Sin Cara changes his name

If you’ve ever watched a lucha show (and with our man Manolo’s coverage to guide you, I don’t know why you wouldn’t have), you know that trademark enforcement is a little looser in Mexico than it is here in the States.

You notice it when the entrance music makes it sound like a 1999 ECW show. Or when dudes dressed as Ninja Turtles show up.

All of which is to say, there was a lot of interest in how WWE would handle the recently released Sin Cara showing up in AAA last Saturday night.

The performer (real name Jorge Arias) has a 90 day non-compete. The company owns the name in the U.S. and Mexico. Our neighbors to the south may have a laxer view of brand and intellectual property ownership, but...

Well, turns out we won’t get to find out what WWE’s famously tough legal team could do in Mexican court. At least not on the trademark case (unless they decide to go after the single appearance from Guerra de Titanes) because Arias announced his changing his name.

He’ll now go by Cinta de Oros, to honor his mentor and trainer who went by that name.

The original Cinta de Oro passed away in 2016, and Arias has received permission from the family to carry on the legacy. The above picture show’s the previous Cinta de Oro’s sons presenting him with one of their father’s masks.

The transition is a bit abrupt, but it turns out Arias has been repping his idol for a few years already:

Now we’ll see if AAA waits out the 90 days before booking Cinta de Oro again, and what WWE does if they don’t.