A Face’s Face

Volador Junior is a masked Mexican wrestler with an impressive collection of body suits and masks.  He has entertained his followers in a series of superhero costumes (including a sexy Batman look).  You can usually identify him in his wide range of costumes because he displays a large “V” for Volador somewhere on his gear, and sports a trademark circle-with-two triangles symbol on his legs.

Over his career, Volador has played both the law-abiding hero (or técnico) and the cruel villain (or rúdo).  Lately he’s been tag-teaming with the evil La Sombra and ripping off opponents’ masks (the ultimate disrespect) and kicking them in the crotches — the sort of senseless violence that makes the evil bastard wrestlers oh so fun to watch.

Another way to recognize Volador despite his many costumes is from the unusual contact lenses he wears which makes his eyes look ultra-intense.  The pupils are made to appear smaller and the color is full and vibrant, an icy green color.  He looks tele-kinetic with those magical eyes — perhaps able to fling his opponents out of the ring without touching them or to start fires just by staring at a piece of wood.

He clearly has a great body, but he has just never caught my attention.  Maybe the wearing of a mask has a negative effect of preventing the audience from relating to the luchador, from falling in love with him.  Many of the masked men just seem generic and interchangeable to me.

On 9/13/13 at the CMLL 80th Anniversary show, Volador Jr. and his partner, La Sombra, agreed to a strange stipulation match.  First they would square off against another Tag Team, and the winners of that match would then wrestle against each other in a Mask vs. Mask match. They did win their tag team match and had to wrestle partner-vs.-partner, which you can see on YouTube.

I guess I don’t understand Lucha Libre…  Why should the winners be punished by being forced to fight and for one of them to unmask  — the ultimate humiliation in Mexican wrestling??   Anyway, Volador Jr. lost to his partner despite the support of the hot crowd and was forced to surrender his mask.  HOLY STUDMUFFIN, BATMAN!

Why the hell did they ever put a mask on this handsome devil??  Check out those dimples, that cute baby face, and those striking eyes emphasized by the unusual contact lenses. Masking this pretty boy is like hanging a bag over the statue of David!

A rumor is floating around that this hunk — Ramon Rivera –is being considered for a spot on the WWE roster.  He is a former Tag Team partner of Alberto Del Rio so it may be interesting for the handsome latinos to get some matching gear and act like the Crowned Princes of Mexican Wrestling or something.

So now he’s been unmasked and the fans seem to adore him more than ever.  How could they resist those masculine features and gorgeous dimples?  Traditionally, a Mexican wrestler who loses his mask faces public humiliation and a setback in his career, but this dude is enjoying greater fame and fortune after his unmasking.  I must admit, Mr. Rivera is on my radar screen now that he’s ditched the hood and exposed himself.

Here is a recent match where Volador (or should we call him Ramon Ibarra Rivera?) entered the ring in white and gold gear, the traditional colors of the heroic Baby-Face martyr in Lucha Libre.  He pulls off his mask, which he may no longer wrestle in, giving him an unprotected appearance. Baby blue accents around his biceps and waist add to his overall image of sexy vulnerability.  It’s not long before the masked outlaws illegally double-team the pretty Face and toss his bare-chested body out of the ring.

As if the fans aren’t head-over-heels in love with this Adonis already, the bullies decide to really stir up the sympathy by bashing his face into the ringpost to get the crimson flowing.  A cut is formed on his brow which causes a flow of blood to trickle down his cheek like a perpetual red teardrop.

The photographers at ringside are like sharks tasting blood in the water.  They zoom in for some dramatic close-up shots of the hero maimed and bleeding, the pretty-boy forced to wear the crimson mask.  We get the sense that his decision to wrestle without a mask is costing him — is inspiring his jealous opponents to make him pay for his handsomeness in blood.

Volador Jr. is rendered totally defenseless as his opponent poses with one foot planted on his bare chest in dominance.  The purpose of this pose is to add insult to his injury, to utterly humiliate the fan favorite.  It’s the extra little flourishes like this which turn a run-of-the-mill Baby-Face Beat-down into a stunning work of art.

Earlier I mentioned that Volador may soon come to the USA to wrestle in a Heel tag team with Del Rio.  Now that I see him helpless, pinned under a stronger man’s boot, I think he may be more entertaining as a Baby-Face in Peril, constantly subdued and overpowered by cruel cheaters.

Now that he is displaying his whole face — his woeful expressions of suffering, his sad eyes and downturned lips, that wound above his brow — it’s far easier for Volador Jr. to sell his pain and gain our sympathy.

And we get the sense that he looks too good to be competing in a violent sport against sadistic brutes.  He should protect that face, not risk getting scratches and scars.  He should be in a job where you get by on your looks — selling expensive real estate or acting in one of those dramatic Mexican soap operas — not getting his head smashed into ringposts, chairs, and enemy boots.

Using his thick thighs as weapons, the hero stuns his opponent and secures a surprise victory.  His name, “Volador”, means “flying”, so it is appropriate that his power is derived from going airborn.

This victory also serves to put the unmasked Volador over — to reassure the fans that, even though he lost his hood, he hasn’t lost his strength and power.  In fact, he is even more spectacular now that we can see his face.

So let’s hope the rumors about Volador joining the WWE are true so we can see much more of this stud on Mondays and Fridays.  And let’s hope they’re wise enough to keep the mask off so we can stare at that face as he absorbs his weekly punishments.