Chris Estell whipped up a mask for Ultimo Guerrero.
On the June 22 edition of AEW Collision, Kazuchika Okada faced and defeated Ultimo Guerrero in his debut match for AEW. Guerrero went viral online during the match because his mask fell off of his face after taking a Rainmaker from Okada.
While appearing on the latest edition of the AEW Unrestricted podcast, Chris Estell, who serves as the Head Of Wardrobe for the company, recalled being asked to make a mask for Guerrero just two hours before the show started.
“Jimmy Jacobs came up to me, I’ve maybe spoken to Jimmy five times. He comes up to me and says, ‘Well, Ultimo Guerrero’ and this is two hours before the show starts. I said, ‘Well Jimmy, I can’t do that. Two hours? A lucha mask takes two days at least and I’m not great at doing that anyway.’ I was like, I just gotta tell the boss. So about five minutes later, there I am, making a mask and for what time I had, it wasn’t bad.”
Estell continued on and praised Guerrero for showing love and appreciation for his work.
"I didn’t have the main thing that you need to make a mask and that’s quill tape to keep the shape. Most masks are made of spandex, the quill tape on the inside of the seams, it keeps the shape to your head. I didn’t have that but we did get a mask created. I had some help by a buddy John, he cut out some of the stuff for me when I was trying to do it. I didn’t get to the lace up in the back, so our phenomenal production team did a great job at hiding some of the flaws within it, but Ultimo Guerrero could not have been nicer about it. He put a really nice Facebook post out thanking me for the work I did. I think it was Bandido who came up to me not too long ago and was like, ‘You’re a hero in Mexico.’ I don’t know why, but the Mexican culture, the Hispanic culture, I’m so fascinated by it and to be able to have someone, a legend like Ultimo Guerrero, say something like that about me and say some kind words is truly a testament to how he received it and he wore it again. He wore it like three or four more times. In his defense, he wore is it an entrance piece to the ring, which is exactly what it should’ve been. That was the most stressful time I’ve ever had at work. In my eyes, if I get this mask wrong, I’ll never be able to go to Mexico to do anything, you know what I mean? Luckily, he was really nice about it and being the legend that he is, he appreciated my work.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Estell recalled making a referee turtleneck shirt for Christian Cage. To learn more, click here.
Check out the lineup for the October 4 edition of AEW Rampage by clicking here.
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