We have heard many backstage stories in which wrestlers don't agree with certain types of angles.
Also, masks bring heritage to lucha libre wrestlers. Once a mask is off and the wrestler's face is exposed, then the wrestler can never mask himself again. The wrestler loses his charisma, image, and I guess sponsorship deals.
This is the case when Rey Mysterio battled with Xavier Woods. The New Day is on the verge of collapse and Mysterio's LWO is in the middle. What was supposed to be a joyous tenth anniversary is merely prolonging the agony for both Woods and Kofi Kingston, whose faction has never been the same since the retirement of Big E because of a freak injury he suffered a couple of years ago. In terms of achievements, the couple of years have been bad for them. It has been ages since Kofi Kingston's WWE Championship, and Xavier Woods' King of the Ring victory.
The teased disbandment started with Karrion Kross and it didn't help that Kofi was planning things without Woods' consent. I thought Kofi did a heel thing when he brought in Odyssey Jones. I know they pegged him as a babyface here, but why would you root for the best friend who could have just called his best friend?
It's weird.
And it's equally weird that Rey Mysterio is again at the forefront as the snooping "dad."
Enough of the storylines though. I'm talking about the mask and how bad this Mysterio versus Woods match is. Their chemistry seemed off, and it was sloppy at times. There was even a time when I thought Mysterio was concussed in the first minute of this WWE clip because this was not your average Mysterio or Woods match. Mysterio is usually the speedster of the match but for some reason, he has to settle first before executing a move. Woods is usually the strongman, especially when facing cruiserweights but for some reason, Mysterio was acting like a deadweight.
Normally, Vince McMahon likes big, beefy men, but you can't help but wonder if Triple H is also fond of the bodybuilder archetype, especially with how jobber-like the LWO stable has become.
Look, I know the original incarnation of this stable is also within that level (except when it started,) but went from midcard feud to midcard side feud these past few months.
And this is why I believe Mysterio wasn't sold on the idea of losing his mask in that manner to Woods. Even Dominik Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero never removed Mysterio's mask that clean. I'm pretty sure, Rey is at the stage of his career where he couldn't care less, but again, this is his life-long image we're talking about here.
During his run with The Filthy Animals in WCW, Mysterio lost his mask and turned bad, but he had the mini-red devil horns on his head alongside Tygress which made him like an imp.
That was almost 30 years ago.
And again, he was a heel back then.
And no matter how good the production staff is, AND no matter how planned this was between Woods and Mysterio, you can't get away from the action that quickly with that kind of scenario.
So yeah, I think something's off and someone's going to go off backstage.