Wrestling mask
He continued wrestling using the mask throughout France as part of a circus troupe in the 1860s before moving on to the United States in the early 1870s.
[1] December 14, 1874, The Charlotte Democrat reported on an interesting story from Bucharest Romania about an open challenge made by local wrestler, Jules Rigal being accepted by a gentleman wishing to remain anonymous.
The gentleman was a masked wrestler named "The Great Unknown," and rumored to have been Prince Stourja, a Moldavian nobleman with a reputation of Herculean strength.
[2] In 1915, Mort Henderson started wrestling as the "Masked Marvel" in the New York area making him the earliest North American wrestler to perform with such a gimmick.
One of the best-known North American masked wrestlers was Big Van Vader, who was also known for his in-ring agility despite his large frame during the 1980s and 90s.
Other notable examples are Rey Mysterio, Mankind, Kane, Doom, Edge & Christian as 'Los Conquistadores' & Owen Hart as 'Blue Blazer'.
And this human being sometimes sacrifices a lot to give this other identity life.The Luchador mask, known as a mascara in Spanish, “draws from Mexican history in which Mayans and Aztecs warriors would complete for superiority”.
Early masks were simple with strong, basic colors designs that could be recognized even in the back row of the arena.
Lucha Libre is still an incredibly popular sport in Mexico, with souvenir masks being sold at events and online.
Masks are colorfully designed to evoke the images of animals, gods, ancient heroes, and other archetypes, whose identity the luchador takes on during a performance.
It is customary for the loser of such a match to reveal his real name, where he's from and how long he has been a wrestler before taking the mask off to show his face.
Famous Japanese masked wrestlers include Jyushin Thunder Liger, Último Dragón, El Samurai, The Great Sasuke, Dragon Kid and Bushi.
Although at live shows, masked wrestlers were as prolific in British wrestling as its American counterpart, they were largely kept off ITV's television coverage until the late 1960s.
Another successful masked wrestler from the 1970s was blue-eye martial artist Kung Fu, played by Eddie Hamill, who lost his mask after a 1976 televised defeat by Mick McManus[9] but continued to wrestle unmasked still as Kung Fu, winning the British Heavy Middleweight Championship in 1986.
Subsequently, during the 1980s in Joint Promotions, masked wrestlers were generally built towards being fodder for Big Daddy to defeat, unmask and humiliate in headline tag matches on ITV, such as the Spoiler (Drew McDonald) King Kendo (aka Red Devil), Battle Star, El Diablo, the Black Baron, the Masked Marauders tag team and The Emperor.
Meanwhile in All Star Wrestling - apart from Nagasaki - they were mostly treated as short lived reflections of recent fads in popular culture.
In 1995, All Star shows were frequently headlined by a masked tag team based on the Power Rangers franchise, until the copyright owners intervened.
Doing so, however, was banned under French wrestling rules - if unmasked, a wrestler would crouch on the mat face-down until the referee restored his mask.
Spanish wrestler Angelito initially wore a silver mask in France before taking it off midway through a 1971 televised match with Jacky Richard.
Another Spaniard, Oscar "Crusher" Verdu, who wrestled under a mask as Der Henker, would win the French Heavyweight Championship in 1983.
This tradition continued in the early 21st century with Cybernic Machine, a masked wrestler playing a "computer virus" character, who was a successful heel in France.
If the masks were not attached to the top, then they were made from uncomfortable material such as brushed pig skin, leather or suede.
