Where have all the masked men in professional wrestling gone? If you think about it, there is only one wrestler in all of major sports entertainment who wears a mask and that is Kane. (Note: I want to stress major sports entertainment here in the U.S. because a lot of wrestlers in Japan and Mexico still carry on the wrestling tradition of masked men.)

Some of you may like the fact there are fewer masked wrestlers and some of you may miss the mystery men. Should there be more mystery men in wrestling?

Masked wrestlers helped make wrestling what it is today. In the past, you saw them quiet often in the squared circle. People associated wrestling with guys wearing masks. So, why such a huge decline in masked men?

Did wrestling promoters decide to take the masks off so they could form characters to which fans might find it easier to relate? Did they decide to take the masks off because masked men became boring and outdated?

Maybe it's a combination of the two. Today, wrestlers want to be noticed for movie deals and television. They don't want to get stuck in masked anonymity. Wrestlers want to be marketed and it is pretty hard to market a wrestler if you do not know his identity. Although that may be the case, Kane has done well in the marketing side of the business.

Wrestling has changed dramatically over the last 15 years. We used to see loser leave town matches where a guy would lose and be back on TV next week wearing a ridiculous mask. It was a cheesy storyline, but it was humorous. Angles and storylines would be formed around unidentified wrestlers that would come out to the ring from "parts unknown" and wreak havoc on everyone.

If you think back a few years ago when masked luchadores made their debut in WCW, it was entertaining the way they all seemed mysterious wearing their creative masks. After wrestlers such as Juventud Guerrera and Rey Mysterio Jr. took their masks off, they never seemed quiet the same. They seemed less exciting and more ordinary and boring.

An interesting fact that I ran across was that Chris Benoit was a big star over in Japan. Not only as Chris Benoit, but as "The Pegasus Kid" as well. He would wrestle over here as the "Canadian Crippler" and go over to Japan sporting a mask.

So much can be said as to why there are less masked me today then in the days of Mr. Wrestling I and II, The Superstar, Super Destroyer and the Assassins.

Look at Kane for example. Kane has a very interesting character. He has an intimidating mask on that will make you wonder what is behind the red and black disguise. Masked men seem to catch people's attention better.

Think about this scenario: You are an ordinary Joe sitting on your couch flipping channels. Joe is not a wrestling fan, but he happens to run across a channel that has a huge man with an interesting mask, throwing other guys around the ring.

Whether or not Joe is a wrestling fan, it will catch his eye and possibly tempt him to keep watching and figure out what is going on. You begin to wonder to yourself what he looks like without the mask and why this character is even wearing a mask.

Masked men make wrestling even more interesting than it already is. A mask may also make some wrestlers who are not so interesting seem more intriguing.

Kane's gimmicks before he started wearing a mask were all dead end characters. Dr. Isaac Yankem and the fake Diesel. Putting on the red and black mask jump started Kane's career and made him a better act.

Should Vince McMahon come up with more masked wrestlers like Kane? It could produce mysterious storylines, it would take wrestling back to some of its original roots, and maybe even jump-start someone else's wrestling career.

If you think there should be more masked wrestlers or if you think they should cease to exist, let me know. Email me at Chairshots2head@yahoo.com.