La Catalina explains dropping her mask.
La Catalina has been one of CMLL's top fixtures in CMLL's Amazonas Division, with her beating "Timeless" Toni Storm in the mythical Arena Mexico and winning the 2023 CMLL Women's Universal Title Tourney. That said, her debut caused shock when she wrestled without a mask and she has now explained why.
Speaking with Mariano Alcazar & Emanuel Cedillo on the "2 De 3 Caidas" Podcast, Catalina explained her decision to drop her mask before her CMLL debut, stating she did it out of respect for Mexican Wrestling history, respect to masked wrestlers, and due to her wrestling maskless before competing with a mask in 2019. She stated the following:
"It was a tough decision, I even spoke with my dad about it so we could analyze it, but I did wrestle in Chile without a mask. When I began my career at 14 years old, I did not use a mask until I joined WWE. The writers that they had a character for me and they wanted to know if I can do it. They offered me to use the mask and be almost like the daughter of Rey Mysterio. I was paired with Sin Cara (Cinta de Oro/ Hunico) an the idea was to form a group of Latinos and wanted to have me being their first-ever masked luchadora. I took the role because I was wowed by WWE choosing me to become the first official masked luchadora for the company. After taking the role, I already knew but still studied the history of using masks, the respect around it, and everything it meant to wear a mask. When I came to Mexico, CMLL gave me the option, so it was my decision on whether I wanted to keep the mask; however, out of respect to my colleagues who had used masks since they begun, out of respect of wrestling culture, and out of respect of the history of Lucha Libre, I decided to retire it because people had already seen me without a mask. It would have been rude of me to come with the mask when I have colleagues whose masks are their lives and they put it on the line here, which is not something seen in the United States and other countries. it was a huge responsibility for me, but I decided to retire it out of respect for Mexican wrestling and its culture"
Catalina made her masked debut as "Carolina" on the 11/4/2019 edition of Monday Night Raw, teaming with Sin Cara (Hunico/ Cinta de Oro) against Andrade and Zelina Vega. She continued competing with a mask under her real name (Catalina Garcia) before transitioning into the name Katrina Cortez. She was released from WWE on November 5, 2021. That said, she last competed with a mask for CMLL on the event "CMLL Tzompantu De Mascaras", an event where all wrestlers who used to wear a mask were allowed to wear it again for one night only as part of the Dia de Muertos Holiday.
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