February 24th, 2011 WWE held a press conference in Mexico City to introduce one of Mexico’s greatest wrestlers as the latest member of the WWE roster. Mistico was Mexico’s biggest draw for a very long time where he competed as a mainstay in the CMLL promotion, he also spent some time competing in New Japan Pro Wrestling where he was the IWGP Light Heavyweight Champion. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter named him “Box Office Draw of the Decade” for 2000-2009” beating out the likes of Randy Orton, John Cena, and Triple H. In 2007 he finished #3 in the PWI 500! To say that Mistico was well traveled would have been in understatement for sure. Accomplishing all those goals meant it was now time to conquer another goal, making it as a top star in WWE the greatest wrestling promotion in the entire World. At the press conference, Mistico was now christened as Sin Cara by WWE. This moment was touted as one of the first big signees of the “Idiot-Dufus Era” of the WWE (Triple H had his fingerprints all over it). We got to see hype videos and everything hyping his debut. Once his music first hit, the wheels quickly fell off the wagon. He botched everything from his entrance to the moves in the match. The series of botches was followed by another setback in his WWE run when he would be suspended for violating WWE’s Wellness Policy that July. Things just weren’t getting any better for Sin Cara, but at the same time WWE had invested plenty of time and effort into trying to get him over as the next big star to come out of Mexico and something like a new generation’s Rey Mysterio. Plus, his masks are hot sellers for WWE in spite of their high price tag. WWE didn’t want to lose money by simply releasing the guy. They even had developmental wrestler Jorge Arias going under the mask as Sin Cara when Mistico was serving his suspension just so fans could still see Sin Cara and this actually led to a Sin Cara Blue vs Sin Cara black storyline which eventually ended with the original Sin Cara getting the win causing Arias to have to flounder under the crappy Hunico gimmick. Sin Cara would go on to botch more moves and have to spend time on the sidelines due to multiple injuries. With all the botches, the wellness policy violation, and the multiple injuries it appears that Mistco’s time in WWE is about to possibly come a close. If you haven’t heard, Jorge Arias (Hunico) is now wrestling as Sin Cara again; and there are rumors that Mistco has been sent home until his contract runs out. If this truly is the case then we can label Mistico’s time in WWE as a flop. He will go down as something like Ryan Leaf was to the San Diego Chargers in the National Football League, and that is a first round bust. For all the hype that he brought, he didn’t live up to expectations. Instead they just took another guy who worked his style along with knowing the WWE style and put him under the mask, and the casual fan won’t give it a 2nd thought. But does all of the blame fall on the shoulders of Mistico? Sure he botched moves and was known for being a dick backstage because he acted like someone who was the biggest box office draw of the decade, but is it fair to say that WWE deserves some blame in this? After all, they didn’t have him go to developmental first like they should have in order for him to learn the ropes of WWE. Regardless of whether he was a huge draw or not, WWE did themselves no favors by not letting Mistico know his spot on the WWE totem pole from Jump Street. I can understand Mistico acting like he was a big deal when we came in, but WWE should have nipped it in the bud. Now you see what WWE makes sure that EVERYONE goes through NXT no matter how much prior wrestling experience they have had in the past. All parties involved are going to make out just fine in the end. WWE owns he likeness and trademarks to the Sin Cara name, so they will simply have Hunico continue on with it which will allow Hunico to have a bit of a career revival for himself where he will make a little money off the Sin Cara name. Mistico’s contract will run out, and then he will go back to Mexico whether it’s CMLL or AAA and he will be a huge draw upon his return there while wrestling a style that he is used to wrestling while still making a nice amount of money especially if he ends up signing with AAA in time for their huge Triplemania event that takes place in either May or June. All’s well that ends well, right? As always, you can follow me on Twitter @whosantcox, and I can be reached by email at invidwarriorz@gmail.com. See you next time, wrestling fans!
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