For many wrestling fans in North America, the man who introduced them to masked luchador wrestlers was Mil Máscaras, the Man of a Thousand Masks. While many fans consider him one of the best lucha libre wrestlers in history, his reputation among fellow wrestlers is a lot less flattering.
When fans discuss the history of lucha libre wrestling, names like El Santo, Blue Demon, and Mil Máscaras often rise to the top of the list. However, concerning his work in the ring, and specifically his work with younger talent, everyone from Chris Jericho to Mick Foley refers to Mil as one of the worst wrestlers they have ever been in the ring with.
Why Is Mil Máscaras So Beloved In Lucha Libre?
Mil Máscaras was once a weightlifter who had dreams of becoming an Olympic wrestling champion. However, those dreams ended up falling by the wayside when the 1964 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, didn't go how he wanted them to. When he believed the Mexican Sports Commission, through the Olympic Wrestling Federation, was underpaying him for the time needed to train, he quit. However, he ended up with something to fall back on when he joined the world of professional wrestling as Mil Máscaras, a character based on the superhero Doc Savage.
Like many other luchador wrestlers, Mil Máscaras took his role seriously. El Santo never took off his mask and ended up buried with it on. Mil carried the same respect and desire to uphold the traditions of lucha libre wrestling. On top of wrestling, Mil also followed El Santo into the world of movies and starred as superhero in those movies, which is the only place that he revealed his real name in the credits of those movies (Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta), as he rejected any name other than Mil Máscaras while in the public. Over his career, Mil Máscaras has been in 17 movies and on the cover of over 100 wrestling magazines in the United States alone, making him almost a legend in an era where that was the only place to see him in action other than tape trading.
Mil Máscaras Arrived In The United States
For years, North American wrestling fans only knew about Mil Máscaras thanks to wrestling magazines, with the Apter mags always talking about the mysterious masked man from Mexico. The magazines called him one of the best in the world, comparing him to wrestlers like "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes. While Rhodes was "the common man," Mil was a legendary, masked superhero, someone with the physique unlike any other. This led to wrestling promotions wanting to bring him into North America, and Vince McMahon Sr. did that in 1972, introducing masked wrestling in the United States.
Before Mil Máscaras arrived in the WWWF, there was a ban on masks by the New York State Athletic Commission. The actual law in New York at the time didn't allow anyone to wear a mask in public unless they were attending a masquerade party. Mil Máscaras helped McMahon lobby the commission, and they allowed him to wrestle in a mask, which he did against Don Jardine. This eventually allowed wrestlers in the future to wear masks. Wrestlers like Rey Mysterio now do something that was once illegal in professional wrestling in the United States.
Why Do Other Wrestlers Hate Mil Máscaras So Much?
While Mil Máscaras keeping his identity a secret and never taking his mask off was in the great lucha libre style, it rubbed many American wrestlers the wrong way. Mil wasn't helped by the fact that he had developed an arrogance over his career where he felt he was more important than any wrestler he stepped in the ring against. From the 1960s through the early 1980s, Máscaras was the best of the best in lucha libre style wrestling. However, when he got older, he ended up riding on his reputation and refused to put anyone else over in the ring. Several wrestlers, including Hall of Fame superstars, said that Mil was not someone they respected.
Superstar Billy Graham, a man who once held the WWE World Championship, wrote in his book Tangled Ropes that "Like the legendary Santo, he took his masked gimmick very seriously, and used it to cross over to a movie career in his native Mexico. But he was never one of the boys. After the matches, he’d shower with his mask on. I understand protecting your image, but the guy was kayfabing us!" Graham also wrote that he hated wrestling Máscaras, calling him "mechanical," and claiming that Mil refused to sell other wrestler's moves, and usually did so grudgingly. This even happened when Máscaras got a shot at Graham's world title in 1978.
Máscaras' nephew, Alberto El Patron, defended his uncle in a shoot video, saying there was a lot of backstage politics and Mil was only trying to protect his position from those who wanted to take it from him. However, when the nicest guys in wrestling slam a wrestler, it speaks volumes. Mick Foley rarely has a bad thing to say about anyone, but he hated Mil Máscaras. In his book, Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks, Foley wrote, "Máscaras sucked, and the match was going to suck. In my dealings with Máscaras in Texas, I had found him to be selfish, redundant, and lousy." Foley said that Mil seemed scared to pull off even a backbreaker and had no pride in his matches. "I wondered if having the ability to suck in your stomach and walk on your tiptoes for twenty-five years was really all it took to become a legend in this business."
Chris Jericho also slammed Mil Máscaras in his book, A Lion's Tale: Around the World in Spandex. Jericho worked in Mexico very early in his career and wrestled Máscaras. While Jericho had some wonderful experiences in Mexico, including meeting Eddie Guerrero, wrestling Máscaras was not one of them. "He didn’t want my partner or me to do any offensive moves, as he said the thousands of fans in attendance wouldn’t believe in us," Jericho wrote. "Yet he did nothing in the ring besides flexing his saggy pectorals and dancing around like he had antalones in his pantalones." He said the two wrestled again in Japan, and Máscaras told Jericho not to do any of his moves because no one cared about him. Jericho said he then went out and did "every damn move I could think of. He didn’t say a thing to me after the match, and I’ve never spoken to him since."
Wrestling fans in America had their best chance to see Mil Máscaras in WWE in 1997, when he competed in the Royal Rumble. In his podcast, Something to Wrestle With, Bruce Prichard said that Máscaras was part of the Royal Rumble match, but Mil refused to put anyone else over, saying, "No Yob, No Yob." Because of this, they had to do a creative way of getting him out of the match without needing someone to toss him over the ropes. As a result, Máscaras leaped over the top rope onto Pierroth Jr., which meant he eliminated himself so no one could get over on him. It was this kind of behavior that made him one of the least likable wrestlers for almost anyone he faced.