Hellter’s Top 36 Horror themed Pro Wrestling characters!!
Hello my Grue-Lings,
As many of you know. Wrestling and horror have always seemed to go hand and hand. Something about the two worlds of horror fans and wrestling fans. It seem’s to bring both fan groups together. If you like wrestling, you like horror and vice versa. There have been plenty of horror films where you see some wrestling moves and professional wrestlers have been quite a few horror films: Roddy Piper, Kurt Angle, Undertaker and Kane to new a few. My favorite so far has been Kane in See No Evil 1 and 2. Great horror films. Bloody and brutal. WWE, i’m still waiting on See No Evil 3, make it happen!! I am just waiting for Bray Wyatt to do a horror film. I have been to plenty of horror conventions that pro wrestlers are at. The wrestler’s tables are just as long as horror icon’s tables. Prooves my theory correct, that horror and wrestling fans are one in the same. One big happy crazy family. I have come up with a list that I hope you all enjoy. All you horror wrestling fans. Please feel free to comment and let me know if you like the list or not, or if you feel I left out any horror based wrestling character. I have put together a top 36 list of Pro Wrestlers that are horror based characters. Hope you all enjoy:
When you click on the wrestler’s name it will take you to a youtube link that you can see them in action:
36. The French Angel Maurice Tillet:
Maurice Tillet in the 1930s and ’40s, “The French Angel” was more monster than man. Billed by promoters as “the freak ogre of wrestling,” the bald Frenchman with the abnormally sized head and feet was freakish. Like a carnival attraction that you don’t want to look at but can’t stop starring at him.
35. Rellik:
Rellik made his debut in TNA Wrestling. It’s really sad his gimmick never took off to well with the audience because he was a walking horror film. This guy had everything a horror character needed. He was very scary and struck fear in the audience. Really wish he would have been TNA’s version of Kane or Undertaker.
34. SIKA:
Sika was one half of the Wild Samoans tag team. He even was a singles wrestler managed by the evil Mister Fuji. He loved ripping and biting off heads of live chickens and drinking the blood. He is also current WWE superstar Roman Reigns daddy. Sika would have been great in Cannibal Holocaust or The Green Inferno. His gimmick is based off of those type of crazy savages.
33. Visera:
Big Visera was a very scary presence in WWE. Was known as Mable in WWE. Then Undertaker went all dark and became the Lord of Darkness. He made a Ministry of Darkness and brought it Mable as Visera. Visera was reborn as a evil souless member of the Ministry of Darkness. This is very creepy and looks like something right out of a horror film.
32. Kiss Demon:
I actually loved the Kiss Demon. What a entrance and debut. I don’t think no other horror based character had a debut like Kiss Demon. You have a ICON rock group Kiss, singing one of their greatest hits of all time, God of Thunder. Then you have the Kiss Demon sitting in his throne all dark and evil with fire. Just amazing. He was one of my favorite horror characters in wrestling. Too bad his wrestling skills weren’t as good as his entrance.
31. YETI:
The Yeti was a 1 time gimmick in WCW. You never saw Yeti again after a couple appearences. He did have a great look. The guy looked well over 7 foot tall and he was a Mummy. He was part of the very weird dark group called the Dungeon of Doom led by the satantic Kevin Sullivan. Watch out, here comes the YETI.
30. ECW ZOMBIE:
ECW Zombie. He seems like he walked out of Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead or any Zombie horror film. When WWE bought out the ECW, they turned ECW into a watered down version of what it used to be. But one of the most interesting characters that came out of the new ECW was Zombie. I really enjoyed this Zombie character and alot of fans did to. Zombie became very popular in indy wrestling and was booked all over the world as The Zombie.
29. PSYCHO SID:
Sid Vicious was one of the most feared men in all of wrestling. Sid also had an evil laugh and an unpredictable, violent personality that made him one of the biggest threats in the company. Standing at nearly 7-feet tall and tipping the scales at more than 300 pounds, Sid was one of the most physically imposing Superstars in WCW, WWE and ECW. The sadistic competitor didn’t care who stood in his path; his only goals were destruction and deception.
28. Bruiser Brody:
He was feared by all the fans. According to numerous stories about this madman. There were a lot of guys in the locker room who were scared of Bruiser Brody. Bruiser Brody was a hardcore legend and outlaw. He did what he wanted and was bad enough to make it happen. Fans feared his character but those that knew his backstage persona feared him even more. Harley Race said that if you didn’t have the guts to ‘cut him off’ in the ring, he would ‘eat you alive’. One incident caught on tape was the infamous cage match with Lex Luger. After a few minutes of worked wrestling, Brody stopped selling and started shooting. He took Luger’s leg down and after a few minutes of this the ref called the match off and Luger immediately fled from the cage. Brody is known for his bloodbaths. He didn’t mind getting bloody and making people bleed. Just ask Abdullah the Butcher.
27. Doink the evil Clown:
The fear of clowns. Pennywise from IT gave people alot of nightmares. Clowns are a big fear in many people. Matt Osbourne was the evil Doink in WWE. Doink comes out to the ring to the happy clown song, then the song gets all dark and creepy and this clown don’t come to the ring smiling. He looks mad and evil and loves the site of kids crying. Kids crying makes him happy and makes him smile. He loved playing pranks on WWE superstars. Doink struck fear in the audience and superstars.
26. OX BAKER:
Ox Baker was a warrior in the ring and could cut a hell of a promo. He was feared by the audience for his crazy gimmick and feared in the ring by his opponents. He was known for his devastating heart punch that terrified fans after a recipient of the deadly maneuver literally died. The cause of death was ruled as a heart attack from complications, but they still worked the death into his character. His infamy grew so wild that when he continually heart punched a beaten foe, the fans in attendance rioted!
25. ABYSS:
Abyss was a sick and twisted individual who was capable of murder. Abyss was a character who spent time in prison, brutalized his opponents and now for convenience’s sake, had his own torture lair in the Impact Zone. When he first debuted, he looked like an escaped mental patient who usually relied on the Sinister Minster James Mitchell to do the talking. Abyss was so devilishly evil that he shot his own father! He was in some sick matches in TNA that involved barbwire, tacks, tons of blood and just about everything else. A sick twisted character.
24. Damien Demento:
Damien Demento hails from the outer reaches of your mind. Not a good place to be at. This guy was great at mind games and being crazy. Sadly the highlight of his career was losing to Undertaker on Monday Night Raw and he shortly disappeared soon after. But his gimmick left a lasting effect on me.
23. Chairman Ramu (Japanese Undertaker):
In Japan, there was a successful gimmick of Chairman/President Ramu. The angle was that a demon possessed a little girl, giving her supreme choke-slamming powers. She painted her face and acted like Undertaker. Pretty freaky stuff in the video clip.
22. Kevin Thorn:
Kevin Thorn, the wicked bloodsucker vampire who tormented the WWE re-launch of ECW alongside his vampire female, Ariel, in 2006. With his demonic intensity and punishing Dark Kiss finishing maneuver, he would lay to rest any mortals that came his way. The nocturnal couple could have started a vampire revolution in WWE had they not disappeared in 2007.
21. The Missing Link:
One of the most unique and bizarre Superstars that put on the war paint. The Missing Link gave new meaning to the term “use your head. The head-banging wild man kept his opponents guessing what he was going to do next. Having a series of stints in the Mid-South, WCCW and Florida areas in the 1980s, The Missing Link is best known for his time in WWE in 1985. Brought in by Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, the beast from Parts Unknown wreaked havoc both in and out of the ring, and made life miserable for many in the process. When the uncontrollable caveman became too hard to handle for Heenan, “The Brain” dealt him and Adrian Adonis to Jimmy Hart, in exchange for King Kong Bundy.
20. Kamala:
Kamala is based of headhunters and cannibals. On a live program which saw the ‘Ugandan Giant’ consuming a live chicken, with the feathers of the ill-fated bird dangling from his mouth and stuck in his beard. It freaked audiences out around the world. The cannibalistic madman comes from the jungles of Uganda. Kamala was oftentimes escorted to the ring by a handler named Kim Chee and always wrestled barefoot, prooving that he is some untamed animal. Kamala remains one of the scariest wrestlers to ever step foot inside the ring.
19. Vampiro:
Vampiro was half vampire half human. Vampiro joined WCW and formed a stable with Raven and The Insane Clown Posse called “The Deadpool.” The group was short-lived, but Vampiro made his mark on the company. After teaming up with Sting, he turned his back on him. During a match between the two, he set the icon on fire, putting him out of action for months. When Sting returned they battled in some bloodbath matches including first blood and graveyard matches. Vampiro later went on to feud with The KISS Demon, the two met in a spooky graveyard match.
Sting is a character that was out for vengence against the people who wronged him. Sting was a happy guy until the wrestling world turned on him. Left him bitter and angry. He hid in the rafters for a year dressed in all black, long black trenchcoat and a baseball bat. He would always lurk in the shadows and then appear out of no where and beat the shit out of the group that wronged him. Sting is a very mysterious character and is very horror based.
17. Chucky:
Currently appearing for the AAA promotion, Chucky is played by the former Micro Misterioso, meaning that inside that mask is a 61-year-old man. He wrestlers people and stabs people on playgrounds in Mexico. Yay Chucky!!
16. Onryo:
Japanese independent wrestler Ryo Matsuri started using a ghost gimmick in the late 90s, wearing pale facepaint and dark circles around his eyes, as well as ripped and torn clothes to complete the SPOOKY look. Best of all, he coated his ring gear with flour to give the appearance of ashes constantly falling off him. The height of Onryo’s career was probably his appearance in the 2000 edition of the prestigious Super J-Cup tournament, where he managed to eliminate Curry Man before being himself eliminated by Toryumon/Dragon Gate legend CIMA.
15. Abdullah the Butcher:
Many wrestlers from the past have battle scars across their forehead from all of their past blading. Abdullah had them too, but they were so deep, he could fit a poker chip in them. Traveling from whatever promotion he felt like working with. His work was extreme, using forks to cut an opponent’s head open. His hardcore work in the 60s was revolutionary and shocked audiences all over the world. Abby loves to make people bleed and he loves to bleed himself. Very bloodthirsty sick wrestler.
14. Waylon Mercy:
Waylon Mercy was a soft-spoken, Southern man sporting a Hawaiian shirt, slicked-back black hair and a dagger tattooed on his forehead. He was a cross between hills have eyes, hannibal and family of texas chainsaw massacre. The gimmick was obviously based on the Max Cady character from Cape Fear. I see alot of Bray Wyatt in Waylon Mercy.
13. Freddy Krueger:
1-2 Freddy’s coming for you! Freddy apparently abandoned the whole child-murdering thing in the 80s to wrestle. Yes, he would come to the ring wearing a bladed glove. He would eventually move on to Japan, where he would continue wrestling as Nightmare Freddy in W*ING and other assorted hardcore deathmatch promotions for years and years!
12. The Great Kabuki:
Every Friday night in Texas we got to see the great WCCW Wrestling action. We all loved the very deranged man from Singapore. When the mysterious Great Kabuki descended on Dallas from the island nation in the late 1970s, crowds reacted like they were seeing an alien. Ghoulish with his face paint and greasy black hair, Kabuki and his manager, Gary Hart, brought hell to the beloved Von Erich boys. With his unique martial arts offense and devastating nerve hold, The Great Kabuki was hard to stop, but it was his poisonous Asian mist that made all the difference. Spraying a mysterious liquid into the face of his opponents, Kabuki stopped legends like Jack Brisco and Kerry Von Erich and inspired future standouts like The Great Muta and Tajiri.
11. Tie between Jake the Snake Roberts and Kevin Sullivan:
Kevin Sullivan was Satan in the squared circle. Dubbing himself “The Prince of Darkness,” Sullivan terrorized Championship Wrestling from Florida in the 1980s. He became possessed with pure wickedness, evolving into a cult leader. Painting his face in increasingly odder patterns, Sullivan led his “Army of Darkness” down the aisle, each of them carrying snakes. Once they were in the ring, Sullivan laid on the mat while his cronies draped the reptiles over him in a strange ritual. He always had the very sexy princess of darkness with him, Woman. Sullivan’s army included legends like “Superstar” Billy Graham and Jake “The Snake” Roberts. He even formed a crazy satantic group in WCW called Dungeon of Doom to try and kill Hulk Hogan.
Jake The Snake Roberts was capable of more evil than any of his serpents. A psychological mastermind, preyed on his opponents’ darkest fears. Once aligning himself with Ultimate Warrior during his feud with The Undertaker, Roberts promised to bring the darkness out of Warrior, but ultimately betrayed him by locking him in a crypt full of poisonous snakes. And in one of WWE’s most twisted moments, “The Snake” tied Randy Savage in the ring ropes and allowed a king cobra to sink its teeth into “Macho Man’s” arm. And even slapped Miss Elizabeth across the face asking her to beg him to stop. The sick pleasure Roberts took in this assault still haunts the WWE Universe today.
10. The Boogeyman:
He’s The Boogeyman, and he’s coming to get you! While most kids are afraid of boogeymen hiding in their closet or under the bed, the WWE Universe was haunted by one hailing from The Bottomless Pit. Emerging with a staff that spewed an eerie red smoke, The Boogeyman signaled his arrival by smashing an alarm clock over his head. When Boogeyman would come to the ring he would be shaking and convulsing as his confused opponents watched on. His opponents were thrown off by his ghoulish entrance. Boogeyman liked to indulge with a little post-match snack after the referee counted three. He would eat worms. Boogeyman grabbed a handful and stuff them into his mouth and let the worms drip from his toothless mouth and onto his helpless opponent.
9. Judas Mesias:
Judas was a short lived character in TNA wrestling. But hes creepy eyes are enough to give me nightmares for decades to come. He is very creepy and sends shivers down my spine. The white eyes, the blood out of his mouth. Everything about him was pure evil and disturbing. Sad this gimmick didn’t last long.
8. Gangrel:
Gangrel was a frightening Superstar to watch and his ring entrance was so cool. He made you feel like you were seeing a real Vampire live. With the entrance stage set ablaze, Gangrel rose from below the entrance stage, carrying a vessel full of familiar red liquid. Showing his fangs to the WWE Universe as he marched toward the ring. Upon entering the ring, Gangrel would drink from his cup and spray the red liquid into the air. As the leader of The Brood, he introduced Edge and Christian as his minions and fit perfectly into the mold of The Undertaker’s supernatural Ministry of Darkness. After splitting from The Ministry, he recruited a new Brood consisting of Matt and Jeff Hardy, but the alliance was short-lived. Gangrel continues to give blood bath’s to this day.
7. Leatherface:
Corporal Kirchner later slapped on a skin-mask and went to Japan’s W*ING promotion, which was best known for its wrestling death matches. These matches piled on the bumps and blood, and Kirchner found great success as Leatherface until he severely injured a fan and ended up in jail for six months. While jailed, W*ING brought in a *second* Leatherface — played by Canadian wrestler Rick Patterson. Once Kirchner was out of jail, the two teamed together in a match where Kirchner went crazy and legit almost killed one of the wrestlers. Both Kirchner (as Super Leather) and Patterson continued to use the gimmick over the next decade or so, with the character notably appearing in the now-legendary IWA 1995 King of the Death Match tournament, which also featured American wrestlers Terry Funk, Terry Gordy, and Mick Foley.
6. Jason the Terrible:
Jason Voorhees is one of the most famous killers in the horror world. So why not make it a wrestling gimmick to. There have been countless wrestlers who gave it a shot, but perhaps the most well-known is Karl Moffat, who had a successful run throughout the ’80s in Calgary’s Stampede Wrestling, bleeding at the drop of the hat while working with a series of future big names like Bret and Owen Hart and Chris Benoit.
Of course, a masked gimmick like this can travel easily, so there’s even a few more Jason The Terribles out there; including Tracy Smothers, who donned the mask for a time in the Japanese W*ING promotion in the 90s. Occasionally you would even get one Jason squaring off against *another* Jason!
5. Mankind:
Check out this eerie promo as well click here
Before Mankind, Mick Foley had another sadistic character called Cactus Jack. Cactus loved pain, love feeling pain and love giving pain to others. Cactus wrestled some of the most brutal blood baths over in Japan in countless death matches. He even had his ear ripped off in a match with Vader. So, Cactus brought all that love for pain and blood and turned it up a few notches to create Mankind. Mankind was a very disturbed character who wanted people to feel his emotional pain, so he would inflict pain on everyone around him. Mankind had an amazing feud with Undertaker and gave some of the best eerie promo’s ever in WWE.
4. Papa Shango:
Papa Shango painted his face like a skeletal demon, wore a pipe hat and a necklace made of bones and carried a smoke-billowing skull to the ring. His gimmick was based off of a real life Voodoo Priest. The witch doctor frightened anybody who watched WWE programming. Shango cast a spell on Ultimate Warrior that made the former WWE Champion to vomit and caused a thick black liquid to pour from his head. WWE fans never doubted that Shango was a true practitioner of black magic.
3. Bray Wyatt:
Bray Wyatt is the new face of fear. Undertaker is retired and Kane is on his way out. WWE needs a new face of fear and Bray stepped up to the plate. Bray had done countless eerie promo’s and singing the whole world in my hands. Bray Wyatt is enough to give you nightmares for the rest of your life and not even a shrink can get his eerie face out of your dreams. Bray and his ability to strike fear in the hearts and minds of everyone will continue on this dark path for a long time.
2. KANE:
Kane made his first WWE appearance at Badd Blood 1997. For The Devil’s Favorite Demon, his mask wasn’t a costume, it was armor, protection from the world witnessing his physical and emotional scars underneath. He paired it with black leather gloves and full-body tights with only one arm’s skin exposed. This implied to the WWE Universe that something was horribly wrong with his other limbs. Kane has changed his gimmick over the years, but each version is scary as hell. Kane has set numerous people on fire, buried them alive and ruined weddings. He also stars as Jacob Goodnight in See no Evil 1 and 2. And him and his brother Undertaker are the Brothers of Destruction.
1. Undertaker
The Undertaker is the most feared and respected superstar in the world. Nobody strikes fear and gets the hair on your arm to stand up then Undertaker and his gong. From the moment he debuted at Survivor Series 1990, The Deadman has remained one of the most mystifying and frightening figures not only in the squared circle, but in all of pop culture. For more than two decades, the “GONG!” has signaled the arrival of The Phenom. Undertaker starred in Poltergeist the Legacy. Through his entire evolution, The Undertaker has remained one of the most respected and intimidating Superstars in the history of sports-entertainment, not just because of his personality, but because there is something supernatural about The Phenom. Undertaker will never Rest in Peace!!
Check out my article on Undertaker by clicking here
