Cody Rhodes’ entrance at WrestleMania 40 saw the involvement of a legend of the masks and effects industry to make his time in Philadelphia extra special.
Ahead of his emotional Undisputed WWE Universal Championship victory over Roman Reigns, Rhodes entered Lincoln Financial Field with his wife Brandi. Rhodes also bore a skull mask that was designed around his ‘American Nightmare’ insignia.
On social media, it was revealed that Jason Baker was the one behind Rhodes’ WrestleMania 40: Sunday mask. Rhodes shared a backstage selfie wearing the mask as a test and made sure to tag Baker in the picture.
Who is Jason Baker?
Baker, a protege of horror movie effects legend Tom Savini, is no stranger to working with WWE. He previously created the Fiend mask for Bray Wyatt and also was heavily involved in Wyatt’s presentation upon returning to WWE in late 2022. He was also close friends with Wyatt.
In 2021, it was reported that Baker and Wyatt were working on a film together, which was set to be produced in-house by Baker’s Calloseum Studios. Unfortunately, that film will not come out now given Wyatt’s passing in August 2023.
While best known for his work with Wyatt, Baker has also created masks for other Superstars including Asuka and Finn Balor. He was also responsible for Triple H’s ‘Skull King’ mask that the Game wore at WWE WrestleMania 30 in 2014. The Game would arrive with masked women (Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair, and Alexa Bliss) and opened the show with a loss to Daniel Bryan.
