WWE insisted on the return of the mask, he said, “Just a few days before my debut, they asked about the mask I’d be wearing. I was surprised as I had been wrestling maskless. It turned out that Vince wanted me to resume the masked persona, though nobody had informed me about this until then.”
Expressing pride in this transition, Mysterio stated, “It was a trendsetting moment. In Lucha Libre, once a wrestler loses their mask, they can’t go back to it. They can only return after a hiatus with a new name and mask. But I came back with the same name and mask which was a cool and new concept, and I take pride in that,”
In an interview with Bill Apter for Sportskeeda Wrestling, Mr. Iguana, AAA star, also reflected on his significant moment at the WWE x AAA Worlds Collide event. This exposure led to a massive increase in his fame.
Sharing his experience, Mr. Iguana said, “It’s fascinating how something you’ve been doing for so long gains such immense popularity just by featuring on a platform like WWE. It highlights their vast global reach,” He also spoke about the impact on his online presence: “Before Worlds Collide, I had around 40,000 social media followers. After the event, that number shot up to 200,000. It felt like entering a completely new world.”
At the Worlds Collide event, Mr. Iguana partnered with Aero Star and Octagon Jr. to secure victory over the LWO’s Dragon Lee, Cruz Del Toro, and Lince Dorado in a six-man tag match.
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