Top 11 photos of wrestlers unmasked
One of the images most synonymous with wrestling over the past century has been masks. Whether it be to hide an identity or respect a tradition, the mask - or hood - has been used in wrestling for almost as long as wrestling has been around.
While the earliest known masked wrestler in the United States was The Masked Marvel, masks have been prominent in wrestling for over 100 years now with many professional wrestlers traditionally wearing masks so they could lose a match quickly to "put another wrestler over" without diminishing their own reputation, or even just to keep identities separate from territory to territory.
One important aspect of masks in wrestling, too, is the cultural aspect of the mask in lucha libre with the "unmasking" being the ultimate sign of disrespect in the ring, but more so in recent times, the mask has been used as a plot progression, hiding the identity of a wrestler until the most opportune moment to make a big reveal.
To the average fan, though, the mask is the biggest enigma in wrestling. If someone dons a hood, we instantly want to know who's underneath.
Recently Sami Callihan unmasked Pentagon Jr in one of the most shocking moments in Impact history, but that's not the kind of thing you'll see in this list. Here, we see the men UNDER the masks, not just a split-second glimpse of half a face.
Honourable mentions, too, to Mankind, Vader, Abyss and The Great Muta - some of the best masked men ever to perform in the ring, but neither man makes the list as the enigma was quickly extinguished.
So here's a list of my top eleven 'masked' wrestlers unmasked.
#11 Sin Cara
So, what better way to start off than with the man in the photo above, and the only wrestler on this list who we can unmask twice to reveal two different identities?
This is a picture of the original Sin Cara, otherwise known as Mistico. While Mistico had an illustrious career in Mexico, it didn't quite translate in WWE.
In fact, Mistico would then go on to feud as Sin Cara with Sin Cara. Well, Sin Cara Negro, also known as Hunico. Hunico would then reprise his role as Sin Cara, remask and form a team with another masked man, Kalisto, in the Lucha Dragons.
We'll have more on Kalisto later, but for now, here is Hunico, the current Sin Cara, shown below on the left.
Meanwhile, Sin Cara plays on the "unmasking" gimmick on Twitter as he changes up his attire. You can see him unmasking himself below.
I mean, we could have actually made it three and put Chris Jericho on the list, but that may have been cheating.