Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Mask collection retrospective: 2019

We come now to 2019 in the retrospective. You can find previous entries in this series here: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018.

Once again, this year is BOLA-heavy. I'll be featuring:

  • Mexablood (Flamita's version)
  • Aramis
  • Flamita

Mexablood (2019-09-19, Flamita's version)

If you know me at all, you knew that this mask was coming. I use this one in many of my profile pictures online, and it's my favorite mask of all time. It checks all of the boxes:

  • special one-of-a-kind mask
  • from one of my favorite wrestlers ever
  • used in an absolutely mind-boggling spot of the decade
  • on a big show
  • that I attended live.

I had arranged to buy this mask in advance, even though I didn't know exactly what it was going to be. Flamita told me that it was going to be a special mask and initially told me that he'd send photos. We actually met up at the Mexico City airport the day before BOLA – I was in Mexico City for Mexico Independence Day and flew straight from there to Los Angeles. I asked him whether he had the photos yet. He smiled, said "secreto", and showed them instead to my wife. 😂

In any event, back to BOLA itself. Words can't describe how happy I was. I had absolutely no expectation that they would be retrying the spot that they attempted and failed at AAW the previous year. I absolutely lost it when they pulled it off. On top of that, I had wanted for a few years to be able to see Flamita do one of those insanely crazy spots on the level of the Spot of the Year Candidates that he pulled off in Dragon Gate in 2014. That had never happened – until this moment. This was one for the history books.

It's one of those unforgettable moments that make me enter extended introverted introspection mode, asking myself deep questions about life and lucha, about whether this was meant to happen, and why I got to see something like this.

Aramis (2019-09-20)

As with last year, I managed to pick up a second mask at BOLA. I'd known about Aramis for some time. He was actually on the very first indie lucha show that I saw in Mexico, in Coliseo Coacalco. I began 2019 hoping to get one of his masks before the end of the year. I was thinking that I'd be able to work out something on a trip to Mexico; I never imagined that it would happen at PWG, let alone BOLA.

For those who might not remember the circumstances of Aramis's BOLA (and PWG!) debut, Aramis was actually a late substitute for the originally announced Bárbaro Cavernario. I was fortunate to be able to get the mask that he used in his first-round match. My wife and I talked to him afterward, and he seemed like a nice, humble guy who couldn't believe that he had made it into PWG.

Flamita (2019-11-25)

The third and final mask that I'll present is Flamita's mask from his debut in Ring of Honor. This was another milestone in Flamita's career, and I'm happy to have the mask from it. While in retrospect the COVID-19 pandemic prevented ROH from being able to highlight Flamita or Mexasquad as much as they were hoping, the contract provided some financial security, and I know that Flamita appreciated it.

This does it for 2019. Next time, we'll cover 2020, and yes, I was able to obtain three masks from that year, even with the pandemic.

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