EXCLUSIVE

Former WWE superstar Chris "The Masterpiece" Masters saved his mother from burning to death by uprooting a tree with his bare hands and using it as a battering ram to enter her house.

Masters -- real name Chris Mordetzky -- tells us, he rushed to his mother's L.A. home yesterday after his uncle called and said a neighbor had gone crazy and barricaded himself inside her house.

When Chris showed up, the neighbor was shouting through the front door that he would burn the place down if anyone tried to gain entry.

Chris says he tried talking sense into the guy, but he wasn't having it -- so Chris called the cops ... but when they showed up, the neighbor set the house on fire.

Chris jumped into hero mode -- tearing a tree out of the ground and tossing it through a window.

Chris reached through the window and removed his mom from the inferno ... at which point police rushed in and arrested the neighbor on arson charges.

The man is currently still in custody. It's unclear why he snapped.