EJ Moreno looks at the best horror-themed pro wrestling gimmicks…
For this article’s sake, horror and wrestling are a match made in heaven or hell. Throughout the sport’s history, countless wrestlers have embraced horror elements or a bit of the dark side, from demonic creatures to creepy clowns. Every genre of horror with the success of those gimmicks ranges from scary good to oh-so cruel.
Below is a collection of the most terrifying, horror-inspired wrestlers! This list will span every promotion, and every era of wrestling, with the focus being on someone whose gimmick takes inspiration from a horror film OR if the person is channeling something a little spooky for their persona.
10. Killer Kowalski
While Killer Kowalski is far less “gimmicky” than the others on this list, don’t let that take away from the horror of this man. Killer Kowalski is most known for training numerous modern wrestlers, including Triple H, Eddie Edwards, and Tommaso Ciampa, but the wrestler is a legend in his own right. Not only did he perfect the ravenous heel persona, but his legacy contained stories of actually maiming wrestlers.
Killer Kowalski is terrifying, like New Japan’s Minoru Suzuki, without having to be a cartoon character. Also, Kowalski is the first man in America to pin Andre The Giant…a monster feat!
9. Doink The Clown
Clowns scare many people, and they’re inescapable throughout pop culture. From Stephen King’s IT franchise to John Wayne Gacy, the once-friendly character is forever horrifying. In the 90s, WWE came up with the idea of their clown character, giving birth to one of the most haunting wrestlers on this list.
Doink The Clown started friendly but slowly became the twisted clown that would cement his legacy. This clown scared kids with his cruel breaks and terrifying laugh. If it’s Matt Osborne or Chris Jericho for one night, the legacy of Doink The Clown is intact.
8. The Boogeyman
No one will call The Boogeyman a fantastic in-ring performer, but the man has one hell of a gimmick. From the bizarre backstage antics to his passion for eating worms, everything The Boogeyman would scream campy horror movie. You also can’t forget to mention he once ate a gross fake mole off Jillian Hall’s face; no denying the man was committed.
If only this character were around during the gimmick-filled Attitude Era, his appearance during the mid-00s wrestling scene felt like seeing Jason Voorhees in the middle of a romantic comedy.
7. La Parka
The addition of La Parka on this list switches from Halloween to another macabre holiday, Día de Muertos. The Mexican wrestling legend based his look on a skeleton, a common theme in Day of the Dead celebrations. Think Disney’s Coco, but with a lucha-libre flair. During La Parka’s illustrious career, many matches felt brutal or scary, like a horror film; Mexican wrestling usually is a bit more theatrical.
There are also a few “mask vs. mask” matches with La Parka that get pretty scary, even if it is for the safety of the wrestlers involved.
6. Kevin Sullivan
There have been a few cult leaders in wrestling, but none are quite like the Florida legend Kevin Sullivan. While in Championship Wrestling From Florida, Sullivan crafted eerie promos and got a gang of followers to do his bidding. This gimmick blurred the lines between real and fake, adding realism to everything.
You also can’t forget Kevin Sullivan’s time in WCW, where he made the campy Dungeon of Doom. His cartoony horror villains took on Hulk Hogan and other wrestlers at various Halloween Havoc PPVs throughout the stable’s run.
5. Abdullah the Butcher
If any wrestler on this list scares me the most, it’s Abdullah the Butcher. The hardcore icon makes Halloween’s Michael Myers look tame with his scar-covered face and a legacy of infamous matches. If you were to watch his entire 60-year career, I’m sure the Saw movies would feel like Disney films after.
Abdullah the Butcher only retired recently, so this insane man was still maiming opponents recently! Though he is known to be a nice man in real life, there is no messing with this man between those ropes. It’s like stepping into the ring with the scariest horror slasher.
4. Vampiro
Wrestling has its fair share of vampires, with one of them popping up in nearly every promotion. What makes Vampiro so unique is the longevity and various companies he’s worked for, as well as how much he loves the darkness of his gimmick. While some horror-inspired work in WCW made Vampiro infamous, his work on El Rey’s Lucha Underground is the stuff of B-movie dreams.
Look up Vampiro’s bloody and brutal match with Pentagon Jr, another scary wrestler, and tell me that the battle isn’t perfect for a Halloween viewing.
3. Mankind
Mick Foley’s resume has more scares than your average horror film. Especially when you look back at the character’s early work, a boiler room-dwelling psycho who likes to pull out his hair. Everything this man did was terrifying; it was losing part of his ear or going through a flaming table. But none of his personas embodied “horror” quite like Mankind.
It wasn’t until Mankind went through a table while falling off a massive cage that he became the extreme icon we know today. Seeing that stunt desensitizes you to that kind of insane violence. Kind of like binging a lot of horror films!
2. Bray Wyatt
No modern wrestler has turned horror into gold quite like Bray Wyatt. What started as a creepy homage to Cape Fear eventually turned into this supernatural Charles Manson, complete with his own house of horrors. Bray Wyatt owns every bit of this gimmick and makes the campiness work in the-then self-proclaimed “Reality Era.” Then his most recent era saw him become a masked serial killer and a demented Pee Wee Herman-like character.
Bray profoundly understands and loves the genre he’s shown every step. Let’s see what the man can cook up in his latest return.
1. The Undertaker
WWE’s Phenom, The Undertaker, made his living by embracing horror and the hilarious tropes that came along with the genre. No other wrestler on this list used the horror-themed gimmick to such success as this legend. The Undertake has also found ways to reinvent his character throughout the years; it’s not always the usual “Dead Man” as he’s been a cult leader, biker, and mortician.
Mark Calloway truly deserves his iconic status just because he made the most of this gimmick and seemed to have fun along the way, what any horror fan wants!
Who is the scariest or most horror-inspired wrestler you know? Let us know what you think by reaching out to our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
EJ Moreno
