{"id":103823,"date":"2021-11-05T15:00:55","date_gmt":"2021-11-05T19:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=103823"},"modified":"2021-11-05T12:37:25","modified_gmt":"2021-11-05T16:37:25","slug":"gran-metalik-redemption-mascara-dorada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/11\/05\/gran-metalik-redemption-mascara-dorada\/","title":{"rendered":"The End of Gran Metalik And The Redemption of M\u00e1scara Dorada"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was another stunning round of releases by WWE<\/a> on Thursday, that saw such stars as former NXT Champion Keith Lee<\/strong>, former RAW Women’s Champion Nia Jax<\/strong>, former NXT Women’s Champion Ember Moon<\/strong>, and other top stars like Franky Monet<\/strong> (Taya Valkyrie), former NXT Champion Karrion Kross<\/strong>, and many more being “future endeavored”. But of all the names, there was one that stood out, not because of the success they had in the WWE Universe but for the lack thereof, a man who was one of the top international stars in the world prior to signing with WWE, one who fell into the all too familiar trap of being underutilized and reduced to a throwaway bit player, the masked luchador Gran Metalik<\/strong>. But now that he’s finally received the release he’s been seeking<\/a> since earlier this year, it may soon be the time for M\u00e1scara Dorada\u00a0<\/b>to refind his position in the world of professional wrestling.<\/p>\n

The man who would become M\u00e1scara Dorada began his career in his native Mexico at the age of 16. The son of El Gitano<\/strong> (and trained by his father), he initially wrestled as Gitano Jr.<\/strong>, before taking the mantle of Plato II<\/strong>. He only competed briefly as Plato II, before changing to Metalik<\/strong>, and soon he was becoming a YouTube sensation with his innovative offense in the ring. In 2007, he signed with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL)<\/b> and soon began competing for the company. He was pushed early, winning the Occidente Welterweight Championship in 2008. But Metalik wasn’t doing as well as he had previously to signing and he was cooled off. Soon after, CMLL brought in the mini superstar Mascarita Sagrada\u00a0<\/b>from AAA Lucha Libre, but due to AAA holding the rights to his name, he was renamed as Mascarita Dorada\u00a0<\/b>in CMLL. In a change of the norm, CMLL announced they were introducing a “big size” version of the mini (usually it’s the opposite), and Metalik was repackaged as M\u00e1scara Dorada. He was pushed heavily, but the flaws in his training were starting to be exposed and CMLL revamped their training staff. This led to M\u00e1scara Dorada getting deeper training with new CMLL trainers Gran Cochisse <\/b>and El Sat\u00e1nico<\/b>,\u00a0<\/strong>and the new mentorship proved to be just the catalyst needed to hone M\u00e1scara Dorada’s potential and create an exciting new star for CMLL. In May of 2009, he won the CMLL World Super Lightweight Championship.<\/p>\n