Will Rey Lose His Mask???

[Skrilla]

Mysterio will be popular ether way, but if he loses the mask, he has no positives to gain. He will probably lose the little kids support, as the mask is what makes him "cool" to them. Question, what has Kane done in the past 6 years sine he lost his mask?

 

[Chill]

Initially, a mask removal will have some excitement but eventually that will wear off. Rey needs the mask I think because without it what would his gimmick be? At least Kane for example still has a monster personna, but I just think that ultimately losing the mask for Mysterio would ruin him. I don't think he'd be keen on the idea either, he was reluctant to do so in WCW so unless things have changed now I don't know...

 

[RVD420]

Didn't Rey lose the mask in WCW to Jericho. I seem to remind a storyline back in WCW where Jericho was going around collecting Masks from superstars he had defeated.

No, he actually lost his mask in a shitty fashion to Kevin Nash. It was wrong to do then, and it's even more wrong to do now.

The mask IS Rey Mysterio. His name means "King of Mystery". What mystery is there if he loses his mask?

The mask makes up for a LOT of money for the fed in sales and more importantly, it represents his Mexican heritage. In Mexico, almost all of the wrestlers wear masks. It's a time honored tradition and it is considered completely disrespectful for somebody to take their mask off.

I believe, that if it wasn't for the mask, the king of mystery would fade into obscurity.

 

[z99zazn]

Horrible idea, for a number of reasons.

1. The WWE doesnt have a huge, strong base of Luchadores like WCW did, so the aspect and history of the mask in the culture isnt nearly strong enough in WWE. I just dont feel like it would be a very huge deal to a vast majority of the general WWE audience. The mask actually coming off is what im on about, not the angle, I think its a fine angle, and should help jog that spanish demographic. but the mask, actually coming OFF would be a bad idea, and wouldnt be seen as very important.

2. Rey Mysterio IS the mask, and the mask is him. If he was till a spring chicken, then maybe, but he only has 1 or 2 years left in him. The guy can barely stay healthy for 6 months at a time. So its not like the character will be launched to huge new heights with his mug plastered all over the place. No way Rey Mastrio Tshirts outsell the masks at the merch table. They can get the heat for Jericho just as well with the angle itslef, not him actualy accomplishing the demasking.

Exactly. In WCW Rey was still able to perform all of his athletic moves and stay exciting. True, he is still exciting to this day, but he is not nearly as mobile as he previously had been, which isn't his fault, just the fact that his age is catching up to him. While WWE can make some really stupid decisions, those usually have to do with a storyline move that no one wants to see. But with Rey, it would be totally stupid to remove the mask. His mask is what gets him to sell merch. You all see the kids in the crowd with the Rey masks. For instance, Kane, after being unmasked could basically continue to be himself because while being a big part of his character, it wasn't that important to him. Sure, Rey doesn't do any moves or anything that have to do with his mask, but it is a lot bigger than him. What I'm basically saying is Kane could still be interesting to people without his mask. Not that Rey can't be interesting without a mask, but I think he would lose tons of appeal to people, especially kids. And come on, they gotta respect him a little bit more than that. Losing a mask to a Mexican wrestler is such a huge event. If he wants to lose his mask, let him decide when and where. He doesn't need to lose it on the downside of his career in a fued for the IC. They can have a totally successful fued without ripping his pride away from him.

 

[Tenta]

I don't think he should, for reasons already mentioned. Merchandising, gimmick value, and the fact that removing the mask isn't going to get too much more heat on Chris Jericho. The man already has enough heat to give to Vladimir Kozlov, nd Kozlov would be over. The man has been drawing heat far before this feud with Mysterio, and really has nothing to gain. No, it makes no sense to make Rey lose the mask. I don't want him to... But will he?

It will all depend on if Rey ever wants to wrestle in Mexico again. During his negotiations with the WWE over his contract last year, Rey expressed interest in going to AAA and working there. I feel it is something that Rey would like to do, and may just bring his career full circle after he is done with The WWE. True, he will not be be to fly as much, but he'll still be way over in Mexico... With his mask, that is.

The mask is a time honored tradition in Mexico. I remember reading somewhere that Rey tried to work a match in Mexico after the WCW folded, and was roundly booed. To the fans in Mexico, Rey had sold his soul to Eric Bischoff. Now then, history in hindsight shows that it was more like Eric demanded Rey's soul. But the Mexican fans didn't see it that way... They saw it as a hero's betrayal. Eventually, from what I understand, he gained back the Mexican fans trust. But what were to happen if Rey lost his mask again? There's no way he could ever set foot in Mexico again.

Here, you're dealing with two different philosophies of thought from two owners. Eric Bischoff could have cared less about the tradition of the mask. He simply saw dollars. Vince will show enough compassion to Rey to make it a case of Rey choosing his options. And I just can't see Rey choosing to ditch his mask

 

[pyrusane]

WWE has already gone to great pains to help him maintain the illusion of never being unmasked. A while back I bought the "Backstage Pass" special issue of WWE magazine, not realizing it was just a bunch of pictures taken backstage. There were two or three pictures of Rey without the mask, every single one had him covering or hiding his face in some way.

It's been mentioned that Rey's number one fanbase is little kids. Most if not all of those kids never saw Rey in WCW. They have never seen him without the mask, period. Losing it now would take away that connection his has with probably 80-90% of his fanbase, and that would be a very bad thing.

The Rey that we have now is definitely not the same Rey that we had in WCW, and even farther from the Rey that we saw in ECW. I was a fan of that Rey. This one I find to be somewhat boring and predictable, but th kids love him, and the kids are apparently the target audience these days. The mask is the connection, and it would be a poor move to take it away.

And besides, I really never want to see Rey with those little prosthetic horns coming out of his forehead again.