Posted in: Ripped To Shreds Ripped To Shreds #19: Masked
By Ripper
Jul 26, 2009 - 3:21:33 PM
Ripped To Shreds #19: Masked
Hello everyone, this is Ripper. Thank you all for your feedback to my last column. This week I'll be taking a look back at how the concept of wearing a mask has effected certain wrestler's careers.
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At Wrestlemania 22, Rey Mysterio came away victorious in the Smackdown Main Event Triple Threat Match, and was crowned a WWE World Champion for the first time in his career. It was the first time Rey Mysterio had even main evented a Wrestlemania, but if you look hard enough, you will realize that this is the first time in WWE history that someone wore a mask while wrestling in the main event of Wrestlemania. WWE has had many prominent wrestlers who have become main eventers while wearing masks, yet this is the first time one of them has main evented the granddaddy of them all and won the big one. Many great wrestlers wearing masks have come and gone in the WWE, yet none of them have been considered the number one draw in the company or their respective brand for an extended period of time until Rey Mysterio this year.
The question I will try to answer in this column is just what exactly is holding these masked wrestlers back in the WWE? Why is it that Mankind had been such a talented storyteller and a talented actor, yet he had never been able to main event a Wrestlemania under his masked Mankind character? Why is it that the Vader, one of the best big men in the history of the business, has never held the WWE World Title? How is it possible that Kane, another one of the best big men in the history of the business, has never held the WWE World Title for longer than a day? Is this all because of one simple particular article of clothing that they choose to wear? The WWE has been in existence for decades, and it is only this year that someone wearing a mask has broken the proverbial glass ceiling that holds back these wrestlers from accomplishing some of the biggest goals in the industry. Why?
Perhaps it is all just one big coincidence that no masked wrestler has ever been the number one draw in the WWE or has main evented a Wrestlemania until Rey Mysterio accomplished those feats this year. Perhaps the reason that masked wrestlers have only seen limited success is due to the fact that none of the WWE masked wrestlers were talented enough. In my opinion, only four WWE wrestlers who wore masks were deserving of holding the WWE Title for an extended period of time. Those wrestlers were Mankind, Kane, Vader, and Rey Mysterio. But if you look hard enough, you can find justifiable reasons that are unrelated to the fact that these wrestlers, (with the exception of Rey Mysterio) wear masks as to why they have not seen this type of success. Call them victims of circumstance if you will.
Mankind is clearly one of the most popular characters the WWE has ever seen. With his demented, yet light hearted attitude, the Mankind character has entertained many kids and adults alike, and was one of the most prominent figures of the now infamous Attitude era. Inside the ring he was a great story teller and gave us countless death defying bumps and has had his brain rattled on numerous occasions by viscous chair shots, all making for some excellent television. So why is it that Mankind’s longest title reign was only a few short weeks? When he won his first two titles, it could very well be argued that Mankind only received the title to shake things up a little bit story line wise, just how Triple H lost the title last year and won it back at New Year’s Revolution, and just how John Cena lost the title this year and won it back only a few weeks later from Edge at the Royal Rumble. He was never meant to be a long term champion or to head into Wrestlemania with the title, as that was reserved for The phenomenal Rock. His third and final title reign is rumored to only have happened because Austin didn’t want to drop the title to Triple H at Summer Slam 99 (which is probably correct, considering that he dropped the title to Triple H the next night).
Kane at one point in time was the most credible big man in the WWE. Upon his debut, he ripped the cage door off of the Hell In A Cell and made his presence felt in the match by manhandling his older brother the Undertaker. Kane then proceeded to have a career that was arguably on fire, as he would make several random appearances of simply choke slamming helpless opponents and then tomb stoning them, showing his dominant power. This all lead to Kane winning the WWE World Title from Stone Cold Steve Austin. But when Kane won the title, Steve Austin was by far the hottest thing going in professional wrestling, and it would really be taking a chance to take the title off of Austin for an extended period of time at that point in time. Then when Big Show arrived in the WWE, Kane lost what made him special in that he was no longer the most credible big man in the WWE. Without being the most credible big man in the WWE, Kane lost a lot of his drawing ability, and became just another big man in the WWE.
Vader is by far another one of the best big men in the history of the wrestling industry. Standing a few inches over 6 feet and weighing in at an impressive 400 hundred pounds, Vader is obviously a very imposing figure inside the square circle. To compliment his very large size, he has fierce power and uncanny agility for a big man. But even with all those credentials, why is it that he never made it that big in the WWE? It could quite possibly be because of the fact that when Vader first arrived in the WWE, Shawn Michaels was already on pace to becoming on of the greatest wrestlers of all time, and was the one who was receiving the push to become the number one wrestler in the company. Also throughout Vader’s WWE tenure, he had to deal with the likes of The Undertaker, Bret Hart, Sid, and Stone Cold Steve Austin, who were 4 of the most recognizable names in the business. That’s some pretty stiff competition, if you ask me.
Rey Mysterio is one of the most talented workers the WWE has ever had. To quote Kurt Angle “I believe Rey Mysterio is one of the best in this business”. Rey Mysterio is arguably the best high flyer the WWE has ever seen and his constant flips, leaps, and most of all his entertaining matches can easily tell us that. So why is it that Rey was rumored to not be the one originally scheduled to win the Royal Rumble, and was not even originally supposed to be in the main event of Wrestlemania 22? Is it the mask or is it due to other reasons? It is very reasonable to suggest that Rey Mysterio never saw a lot of main event success due to the fact that he is just way too small. In the WWE, almost anyone can be sold to the fans as being credible, but someone as small as Rey Mysterio is stretching it a bit. It is very reasonable to believe that the WWE never had enough faith in Rey before this year to be their World Champion due to the fact that he is very small.
Maybe there are other reasons as to why most WWE masked wrestlers never saw the big time success that most superstars crave. Maybe it has nothing to do with the fact that the wrestlers are wearing masks. Or perhaps the reason why most 1WWE masked wrestlers never held the World Title for an extended period of time, main evented Wrestlemania, or were at one point in time considered to be the number one draw in the company is because it has something to do with the mask itself. Perhaps it’s possible that wearing a mask creates a mysterious aura about the wrestler, and thus we are not able to get a real feeling that we know the wrestler inside and out very well?
How is it we can tell is someone is sad? How is it we can tell is someone is angry? How is it we can tell is someone is happy, confused, or surprised? That’s right, by looking at their face. They say that the eyes are the gateway to the soul, but I’ll go one step further and say that the face is the gateway to the soul, as the face is where you can find out the emotion that someone is experiencing. At Wrestlemania 20, when Chris Benoit won the World Title, we were able to realize that he was overjoyed by the fact that he was crying. Had he been wearing a mask, we would have had a difficult time realizing just how passionate he was about winning the World Title.
In WWE it is very important that we get to know who these larger than life characters really are. (We do not need to know who the person playing the character really is, just the character itself) This way we can make long term connections with them and cheer or boo them passionately over a long period of time. We get to know these wrestlers by their actions, but especially because of the fact that we get to see their faces, and thus we get to see the raw emotions that their characters go through on a weekly basis. By seeing what emotions they go through, we get to make connections with the wrestler and get to know them better.
But when the WWE wrestlers wear masks, the sense of getting to know the wrestlers on a deeper level is lost. Sure, Mankind let us all know that he was happy to win his first World Title by doing a victory lap around the ring, but there just is no substitute for being able to see someone’s face completely to really feel what emotions they are going through. If Chris Benoit had worn a mask when he won his first and only WWE World Title, we still would have gotten a sense that he was excited by the fact that he went up onto the second turn buckle and waved the title belt up and down. But would we have been able to tell that he was feeling the emotion of “OH MY GOD I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED TO ME!”? No, because a mask would not have allowed the fans to have seen those emotions.
I’m not saying that wearing as mask is totally a negative thing. In fact, it can actually be a good thing for some wrestlers, and allow me to explain why. Wearing a mask can create a mysterious aura about the wrestler, which can be an attractive tribute as far as drawing fans are concerned. Some wrestlers are just so uncharismatic without a mask that they can not draw very well with their normal image. Take for instance Tyson Tomko. The man has very little charisma, and is one of the worst draws in the WWE. If he wore a mask, he would then have an aura about him that can draw fans into the WWE. His whole image shouldn’t be corny like Aldo Montoya was, but with a reasonable image plus a mask, he can probably be more successful than he is now. But when you wear a mask, you are getting that mysterious aura in return for the fact that you’re giving up letting the fans get to know who you really are. And while that mysterious aura can possibly take you far, it probably won’t take you to being the number one wrestler in the company. That would take the raw emotion that fans can only feel when you are unmasked.
Now, I’ve given you some reasons as to why masked wrestlers are held back in World Wrestling Entertainment. But allow me to explain my own views on the issue. I firmly believe that the reason no masked wrestler has main evented Wrestlemania until this year is simple: usually a mask means you lack something special as a wrestler. Take for example when Kane used to wear a mask, and how Kane does not wear a mask today. Kane had much more appeal from the fans wearing the mask, and without the mask he has done virtually nothing compared to what he used to do. (You might find irony in this, considering that Kane main evented Wrestlemania 20 without his mask, but I firmly believe that that only happened because it was Undertaker’s return, and Kane was the storyline brother of The Undertaker.) But a mask can only take you so far. It can’t do miracles for you as a wrestler.
I also believe that the masked wrestlers who were good enough to hold a WWE World Title and didn’t get to win one were also victims of circumstance. Vader, Kane, and especially Mankind all would have made respectable champions for an extended period of time. But when you look at the big picture, you will see that their competition around them during their WWE careers (for Kane, I am referring to the period of time that he was there before the Big Show came in) was very stiff, and it would have made sense to put the World Title on a Triple H instead of Mankind for the long haul, as well as a Shawn Michaels instead of a Vader, and a Stone Cold Steve Austin instead of a Kane.
When you look back on the success that most masked wrestlers have had in the WWE, it is very reasonable to think that they are being held back in some way. Maybe they are being held back by reasons that are unrelated to the mask, and the fact that they wear masks is purely a coincidence. Or perhaps the reason that masked wrestlers don’t see the big time WWE success that all wrestlers seek is due to the fact that the mask prevents the audience from really getting to know what emotions the wrestlers go through, and thus do not get to know who the wresters are on the inside. Whatever the reason may be, is it possible that no more masked WWE wrestlers will never hold a World Title for an extended period of time after Rey Mysterio? Or has Rey Mysterio opened the door for more masked wrestlers to have big time success in WWE? Only time will tell.
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I hope you enjoyed that.
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