[4.0] "Every time I've seen a Mil Mascaras match, he's been sloppy and selfish. Often no selling offense or just looking like he's got no timing (or bad timing). Curiously, he's always put over as an "international champion" and "legend" but it seems more gimmick than reality. I'll keep watching old wrestling and I'll change my mind if he ever lives up to the gimmick."
[7.0] "Good technical wrestler who could work at a pretty decent pace, especially for the time period. His cruiserweight style isn't very impressive these days but when placed in the context of the 70s, its pretty decent. His matches don't fully hold up, even his good ones, but I can enjoy them as good for the era, and occasionally he does something impressive to my modern eyes. What lets Mil down is that he was a massive egotist who often, especially after the early 80s, wouldn't sell for anybody and was difficult to work with, this spoils a huge amount of his match catalogue."
[8.0] "Mil was a world wide draw, with a unique look and background. He was much better in the magazines than in person though. His ring work was inconsistent at best and at worst overrated and limited. He stole from Scarpa who stole from Rocca. Mil was easily the best Mexican wrestler ever. The most recognizable masked wrestler, probably to this day. He gains points for international stardom and innovation. Outside of his Houston work, I found his matches hard to watch, but that doesn't mean I don't give him a fair score. Enough of the backwards prancing though, geez."
[5.0] "Legendary figure in Mexico of course and transcended wrestling into TV and movies. But, his ring work wasn't anything special and his shitty no selling attitude dragged matches down. This guy made Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior look like Ricky Steamboat and Ric Flair in putting over opponents as a threat."
[3.0] "One of the few bright spots in New York/the WWWF, so all of his points stem from there. Bad habits not productive to the betterment of the business! This dude sucked because he was only satisfied when he ate his opponents alive. He barely sold anything, so things almost always looked awkward and at times could be aggravating. He refused to lose which made him Hulk Hogan before Hulk Hogan was Hulk Hogan. He was always in great physical condition and looked like money - which I appreciate. I will always love the colorful attire & liked his theatrics that would lend themselves well in decades to come, via others making such things their own. His matches against enhancement talent were usually a joy to watch but that's because so many other matches in New York at the time were DIRE. Outside of the McMahon territory his weaknesses and shortcomings were always exposed quickly, his most watchable material coming in the form of tag tam affairs. I remember matches against top heel talents all over the country that were 5 minute squashes, totally nuking any of their well earned heat. The match with Cactus Jack and his Royal Rumble appearance are infamous. Had he been far less selfish and egocentric he would double his scoring with me and maybe even have some bonus points. 3.25 rounded down. (ALSO! To address a remark made by an inmate here: the point of wrestling isn't just to draw money, it's to leave it a better place than when you found it. if you draw for only yourself and refuse to pass the torch so to speak - you suck and are missing the point. it's not about YOU it's about the future of the business! Mil's selfishness translated to poor ring work. I watch wrestling for the bell to bell stuff, and if you do not deliver there then your watchability factor degrades. there are many "jobbers" I would rather watch than this guy! )"
[8.0] "Mil is a man who was famous for his egoism and who was not a particularly outstanding wrestler, being rather a showman, a man who is adored not for his moves. Most often, my main evaluation criteria are the contribution to development of the industry and wrestler's gimmick and his success. And Mil succeeded in this. He was one of the popularizers of wrestling in Mexico in the years when it was a religion and luchadores were considered superheroes. Mil has more than a dozen main roles in films. In addition, now he hold championship belt for more than 40 years and at almost 80 years old still sometimes performs in the ring. Mil is one of the most recognizable luchadores in the world, so 8 points."
[3.0] "This review was inspired by watching Mil refuse to be eliminated by anyone in an Royal Rumble and instead demand that he eliminate himself by doing a crossbody to the outside because "he didn't know the rules". A Royal Rumble! The perfect place to lose and still find a way to come out protected! Is anybody actually watching these old Mil matches when he was spreading the art of lucha libre all over the world? His average match isn't particularly gripping, and when you KNOW he's not taking the fall it takes a ton of drama away from his matchups against the top-of-the-card talent he was often working with. I don't know if I've ever seen a supposedly great wrestler have more bad matches with other great wrestlers. Yes, Mil Mascaras was a draw. He looked like the coolest thing in the world in old wrestling magazines. He is the living embodiment of great on paper/bad in practice. Just watch his far superior brother Dos Caras in their old tag matches from the 70's and you'll start to see the pattern."
[8.0] "Probably one of the biggest unsung draws of all time, Mascaras could sell out places even today as old as he is, he's just that charismatic and carries so much weight as legendary a role he played in bringing lucha to America and beyond. Was he extremely lazy if he wasn't going over or in the main event? Yeah, but when he's on the ball, he's actually very good despite being fairly basic even by the standards of the 70's and beyond and not exactly having the greatest selling either. When the guy alongside him can get him to pull his weight, you can get some solid technical bouts but could fly off the ropes just fine and had some sensational lucha matches for the time also. Naturally a great wrestler has to be something beyond a fantastical draw and wrestler, and Mascaras always had the issue of almost NEVER losing clean and being really uncooperative and/or not bothering at all, so ultimately I can't say he's beyond being good on a consistent basis."
[8.0] "Mil Mascaras was an excellent, highly charismatic and for his times very exciting wrestler... when he felt like it. In those cases he had good to great matches both in Mexico and Japan against the likes of Tinieblas and Genichiro Tenryu. However when the pay wasn't as good as he wanted, when he didn't like his opponent, when he felt he was not wrestling in an adequate venue or just when he didn't feel like it he had no problem showing he'd rather be anywhere else than in the ring. I don't know if Mil Mascaras is really that snobbish or if it's just his gimmick, but it's a gimmick that has carried him very far: he's one of those wrestlers that can still sell tickets in his late 70's merely by putting his name on the card and walking to the ring. An absolutely amazing draw."
[10.0] "I say the best wrestler in Mexico of all time! He great at everything. Very exciting to watch. He is still wrestling at 76 years old and will probably die as a wrestler. A legend for sure."
[8.0] "Mascaras was always a 50/50 deal IMO. His in-ring skills weren't superb and he wasn't the most liked man in the back, but damn if he couldn't sell out an arena. Mascaras is one of the most recognizable names in Lucha Libre History, so i give him an 8 for his popularity, not for his ring skill."
[9.0] "The Man of a Thousand masks has done a lot in his career in Mexico and the world wide. When the character continues on for so long the tradition just helps keep the luster alive. So whether it's remembering the things he helped innovate or the fact that he can still show up and perform, Mil Mascaras will be remembered."
[10.0] "The object of wrestling is to be able to draw a crowd. Mascares was maybe the second biggest touring draw of the past 50 years just behind Andre the Giant. He is not very well liked by the boys because he won't sell... he won't job... he won't give the rub. This hurt's his legacy now because current fans see him as a 70 year old man in the ring. I'm lucky I've been following wrestling now for 40 years and my first impression of Mascares was when he was still in his 30's. In those days the big territories in North America and Japan would routinally bring Mascares in for a run and immediately use him to sell out their arena's. He was VERY SPECIAL. Mascares was often mentioned as the best wrestler in the entire world at that time. If the internet had been around in those days, you fan boys would have erected a golden statue in worship to Mascares. Ultimately, it's a little sad that Macares never ended up doing any jobs... but in that reguards he's comparable to a Hulk Hogan. By not doing a job, his legend continues well into his 50's and 60's unlike guys who do job and see their career's end in their 40's."
[8.0] "Ignore the lone 1 ranking. While Mascaras has his attitude issues are well know, his talent and legacy cannot go without question. I cannot rate him a 10 knowing of his ego and his refusing to sell at times. Yet, being one of the top names ever in Mexico and bringing the style to the states and Japan show how talented he was."
[10.0] "I understand El Santo, & the Blue Demon are bigger in the Mexican Community but Mil Mascaras brought Lucha Libre to the States, and around the world. That is impact"
