The Masked Man

Zach "The Masked Man" Steel is a custom wrestler created by RZ2321. He is best known by his initial ring name "The Masked Man", but later added "Zach Steel" to his name in order to eliminate confusion with other wrestlers of the past. The character made his debut in the game WWE '13 during the summer of 2013. Steel was RZ2321's first ever created wrestler, and is remade each year as the new WWE games release.

First Championship
The Masked Man has been a dominant force in the locker room since his debut in 2013. His first championship came later that same year, defeating Kofi Kingston for the United States Championship at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view. Steel would hold that title for seven months before dropping it to Kingston, only to win it back the next week on Monday Night Raw.

Forming The Brotherhood
Before the end of 2013, Steel created a faction known as The Brotherhood alongside his younger brother Ace. Together they would dominate the tag team division, winning the WWE Tag Team Titles on an episode of Raw from the Shield by early 2014. As the team became more and more successful, they began adding members to the faction including the Hawaiian Assassin and Maverick. The pair later lost their titles after a rivalry formed between them.

Rivalry with Ace
By mid 2014, The Brotherhood seemed unstoppable until it began to crumble from within. A rivalry brew between The Masked Man and Ace after Steel inadvertently cost his brother their tag team title match. Ace held the Intercontinental Championship at the time, while The Masked Man held the United States title. This resulted in a champion vs. champion match heated enough to put an end to the Brotherhood faction after Steel defeated his brother in an extreme rules match.

Reviving a Lost Title
After losing the United States title in 2014, The Masked Man was sent over to Smackdown where he won the Intercontinental Championship from his former partner Ace. Steel held the title for almost a year before Ace was able to reclaim the title. After his tough loss and inability to win the championship back, The Masked Man seemed to have no direction for a short while. Eventually, a new opportunity presented itself, where he won a match for the World Heavyweight Championship, a title which was supposed to be retired. He was given a chance to reinstate the title in order to continue its legacy, while also giving more superstars a chance to be a world champion. Capitalizing on this opportunity, Steel began to travel the world with the title and defended it outside of the WWE, building his own gym in his hometown and began defending it on a weekly basis.

The Doom
By the end of 2016, The Masked Man had formed an alliance with Randy Orton and Rob Van Dam. The trio eventually became known as The Doom. They made quite an impact on Smackdown together, defeating several notable teams, including The Shield. The Doom pushed for 3-man tag team titles to be created for the WWE, but the idea was declined. The group never officially broke up, but eventually fizzled out entirely.

The Iron Man
Sometime during his world title reign, Steel found himself in the middle of a feud between Papa Lemons and The Entity. Both Lemons and Choppenz were fighting for the #1 contender spot, and neither superstars were able to beat the other clean. As a result, the three had several matches for the World Heavyweight Championship, most notably a Triple Threat Iron Man Match, where Steel was able to defeat both Lemons and Choppenz. After successfully overcoming these challengers, it became known that Steel had never been defeated in an Iron Man match, an accomplishment he still holds to this day.

The Return of the Brotherhood
After Ace's return in early 2018, The Masked Man rejoined his brother to bring back The Brotherhood faction. The Brotherhood also recruited a new member by the name of Colt Freeman. Unlike their previous run, the members of the Brotherhood became ringside managers for each other with the goal to win singles titles rather than the tag team titles. This resulted in Ace winning the WWE Universal Championship and Steel retrieving his World Heavyweight Championship from Kenny Omega.

Defending the World Championship
After reinstating the world championship, The Masked Man defended his title for years on end both in and outside of the WWE. He managed to secure it in matches of all kinds, including Elimination Chamber matches and inside the Hell in a Cell structure. Steel dropped the title to several notable wrestlers including Kenny Omega, Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, but always managed to win it back eventually. The Masked Man continued his reign until of October of 2018, where he vacated the title after winning the Money in the Bank briefcase.

Mr. Money in the Bank
Near the end of 2018, Steel was chosen to be a part of a very unique elimination chamber match for the Money in the Bank briefcase. He entered the match at number 3, managing to outlast the others and win the match. For the first time in his career, The Masked Man held the briefcase and had a guaranteed shot at the WWE Championship. Having never held the prestigious title before, he decided to drop the World Heavyweight Championship, which he was regularly defending outside of the WWE, to focus on his run with the company.

Becoming WWE Champion
Not long after winning the briefcase, The Masked Man cashed in his opportunity at the title. Wanting it to be a fair match, he announced he would cash in his briefcase ahead of time, giving the current champion time to prepare. The match, which would take place at WWE Super Show-Down, saw Steel defeating A.J. Styles for the WWE Championship in a normal 1-on-1 match. Steel had held titles in the WWE before, but winning the WWE Championship and knowing its history made it one of, if not the biggest win of his career. After defeating Styles in a rematch, the champion vowed to defend the title often and give as many challengers the opportunities they deserved to become the champion. As of August 2019, The Masked Man still holds the title.

Forming M-Double-A
Although he had already spent many years in the WWE, becoming the WWE Champion made Steel a bigger target than ever before, even considering his multi-year title run traveling the world. The Masked Man became the champion at a time when the WWE was more competitive than it had been in a long time. Legends were coming out of retirement for matches, and some of the best indy wrestlers in the world had climbed their way up to the top of the WWE ladder. Steel knew that if he was going to keep the title he was going to need some help outside of The Brotherhood, and he found that help in Alexa Bliss and AJ Lee. The two women began accompanying the champion to the ring on a regular basis to help deal with superstars, managers, and their teammates who attempt to cheat their way to championship gold. The group became known as M-Double-A, with the "M" to represent the "Masked Man", and "Double-A" for "Alexa" and "AJ". The trio worked together not only to defend the WWE Championship, but to help elevate one another on each of their respective paths.

Joining Thursday Night Cash
In early 2019, although Steel was at the very top of the wrestling ladder, he still wanted more, and his opportunity came when Papa Lemons debuted Thursday Night Cash in February. Lemons had asked Steel to defend his WWE Championship on the show as its world champion, to which Steel agreed. The Masked Man began using Thursday Nights to gain more in-ring time and experience, and competed against many legends and icons that joined the show as it got progressively more and more popular.

Biggest Rivals
The Masked Man has been part of many big rivalries over the years. His longest running feud is with Kevin Nash, who screwed him out of a chance to be #1 contender for the WWE Championship back in 2014. Since then, Nash and Steel have continued to interfere with each other's matches, and those interferences have lead to a feud that will seemingly never end. Although they are once again teammates, the Masked Man's battle with his brother Ace became one of the most intense rivalries of his career. Brock Lesnar was another one of his bigger rivals, which included several hardcore matches starting all the way back at the WWE Payback pay-per-view in 2014.

Personality
Aside from his brief run as a heel in late 2017, the Masked Man has always been a respectful and loyal superstar. He treats his friends and foes with respect, and constantly pushes those around him to improve. However, if he is pushed over the edge by a fellow superstar, Steel becomes fixated on not only defeating them, but exacting his revenge on them for what they may have done to him or his friends. The Masked Man can also be rather stubborn, especially when it comes to regaining a championship. Often times, his failure to accept that he has lost a rivalry has gotten the better of him. Nevertheless, Steel has never turned on his teammates, and has only feuded with them over mistakes made during their alliance.

Behind the Scenes
Since the Masked Man was created in 2013 his appearance has changed drastically, and was inspired by many different wrestlers and personalities. Steel's very first attire actually featured him in a suit with a custom yellow variation of Rey Mysterio's mask. After just a few matches, RZ2321 switched his suit for a open jacket with a hood.

The use of the custom yellow Rey Mysterio mask (or ones that closely resemble it) stuck with the character over the years. In 2016, he began wearing a custom version of Kane's wrestling bottoms, as well as hand tape marked with an X on each. The addition of the hand tape closely resembles CM Punk and his attire. RZ2321 decided to add the tape from the straight edge superstar to his character because like CM Punk, he doesn't drink or smoke.

The Masked Man's original move-set largely consisted high flying moves. His original finishers were Kofi Kingston's Trouble in Paradise and Jeff Hardy's Whisper in the Wind. Over time, RZ2321 felt flashy moves didn't fit very well with the character, and changed them to be heavy lifting moves.