"It was disrespectful" – Wrestling legend on Rey Mysterio's unmasking (Exclusive)
WCW legend Konnan recently gave his thoughts on the time his friend Rey Mysterio was forced to unmask as part of a storyline.
On February 21, 1999, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall defeated Konnan and Mysterio at WCW SuperBrawl IX. The stipulation for the match stated that Hall and Nash's valet, Miss Elizabeth, would have her head shaved if they lost the bout. If Konnan and Mysterio lost, the latter would have to remove his mask.
In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling Senior Editor Bill Apter, Konnan made it clear how much he disliked the stipulation:
"It was disrespectful for the simple fact that, to me, what got me the hottest was the stipulation of the match. It was Kevin Nash and Scott Hall against me and Rey. I had nothing to do in that match, neither did Scott Hall. We were in the match, but here's the worst part. Rey loses his mask. Scott Hall doesn't lose anything, Kevin Nash doesn't lose anything. It was Miss Elizabeth's hair." [9:48 – 10:13]
Watch the video above to hear Konnan's opinion on current-day wrestlers often performing the same moves as their co-workers.
How Konnan would have booked Rey Mysterio
At the time, Konnan wanted Rey Mysterio to face another high-flying masked wrestler, Juventud Guerrera, in a traditional Mask vs. Mask match.
The 59-year-old, who is also the booker for Mexican promotion AAA, presented the idea to WCW's higher-ups:
"What logic does that make?" Konnan said. "You're already making fun of this. Nobody thinks that she's gonna take her hair off. And this is what I told them at the time. I said, 'You have Rey Mysterio, you have Juventud Guerrera. Second-generation wrestlers, both Rookie of the Year in Mexico, both around the same age, both revolutionizing wrestling. Put them together in a Mask versus Mask match.' But they went the other way." [10:16 – 10:47]
More than two decades on, Konnan does not blame WCW's creative team for Rey Mysterio's unmasking. He does, however, believe they were not well educated on the significance of a Mexican wrestler losing their mask:
"They were ignorant of Mexican culture," Konnan continued. "How would they know? They don't hang around Mexicans or know anything about Lucha Libre, so I'll let them pass on that. But, at the end of the day, they had me there. They should have come to me and said, 'What do you think of this?' But, as much as I fought it, they fought me back, and I think in hindsight they know they were wrong." [10:57 – 11:15]
In 2020, Mysterio revealed in an interview with Ariel Helwani that Scott Hall came up with the unmasking idea.
What did you make of Rey Mysterio's unmasking storyline? Let us know in the comments section below.
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