Luis Urive, the first Sin Cara, appeared on TV show Tercera Caida this past week and claimed that he owned the rights to the Sin Cara name. He had already opened a Sin Cara Gym in Mexico City and now that his WWE contract has expired, he’s taking dates using the Sin Cara name. That’s notable since WWE is using Jorge Arias as Sin Cara at the same time. Urive can’t use the Mistico name because CMLL owns it and has given it to a new wrestler. Urive said that his lawyers may be looking at WWE using the name for a new wrestler saying he’s got proof he owns the name. I do remember that WWE wasn’t able to register the name in Mexico, but I’m virtually certain they did for the U.S. He said that the reason it didn’t work out in the U.S. was because WWE told him he couldn’t wrestle the way he did in Mexico and said that psychologically screwed him up because he kept getting told what he couldn’t do and felt limited in the ring. He said he couldn’t understand it, because when they signed him, it was because he was a star wrestling a certain way, and then he was told he couldn’t wrestle that way. Anyway, that one didn’t work and it didn’t work for all the reasons I said it wasn’t going to work the day that they signed him. He admitted he looked awful on WWE television, but said since he left, he’s spent a lot of time training and getting in better shape. He was frustrated he wasn’t allowed to do what he does best. He said he would be working indies in Mexico and will work with Dr. Wagner Jr. and L.A. Park, the two biggest name indie wrestlers. He said he’s now focused and can wrestle the way he wants to. He said he has no problems with either Jorge Arias (who took over Sin Cara in WWE) or Del Rio. He said he thinks Hunico is a good guy. While he was on the show, they aired highlights of the new Mistico vs. Mephisto match on the 1/18 Fantastica Mania show in Japan. He noted he has nothing against the new Mistico and that he helped him get a break when he was Dragon Lee and also helped his brother, Rush. He wished him well but said he’s not at his level and he said that it does bother him that some promoters use his look as Mistico as opposed to the new Mistico on posters to sell tickets to see him. He said when he came to WWE, after his first match, the first thing he was told was not to do certain things, and that affected him mentally. You’re always going to have problems when you take a guy who legitimately was one of the biggest superstars of the decade and a major draw, and then tell him not to do things that got him over in the first place. It was part of what I considered the inevitability about the relationship. Urive thought he was a major star. It would be like Steve Austin going to Japan or Mexico and the promoters telling him not to do all the things that got him over and mentally, how he’d handle that, particularly if he then struggled to get over. It’s nobody’s fault, but it was part of the almost inevitability of why the relationship was doomed from the start. Mysterio never had a run close to what Sin Cara had so he didn’t have that cockiness to where him being told by HHH to tweak things didn’t offend him in the least. But it also explains why CMLL guys will always do better with New Japan than WWE, because with New Japan, the promotion doesn’t tell them what not to do, and the other wrestlers get a kick out of working their style and with them instead of the opposite. Again, you can argue both ways. They are just different mentalities although I obviously prefer the New Japan mentality of trying to make everyone the best they can be as opposed to everyone working within the same parameters. It’s the mix of styles and styles of matches on a single show that make New Japan the best big event promotion in the world. But a big difference is also the fan base. Japanese fans watching an unfamiliar style react well often because it’s different from what they usually see. In WWE, general fan reaction is biggest to things that are embedded in their heads by virtue of always seeing it. He said he’s going to work indies in Mexico, with a date on 2/1 in Mexico City and 3/1 in Tijuana the only things he’s booked for. He said he’d be open to work AAA, CMLL or Todos x Todos (El Hijo del Santo’s promotion). He said Jorge Arias and him used to travel together and Arias, as the new Sin Cara, is only doing his job. He said the only problem they ever had was in the past when he started as Mistico and Arias, who used the name in Juarez, was mad somebody in Mexico City was using his ring name. He said the La Mistica finisher was a move that actually happened by mistake when he slipped trying to do a head scissors when training with his uncle, Tony Salazar, and to block falling flat on his face, he held onto the arm and landed in a Fujiwara armbar position. He said Arias is a good guy. He said that he didn’t study English when with WWE (and this was a big issue with management). He said that they say WWE style is safer, but he got hurt more doing WWE style than he ever did working in Mexico. He noted that even though he didn’t get a push, he was one of the best merchandise sellers in WWE. He also spoke highly of Mysterio, and said the most humble top stars in WWE were Mysterio and Dwayne Johnson. He said he’s thankful to Paco Alonso for giving him his break, as that allowed him the chance to go all over the world and be with WWE, but was negative about CMLL booking. He said he owned the Sin Cara name and isn’t afraid of WWE suing him. There were people who thought he was full of it on that.
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