Rey Mysterio is just a phenomenal wrestler. His Lucha Libre high-flying style has mesmerized his peers, fans and audiences around the world for decades, and today he’s as fit and is as agile as ever as he continues doing his thing with Lucha Underground.

Rey Mysterio means “King Mystery” in Spanish, and he certainly has been just that over the years – he’s a king in the ring and is shrouded in an air of mystery, wearing his customary mask, not just in the ring, but out of it too, to maintain that secretive, mysterious aura about him. Óscar Gutiérrez, like his uncle, the famous Rey Misterio Sr. before him, have become known for entering the ring wearing masks. Plenty have done so before them but’s it’s Rey Mysterio who’s made that whole mysterious, mask-wearing persona his own. As a luchador, it is part of him, the mask is part of his identity, hence he hates being unmasked. Even nowadays, even after being in the industry for so long, he makes a concerted effort to not expose his face; he covers up his face when out and about, when taking pictures, striking that customary hand in front of the face pose, and sometimes even wears his mask when he’s out in public, when working out at the gym for instance. But inevitably, there have been instances over the years where Rey Mysterio’s been unmasked – that thing’s not glued to his face! It seems odd for all you die hard Rey Mysterio fans out there, but he does have a face under that mask! These are 15 pictures of Rey Mysterio unmasked over the years, and pictures you simply have to see.

16 16. WCW Days

Here’s a pic of Rey Mysterio unmasked from his earlier days in the ring, from what seems like ages ago when he first started making a name for himself with WCW.

In the late 90s, Rey Mysterio burst onto the seen in the Cruiserweight division, and quickly started to get a fan following, which grew even more over the years as he began to get a reputation as a giant killer, defeating opponents much bigger than his diminutive frame. It’s also the promotion where we saw Rey Mysterio unmasked for one of the first times. This is a pic of him staring at the camera, looking a little uncomfortable with his look. He looks okay, but probably wasn’t feeling all that comfortable, as he never is when his face is exposed, especially earlier in his career.

15 15. With His Daughter

Rey Mysterio’s such an intriguing character, and so his family are inevitably going to get a lot of attention. On occasions, we have gotten to see his family with him, sometimes he brings them along to wrestling events, and once or twice they’ve even come into the ring with him. Those were during his WWE days, when we got to see his young kids and wife standing by his side, but his little girl’s no longer little and has grown up a lot since then. Rey Mysterio’s daughter, Aalyah, is his little angle, the sunshine of his life, and this is a pic of them enjoying some daddy-daughter time. They were on a flight to Hawaii – Rey’s probably not allowed to wear his mask on plane! – and he thought he’d capture the moment with a selfie, with Rey in good spirits and his daughter looking adorable.

14 14. His Son Dominic Towering Over Him

Over the years, we’ve seen Rey Mysterio’s kids grow up, from when they first entered the ring with their dad and experienced wrestling, to – in Dominic’s case – now when he’s entering adulthood.

It’s always nice for wrestlers to enjoy some time off, to have family time. In one way, that’s one positive that Rey Mysterio can take from leaving WWE – he’s able to have more family time, something lots of other wrestlers haven’t had the luxury of doing, due to the hectic schedules and everything that comes with being a top performer. Here’s a pic of Rey going back to school so to speak, unmasked supporting his son at his high school football event. His wife, Angie’s in the pic too, so it seems as if they made it a real family affair, and Dominic seems to be in good spirits too, pleased to have had his parents cheering on from the bleachers.

13 13. Messing Around In His Younger Days

This is a really funny pic that allows us to see King Mystery in a different light. God knows what he was up to in this situation; it seems as if he was having some fun in the locker room with his buddy who got him dressed up in a pretty weird outfit and got him to pose for the camera! Rey Mysterio embraced it all and decided to use the photo opportunity to show off his muscles, and his beloved tatts. He got the guns out and flexed for the camera, and we can see that even then, in his younger days, he was pretty built. We can also see a couple of his earlier tattoos – his arms are now covered in tatts – his son and daughter’s names, which take pride of place on his guns.

12 12. WWE Tour Of Japan

Rey Mysterio covers his face for most of his snaps; he either wears his mask or does that famous hand in front of the face pose he’s made his own, even as he’s out and about in his personal life, but this is one time he decided to dispense with the mask. It must be quite difficult trying to cover your face and wear a mask everywhere you go, especially when on wrestling duty, adhering to wrestling commitments – Rey Mysterio still tends to wear his mask at such events. But when he was with WWE and went on tour to Japan, he gave the mask a break with this pic. In case you haven’t realized, he’s the guy on the bottom right of the picture; he seems a bit weary, and it seems as if they’ve just been pigging out due to all the food in the background, so slapping on a mask for an impromptu pic wasn’t going to happen.

11 11. Looking Jacked

Holy mother of God, what has Rey Mysterio been doing in the weight room? Granted this pic shows Mysterio mostly covered up by the training mask he's wearing and the tuque he has on, but you can still see enough of his baby face underneath. In any event, the real story here is just how jacked Rey Mysterio looks here. Now that he's no longer traveling with WWE full time, perhaps he has a lot more time to work out religiously than he used to. He also can't pull as many high flying moves out of his arsenal like he used to, so it makes sense to adjust his style a little. We wonder if Vince McMahon would make him a lucrative offer for a return after seeing workout pics like these.

10 10. Chilling With Natalya

Rey Mysterio’s one of the most-loved wrestling superstars around; he’s loved by pretty much everyone – fans and his fellow wrestlers too. He’s also been around for what seems like an eternity, and so plenty of prominent names on the rosters of some of the world’s top promotions would have grown up watching him, watching his athletic capabilities and remarkable feats in the ring. Plenty of wrestlers have come out and have said they love Rey Mysterio, that they’re his fans, and one such person is Natalya, so when they met at an event, she was eager to get a pic of him, which she later tweeted.

Nattie actually got quite a lot of heat for tweeting that pic, with people saying she shouldn’t openly be tweeting a pic of them together in which he’s unmasked…but come on guys, at the time this pic was taken it’s not exactly like we didn’t have a clue what Rey Mysterio looked like.

9 9. With Billy Kidman

Here’s another pic from 1999 – that really was an eventful year for Rey Mysterio, a year in which he was unmasked a hell of a lot, much to his displeasure. This pic was snapped after a pretty epic cruiserweight match on Monday Nitro where Rey got in the ring and battled it out with Billy Kidman. Rey emerged victorious to become the cruiserweight champion again, and after the match, the two, knowing the kind of performance they’d just produced, shook hands and embraced each other in the ring, showing a huge amount of mutual respect to one another which was great to see.

They were – still are – two phenomenal athletes at the peak of their powers, and had to capture the moment when everything was all done and dusted in the ring.

8 8. Dodger Game With Dominic

Wow, here we can really see just how big Dominic has grown, or perhaps it's just a little reminder of how small Rey is. In any event, there's no American tradition much better than a father and son taking in a baseball game and here we see Rey and Dominic about to take in a baseball game. Word is Dominic is now training to be a pro wrestler like his dad. He should have a good chance of getting into WWE one day - he sure has the size Vince likes in his wrestlers. In any event, this pic is a two-fold must-see because Dominic was once just a little kid being used in storylines on WWE programming and now he's all grown up and towering over his father.

7 7. Enjoying Time Off With His Wife

This pic’s from about eight months back when Rey was soaking in the sun and enjoying some much deserved time off with his beloved wife. It appears that Rey himself took the picture, a sweet selfie moment with Angie; he certainly doesn’t mind being unmasked in pics where he’s with his loved ones, and is incidentally, looking in incredible shape.

He posted the picture on his Instagram page with the hashtag #LoveThisWoman, and the love in this pic’s clear, evident for all to see. They were holidaying at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya in Mexico, and you can see why they went there; it looks like heaven on earth, such a great moment that they just had to capture it. We're happy Rey's enjoying his life.

6 6. Rey Goes Shopping

Nope..not really shopping, and if he was, that handbag, as great as it is, isn’t a great look for Rey! He was actually in attendance at the Spike TV Video Game Awards, in 2003 at the MGM Arena in Las Vegas. It was the first award ceremony, and who did they want gracing the occasion? Rey Mysterio of course. He came to the awards ceremony wearing his customary mask, but decided to ditch it when he went backstage. Like I said, Rey’s not shopping for handbags.

This was him checking out some of the brilliant creations at the Creations Gift Bags Presentation, which he did with some of his fellow wrestlers, Chris Jericho and Trish Stratus who were also in attendance; yep, they’re definitely more Stratus’ thing!

5 5. Some Quiet Time

Wrestling’s a hectic job, it’s a pretty crazy lifestyle, but mightily enjoyable and a terrific profession to be in if you embrace it, like Rey Mysterio has. His love for his craft has made Rey Mysterio one of the most popular wrestlers in the world, and so he’s basically a public entity, so time spent resting and relaxing is in short supply. So these moments, when he’s between countries on a flight having just put in an appearance or two overseas, must seem like gold. This is a pic of him flying home after a trip to Chile, enjoying some quiet time in which we can presume to be first class, flying in style. He seems comfy and is enjoying a nice read, some peace and quiet before Mysterio Mania begins again upon landing.

4 4. Partying With WWE Superstars

Fans can’t get enough of Rey Mysterio, but neither can his fellow wrestling superstars. Rey willing to be photographed without his mask, especially when it has to do with wrestling, with wrestlers, isn’t a regular occurrence, so The Bella Twins saw their opportunity to get a snap with the main man himself, the man behind the mask, and a host of other WWE superstars at the time. Matt Hardy’s in the pic too with Rey Mysterio posing beneath Nikki and Brie Bella, and judging from the fact they’re all together, we can safely assume this pic was taken when The Bellas had just arrived on the scene in WWE. There aren’t many pics out there of Rey partying with his fellow superstars, so this is one to savor.

3 3. Suit Up

Here’s a pic of Rey Mysterio looking really smart, pretty dapper, and unmasked as he goes about his wrestling duties outside the ring. Making appearances at wrestling events and adhering to other commitments is part and parcel of being a wrestler, aside from all the in-ring action, and being the megastar he is, when there’s a chance for companies to get wrestlers involved, they all want Rey Mysterio. This is another pic from his WWE days, when he went on tour with the promotion to Japan. He must have been attending some event or other, promoting wrestling to the masses, and it looks as if this was a pretty sophisticated do. It also looks like it could have been a pretty late night, because Rey looks wrecked, in desperate need of some shut eye.

2 2. Working On His Tan

Here’s another pic of our favorite Rey Rey enjoying some much-deserved rest and relaxation. When he pencils in some r&r time into his schedule, it appears as if he loves nothing more than to hit the beach and lounge about in the sun, as is evident from this pic. He saw an opportunity to work on his tan and went for it, and still, it has to be said, looks pretty stylish as he’s doing so. It’s safe to assume that he was on holiday, at the beach with one of or some of his loved ones, because I doubt he’d let just anyone snap a pic of him unmasked in this situation. He seems happy enough; on a beautiful sunny beach with your loved ones – what’s not to love!

1 1. Recent Pic Of Him With His Daughter

This is a picture of Rey Mysterio with his daughter, taken about seven months ago. Aalyah’s almost all grown up, is 15 years old in this pic, and is accompanying her father on a trip to San Francisco. Those days commuting to various events around the country, hopping on and off of flights must pass by a lot quicker if you’ve got a loved one to keep you company. It’s a really sweet pic of the father-daughter duo enjoying some daddy-daughter time, and Rey wanted to capture the moment, took the pic himself, and posted it on his Instagram page for his adoring fans to see. The baby face is gone – both of them – the glasses are out, headphones in place, his daughter’s by his side and he’s ready for yet another long commute out of the 619.