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Over the years, WWE have made many failed attempts at establishing either a new lucha libre or latino star to follow in the steps of Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio. However, despite many projects and masked individuals over the years, WWE either hasn’t found the right person, or have booked individuals so poorly that they weren’t capable of becoming a star. Sin Cara was one of those many failed projects, with him initially being hyped up as a huge name. His journey in WWE was certainly a strange one, with Sin Cara having various interactions and portrayals throughout the years of 2011 and 2019.
WWE Rushed A Sin Cara Vs Sin Cara Feud
In 2011, “Sin Cara” was brought into WWE, accompanied by many video packages, press, and more. The former “Mistico” portrayed Sin Cara, with him having a huge reputation in the likes of CMLL as one of the best luchadors in the business at the time. When joining WWE, he initially looked strong, but after a few matches there were some cracks showing due to a few botches here and there, and an uncomfortable lighting lingering over his matches.
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In July, Mistico received a 30-day Wellness Policy Violation, and was written off TV, adding another speed bump to the start of his WWE career. During this time though, the “Sin Cara” character kept appearing on TV, this time portrayed by the man who would become “Hunico” in WWE. In this time, the Hunico version of the character showcased heelish traits, which built up to a Sin Cara vs Sin Cara feud between the good and bad versions of the character. They were billed as Sin Cara Azul and Sin Cara Negro, with the original version, portrayed by Mistico, coming out on top in their mask vs mask match. Mistico retained the Sin Cara name and gimmick for the next few years.
Hunico Eventually Took Over The Sin Cara Gimmick From Mistico
Mistico didn’t do too much in WWE from there, with the most notable creative direction seeing him team up with Rey Mysterio. In late 2013, Mistico stopped his role as Sin Cara, with the mantle once again taken up by Hunico, who had been having an uninspiring run alongside Camacho. This time though, there was no storyline acknowledgment of this change, despite the body type and tattoos clearly showcasing a different version. However, Hunico did a good job in trying to replicate the in-ring style of Mistico’s “Sin Cara”, meaning that most casual fans wouldn’t have noticed the change.
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However, despite Hunico wrestling under the Sin Cara name, Mistico claimed that he himself owned the rights to the ring name, so he would also continue wrestling as “Sin Cara” outside of WWE, meaning that there were simultaneously two Sin Caras in professional wrestling. Mistico would wrestle under multiple names around this time, such as Myzteziz and Carastico, before eventually settling back with the Mistico name in more recent years.
No Matter Who Portrayed Sin Cara, The Character Was A Failure
From 2014 to 2019 in WWE, Hunico remained as Sin Cara, becoming a part of the Lucha Dragons alongside Kalisto, winning the NXT Tag Team Titles on one occasion too. To add some confusion, at times he would wear masks that were very similar to the classic “Mistico” masks, further muddying the Sin Cara lore. In 2019, Hunico was released by WWE, but again, much like Mistico, he decided to continue using the Sin Cara mask in his post-WWE days for a little while.
RELATED: The Alberto Del Rio Vs Sin Cara Backstage Fight That Almost Ended In Disaster
It would be very understandable if fans had gotten lost over who was Sin Cara at any particular time, but one thing remained mostly consistent, and that was that Sin Cara never managed to make any great strides in WWE. Sure, there were a few decent mult-man ladder matches, and the NXT Tag Team Title reign was fine, but for a character who spent eight years in WWE, the project must be considered a failure overall, especially when there were such high hopes for the character to be a success in filling the shoes of Rey Mysterio.
Hunico may have been a better Sin Cara, but with the inconsistency regarding who was portraying the character, and the seemingly cursed nature of the gimmick in terms of botches, neither Hunico nor Mistico did a good enough job in making Sin Cara a star. Of course, WWE’s booking didn’t help either, but neither man managed to impress enough to make the gimmick stand out as a potential singles champion or draw at any point over those eight years. The Sin Cara character had a bizarre journey both inside and outside WWE, but with both men now wrestling elsewhere, it feels as though the final chapter on the Sin Cara gimmick has come to a close.
