The original Sin Cara, Luis Urive, is unlikely to return
to WWE. It's completely unsurprising. When he debuted for the company in 2011 the
hope was that he would become the next major masked star for the WWE Merch
Machine to get behind (something still needed because Rey Mysterio's body is
knackered). In the two and a half years he's been with the company Urive has
become synonymous with lengthy injury layoffs and botches. It's the botches for
which he'll be most remembered but it's the injuries which did the greatest
harm to his WWE career.
Urive struggled with the WWE system and a large part of
that was due to him never being around long enough to form a lasting connection
with fans. There were other reasons obviously: his lack of familiarity with the
US (particularly the WWE) style and inability to speak English being two
obvious ones. Had he avoided injury he'd have been wrestling more, which would
have improved his understanding of the style and exposed him to more English.
It became obvious a while ago that he'd leave WWE when
his contract expires. That's set to happen early next year, unless an early
deal has been reached that’s yet to be acknowledged. The loss of him as a
performer is not great, for the reasons given above. The loss of the Sin Cara
character, on the other hand, would be a loss. Which is probably why WWE have
decided to keep it going.
Urive last appeared for WWE on the August 19th
RAW. He wrestled Alberto Del Rio and had the match called off when he
dislocated a finger performing a suicide dive (which understandably infuriated
ADR). Sin Cara returned to action on the December 2nd RAW where he
again wrestled Del Rio, this time picking up the surprising victory. The
difference was that in December it was not Urive under the mask. It was Jorge
Arias, more frequently known as Hunico.
This was not without precedent, as most will already
know. When Urive was suspended in 2011 for violating the Wellness Policy™ he
was replaced on TV by Arias. That led to a feud between the two, with Urive working
as the original Sin Cara Azul and Arias switching to a black outfit and
LOST-inspired entrance music to become Sin Cara Negro. Arias lost a mask versus
mask match (receiving the standard announcer comments of how ugly he was when
the mask came off, natch) and became Hunico. He's played that character in an
enhancement role since.
I'm as sure as I can be that this is the man formerly known as Hunico |
The December 2nd RAW made it pretty clear that
Urive’s not coming back. While Arias had portrayed the character before he's
gotten a prominent shoulder tattoo since last doing so. Unless WWE restarts the
Cara v Cara feud or Urive gets identical ink (neither of which is likely, obvs)
that prohibits a return of the original. And frankly it's not a loss. Urive had
proven himself unreliable and unwilling to improve. Arias may not be as
fantastic at running fast or performing flips but he can connect with crowds
better and is less prone to injuring himself. The important thing for WWE is
keeping the mask on TV. They've ploughed a lot of time into promoting it over
the last couple of years and as long as kids keep buying the merch (which they
are) there's a point to having the character on TV. It's good for Arias too. He
deserves a higher spot than tagging with Camacho on NXT.
I expect Urive will head back to CMLL when he's
officially done with WWE. That's where he came to prominence, wrestling as the Mistico
(ironically Arias had been working outside of CMLL under the same before Urive
was given the name). In his absence a new man (real identity unknown: classic
Mexico) has worked under the Mistico name. A Mistico v Mistico programme in
CMLL would be perfectly natural. And it would be a fitting follow-up to Urive’s
confusing time in WWE.
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