After competing as a babyface in the recent Cruiserweight Championship Tournament, El Hijo del Fantasma turned heel upon winning the title before removing his mask and taking on the mantle Santos Escobar.
As anyone familiar with Mexican Wrestling culture will know, a Luchador removing his mask is seen as a pretty big deal, and can be taken as a sign of disrespect under some circumstances. This actually wasn't the first time Escobar had been unmasked, but while speaking on the most recent episode of WWE's The Bump, he admitted that his parents were still shocked to see it happen on TV.
“It shocked my dad and my mom. But it’s true, the mask is one of the most important aspects of Lucha Libre culture and tradition. To be fair, I had already lost my mask in Mexico, and once you lose your mask, you’re not supposed to re-mask again.
But what I wanted to do was be El Hijo del Fantasma – this big feature at the Cruiserweight Tournament. It gave me a way to reintroduce Lucha Libre to the WWE Universe because I think they’ve been misled by masked men jumping all over the place; Lucha Libre is not like that. Putting the mask on again, I managed to capture the attention of the WWE Universe.”
Someone really should show this interview to Lucha House Party!
Santos has been knocking it out of the park on NXT as Cruiserweight Champion along with his Legado del Fantasma stablemates Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde. Most recently, he retained his title in an excellent bout against Isaiah "Swerve" Scott at TakeOver 31.
What's next for Escobar remains to be seen, but we may get a better idea of what the future holds in store for the talented Superstar later tonight on NXT.