10 Masked wrestlers who weren't fooling anyone
Masked wrestlers have been a staple of the sport since 1933, when American wrestler Cyclone Mackey wrestled under a mask in Mexico. The idea caught on, and now the world of Lucha Libre is renowned for its colorful masked characters.
But Mackey was not the first masked wrestler. That honor goes to Theobald Bauer who donned a mask at the world's fair in 1865. "The Masked Wrestler" probably had no idea of the seeds he was planting in the wrestling community.
Many masked wrestlers protect their identities with great vehemence. El Santo, the famous Mexican grappler and movie star, was famous for NEVER removing his mask--even when he went out to dine in fancy restaurants.
However, there are other masked wrestlers whose identities haven't been much of a secret. Sometimes this is deliberate, sometimes not, but it always winds up being entertaining.
Here are ten masked wrestling acts whose identities were anything but secret.
#10 The Midnight Rider
Back in 1983, Dusty Rhodes was involved in a bloody feud with Kevin Sullivan. After beating each other senseless for months, they were booked into a steel cage 'loser leaves town' match, which Dusty lost.
Enter the Midnight Rider! As if it weren't obvious from his body type, mannerisms, and voice, that the rider was just a masked Dusty Rhodes, the Midnight Rider took great pains to let the audience know how Dusty was feeling during his interview time.
The gimmick worked quite well, with fans enjoying the spectacle of frustrated heel wrestlers trying to unmask Rider and prove it was really Dusty Rhodes. In fact, the gimmick worked so well that Dusty repeated it several times over his career.