Mitt Romney donned wrestling tights, a cape and a luchador mask for charity

On a quiet Saturday evening, former Republican presidential nominee tweeted out a few words that many had hoped to hear. “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” It could have been the proverbial equivalent to Michael Jordan’s “I’m back,” when the NBA legend announced his return to basketball in 1995.

The words could have been impactful if not unquestionably theatric. It’s almost like a wrestling promo announcing his next grudge match at a pay-per-vew. So it’s no surprise to see Romney in the middle of a ring in baby blue tights, raising the hands of two luchadors.

The main event featured former boxing champion Oscar De La Hoya and Mario Lopez in a match that I’m surprised hasn’t actually taken place during a WrestleMania yet. In the middle of their boxing match, two luchadors got in the ring and tussled for a bit. During which time, one of them ripped off his mask to reveal that he was Mitt Romney.

While we tune in to WWE Raw on Monday nights, we have become increasingly interested in the politics behind the athletic performances. “Yeah, Roman Reigns is the current champion, but who are the driving forces that allow him to stay at the top? Is it the writing team? Is it the people in charge?”

In some respect politics is exactly the same, except we’re replacing the concept of “the boys in the locker room” making decisions with political affiliations, lobbyists and super PACs. Again, the history of Romney’s pro wrestling life is hardly known. it’s mostly because it’s all lies but isn’t that the real truth to this story in the squared circle? The answer is no.

Being the son of a politician himself, it’s easy to comprehend why the younger Romney would have rejected a life of politics for the 20-by-20 canvas. it encapsulated everything he had grown to understand while still being able to rebel. Although it’s said that Romney wasn’t particularly athletic,

It’s become the blasé path into wrestling. Athletes —particularly football players — who didn’t thrive playing professionally often take this route. Former Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Bill Goldberg did this. Florida State lineman Ron Simmons was ninth in Heisman voting in 1979 and later won titles in both WCW and WWE. More recently, Roman Reigns was a Georgia Tech defensive tackle.

If you think that Romney’s attire on Saturday is just a re-purposed Nacho Libre costume, you’re definitely not wrong. This was his classic attire, the same one he used to wrestle Mil Mascaras, although he would later regret agreeing to that bout. Romney would later lose the mask in a Máscara contra Máscara (mask versus mask) match against the great Mil Mascaras. Though his professional wrestling career ended there, his devout faith and love of wrestling became the inspiration for the film that would star Jack Black. Plus the outfit, as plain as it may be, is visually striking.

Had he not lost the mask to Mil Mascaras decades ago, he may have gone full Terry Funk have competed on a semi-regular basis to this day. After all, he did face Evander Holyfield for charity just last year. Romney could easily have found himself in a managerial position with WWE brass or he could have been with Dario Cueto in Lucha Underground, becoming the foil to current high-flying phenoms like Prince Puma and Fenix.

Now, we all have to collectively sit back and see what Romney’s next political signature move will be. Some are expecting a surprise run in at the GOP Convention where Romney will take the reigns from Donald Trump and become the Republican party’s nominee for November. It’s not unlike Seth Rollins running in the ring during Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 30 and leaving with the WWE Championship.