Rey Mysterio could easily be considered to be the most famous masked wrestler of all time. The former World Heavyweight Champion was the first real masked wrestler in WWE history to be able to grab the attention of the WWE Universe and become one of the most popular wrestlers of that era.

Mysterio was larger than life; he weighed just 165 pounds but was able to make it seem as though a match between himself and some of the biggest wrestlers in WWE at the time like The Undertaker and The Big Show was fair.

It was impossible for WWE to ever turn Rey Mysterio heel because his mask was a huge seller when it came to merchandise, and he was considered to be one of the most popular stars with the company's fanbase.

Even though Mysterio was one of the companies most favoured stars, many of the WWE Universe still don't know what the former Champion looks like under his mask. Rey was a big supporter of kayfabe and would wear his mask whenever he was in public, which meant that many of the WWE Universe accepted that they weren't supposed to know what The King Of Mystery really looked like.

The following list looks at 15 photos of Rey without his mask that he would prefer the WWE Universe forgot to preserve the air of mystery that surrounds the lucha star.

15 15. Accidentally Unmasked

Rey Mysterio left WWE back in 2015, but he has since remained in the wrestling business and continued to perform on a regular basis. Mysterio was part of a number of matches in WWE where he would be hit so hard that his mask would almost fall off. It was one of the biggest problems when wearing a mask.

The above image shows Mysterio in a match on SmackDown where his mask has once again been knocked off his face. Mysterio always did everything he could to preserve the mystery when his mask did come off and as above he would usually rush to cover up his face. This is exactly what Rey is doing here since he preferred to keep his real identity private when he was contracted to WWE.

14 14. Performing Unmasked In WCW

Before Rey first appeared in WWE, he had already made a name for himself on the wrestling circuit where he had performed a number of times without a mask. Of course, at the time Rey wouldn't have known that he was going to become one of the best-known wrestlers of all time otherwise he would have ensured that these images were never shared.

Rey's name itself means "King of Mystery" which means that he would have wanted his identity to remain a mystery, but sadly when he stuck to kayfabe and refused to reveal his true identity to the WWE Universe, many fans went online and were able to reveal what he looked like from a number of years before. If Rey had a choice he probably would have prefered that these images weren't made public.

13 13. Rey's Private Life

Rey Mysterio was part of WWE for more than a decade so it isn't that much of a surprise that he still has a number of friends who are employed by the company. One of these friends is former United States Champion R-Truth who he decided to hang out with following an episode of Monday Night Raw in Nashville back in June.

Mysterio obviously would have drawn less attention to himself by appearing without his mask, but the issue here is the fact that the image was taken by either Konnan or R-Truth and then shared online. Given the option, Rey would probably have preferred for the image of him without his mask to have not been shared online, since he isn't a big fan of showing his whole face in images.

12 12. Hanging With Other Superstars

As already stated, Rey Mysterio had a number of friends in WWE friends that he would often be pictured out with after he had performed on WWE TV. The above picture shows Mysterio alongside Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, Lilian Garcia, Carlito and Umaga. It seems that this was another occasion where Mysterio thought that wearing sunglasses would attract less attention than wearing his mask.

This was taken around a decade ago when Social Media wasn't a thing and every image that was taken on a cell phone didn't have to be shared online so Rey probably thought he would get away with not having to wear his mask here, but it seems that decision has come back to haunt him as this image is now circulating online and shows the face he has been trying to hide all these years, quite clearly.

11 11. Family Photos

Rey Mysterio's personal life became quite well-known back in 2005 when his real family were dragged into his feud with the late great Eddie Guerrero. Rey's son Dominic was the main reason for the feud as Eddie stated that Dominic was really his son until Rey won their match at SummerSlam and was able to remain the father to his eight-year-old son.

Rey also has a daughter called Aalyah, a name Rey has tattooed on his inner bicep opposite Dominic's name so that he always has his children with him when he wrestles. Obviously, Rey wouldn't want to wear a mask when he's taking pictures with his daughter, these are the images that he will look back on when she's much older. He would probably have preferred that this one wasn't made public.

10 10. Mysterio And Enzo Amore

If Rey wanted to hold on to the popularity that he once had as WWE's biggest little man, then he probably shouldn't have taken a photo with Cruiserweight Champion and then shared it online. Of course, back in April Enzo wasn't as hated as he is right now, but he was still someone who had a reputation in the company.

Rey is reportedly teaching his son Dominic to wrestle right now and incredibly that eight-year-old boy is now 20-years-old and he could have been friends with Enzo Amore rather than his father. Rey was happy to pose here without his mask which is fairly uncommon for Rey, who usually puts his hand over his face to maintain that air of mystery perhaps this was a rare occasion where he wanted to share his face in a photo with his son?

9 9. Forced Unmasking

One of the most talked about match types of the past few decades involving a masked superstar has been mask versus hair or even mask versus mask. Rey has been part of a number of these matches and even though he won the one he had in WWE which forced CM Punk to have his head shaved, he wasn't as lucky in all of his gimmick matches.

Mysterio lost his match against WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash as part of WCW back in 1999 which saw him forced to unmask. Nash then took his mask and Rey appeared without his mask in a match a week later but after he was able to defeat Nash, he was able to take back his mask and the rest, as they say, is history.

8 8. Young Rey Mysterio

Like many current WWE stars, Rey Mysterio had already been performing on the wrestling circuit for a number of years before he was contacted by WWE and invited to join the company. In the current era all information is available at the touch of a button and so are images of superstars that they wish could be deleted.

The problem with the current generation and their dependence on the internet is the fact that once something is shared online, it can't be taken back. This means that all images that were put on their a long time ago that people wish they could delete actually can't ever be completely removed, which means that images of a young unmasked Mysterio that he wishes would disappear, will always be able to be found online.

7 7. Rey's Early Years

Rey Mysterio appeared in a number of wrestling promotions when he was still quite young, he made his wrestling debut back in 1989 when he was just 14-years-old which means that he was forced to grow up whilst performing as part of the business.

Obviously, there are going to be a number of images of the former WWE star messing around with his friends in the locker room, it's a fact of life that he would have wanted to have some fun and be able to enjoy his childhood whilst also doing the thing that he loves. The above image shows a much younger Rey Mysterio perhaps from his WCW days having some fun backstage, at this point, Rey was already married with two children though, since the tattoos of his children are shown clearly in the image.

6 6. Father And Son

Somehow in the years that the WWE Universe has been distracted by other WWE stars and Mysterio has been absent from the company, his son Dominic has grown from the child that was once the centre of a bitter feud between best friends to a man who is now taller than his own father.

Mysterio's departure from WWE obviously now means that he can spend more time with his family and attend games with his now 20-year-old son, but it's strange seeing Rey with his children now that they are all grown up and obviously inherited their mother's genes when it comes to height. Mysterio will cherish these images when his children are much older, but if he wanted to be unmasked then they probably shouldn't have been shared on Instagram.

5 5. Rey Mysterio On Tour

For someone who is usually seen with fans and friends with his face under a mask, it's slightly odd that Mysterio decided that he was OK showing his face on this picture that was taken during a tour of Japan.

Mysterio is joined by the likes of Santino Marella, Kofi Kingston, Jack Swagger and Zack Ryder in the picture as it seems that all these stars are enjoying a few hours away from the spotlight which could be why Rey thought it was OK for him to be without his mask for a few hours. He is the one on the bottom right of the picture who has decided to put glasses on instead, perhaps in the hope that much like Superman, he may not be recognised because a pair of glasses completely changes the entire way you look.

4 4. Happy Father's Day!

Aalyah was last seen by the WWE world when she was just four-years-old. She wasn't a main part of the feud between her father and Eddie Guerrero but she still appeared alongside her mother in a number of segments.

It seems that even Aalyah is now old enough to have her own Instagram page where she is able to share images of her life now that she's almost 17-years-old. Aalyah shared the above image last year of her father wishing him a Happy Father's Day. Rey has managed to be a fantastic father as well as being a wrestling icon over the past few years, so he's unable to stop his children from posting these kinds of cute things about him, since it's quite obvious that he has been a fantastic role model to both of his children over the past few years.

3 3. Rey Mysterio And Angie

It has been mentioned by a number of wrestlers over the past few decades that the only reason they were able to be as successful as they were in the squared circle was because of the support network that they had outside the ring. Rey Mysterio is the same as many of these stars but he knew he would always have someone to depend on no matter what.

Rey was never involved in any kind of backstage drama or scandal with any other women in the business because he was always loyal to one woman. Rey and Angie have been married for 21 years now and it's only fair that Rey is able to take his mask off and pose for photos with the woman who has dedicated her life to standing by his side throughout his incredible wrestling career.

2 2. Rey Mysterio Goes Partying

Rey worked for WWE for more than a decade and was on the road for around 300 days a year, he worked hard throughout his career so he would have needed to have a few days where he went out and got drunk and had fun.

A number of these outings were captured in images that have recently been shared online and see Rey accompanied by The Bella twins, Matt and Jeff Hardy and Jeff's wife Beth Britt. Rey looks like he might have had a couple of drinks in this picture which was why he was happy to step in and have it taken without realising that he wasn't wearing his mask. Either that or he hoped that wearing a hat would mean that no one would recognise him, but sadly it didn't work out that way.

1 1. Family Photo

Rey Mysterio has always been a man who would do anything for his family. After 21 years of being married to Angie, the couple has raised two children and Rey has been able to have a lengthy career as a professional wrestler and superhero to many children all over the world.

Rey has reached the point now where wearing his mask doesn't seem to mean as much to him as it once did since he himself now updates photos where he isn't wearing a mask. The above image is a cute family photo that Dominic shared on his Instagram page that shows Rey with his wife Angie and Dominic because the oldest child of the Mysterio family was wishing his mother a happy Mother's Day. As cute as the photo is, it is perhaps one that Rey wouldn't want to be circulated. It's a personal image of his family and as a wrestling star, he knows how important it is to keep your personal life private from your professional life.