Penta could have lost a whole lot more than a match if one major AAA storyline had actually gone ahead. According to Kalisto, there were plans for him to unmask Penta and basically kill off the character before his own move to WWE changed everything.
Speaking with David Otunga, Kalisto, now known as Samuray del Sol, opened up about his history with Penta in Mexico. The former United States Champion said he wasn’t surprised at all to see Penta eventually make it to WWE and find success.
“No, I knew. I knew the minute he went to WWE, I knew he was going to go above and beyond, and he still is. I’m very happy for him and for Rey Fénix, too, because they worked really hard.”
Then Kalisto dropped the much bigger revelation. Before leaving Mexico for WWE, he says the plan was for him to unmask Penta, with the loss apparently ending the Penta character completely.
“Not a lot of people know this, that before I left for WWE, I was supposed to demask him, and no more Penta. It was going to be gone. It was no longer going to exist. He was going to go back to Dark Dragon.”
Obviously, that never happened. Kalisto left for WWE, Penta kept the character and turned it into something much bigger than anyone involved in those original plans could have known at the time.
“But when I left, he kept the character. He made it work. And look at him now.”
Kalisto has no hard feelings about how things played out either. Both men went their separate ways and built their own identities, with Kalisto pointing out how “Cero Miedo” and “Lucha, Lucha” became major parts of their respective careers.
“He went on his own path. I went on my own path. You know, his scream ‘Cero Miedo,’ my scream ‘Lucha, Lucha.’ So we both have some good, good strong screams, you know, and great connections.”
The two eventually got another chance to wrestle years later in Guadalajara, shortly before Penta signed with WWE. Kalisto revealed that he won the match, although both men were being especially careful because neither wanted anything happening to Penta right before such a huge career move.
“We had this cool match that nobody knows about. We had it in Guadalajara, and he was already getting close to going to WWE. I think this was a couple years back, right before he got signed. So, yeah, I did a match with him, and I won. We were both careful because, I mean, of course, I don’t want him to be hurt or anything, you know, right before going over there.”
Now Kalisto is watching his old rival enjoy another huge run, including Penta’s Money in the Bank victory. He isn’t ruling out the possibility of them ending up across the ring from each other again someday either.
“I’m just really happy when I saw him win the briefcase, man. He’s going to go further. And I just—hey, man, who knows? Maybe we could meet one day, or never say never, right? So, hey, he’s doing great.”
Had Kalisto stayed and AAA followed through with the original plan, one of wrestling’s most recognizable masked identities might have disappeared years ago. Instead, Penta kept the mask, kept the character and eventually carried it all the way to WWE.
What do you think about the fact that Penta was once supposed to lose his mask and abandon the character entirely? Let us know in the comments below.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
