A lot of fans watching SmackDown Live were horrified! Not only did one of the brand’s most beloved superstars turn heel, Randy Orton took his revenge on Rey Mysterio in the most heinous way possible. Here is what happened!
Rey Unmasked
As you may know already, the mask is one of the most sacred items for a Luchador. Rey Mysterio has worn his iconic mask for decades. Tradition states that once a Luchador is unmasked, the Luchador in question can no longer wear that mask.
During SmackDown Live last week, Randy Orton had several promos ready where he focused on Rey’s mask. While it was clear Randy Orton would attempt to remove Rey’s mask, nobody believed he would succeed.
The match between Orton and Mysterio reached a devastating climax. After attempting to remove Rey’s mask two times and revealing a large part of Rey’s face, Orton removed the mask completely and walked off with it.
Disrespect
I have to best honest, the removal of the mask is one of the biggest signs of disrespect in the Lucha world. We also have to remember Rey has wrestled with his mask throughout his career and only wrestled without it between 1999 and 2002 in WCW.
There is no doubt in my mind that Orton and Mysterio are working towards a match at TLC, I really hoped they would leave the mask out of things. I’m not the biggest lover of Orton to begin with and the whole mask debacle did not make it any better.
Still, if you want to be a villain, removing the mask of the most beloved Luchador in the world will do it. It has been 12 years since Rey and Orton faced each other on SmackDown Live, so this was an anticipated confrontation.
At the end of the day, I hope that Rey agreed with the removal of the mask and that it was not a spur of the moment thing.