Wrestlmania is today! Whether you are a wrestling fan or used to be a wrestling fan or want to be a wrestling fan or can’t stand the sight of a wrestling ring…you have heard of Wrestlemania. Today, in New Orleans, is the 34th Wrestlemania and it promises many great matches and entertainment. That being said, if you truly care about wrestling, you already know that; therefore, I will get to my point. I thought that it would be appropriate today to do my first list for horrorfuel…are you ready…NO! I said ARE YOU REAAAADY!!!??? (Sorry….wrestling joke).
Here we go, my top 10 creepiest/scariest wrestlers:
1 – Doink the Clown
Doink is now a nostalgia act (not the last time I am going to use that term in this list). He is a goofy, balloon animal-making, silly, laughing spot in nostalgia shows thrown out there for kids to get excited. But back in the day, Doink wasn’t laughing…he was cackling and he was terrifying. He was never very skilled in the ring, but he fed off people’s fear of clowns and was absolutely vicious…smiling all the way to bludgeoning his opponents with chairs and other weapons. In his heyday, Doink fed off screams, not laughter.
2 – Papa Shango
One of the creepiest wrestlers I remember from my growing up years. He wasn’t active in the ring for very long, but he absolutely left his mark. Aside from his horrifying face paint and bone necklace, anyone who saw it remembers the thick, black liquid pouring out of The Ultimate Warrior’s head and mouth due to some villainous voodoo spell cast by Papa Shango.
8 – Kane
So now he is well past his prime, running for Mayor of his town, sometimes wears a mask and sometimes doesn’t, and never really a threat to win anything. However, when “The Devil’s Favorite Demon” literally ripped into Hell in a Cell to attack and destroy whomever and whatever he could get his hands on, Kane was terrifying! One great backstory about murdered parents, being the The Undertaker’s brother, and being horribly disfigured beneath his iconic mask, this 7 foot/300 lbs future Hall of Famer is one of the all-time great monsters to ever step over the ropes.
7 – The Boogeyman
Most of The Boogeyman’s scariness comes from his entrance. And he is another one who is more nostalgia act for special events or shows. But the crawl to the ring (now imitated by Finn Balor), the music, and…you know…eating handfuls of worms, all set up The Bogeyman to be one of the most terrifying and memorable characters in WWE history.
6 – Gangrel
Ready for the name drop? My Claim to Fame? Ready? Before broken bones, ripped up tendons, stitches galore, and a few concussions, I wrestled under the name of Deathwish. Just small scale stuff, but it was a really amazing time of my life. During that time, in a small Canadian city, Deathwish shared a ring with the vampire Gangrel. I must admit that he was one of the nicest, most down to earth guys I met in that business. In character though, in the WWE, when his music hit and he ascended from beneath the stage through a ring of fire with his blood-filled goblet, Gangrel cast a horrifying aura throughout the arena.
5 – Scary Sherri
Scariness is not sexist. Scary Sherri was the anti-hero to Macho Man’s Miss Elizabeth (and every other woman in the WWE at the time). Setting herself aside from the Beauty Queen characters of the day, Sherri not only looked the part of her name, she was legitimately as tough as any man in the ring and even more vicious! Unfortunately it has only been the past few years that women wrestlers have received proper acknowledgment for their skills and abilities so back in Scary Sherrie’s day, they were more in a managerial type-role; nonetheless, Sherri made the absolute most of her position as she managed many legends and became a legend herself.
4 – Jake the Snake
In a world (and time) of juiced up, cocaine-fuelled, men who screamed out threats with veins bulging with each word. Trying to out-yell each other about who was going to rip who apart…here came the soft spoken, meticulous, calculating Jake. He calmly and slowly explained why and how he would decimate his opponent and then carry out his promise. Jake, with his snakes, tore through the WWE. He was never an over-the-top character with flash or crazy gimmicks. All he had was his lifeless eyes and cold demeanor that broke the soles of those he stood toe-to-toe with. (Also, who can forget his snake legitimately biting into biceps of Macho Man?).
3 – Bray Wyatt
The most modern wrestler on the list. Bray burst onto the scene as “Husky Harris” but quickly changed his character to a charismatic, world-eating, smooth talking, mind-game-playing, preacher. He ruled a cult of bearded behemoths while working with supernatural powers to mess around with the crowd and opponents. In the ring, his move set is extremely unique and disturbing. I am a big fan of Bray Wyatt because although his entrance sets the perfect mood and persona, he is far more than just an entrance. On the mic, his cryptic messages are perfection, in the ring he is terrifying.
2 – The Undertaker
The man that changed the WWE. The Phenom. The Dead Man. Undertaker has seemingly been around forever. I could do an entire article on the horrifying things ‘Taker has done — Black Mass, Satan worship, lighting strikes, human sacrifice, crucifixions, dying multiple times – not to mention the absolute malicious beatings he handed out to any who dared step into the ring with him. The Undertaker’s entrance is legendarily chilling and he is so devoted to his character that it borders on obsession…only adding to his haunting mystique.
Honorable Mentionn
- The French Angel Maurice Tillet
- Finn Balor
1 – Mankind
It was a hard choice deciding between Undertaker or Mankind for 1st place, but I decided to give the pole position to Mankind due to the fact that he didn’t use anything flashy or supernatural. Mankind based everything on words and mannerisms. He was mentally disturbed and seemingly addicted to both receiving and dishing out pain. Later in his run, Mankind became more comedic, but early on, with the voice, twitches, hair clumps, leather mask, and whatever else came from the twisted abyss of his mind, Mankind was horribly terrifying and eerie and creepy and scary and menacing and frightening and you couldn’t look away.
