• Home
  • Movies
  • Music
  • TV
  • Video Games
  • Wrestling
  • Topics
  • Latest Comments
Search
Cult of Whatever logo
  • Movies
    Featured
    • The Living Daylights: Timothy Dalton as James Bond

      The Living Daylights is still awesome, thirty-five years later

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 28, 2022
      Movie Blogs
    Recent
    • Elvis: Austin Butler

      REVIEW: ELVIS beautifully mythologizes the King of Rock and Roll

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 25, 2022
    • The Black Phone: Ethan Hawke as The Grabber

      REVIEW: THE BLACK PHONE is a flat, dull, rushed non-horror movie

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 25, 2022
    • Jurassic World Dominion Logo

      REVIEW: Jurassic World Dominion – Here we go again…again

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 12, 2022
    • Three Men and a Baby: Tom Selleck and Ted Danson

      Three Men and a Baby is still awesome thirty five years later

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 31, 2022
    • The Bob's Burgers Movie Poster

      REVIEW: Bob’s Burgers The Movie is Bob’s Burgers The Show, which means it’s great

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 28, 2022
    • Top Gun Maverick: Tom Cruise

      REVIEW: Top Gun Maverick is a sequel that soars!

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 27, 2022
  • Music
    Random
    • Bg Elvis Hs

      Elvis's 40 Year Reign (1965-1967)

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 29, 2017
      Music Blogs
    Recent
    • The Beatles: Get Back

      What GET BACK reveals about the Beatles

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 15, 2021
    • Simon And Garfunkel at Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam1982

      The Boxer is a song about being conned

      By Matthew Martin
      | July 4, 2021
    • Lady Gaga: Chromatica Album Cover

      Lady Gaga’s discography is totally out of order

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 3, 2021
    • Michael Jackson Thriller Album Cover

      Thirty years ago music fans said “Nevermind” to Michael Jackson

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 21, 2021
    • Queen II Album Cover

      On Queen’s The Miracle, and the importance of track ordering

      By Matthew Martin
      | February 16, 2021
    • Linda Paul Mccartney 1976

      50 years ago, McCartney dropped “Lennon” and went solo…

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 5, 2020
  • TV
    Featured
    • Nancy Drew S03e01: Kennedy McMann as Nancy

      Nancy Drew S03E01 Review: The Warning of the Frozen Heart - Uh-oh!

      By Salome G
      | October 10, 2021
      TV Blogs
    Recent
    • Roswell, New Mexico S04e03: Sibongile Mlambo, Lily Cowles and Michael Trevino as Anatsa, Isobel and Kyle

      Roswell, New Mexico S04E03 Review: Subterranean Homesick Alien – Treading water?

      By Salome G
      | June 23, 2022
    • Obi-Wan Kenobi Series: Ewan McGregor and Vivien Lyra Blair as Obi-Wan and Leia

      REVIEW: Obi-Wan Kenobi had a good season and little else

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 22, 2022
    • Evil S03e02: Sohina Sidhu and Aasif Mandvi as Karima and Ben Shakir

      Evil S03E02 Review: The Demon of Memes – Delightfully creepy

      By Salome G
      | June 20, 2022
    • Dark Winds S01e02: Jessica Matten as Bernadette Manuelito

      Dark Winds S01E02 Review: The Male Rain Approaches – Loose threads

      By Salome G
      | June 20, 2022
    • Riverdale S06e17: Madelaine Petsch, Camila Mendes and Lili Reinhart as Cheryl, Veronica and Betty

      Riverdale S06E17 Review: American Psychos – Bored

      By Salome G
      | June 18, 2022
    • Star Trek Strange New Worlds S01e06: Ian Ho and Husein Madhavji as First Servant and Elder Gamal

      Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Episodes 6-7 review (the best and the not-so best)

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 18, 2022
  • Video Games
    Featured
    • Arkham Knight

      Batman: Arkham Knight - A fitting end to a trilogy

      By Tom Farr
      | July 18, 2015
      Video Game Reviews
    Recent
    • Legend Of Zelda

      Can a Legend of Zelda movie work?

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 6, 2022
    • Super Mario 64

      Which system had the better launch: A battle of four Nintendo consoles

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 1, 2021
    • Luigi's Mansion

      Happy twentieth to Nintendo’s underrated gem, the Gamecube

      By Matthew Martin
      | November 18, 2021
    • Metroid Dread

      Metroid Dread – Post Game analysis and sequel needs

      By Matthew Martin
      | October 29, 2021
    • Mario Headphones

      The SNES Turns 30: A look at some of the system’s best soundtracks

      By Matthew Martin
      | October 22, 2021
    • Metroid Dread Poster

      REVIEW: Metroid Dread reawakens the old gamer in me

      By Matthew Martin
      | October 11, 2021
  • Wrestling
    Featured
    • Wwe Payback 2017 Poster 2

      Your SO OF COURSE preview of WWE Payback 2017

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 30, 2017
      WWE Blogs
    Recent
    • AEW Double or Nothing 2022: CM Punk vs Adam Page

      REVIEW: AEW Double or Nothing 2022 delivered an up-and-down show

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 30, 2022
    • MJF on AEW Dynamite 17th November 2021

      Getting AEW to the next level…

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 29, 2022
    • Raw 210501: Triple H and Stephanie McMahon

      May 21, 2001 – A (forgotten) date that will live in WWE infamy

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 20, 2022
    • WWE WrestleMania 39 Logo

      Your WAY TOO EARLY predictions for WWE WrestleMania 39!

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 20, 2022
    • WWE WrestleMania 38 Poster

      Your SO OF COURSE preview of WWE WRESTLEMANIA 38!

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 30, 2022
    • Wrestlemania 31 Paige Aj Lee 2

      BOOK REVIEW: The Women of WrestleMania is a balanced take on an under-valued slice of history

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 16, 2022
  • Topics
    • site logo
    Latest
    • REVIEW: ELVIS beautifully mythologizes the King of Rock and Roll
    • REVIEW: THE BLACK PHONE is a flat, dull, rushed non-horror movie
    • Roswell, New Mexico S04E03 Review: Subterranean Homesick Alien - Treading water?
    • REVIEW: Obi-Wan Kenobi had a good season and little else
    • Evil S03E02 Review: The Demon of Memes - Delightfully creepy
    • Dark Winds S01E02 Review: The Male Rain Approaches - Loose threads
    • Latest Comments

    WWE: Rey Mysterio – Behind the Mask Book Review

    By Dante Spears
    | December 19, 2009
    Wrestling Book Reviews
    This page contains affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, we may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Learn more

    In probably one of their most brilliant marketing moves this year, the WWE waited until just before Christmas to release ‘Behind the Mask’; the autobiography of none other than Rey Mysterio.

    Wwe Rey Mysterio Behind The Mask Book Cover

    Rey Mysterio, otherwise known as “hey what’s that blur on my television screen?” is the latest wrestler to release his life story for the legions of interested fans. Along with being one of the WWE’s top performers and an icon to the mass of younger wrestling fans, releasing his autobiography before Christmas was a genius move for sales. With so much to cover in his storied career it has to be one of the most anticipated wrestling biographies released for some time…

    My first impression of the book was good, it’s quite an easy read; Mysterio could be sitting in the room talking to you personally. It’s certainly accessible to anyone who doesn’t know anything about wrestling or the Mexican wrestling scene as Rey explains the basics of both industries. However once I finished it, I found it feels rather short and light which is odd considering it covers 34 years. There’s plenty of interesting stories about Rey’s childhood, wrestling training and his stints in Mexico, ECW and WCW but they dry up around the time of his signing with WWE. He begins to focus more on the in ring storylines and towards the end of the book he just speeds through everything, at one point summing up entire years in the space of two paragraphs! Essentially the time given to his career in WWE just seems lacking.

    The format of the book leaves much to be desired – it’s divided into chapters with a number of subtopics in each chapter, much like Batista and Eric Bischoff’s autobiographies. I certainly wouldn’t call this a useful addition because it makes it feel more like you’re reading an interview from the subject as opposed to their autobiography. One of the inherent problems with this is that it’s very easy for the focus of the chapter to jump all over the place. At one point Rey is talking about his success in Mexico, jumping to his superhero costumes he wears for special occasions like Wrestlemania before coming full circle back to talking about Mexico. Good formatting could probably pull this off, but the subtopics just make the changes abrupt. But then again, what does format matter as long as the content is good? Well things started off great with Rey’s cheery attitude, explanation of the inner workings of Mexican wrestling, and humorous personal stories, all of which drew me in quite effectively.

    And then…

    “In 2007 I had a chance to work with him [Sabu] at the ‘One Night Stand’ PPV. I was the World Champion then, and the title was on the line. He nailed me through a table outside the ring with a DDT, but he used so much force that not only did he send me through the table, he put him through it as well. The medical people came out and the match had to be stopped. If it wasn’t for that, he probably would have won the match; he was really on fire that night.”

    …he comes out and says this, which will take any immersion you had and snap it neatly in half. I actually had to stop and comprehend what I had just read because I was utterly bewildered. A lot of wrestling books have a problem of meshing kayfabe and reality but this might be the first time where I’ve actually seen a wrestler trying to convince us in their autobiography that what’s happening in the ring is real. He has this annoying problem of writing wrestling matches as if they were genuine, treating his opponent as if they are the character they portray in the ring. But even here he’s not consistent: at times he’ll talk about how another wrestler was furious and beating him as if it was reality. Other times he’ll talk about how he botched a move and what they were supposed to do, talking about the wrestlers as if they were the people behind the characters.

    And then there’s also that whole Chris Benoit situation that has caused the WWE to relentlessly censor anything related to the man. Would it have been too hard to allow a friend a short paragraph talking about how he was deeply saddened by the tragedy, not glorifying Benoit in anyway? In short, yes. Benoit is mentioned twice in Mysterio’s book, once off hand when Rey is talking about a bunch of wrestlers (the Radicalz) who jump ship from WCW to WWF, and at the end in the acknowledgments when he tributes his friends that have died young. Only Chris Benoit gets no tribute – Wild Pegasus does. Come on WWE are you so scared of revealing that wrestlers cared about him that the only way to show any sentiment is to refer to a 20 year old moniker?

    Before I conclude this review there’s just one more gripe with the book that I feel needs to be brought to light – the cover art. This might qualify as a petty but it really was a piss poor attempt by whoever designed it. This is Rey Mysterio, a man known for his ornate costumes, colourful pyrotechnic explosions and whose entrance video is a psychedelic blend of flashing colors. The best way they thought they could illustrate that was with Mysterio wearing a black mask on a black background looking like a corpse! The appearance is made even worse by his eyes …yes he explains that the white contact lenses have a symbolic meaning to him and its part of his costume but it really doesn’t help him look any better. But a cover shouldn’t make or break whether you buy a book…it’s just a little creepy having a dead-eyed, corpse-like picture of Mysterio staring at you when you’re not reading.

    So is ‘Behind the Mask’ a good book? Well that’s a difficult question. I remember us being promised an autobiography of Rey Mysterio’s life and what we got was an overview which never really went into any depth about anything. But then again I’m a critic who has an understanding of what is omitted so it’s more frustrating to me when I notice these. But if you have a little one who loves Rey Mysterio this would certainly make for a good gift. And I see a lot of potential – Rey surely has more stories that he is holding out on thanks to the WWE’s PG rating and he could probably put together a more fitting autobiography in the future. Until then, ‘Behind the Mask’ will prove adequate for fans – it’s not bad, just shallow.

    Points: 6.5 / 10

    Buy It:

    UK: £10.95

    USA:$17.82

    Share this article:

    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit

    Tags

    Rey MysterioWWE Books

    COMMENTS

    Please read our Commenting Policy before you join in with the discussion.

    Note: If you have email notifications enabled, please check your email spam folders to ensure emails are not missed.

    Subscribe
    Connect withD
    I allow to create an account
    When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
    DisagreeAgree
    Notify of
    guest
    Connect withD
    I allow to create an account
    When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
    DisagreeAgree
    guest
    0 Comments
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments

    You might also like

    • Breaking WWE News: Rey Mysterio Suspended!

      By Cassidy
      | April 26, 2012
    • Rey Mysterio: The Biggest Little Man DVD Review

      By Henry Higgins
      | May 6, 2008
    • WWE: Wrestling’s Highest Flyers DVD Review

      By Henry Higgins
      | February 17, 2011

    FIND THE TOPICS YOU WANT...

    Wrestling Topics

    Recommended for you

    • REVIEW: AEW Double or Nothing 2022 delivered an up-and-down show

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 30, 2022
    • Getting AEW to the next level…

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 29, 2022
    • May 21, 2001 – A (forgotten) date that will live in WWE infamy

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 20, 2022
    • Your WAY TOO EARLY predictions for WWE WrestleMania 39!

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 20, 2022
    • Money in the Bank and making a main-eventer

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 31, 2017
    • What we want from an AEW video game

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 31, 2021
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Affiliate Disclosure
    • Cookie Policy and Settings
    • Terms of Use
    • Photo Credits
    • RSS
    All Cult of Whatever articles, logos, illustrations and graphics are copyright CultOfWhatever.com. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. © 2021 CultOfWhatever. All Rights Reserved.
    • facebook
    • twitter
    wpDiscuz