Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
One of the oldest angles in wrestling is the ol’ babyface gets run out of a territory/promotion and a “mysterious” masked man comes in his place. It has been done repeatedly and most of the time, the masked man looks and acts very similar to the wrestler run out of town.
Coincidence? Hardly….
The angle usually involves a babyface wrestler being kayfabe suspended or losing a “Loser leaves town” match. That same wrestler will return to the territory under a mask…looking and talking similar to his old self. The reasoning behind this? I guess the booker and/or promoter wants the fans to be in on the joke against the dreaded heels. All the while, the authority figure would be clueless to the scenario.
Many promotions have done the angle including the NWA/WCW, WWF, ECW and various territories. Let’s look at just a few…
The Midnight Rider (Dusty Rhodes)
Charlie Brown from Outta Town (Jimmy Valiant)
The Giant Machine (Andre the Giant)
Stagger Lee (Junkyard Dog)
“The Other” Stagger Lee (Koko B Ware)
The Bullet (Bob Armstrong)
The Yellow Dog 1 (Barry Windham)
The Yellow Dog 2 (Brian Pillman)
Mr. America (Hulk Hogan)
The Masked Outlaw (Dory Funk Jr.)
Red River Jack (Bruiser Brody)
The Big O (Bugsy McGraw)
The Masked Zodiac (Bob Orton Sr.)
Sweet Ebony Diamond (Rocky Johnson)
Unnamed Masked Man (Rick Rude)
Frank and Jesse James (Dusty Rhodes and Magnum TA)
In closing, masked wrestling gimmicks have been a part of pro wrestling for years and years. The next time you see a masked wrestler on TV or an indie show…just ask…Who was that masked man?