It is the spooky season once more, and horror howls on the winds of dark October evenings. Some would bemoan this, but scares have always had a place in the spectacle of wrestling. A creepy thrill up your spine when a star steps through the curtain is intoxicating for fans, even those who don’t love the horror genre.
As somebody who does love horror, in wrestling and otherwise, this time of year is an absolute favorite of mine. In honor of the iconic 13 Ghosts, here is a look back at 13 terrifying wrestling gimmicks through the years.
Bray Wyatt
The entirety of a horror list could be dedicated to the creations of the late Bray Wyatt. Even the current Uncle Howdy, terrifying in his own right, was initially created by Wyatt in collaboration with his brother Bo Dallas. Including just one of the Wyatt characters would be a disservice to his memory.
Not everything he made was meant to horrify the fans but all of it was very much in line with the genre. Even his heroic or comedic runs borrowed heavily from the tropes and truisms any horror enthusiast would appreciate. If forced to pick, the original cult leader gimmick is still the creepiest.
However, nobody in wrestling’s past or present understood fear and entertainment like Wyatt did. Sadly, he is gone way too soon so, for all our sakes, we hopefully don’t have to add the future to that list.
But if you become the machine, you don’t have to feel at all. #WhatIf? pic.twitter.com/IzSoaZyz1r
— WYATT 6 (@Windham6) April 21, 2022
New Jack
Was New Jack really doing a terrifying wrestling gimmick? That depends on who you are asking. Namely, if you ask anyone he wrestled, the answer is an astounding yes.
Sometimes, the scariest wrestlers aren’t meant to play into the horror themes we know and enjoy. There is more than one way to scare a crowd. New Jack, though, also didn’t do any of those things.
New Jack could scare people because he was, in fact, very scary. He would beat his opponent senselessly and not in the way fans were used to. His feats of daring and cruelty had absolutely no equal.
These traits and his frank attitude toward the word made him a beloved part of the ECW formula, cementing him as an icon of the industry even before his death and one of the scariest men on the planet.
Matt Borne’s Doink the Clown
WWE absolutely ruined Doink the Clown, at least if you are into the horror genre. Early on and after he left, though, Matt Borne‘s Doink was quickly one of the darkest, most terrifying wrestling gimmicks around. An ill-advised face turn and a recast shortly before that took both the impishly malevolent nature of Doink away from the character for a more straight comedy.
Then, as Doink Borne Again, the character was wholly unleashed on ECW, realizing his full potential. Kids especially feared Doink, and he gave them plenty of reason to. The older fans could also see Doink was darker than meets the eye.
Beyond the usual heel antics, though, Bourne could cut a promo while giving off an uneasy aura that is hard to quantify. The result was that, when the evil clown was laughing, everyone else was worried enough not to.
The Mariposa
Lucha Underground had fabulously dark characters and supernatural storylines that played into folklore and horror tropes heavily. One of the more underrated acts, at least from the terrifying perspective, was the Mariposa. A member of, and competent warrior for, the Moth Tribe in LU lore, Mariposa moved unnaturally until the bell rang.
From there, she was a technically gifted wrestler on one of wrestling’s most eclectic and terrifying rosters. Her, let’s call it close, relationship with her half-brother and fellow tribesman Marty “The Moth” Martinez added another creepy layer to her character.
Mariposa kidnapped her enemies and strolled down to the ring with evil intent. She was a femme fetal who played to her gimmick and that of the brands perfectly to the chilling effect.
Jacob Fatu
Jacob Fatu doesn’t have a scary gimmick, yet he terrifies fans in a way his uncle Umaga would have been proud of. Some of that is how similarly he carries himself to his uncle. Fatu wrestles and even speaks like he is more beast than man.
Part of the terror goes beyond his personal aura and character work though. WWE has done an immaculate job in building Fatu as dangerous. Even Roman Reigns says his tribal heir, Solo Sikoa, shouldn’t have brought Fatu in.
Working in his past run-in with the law at 18 years old is a secondary point. WWE has worked to convey a sense of actual danger in working a match against Fatu. It adds up to a man who looks more like a monster than anything Hollywood studios could create.
Abadon
Zombies in wrestling are standard, and they are usually horrible. Perhaps they get the job done as a bit of comedy or movie promotion but not as a seriously scary superstar. One of only a few exceptions would be AEW‘s Abadon.
She doesn’t get nearly enough time on Dynamite but, when she is on screen, she fully commits. Her movements in and out of the match sell that she is otherworldly, namely the world beyond. AEW also presents Abadon well most of the time.
Watching her entrance through the smoke, especially on the AEW Dark set, seemed to capture her crawling from the dirt toward the ring. Sometimes, the best way to get over a terrifying supernatural character isn’t with gimmicks. It is a star who is all in on it.
Showing AEW Dark and the world who Abadon is. pic.twitter.com/aTSYZsMcMo
— Abadon_AEW (@abadon_AEW) March 21, 2020
Matanza Cueto
Lucha Underground made some of wrestling’s most prominent faces in a very short amount of time. Fenix, Pentagon Jr., and Prince Puma all found great success as técnicos on the El Rey network. Every hero needs a monster to slay, and LU’s king of monsters used to be the massive Matanza Cueto.
He was presented as a slasher who came to life. He would brutalize opponents without seemingly breaking a sweat. His connection to his “brother,” Dario, only added to his dark appeal and his sense of power.
Uncontrolled power is something everyone fears. He wasn’t the only talent meant to terrify in the temple, but he may have done it best.
Minoru Suzuki
Minoru Suzuki‘s genuine fighter bona fides are likely enough to terrify most people. However, his current character adds a more traditional sense of horror. Anyone who has enjoyed movies like Don’t Breath, The Taking of Deborah Logan, or The Visit knows that there is something deeply upsetting about a violent elderly antagonist.
His patented scowl adds years to his face, already older than most of his active colleagues. This makes his signature mean streak and systematic dissection of opponents even scarier to watch. Despite his bad attitude and wicked ways, he is usually met with rapturous applause from American fans when he appears on AEW.
What makes this run for Suzuki one of the most terrifying wrestling gimmicks through the years is the bloodlust he inspires in fans around the globe.
Vampiro
Vampiro was another dark member of the Lucha Underground roster but his resume reached maximum macabre long before his time behind the commentary desk or fighting Pentagon in the temple. Even throughout the intervening years when he worked in music, acting, or any number of side projects, Vampiro always made the terrifying his trademark.
In WCW, he teamed with the Insane Clown Posse, a crew that has unnerved more than a few people in their illustrious career. Bloodbaths were also part of the gimmick, and blood, more broadly, was his favorite horror prop. His time in Lucha Underground allowed him to take on the role of storyteller, adding to the dark history of the temple in each episode.
Luna Vachon
It is nearly impossible to remove the real-life mental anguish from a conversation about Luna Vachon. Her story is well documented in that regard. However, it wasn’t just the darker reality coloring Luna’s legacy in a shrouded darkness.
As a performer, she was excellent at being a menace to the men and women on the roster alike. Her voice made each promo sound gravelly, a rarity in the women’s division. She was drawn early on to the occult or evil factions as well, adding to her spooky aura.
However, even after she moved beyond the inherently scary side of wrestling, her toughness and grit made her a formidable opponent for everyone on the roster.
The Undertaker
Many WWE fans would say The Undertaker is number one on any list of terrifying wrestling gimmicks. His acclaimed career spanning decades certainly means he is the most successful. That a supernatural gimmick could stand the test of time for that long is a testament to his ability.
The funeral march that accompanies him to the ring scared every child in attendance, and most of them watching at home. The undead zombie Undertaker, in particular, definitely pushed the confines of believability in older fans.
That may be why so many older wrestling fans, teens in the 1990s, prefer his very non-occult Biker phase. Still, when you think of aura meant to unsettle and scare in WWE, The Undertaker is likely a top contender for wrestling’s Prince of Darkness.
Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts
There is something sinister about Jake Roberts‘ piety. It is unclear which is scarier, that he may be lying or that he’s telling the truth.
Waylon Mercy, a cultish character from WWE’s early days, is often seen as the proto-Bray Wyatt. The argument can be made that Robert’s fits the bill much more closely. It was all in his words.
He would speak of divine light; he would talk about pure evil. Even today in AEW, his prophetic nature can’t be contained, and he often evangelizes doom and destruction for his enemies and those who follow them.
He is the first person to tell you he is a dangerous man, and everyone who has ever seen him perform believes him. Also, I am personally terrified of snakes.
Mankind/Mick Foley
Mick Foley is a character genius to a magnitude above most others in wrestling, or at least in its mainstream. Perhaps his greatest creation, though, and a contender for the most terrifying of wrestling gimmicks ever, is Mankind.
Mankind took his matches to the extreme—the violent nature of humanity on display in a symbolic way. His disheveled look and ominous delivery of every word in his patented, masterfully crafted, promos were designed to leave fans old and young alike disturbed at the individual they were witnessing compete before them.
WWE did a great job playing up his mystery and abnormality, making a relatively unassuming guy a “freakshow” even in a land of outlandish characters. His partially masked face plays into the very essence of horror, seeing just a glimpse of the threatening unknown.
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