Juventud Guerrera On Losing His Mask In WCW
Juventud Guerrera blames his youth for signing off on a storyline in WCW where he lost his mask.
A few luchadores lost their masks while at World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in the nineties. Juventud Guerrera was one of those luchadores when he lost his mask in a Cruiserweight Championship match against Chris Jericho. In an interview with 1Wrestling, Guerrera talked about his unmaskings in WCW and he said he was "going by the flow" and that is why he allowed his mask to be removed.
"I think I was 22…we were so young in the business we didn't know exactly what to do or what to say, we were going by the flow," said Guerrera.
Other wrestlers who lost their masks in WCW include Lucha Underground's Rey Mysterio and Psicosis. The mask is a signature of Mexican Lucha Libre and Guerrera explained why he thinks Lucha Libre needs the tradition.
"That's a tradition that's never going to stop. We're never going to lose that. That's kind of a unity thing for Mexican luchadores and all the fans around the world so they can enjoy a different kind of wrestling, Lucha Libre," said Guerrera.
In an interesting twist, Guerrera named Eddie Guerrero as one of his role models in Lucha Libre, Guerrero did not wear a mask for most of his career. Guerrera said one of his other "mentors" was his father Fuerza Guerrera. The mask Guerrera lost to Jericho in WCW and the one he wears now is designed similar to his father's but with one major difference. Guerrera's long hair hangs out of his mask, and he explained why he chose to design it that way.
"A lot of people were talking about 'why don't you use the same design as your dad?' I am still a rock and roll player, a heavy metal guy so I always like the hair outside. That's why when I was going to the corner in WCW, I was moving my hair," said Guerrera.
Also during the podcast, Guerrera discussed the early days of WCW's infusion of Lucha Libre talent. He said he and the others paved the way for wrestlers like Penta El 0M.
The rest of the interview can be found at 1Wrestling's YouTube channel.
