April 20, 2025 • 21 mins
Wrestling's dark side comes alive through characters shrouded in mysticism, fear, and supernatural power. From the earliest territory days to modern promotions, the squared circle has been home to an astonishing array of occult figures who blur the boundaries between athletic competition and otherworldly storytelling. These aren't just colorful personalities—they're manifestations of our deepest fears and fascinations with the unknown.
The Undertaker reigns supreme as the undisputed king of supernatural wrestling personas. Beginning as a stoic mortician in 1990, his character evolved into the leader of darkness itself, complete with a mystical urn, resurrection abilities, and storylines involving satanic ceremonies. His kayfabe brother Kane arrived as a horror movie villain made flesh, complete with a tragic backstory and the ability to command hellfire. Together, they established a dynasty of darkness that would influence wrestling for decades.
The tradition continued with figures like Bray Wyatt, whose psychological horror blended cult leadership with the nightmarish duality of the Fiend and his twisted Firefly Fun House. Elsewhere, Gangrel and The Brood tapped into vampire mythology during the vampire-obsessed 90s, Papa Shango brought voodoo curses that made opponents convulse on television, and The Boogeyman's worm-eating antics created genuine discomfort among viewers. Each character accessed different types of fear—gothic, psychological, mystical, ritualistic—proving that wrestling's supernatural elements are as varied as they are enduring.
The Great Kabuki pioneered mystical wrestling elements decades ago, introducing the iconic poison mist that still appears today. Meanwhile, Kevin Sullivan's satanic Taskmaster character pushed boundaries during the height of Satanic Panic. These performers didn't just entertain—they tapped into cultural anxieties and fascinations, creating unforgettable moments that transcended sport to become modern mythology. As long as audiences crave a good scare, wrestling's dark side will continue to evolve, haunt, and captivate us. Subscribe to hear more explorations of where pop culture meets the unexplained!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hello everybody and welcome to Arcane Horizons.
This is Quentin Gray and beforewe start today, I'd just like
to apologize for the hiatus inour sessions.
I was actually traveling quitea bit, got a little busy with
the old day job there and,unfortunately, when I got freed
up a little bit, got a littlebusy with the old day job there
and, unfortunately, when I gotfreed up a little bit, theo had
(00:28):
some.
I think there was some like aflu scare in your family there
for a while.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, oh yeah, we had a bad day for a while.
In addition, I also had pinkeye in both eyes, which is
always fun, but knock on wood Ithink we've come through it.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Well, I'm glad you're feeling healthier and the
family's better, and now we havesome time to do some episodes,
so we're hoping to.
You know, we were aiming for aweekly show in the beginning.
I think now we're going to aimfor biweekly and as we get into
a rhythm we'll go into moreweekly.
You know, we appreciate allyour feedback, but let's just
get into it.
Today we're actually going tobe talking about wrestling and
(01:06):
its ties to the occult.
So, theo, without further ado,please get us set into it here.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Well, WrestleMania season is upon us, 19th and 20th
in Vegas, and if you knowanything about me and I suspect
most of you don't know muchabout me I'm a diehard pro
wrestling fan, in addition tomany other fandoms.
And what might not be soobvious about pro wrestling is
how heavily it is, you know,with the characters and the
storylines occasionally dippinginto occult storylines, occult
(01:35):
themes.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
I know you're a diehard fan and I'm not as huge
of a fan, but I do enjoy it.
And you know I've alwaysnoticed that wrestling has had a
deep-rooted connection to thesupernatural and the occult.
Even from the earliest days ofthe sport, promoters have used
dark and mysterious personas tocaptivate audiences, drawing
from myth, folklore and horrorcinema.
(01:59):
And these characters oftenshrouded in mysticism and fear
right, and they've ranged fromeverything from like eerie
voodoo priests to undeadmorticians and full-fledged cult
leaders.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Yeah, that's correct.
Now, the origins of occultwrestling gimmicks go back
further than we know, but theydate back at least to the
territory days here in the USwhere wrestlers like the Great
Kabuki introduced these elementsof mysticism through these very
unique performances.
And, of course, there's clipsof a lot of these things on
YouTube, if anybody wants tocheck out some of these
characters we're going todiscuss here today.
(02:34):
It was during the boom periods,the 80s, the 90s, when
wrestling was really popular,that the genre really thrived.
You know, within WWE, wcw, lotsof characters incorporating
gothic, supernatural, evendemonic imagery into their
storytelling, and thesecharacters really blurred the
lines between reality andfiction, making the audience
(02:56):
question whether they werewitnessing something
otherworldly.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
you know, inside the squared circle, Well, and some
of these gimmicks played offpsychological horror, while
others leaned into supernaturaland religious iconography.
You know inside the squaredcircle Well, and some of these
gimmicks played offpsychological horror, while
others leaned into supernaturaland religious iconography.
You know, regardless of theirapproach, they each left a
lasting impact on the wrestlingworld, shaping how horror and
wrestling intersect to this day,and the fascination with the
macabre continues even intomodern wrestling, as new
(03:23):
generations of wrestlersexperiment with darker personas
to captivate audiences witheerie entrances, unsettling
promos and chilling storylines.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
So let's begin the discussion of some of these
characters and let's start withthe godfather of them all, the
godfather of all supernaturalwrestling gimmicks, in my
opinion, talking about theUndertaker.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Yeah, I mean, you know no argument there.
The Undertaker, probably, asyou said, the godfather of all
supernatural gimmicks, the kingand the phenom of darkness here.
Right From his debut in 1990,he was the unstoppable, undead
figure with ties to the occult.
For example, his urn, whichsomehow controlled him, plus the
(04:09):
way he played with symbols ofdeath like caskets and buried
alive matches, really hit thegothic horror sweet spot.
But what pushed it over theedge for me was the ministry of
darkness sacrifices ritualstrying to marry Stephanie
McMahon in some kind of satanicceremony.
It wasn't just horror, it wasstraight up occult storytelling.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Yeah, that's right.
The Undertaker, whose real nameis Mark Calloway, was one of
the longest running mostsuccessful supernatural gimmicks
in wrestling history, handsdown.
He began his career in worldclass championship wrestling
before arriving in the WWE in1990.
Quickly established himself asan ominous, unrelenting force.
(04:52):
His transformation from thisstoic, mortician character to
this leader of the dark forcesreally took wrestling
storytelling to new levels.
At that time, he also hadangles involving his brother
Kane, his manager, paul Beareranother very interesting figure
and feuds that includedparanormal elements like
(05:12):
resurrections, supernaturalstrength.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Yeah, I mean.
Without a doubt he wasextremely interesting.
It came at the perfect time,right, because the early 90s
were all about gothic, horrorand pop culture, so Undertaker
felt like something out of asupernatural novel.
But then you had Kane, hisbrother, coming in like a
walking nightmare.
I remember that debut at Hellin a Cell, unforgettable.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, Kane was a horror movie villain brought to
life in the squared circle.
He had this backstory of beingburned alive, this eerie silence
instead of these loud promoswe're used to in wrestling.
His ability to summon flamescame in handy and made him one
of the most intimidating forcesin wrestling at the time.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Yeah and Kane, portrayed by Glenn Jacobs, made
his legendary debut at Bad Blood1997.
Ripping the door off the Hellin a Cell structure to confront
his estranged brother, theUndertaker and his backstory was
drenched in horror movie themes.
Supposedly scarred in a fireset by the Undertaker, he
(06:17):
returned for revenge wearing ared and black mask and
commanding Hellfire itself.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yeah, glenn Jacobs, interestingly, is, I believe,
now a mayor in Tennessee.
So, over the years came to ballfrom this, the silent horror
villain to this tormentedantihero.
You know he got into the themesof family betrayal,
supernatural string,psychological torment which
would influence later wrestlerslike Bray Wyatt, who we'll talk
(06:47):
about here in a bit.
He had these infamous feudswith the Undertaker, with Triple
H, with Edge.
He was even unmasked at onepoint, revealing this deranged
human beneath the monster.
Glenn Jacobs was great playingthis role.
I think.
Despite all these changes tohis character, kane reigned one
of the staples of occultwrestling imagery, utilizing
(07:10):
fire and darkness as his weaponsof choice.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
For sure, and the Fiend was a master class in
horror storytelling.
Bray Wyatt created this dualityon one side he had the cheerful
but creepy kid show host andthen on the other, this demonic
figure that felt like pure rage.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah, bray Wyatt was a unique individual.
Rest in peace.
Of course, he passed awayfairly recently, but there was
something deeply psychologicalabout Bray Wyatt's characters,
whether it was leading to thiseerie Wyatt family or when he
morphed into the Fiend, whichwas admittingly a little bit
goofy but did tap into thesefears of cult mentality,
(07:51):
repressed trauma and the unknown.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Bray.
Wyatt, whose real name wasWyndham Rotunda, first
introduced himself as thecharismatic but unsettling
leader of the Wyatt family, afaction resembling a backwoods
cult, with his eerie promos,cryptic philosophies and
devotion to chaos.
Wyatt's faction, including LukeHarper, erick Rowan and later
(08:13):
Brown Strowman, was one of themost menacing groups in WWE's
modern era.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Yeah, bray, wyatt, the Wyatt family stuff one of my
favorite gimmicks of all time.
In wrestling His 2019reinvention as the Fiend, he
took this mystique to a newlevel.
This was inspired by FreddyKrueger, pennywise, other horror
icons and the Fiend was thisaltered ego representing Wyatt's
darkest urges.
He did these very awesomeFirefly Funhouse segments, which
(08:42):
were almost like a scary Kiwi'sPlayhouse type of thing,
creating this unsettlingjuxtaposition, shifting into
this eerie kid's TV host persona.
Really good stuff, linking thatchildhood TV with nightmarish
violence.
Childhood TV with nightmarishviolence.
The Fiend feuded with some topnames John Cena, seth Rollins,
randy Wharton.
His matches often featureddisturbing mind games.
(09:05):
Well, that was until RandyWharton set him on fire and put
an end to the Fiend.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Well, rest in peace to the Fiend and to William
Rotunda, who passed away in 2023.
Love or hate his gimmicks, hewas one of the most unique and
creative voices in wrestling and, by the way, I found Pee Wee
Herman scary Maybe scarier thanthe Fiend, anyway.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
I'm a big fan.
I'm a big Pee Wee fan.
I don't know what this saysabout me, but maybe I should
admit that out here.
And that match, you know, theBray Wyatt match with John Cena,
I feel was like one of thesegreat descents into darkness.
You know, it wasn't justwrestling, this was more like
theatrical psychological horror.
But for classic Gothic horroryou can't overlook Gangrel and
the Brood.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
And these are like vampires straight out of some
vampire cult, you know.
Yeah, the brood was like agothic nightmare, if I recall
correctly.
I mean the bloodbaths, theeerie music, the sinister grins.
It felt like they were drawingenergy from some dark force.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Yeah, yeah, there's bits of like Vampire the
Masquerade in there, little bitsof like Elizabeth Bathory-type
stuff with the bloodbaths and soon.
Gangrel, who was played byDavid Heath, was a leader of the
brood.
This faction included Edge andChristian, who are both now with
AEW, both still wrestling, andthis drew inspiration, as we
said, from vampire mythology.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Their eerie entrances walking through the ring of
fire while drinking from thesechalices of blood the semen in
their status, is one of WWE'smost haunting wrestling stables
well, and and their wholegangrel, especially the gothic
aesthetic was, was reallyinspired and, I think, fueled by
at the time in the late 90s,the anrice vampire novel craze,
(10:52):
uh right, and it also alignedwith pop culture hits.
Look back then, like buffy, thevampire, slayer, uh and blade.
The brood's signature move, theblood bath, involved drenching
their opponents in a red liquid,often to shock and intimidate.
Though grangel uh himself neverwon major championships, his
influence paved the way forsupernatural factions like the
(11:15):
ministry of darkness you made methink back to.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
You know what a glorious time for vampire fans
the 1990s was.
Oh, it was, this was you know,born out of it, you know,
cultural Mayu, you know.
Now, speaking of occultcharacters, let's talk about
Papa Shango, who was also wayahead of his time.
He was literally a voodoopriest.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Shango.
Yeah, shango brought a level ofterror that was, I mean,
completely different fromtraditional monsters, right?
His ability to curse opponents,making them vomit and convulse
uncontrollably, added a level offear that was disturbingly real
, especially considering thatthere are many voodoo believers
around the world, and it'sprobably a topic we should go
(11:56):
into on another show.
But let's continue on shango,please.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Um I digress, we're going to that and uh that, and
vampires, I say too uhabsolutely yeah, but papa shango
, portrayed by charles wright,that he embodied this voodoo
mysticism in the early 90s.
You know, with the skulls, theeerie face, paint, the ability
to place curses on his opponents, cause black goo to pour from
(12:21):
their heads, making themconvulse uncontrollably.
Shingo was a terrifyingpresence in the ring.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
I remember one of his most infamous moments came when
he cursed the Ultimate Warrior,causing him to vomit and sweat
profusely, in a segment thatdisturbed fans at the time.
Though the character eventuallyfaded, charles Wright later
reinvented himself as KamaMustafa and later the Godfather,
I believe, abandoning theentire occult gimmick.
(12:50):
However, papa Shango'sinfluence remains, inspiring
later supernatural characterslike the Boogeyman and Br bray
wyatt, as we talked aboutearlier and also kevin sullivan,
aka the the taskmaster, andthis guy leans so hard into
these satanic vibes.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
You know that it's surprising they don't let this
air on tv at the time you know,especially with the whole
satanic panic thing going onback then, uh from the 80s and
90s.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Right, it was yeah it was everywhere I remember it
well.
Um, you know everything.
Everything was satanic, right,but uh, sullivan.
Sullivan didn't just play therole of a dark, cult-like leader
, he lived it.
Uh, his real life interest inthe occult gave his performances
an eerie authenticity.
Maybe it was real for all weknow, but with the Dungeon of
(13:39):
Doom he orchestrated one of themost bizarre and supernatural
factions in wrestling history.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Kevin Sullivan made his name in championship
wrestling from Florida beforerising to prominence in WCW, and
this is where he fully embracedthe dark arts, presenting
himself as this agent of eviland as the taskmaster he led the
Dungeon of Doom, as youmentioned, and this was a stable
filled with monstrouscharacters, each seemingly
plucked out of some randomhorror film from the time, and
(14:07):
the group's ultimate mission was, of course, to eliminate Hulk
Hogan, whom they saw as thisembodiment of light and heroism.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
And Sullivan's satanic imagery, the cryptic
promos and that chillingpresence made him one of the
most convincing occult-themedwrestlers of the 90s.
His faction included menacingfigures such as the Giant, the
Yeti and Kamala, adding to themystique of the Dungeon of Doom
right.
Though some of their segmentsleaned towards camp Sullivan's
(14:37):
unwavering commitment to thecharacter cemented his place in
wrestling history.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Yeah, sullivan is a very interesting character for
fans of wrestling history andwrestling, especially if you're
into these occult and satanicthemes.
Let's also talk here about theBoogeyman.
He's not subtle but man, he'sreally unforgettable.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
The Boogeyman was one of the most bizarre, unsettling
characters in wrestling history.
His grotesque appearance, hiserratic movements and the sheer
unpredictability of his actionsmade him stand out, and whether
it was smashing a clock over hishead, crawling out of the
shadows or consuming live worms,the Boogeyman was really
(15:16):
nightmare.
Fuel those live worms.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Good for you, though, apparently.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
High in protein.
The.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Boogeyman Played by Marty Wright.
He made his WWE debut in 2005on SmackDown and instantly stood
out as this horror-themedcharacter inspired areas sort of
on the liminal space betweenyou know, the the stage and the
(15:52):
backstage, which is a veryinteresting, I think, for for
the time he cut these very eeriepromos, it appear out of
nowhere just to terrorize hisopponents yeah, and you just
mentioned young in like achildhood fears.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Uh, I think it's also something we should explore,
because I'm still afraid of thedark, unfortunately, um, but I'm
afraid a lot of things, um, butyou know the boogeyman.
His most infamous trait was hisunsettling eating habits and he
often chewed and spit out wormsbefore matches, really
(16:29):
unsettling both his opponentsand the audience.
I mean almost more than agimmick, just really trying to
gross people out.
I think His most notable feudsincluded JBL, booker T and
Finlay, with each rivalryfeaturing elements of
psychological intimidation.
In his rivalry with Booker Tand Sharmell, the Boogeyman
(16:53):
famously trapped them in adarkened room, forcing Sharmell
to flee in terror as he feastedon worms right in front of him.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Nightmare fuel.
For sure, despite his limitedentering experience, boogeyman
wasn't the best worker in theworld, but his character, work,
his promos, made him thismemorable fixture in mid-2000s
WWE TV.
His chilling entrances.
He had these distorted speechpatterns and these unnatural
(17:22):
mannerisms that made him seemmore like a demonic entity than
a wrestler.
And although he never waschampion, the Boogeyman remains
one of the most unique andterrifying characters ever seen
in the squared circle.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Let's go even further back now.
The great Kabuki was doingmysticism before most of these
guys were even in the picture,maybe even born.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Yeah, kabuki was a trailblazer.
The eerie face paint, the slow,methodical movements and, of
course, the legendary poisonmist, which reappears from time
to time.
Asuka most famously did itrecently, spitting the green
mist into the face of theopponent.
He introduced these elementsthat would influence generations
of supernatural wrestlers.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Now the great Kabuki was portrayed by Akihisa Mera,
one of the earliest wrestlers toincorporate mysticism and
supernatural elements into hispersona.
He made his debut in Japan inthe 1960s before transitioning
to world-class championshipwrestling the WCCW in the United
States, and he developed such aunique in-ring presence that
(18:30):
really relied, as we've touchedupon, really super heavily on
mystery and intimidation.
Really a trailblazer.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Yeah, his signature move, that poison mist which you
know in the matches.
You know it's coming, you justdon't know when you have this
sort of you know expectationbuilt into it.
It became one of wrestling'smost famous supernatural attacks
where he had spit this green,black, red mist, as we said,
into his opponent's eyestemporarily blinding them.
You know other wrestlers haveused you know some kind of
(18:58):
burning, you know acid, whereyou know the opponent, you know
the face is burning, this sortof thing.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
As we said, this was adopted by stars Tajiri Asuka,
solidifying its legacy inwrestling history.
The Poison Mist is one of themost memorable and feared
wrestlers of his time and again,like I said, a trailblazer, and
although he never held majorworld championships, his
influence on supernaturalwrestling characters remains
undeniable.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
And it's incredible how each of these characters
ties into a different kind offear.
You know, you've got gothic,psychological, mystical,
ritualistic.
You got voodoo over here.
You've got Satanism over hereStraight up supernatural,
vampire and ghost stuff.
Now, wrestling's always found away to tap into the darkest
corners of our imagination.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
And I think it always will right.
Horror and wrestling go hand inhand, and as long as people
love a good scare, thesecharacters will keep haunting
the ring.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
I do love a good scare and I do love the ring,
especially when it's haunted.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
I enjoy.
I enjoy our times watchingtogether as well.
I, you know, I grew up watchinga lot of these characters and
kind of got away from it overthe years and getting back into
a little bit now it's.
It's, it's really, um, such a,such a huge part of american and
japanese culture, um, and, youknow, so popular over the world,
(20:35):
obviously latin america as well, but um, hey, that being said,
I think it was a great showtoday.
Uh, exploring these, these, youknow, occult themes within
wrestling, uh, pro wrestling,and and um, you know, I'd like
to ask our, our listeners toplease, you know, visit
arcanehorizonscom, uh, sign upfor our newsletter, like and
(21:01):
follow our podcast, follow us onsocial media and uh, we'll keep
creating more content.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Yeah, sounds good.
Let us know what you enjoy,what you don't enjoy, and we
will guide ourselves in thosedirections.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Thanks everyone, thanks everybody, until next
time.
This has been Arcane Horizons.
Hello everybody and welcome to Arcane Horizons.
This is Quentin Gray and beforewe start today, I'd just like
to apologize for the hiatus inour sessions.
I was actually traveling quitea bit, got a little busy with
the old day job there and,unfortunately, when I got freed
up a little bit, got a littlebusy with the old day job there
and, unfortunately, when I gotfreed up a little bit, theo had
(00:28):
some.
I think there was some like aflu scare in your family there
for a while.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, oh yeah, we had a bad day for a while.
In addition, I also had pinkeye in both eyes, which is
always fun, but knock on wood Ithink we've come through it.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Well, I'm glad you're feeling healthier and the
family's better, and now we havesome time to do some episodes,
so we're hoping to.
You know, we were aiming for aweekly show in the beginning.
I think now we're going to aimfor biweekly and as we get into
a rhythm we'll go into moreweekly.
You know, we appreciate allyour feedback, but let's just
get into it.
Today we're actually going tobe talking about wrestling and
(01:06):
its ties to the occult.
So, theo, without further ado,please get us set into it here.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Well, WrestleMania season is upon us, 19th and 20th
in Vegas, and if you knowanything about me and I suspect
most of you don't know muchabout me I'm a diehard pro
wrestling fan, in addition tomany other fandoms.
And what might not be soobvious about pro wrestling is
how heavily it is, you know,with the characters and the
storylines occasionally dippinginto occult storylines, occult
(01:35):
themes.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
I know you're a diehard fan and I'm not as huge
of a fan, but I do enjoy it.
And you know I've alwaysnoticed that wrestling has had a
deep-rooted connection to thesupernatural and the occult.
Even from the earliest days ofthe sport, promoters have used
dark and mysterious personas tocaptivate audiences, drawing
from myth, folklore and horrorcinema.
(01:59):
And these characters oftenshrouded in mysticism and fear
right, and they've ranged fromeverything from like eerie
voodoo priests to undeadmorticians and full-fledged cult
leaders.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Yeah, that's correct.
Now, the origins of occultwrestling gimmicks go back
further than we know, but theydate back at least to the
territory days here in the USwhere wrestlers like the Great
Kabuki introduced these elementsof mysticism through these very
unique performances.
And, of course, there's clipsof a lot of these things on
YouTube, if anybody wants tocheck out some of these
characters we're going todiscuss here today.
(02:34):
It was during the boom periods,the 80s, the 90s, when
wrestling was really popular,that the genre really thrived.
You know, within WWE, wcw, lotsof characters incorporating
gothic, supernatural, evendemonic imagery into their
storytelling, and thesecharacters really blurred the
lines between reality andfiction, making the audience
(02:56):
question whether they werewitnessing something
otherworldly.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
you know, inside the squared circle, Well, and some
of these gimmicks played offpsychological horror, while
others leaned into supernaturaland religious iconography.
You know inside the squaredcircle Well, and some of these
gimmicks played offpsychological horror, while
others leaned into supernaturaland religious iconography.
You know, regardless of theirapproach, they each left a
lasting impact on the wrestlingworld, shaping how horror and
wrestling intersect to this day,and the fascination with the
macabre continues even intomodern wrestling, as new
(03:23):
generations of wrestlersexperiment with darker personas
to captivate audiences witheerie entrances, unsettling
promos and chilling storylines.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
So let's begin the discussion of some of these
characters and let's start withthe godfather of them all, the
godfather of all supernaturalwrestling gimmicks, in my
opinion, talking about theUndertaker.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Yeah, I mean, you know no argument there.
The Undertaker, probably, asyou said, the godfather of all
supernatural gimmicks, the kingand the phenom of darkness here.
Right From his debut in 1990,he was the unstoppable, undead
figure with ties to the occult.
For example, his urn, whichsomehow controlled him, plus the
(04:09):
way he played with symbols ofdeath like caskets and buried
alive matches, really hit thegothic horror sweet spot.
But what pushed it over theedge for me was the ministry of
darkness sacrifices ritualstrying to marry Stephanie
McMahon in some kind of satanicceremony.
It wasn't just horror, it wasstraight up occult storytelling.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Yeah, that's right.
The Undertaker, whose real nameis Mark Calloway, was one of
the longest running mostsuccessful supernatural gimmicks
in wrestling history, handsdown.
He began his career in worldclass championship wrestling
before arriving in the WWE in1990.
Quickly established himself asan ominous, unrelenting force.
(04:52):
His transformation from thisstoic, mortician character to
this leader of the dark forcesreally took wrestling
storytelling to new levels.
At that time, he also hadangles involving his brother
Kane, his manager, paul Beareranother very interesting figure
and feuds that includedparanormal elements like
(05:12):
resurrections, supernaturalstrength.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Yeah, I mean.
Without a doubt he wasextremely interesting.
It came at the perfect time,right, because the early 90s
were all about gothic, horrorand pop culture, so Undertaker
felt like something out of asupernatural novel.
But then you had Kane, hisbrother, coming in like a
walking nightmare.
I remember that debut at Hellin a Cell, unforgettable.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, Kane was a horror movie villain brought to
life in the squared circle.
He had this backstory of beingburned alive, this eerie silence
instead of these loud promoswe're used to in wrestling.
His ability to summon flamescame in handy and made him one
of the most intimidating forcesin wrestling at the time.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Yeah and Kane, portrayed by Glenn Jacobs, made
his legendary debut at Bad Blood1997.
Ripping the door off the Hellin a Cell structure to confront
his estranged brother, theUndertaker and his backstory was
drenched in horror movie themes.
Supposedly scarred in a fireset by the Undertaker, he
(06:17):
returned for revenge wearing ared and black mask and
commanding Hellfire itself.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yeah, glenn Jacobs, interestingly, is, I believe,
now a mayor in Tennessee.
So, over the years came to ballfrom this, the silent horror
villain to this tormentedantihero.
You know he got into the themesof family betrayal,
supernatural string,psychological torment which
would influence later wrestlerslike Bray Wyatt, who we'll talk
(06:47):
about here in a bit.
He had these infamous feudswith the Undertaker, with Triple
H, with Edge.
He was even unmasked at onepoint, revealing this deranged
human beneath the monster.
Glenn Jacobs was great playingthis role.
I think.
Despite all these changes tohis character, kane reigned one
of the staples of occultwrestling imagery, utilizing
(07:10):
fire and darkness as his weaponsof choice.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
For sure, and the Fiend was a master class in
horror storytelling.
Bray Wyatt created this dualityon one side he had the cheerful
but creepy kid show host andthen on the other, this demonic
figure that felt like pure rage.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah, bray Wyatt was a unique individual.
Rest in peace.
Of course, he passed awayfairly recently, but there was
something deeply psychologicalabout Bray Wyatt's characters,
whether it was leading to thiseerie Wyatt family or when he
morphed into the Fiend, whichwas admittingly a little bit
goofy but did tap into thesefears of cult mentality,
(07:51):
repressed trauma and the unknown.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Bray.
Wyatt, whose real name wasWyndham Rotunda, first
introduced himself as thecharismatic but unsettling
leader of the Wyatt family, afaction resembling a backwoods
cult, with his eerie promos,cryptic philosophies and
devotion to chaos.
Wyatt's faction, including LukeHarper, erick Rowan and later
(08:13):
Brown Strowman, was one of themost menacing groups in WWE's
modern era.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Yeah, bray, wyatt, the Wyatt family stuff one of my
favorite gimmicks of all time.
In wrestling His 2019reinvention as the Fiend, he
took this mystique to a newlevel.
This was inspired by FreddyKrueger, pennywise, other horror
icons and the Fiend was thisaltered ego representing Wyatt's
darkest urges.
He did these very awesomeFirefly Funhouse segments, which
(08:42):
were almost like a scary Kiwi'sPlayhouse type of thing,
creating this unsettlingjuxtaposition, shifting into
this eerie kid's TV host persona.
Really good stuff, linking thatchildhood TV with nightmarish
violence.
Childhood TV with nightmarishviolence.
The Fiend feuded with some topnames John Cena, seth Rollins,
randy Wharton.
His matches often featureddisturbing mind games.
(09:05):
Well, that was until RandyWharton set him on fire and put
an end to the Fiend.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Well, rest in peace to the Fiend and to William
Rotunda, who passed away in 2023.
Love or hate his gimmicks, hewas one of the most unique and
creative voices in wrestling and, by the way, I found Pee Wee
Herman scary Maybe scarier thanthe Fiend, anyway.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
I'm a big fan.
I'm a big Pee Wee fan.
I don't know what this saysabout me, but maybe I should
admit that out here.
And that match, you know, theBray Wyatt match with John Cena,
I feel was like one of thesegreat descents into darkness.
You know, it wasn't justwrestling, this was more like
theatrical psychological horror.
But for classic Gothic horroryou can't overlook Gangrel and
the Brood.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
And these are like vampires straight out of some
vampire cult, you know.
Yeah, the brood was like agothic nightmare, if I recall
correctly.
I mean the bloodbaths, theeerie music, the sinister grins.
It felt like they were drawingenergy from some dark force.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Yeah, yeah, there's bits of like Vampire the
Masquerade in there, little bitsof like Elizabeth Bathory-type
stuff with the bloodbaths and soon.
Gangrel, who was played byDavid Heath, was a leader of the
brood.
This faction included Edge andChristian, who are both now with
AEW, both still wrestling, andthis drew inspiration, as we
said, from vampire mythology.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Their eerie entrances walking through the ring of
fire while drinking from thesechalices of blood the semen in
their status, is one of WWE'smost haunting wrestling stables
well, and and their wholegangrel, especially the gothic
aesthetic was, was reallyinspired and, I think, fueled by
at the time in the late 90s,the anrice vampire novel craze,
(10:52):
uh right, and it also alignedwith pop culture hits.
Look back then, like buffy, thevampire, slayer, uh and blade.
The brood's signature move, theblood bath, involved drenching
their opponents in a red liquid,often to shock and intimidate.
Though grangel uh himself neverwon major championships, his
influence paved the way forsupernatural factions like the
(11:15):
ministry of darkness you made methink back to.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
You know what a glorious time for vampire fans
the 1990s was.
Oh, it was, this was you know,born out of it, you know,
cultural Mayu, you know.
Now, speaking of occultcharacters, let's talk about
Papa Shango, who was also wayahead of his time.
He was literally a voodoopriest.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Shango.
Yeah, shango brought a level ofterror that was, I mean,
completely different fromtraditional monsters, right?
His ability to curse opponents,making them vomit and convulse
uncontrollably, added a level offear that was disturbingly real
, especially considering thatthere are many voodoo believers
around the world, and it'sprobably a topic we should go
(11:56):
into on another show.
But let's continue on shango,please.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Um I digress, we're going to that and uh that, and
vampires, I say too uhabsolutely yeah, but papa shango
, portrayed by charles wright,that he embodied this voodoo
mysticism in the early 90s.
You know, with the skulls, theeerie face, paint, the ability
to place curses on his opponents, cause black goo to pour from
(12:21):
their heads, making themconvulse uncontrollably.
Shingo was a terrifyingpresence in the ring.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
I remember one of his most infamous moments came when
he cursed the Ultimate Warrior,causing him to vomit and sweat
profusely, in a segment thatdisturbed fans at the time.
Though the character eventuallyfaded, charles Wright later
reinvented himself as KamaMustafa and later the Godfather,
I believe, abandoning theentire occult gimmick.
(12:50):
However, papa Shango'sinfluence remains, inspiring
later supernatural characterslike the Boogeyman and Br bray
wyatt, as we talked aboutearlier and also kevin sullivan,
aka the the taskmaster, andthis guy leans so hard into
these satanic vibes.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
You know that it's surprising they don't let this
air on tv at the time you know,especially with the whole
satanic panic thing going onback then, uh from the 80s and
90s.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Right, it was yeah it was everywhere I remember it
well.
Um, you know everything.
Everything was satanic, right,but uh, sullivan.
Sullivan didn't just play therole of a dark, cult-like leader
, he lived it.
Uh, his real life interest inthe occult gave his performances
an eerie authenticity.
Maybe it was real for all weknow, but with the Dungeon of
(13:39):
Doom he orchestrated one of themost bizarre and supernatural
factions in wrestling history.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Kevin Sullivan made his name in championship
wrestling from Florida beforerising to prominence in WCW, and
this is where he fully embracedthe dark arts, presenting
himself as this agent of eviland as the taskmaster he led the
Dungeon of Doom, as youmentioned, and this was a stable
filled with monstrouscharacters, each seemingly
plucked out of some randomhorror film from the time, and
(14:07):
the group's ultimate mission was, of course, to eliminate Hulk
Hogan, whom they saw as thisembodiment of light and heroism.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
And Sullivan's satanic imagery, the cryptic
promos and that chillingpresence made him one of the
most convincing occult-themedwrestlers of the 90s.
His faction included menacingfigures such as the Giant, the
Yeti and Kamala, adding to themystique of the Dungeon of Doom
right.
Though some of their segmentsleaned towards camp Sullivan's
(14:37):
unwavering commitment to thecharacter cemented his place in
wrestling history.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Yeah, sullivan is a very interesting character for
fans of wrestling history andwrestling, especially if you're
into these occult and satanicthemes.
Let's also talk here about theBoogeyman.
He's not subtle but man, he'sreally unforgettable.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
The Boogeyman was one of the most bizarre, unsettling
characters in wrestling history.
His grotesque appearance, hiserratic movements and the sheer
unpredictability of his actionsmade him stand out, and whether
it was smashing a clock over hishead, crawling out of the
shadows or consuming live worms,the Boogeyman was really
(15:16):
nightmare.
Fuel those live worms.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Good for you, though, apparently.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
High in protein.
The.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Boogeyman Played by Marty Wright.
He made his WWE debut in 2005on SmackDown and instantly stood
out as this horror-themedcharacter inspired areas sort of
on the liminal space betweenyou know, the the stage and the
(15:52):
backstage, which is a veryinteresting, I think, for for
the time he cut these very eeriepromos, it appear out of
nowhere just to terrorize hisopponents yeah, and you just
mentioned young in like achildhood fears.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Uh, I think it's also something we should explore,
because I'm still afraid of thedark, unfortunately, um, but I'm
afraid a lot of things, um, butyou know the boogeyman.
His most infamous trait was hisunsettling eating habits and he
often chewed and spit out wormsbefore matches, really
(16:29):
unsettling both his opponentsand the audience.
I mean almost more than agimmick, just really trying to
gross people out.
I think His most notable feudsincluded JBL, booker T and
Finlay, with each rivalryfeaturing elements of
psychological intimidation.
In his rivalry with Booker Tand Sharmell, the Boogeyman
(16:53):
famously trapped them in adarkened room, forcing Sharmell
to flee in terror as he feastedon worms right in front of him.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Nightmare fuel.
For sure, despite his limitedentering experience, boogeyman
wasn't the best worker in theworld, but his character, work,
his promos, made him thismemorable fixture in mid-2000s
WWE TV.
His chilling entrances.
He had these distorted speechpatterns and these unnatural
(17:22):
mannerisms that made him seemmore like a demonic entity than
a wrestler.
And although he never waschampion, the Boogeyman remains
one of the most unique andterrifying characters ever seen
in the squared circle.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Let's go even further back now.
The great Kabuki was doingmysticism before most of these
guys were even in the picture,maybe even born.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Yeah, kabuki was a trailblazer.
The eerie face paint, the slow,methodical movements and, of
course, the legendary poisonmist, which reappears from time
to time.
Asuka most famously did itrecently, spitting the green
mist into the face of theopponent.
He introduced these elementsthat would influence generations
of supernatural wrestlers.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Now the great Kabuki was portrayed by Akihisa Mera,
one of the earliest wrestlers toincorporate mysticism and
supernatural elements into hispersona.
He made his debut in Japan inthe 1960s before transitioning
to world-class championshipwrestling the WCCW in the United
States, and he developed such aunique in-ring presence that
(18:30):
really relied, as we've touchedupon, really super heavily on
mystery and intimidation.
Really a trailblazer.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Yeah, his signature move, that poison mist which you
know in the matches.
You know it's coming, you justdon't know when you have this
sort of you know expectationbuilt into it.
It became one of wrestling'smost famous supernatural attacks
where he had spit this green,black, red mist, as we said,
into his opponent's eyestemporarily blinding them.
You know other wrestlers haveused you know some kind of
(18:58):
burning, you know acid, whereyou know the opponent, you know
the face is burning, this sortof thing.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
As we said, this was adopted by stars Tajiri Asuka,
solidifying its legacy inwrestling history.
The Poison Mist is one of themost memorable and feared
wrestlers of his time and again,like I said, a trailblazer, and
although he never held majorworld championships, his
influence on supernaturalwrestling characters remains
undeniable.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
And it's incredible how each of these characters
ties into a different kind offear.
You know, you've got gothic,psychological, mystical,
ritualistic.
You got voodoo over here.
You've got Satanism over hereStraight up supernatural,
vampire and ghost stuff.
Now, wrestling's always found away to tap into the darkest
corners of our imagination.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
And I think it always will right.
Horror and wrestling go hand inhand, and as long as people
love a good scare, thesecharacters will keep haunting
the ring.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
I do love a good scare and I do love the ring,
especially when it's haunted.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
I enjoy.
I enjoy our times watchingtogether as well.
I, you know, I grew up watchinga lot of these characters and
kind of got away from it overthe years and getting back into
a little bit now it's.
It's, it's really, um, such a,such a huge part of american and
japanese culture, um, and, youknow, so popular over the world,
(20:35):
obviously latin america as well, but um, hey, that being said,
I think it was a great showtoday.
Uh, exploring these, these, youknow, occult themes within
wrestling, uh, pro wrestling,and and um, you know, I'd like
to ask our, our listeners toplease, you know, visit
arcanehorizonscom, uh, sign upfor our newsletter, like and
(21:01):
follow our podcast, follow us onsocial media and uh, we'll keep
creating more content.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Yeah, sounds good.
Let us know what you enjoy,what you don't enjoy, and we
will guide ourselves in thosedirections.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Thanks everyone, thanks everybody, until next
time.
This has been Arcane Horizons.
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