Mysterio is regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time and helped popularise Lucha Libre in the US with his signature mask and high-flying ring style
WWE legend Rey Mysterio has stunned fans by making a rare public appearance without his iconic mask. The legendary luchador, 51, posed bare face for a TikTok video with daughter Aalyah Gutierrez, 24.
The grappling legend has rarely been spotted without his iconic hood in recent decades, prompting one fan to joke: “Feels like we’re breaking some kinda law seeing Rey without a mask.”
Rey, real name Óscar Gutiérrez Rubio, briefly wrestled without it after being unmasked in 1999 while working for WCW. But after the company’s closure in 2001, he joined WWE in 2002 and has always wrestled masked ever since.
Fans flooded his daughter’s post with light-hearted comments, with one wag quipping: “If he had a mask on he would totally look like Rey Mysterio.” Another wrote: “Oscar Gutierrez and Rey Mysterio Jr look insanely alike.”
Some else asked: “Didn’t this dude wrestle in WCW for a hot minute? I wondered what happened to him!”
The veteran – who was trained by his uncle, the original Rey Misterio – had wrestled under a mask for all of his career until the shocking 1999 SuperBrawl event. Masks are of historical importance in Mexican wrestling and are often tied to star’s identities.
Rey recently told of his shock when he Vince McMahon said wanted him to bring the mask back just days before his WWE debut.
He told No-Contest Wrestling: “When the company closed down and WWE picked me up, I’m thinking in my head – ’cause I was already wrestling for two years without the mask – I’m thinking, ‘Okay, I got to figure out what gear I’m going to bring to WWE.
“Maybe a couple of days before my debut, they were like, ‘What mask are you wearing?’ The office did. I’m like, ‘What do you mean, what mask? I’ve been wrestling without a mask.’ [WWE said] ‘Oh, no, no, Vince wants you to come back with the mask.”
Rey, who has worn around 1,000 masks during his career, has occasionally been seen without it during fan photos and social media posts. But he has largely continued to wear it during media appearances and public sightings.
He said he was “proud” of his “groundbreaking” return to wearing the mask, adding: “That was kind of at the time a trendsetter because anyone that lost their mask in Lucha Libre, that’s it.
“They know who you are, you can come back maybe a year later with a different name, [and] mask. Nobody will know who you are.
“But for me to have lost it, come back with the same name and wear the mask, it became something cool, something new. And I’m kind of proud of that moment.”
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