Why do luchadores wear the mask?

[Stoner710]

A couple of my favorite wrestlers growing up was Rey Mysterio Eddie Guerrero (they always had Chavo Guerrero play the heel so I didn’t like him but it was the role he was playing which is the idea in wwe).

but I’ve always wonder why? I know it’s a big thing In Lucha libre also while I’m on the topic why didn’t Eddie Guerrero wear the masks?

[Tyrael]

I believe it's like a persona. They wear it so they can keep their wrestling life separate from their normal life.

[mr4435669]

Four years ago I asked the Mystery King why he wore a mask and he told me it was because he was so ugly.

[MysteriousDarkness]

It is a common misconception that masks in lucha libre spring from the Aztec, Inca or Mayan tradition, but the mask, or "máscara" in Spanish, was first introduced in Mexico when a promoter saw American wrestler "Cyclone" McKey working in Texas and decided to bring McKey to work for his promotion, Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre (EMLL). The Mexican fanbase quickly took to the mystery of the masked man and soon after, Mexican wrestlers themselves started wearing masks, becoming "enmascarados". Early masks were simple with strong, basic colors designs that could be recognized even in the back row of the arena. Over the years, the masks evolved to become very intricate and colorful, drawing on Mexico's rich history. Unlike in other parts of North America, the popularity of masked wrestlers has not waned over the years, with souvenir masks being sold at events and online. In modern lucha libre, masks are colorfully designed to evoke the images of animals, gods, ancient heroes, and other archetypes, whose identity the luchador takes on during a performance. Most wrestlers in Mexico start their career wearing a mask, but over the span of their careers, a substantial number of them will be unmasked. Sometimes, a wrestler slated for retirement will be unmasked in one of his final bouts or at the beginning of a final tour, signifying loss of identity as that character. Sometimes, losing the mask signifies the end of a gimmick, with the wrestler moving on to a new gimmick and mask, often without public acknowledgement of the wrestler's previous persona.

The wrestling mask is considered "sacred", so much so that the intentional removal of a mask is grounds for disqualification. If a wrestler is unmasked during the match, his top priority is to cover up his face and they usually get help from people at ringside to do so. Most masked wrestlers wear their masks for any and all public appearances, using the mask to keep their personal life separate from their professional life; because of the mask, most Mexican wrestlers enjoy a higher degree of anonymity about their personal lives. Some wrestlers become larger-than-life characters, such as El Santo, one of the most popular cultural icons who always wore his mask in public, revealing his face only briefly in old age, and was even buried in his trademark silver mask.

Luchas de ApuestasEdit
See also: Luchas de Apuestas
In lucha libre, the highest achievement is not winning a championship but winning the mask of an opponent in a luchas de apuestas, a "bet fight" where each wrestler bets their mask. The luchas de apuestas is usually seen as the culmination of a long and heated storyline between two or more wrestlers, with the winner getting the "ultimate victory". It is customary for the loser of such a match to reveal his real name, where he's from and how long he has been a wrestler before taking the mask off to show his face. Unmasked wrestlers will wager their hair instead, risking having his or her head shaved bald in case of defeat. There can be several reasons to book a luchas de apuestas beyond the obvious purpose of elevating the winner. If the loser is a younger wrestler, then the loss of the mask can sometimes lead to a promotional push after unmasking, or the wrestler being given a new ring persona. Older wrestlers often lose their masks during the last couple of years of their career, often for a big payday depending on how long and successful a career they've had; the more successful the wrestler that's unmasked, the bigger the honor for the winner.

The first luchas de apuestas match was presented on July 14, 1940 at Arena México. The defending champion Murciélago was so much lighter than his challenger Octavio that he requested a further condition before he would sign the contract: Octavio would have to put his hair on the line. Octavio won the match and Murciélago unmasked, giving birth to a tradition in lucha libre.[3]

A wrestling mask mural in Madrid, Spain.
High-profile luchas de apuestas include El Santo winning the mask of Black Spirit, Los Villanos winning the masks of all three Los Brazos (El Brazo, Brazo de Oro and Brazo de Plata), Atlantis winning the mask of Villano III, La Parka unmasking both Cibernético andad El Mesias, Villano V taking Blue Panther's mask and Último Guerrero winning the mask of Villano V. Some wrestlers have made a career by the volume of masks they have won rather than the general quality of their opponents—wrestler Super Muñeco claims to have won over 100 masks, with at least 80 verifiable luchas de apuestas wins, while Estrella Blanca is said to have the most luchas de apuestas, with over 200 masks won.

[Stoner710]

Thank you that was a good history lesson

The mask v mask matches make sense remember there was a title vs mask match with Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero Rey won the match. I know the wrestler Kane and a few other wrestlers have tied to remove Rey’s mask in the past I think he’s removed it a couple times but given he’s an American/Mexican wrestler it’s a not as big of a deal for Rey fighting in the WWF/WWE then it is the EMILL I actually saw Rey when he came to seattle in 2008 for No Way Out he was in the elimination chamber match he was in a rivalry with the wrestler Kane at the time and eliminated him from the match. Triple H ended up winning the whole thing.