Managers like Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and Mr. Fuji brought in monster wrestlers to terrorize babyfaces. There are a lot of examples of the monsters that made babyface so heroic. Even in the Attitude Era, when Stone Cold and The Rock were on top, there were monsters around to terrorize the masses. In modern times, wrestlers like Aleister Black and Bray Wyatt held the torch high for monster characters.

23 Dexter Lumis Is A Man Of Few Words

Has A Serial Killer Vibe To Him

Dexter Lumis has shifted his character to become one of the members of the Wyatt Sicks, but even before donning a buzzard mask, he was still a relatively scary yet comedic character. Back from his time in NXT, Lumis spoke very few words and would portray himself as a “tortured artist” while giving off a frightening aura to the other wrestlers.

A storyline between himself and The Way faction, featuring Johnny Gargano, Austin Theory, Candice LeRae, and his future wife, Indi Hartwell, saw Lumis embrace his more comedic side and become a fan-favorite couple in NXT. Once he made the move to the main roster, it became routine for Lumis to stalk, kidnap, and even break into people’s homes. The character was great in NXT but served its time, and it made sense to change it up with the Wyatt Sicks.

22 Alexa Bliss Embracing Her Work With Bray Wyatt

Something With Her And The Wyatt Sicks Could Come

Before working with Bray Wyatt, it would have been ridiculous to say that Alexa Bliss was a scary character. Somehow it worked though, as she fully embraced the gimmick and was often hanging around Bray Wyatt during the latter half of his days as The Fiend.

There were hints of the duo returning together when Wyatt made his return in late 2022, but Bliss would be written off television for quite some time after Wyatt’s tragic passing. She has yet to make her return, but fans are hoping to see her involved with the Wyatt Sicks in some fashion.

His Character Just Came Off As Cool

Finn Balor was far from scary to the fans, as most people just saw him as cool whenever he would cover himself in paint for huge matches in NXT. Either way, the gimmick did have inspiration from horror and horror-based things. Before arriving to WWE, Balor would base his designs on Venom and Carnage from the Spider-Man comics, Darth Maul from Star Wars, and the Joker of Batman fame.

Due to not wanting to rely on the paint and the struggle of putting it on before a match, Balor stopped doing it nearly as much. It has made an appearance or two in the last few years, but for the most part, fans have accepted its disappearance.

20 Mideon Wasn’t Scary For Long

Horrible Gimmicks Ruined His Character

Starting as a member of the Godwinn family, it was in 1999 that Phineas would be kidnapped and brainwashed into joining the Ministry of Darkness and taking on his new name, Mideon. The character started as a soothsayer (fortune teller).

The character didn’t accomplish much besides “finding” the European Championship and being crowned the champ before receiving the “naked Mideon” gimmick change. The concept and look of the character was much scarier than it ever came off on television.

19 The Boogeyman Scared And Disgusted Audiences

His Aura Didn’t Translate To Championship Success

Being billed from The Bottomless Pit, Martin Wright portrayed an interesting character who would appear in unexpected places around the arena, bash a clock over his head, and recite nursery rhymes in an attempt to scare his opponents. The real kicker came in the form of his worms that he would eat while also forcefully feeding his competition.

The Boogeyman stayed with the WWE until 2009, when Wright was released from his WWE contract. It wouldn’t be long, however, before Boogeyman got his foot back in the WWE, as he started making occasional appearances starting at the end of 2012, before receiving a Legends contract in 2015.

18 Luna Vachon Didn’t Look Like Other Wrestlers

She Stood Out Among Her Peers

Luna Vachon made her official WWE debut at WrestleMania 9, where she accompanied Shawn Michaels to the ring for his match against Tatanka. Things would immediately kick off for Vachon as she embarked on a feud against Sensational Sherri, leading to her partnership with Bam Bam Bigelow.

As scary as Vachon could be, she came to the WWE at a bad time, as the New Generation era was catered to be very child-friendly and the scariest she could truly be was a Saturday morning cartoon character. Her time in Extreme Championship Wrestling and a later return to WWE were much better examples of how frightening she could be.

17 Bull Nakano Became The Antithesis Of Alundra Blayze

The Two Feuded Over The Women’s Title

With Bull Nakano finally being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2024, what better time to look back on the character she portrayed and how she easily was one of the scariest wrestlers in the women’s division? Nakano’s time in the WWE was short and saw her primarily feud with Alundra Blayze, but the two capitalized on that and had some stellar matches.

The two had a heated feud over the Women’s Championship, a title she was able to hold once, before Nakano departed WWE and had a brief stint in WCW. After her work in the United States, Bull Nakano retired from wrestling, having only a few appearances in the business afterward, including her role as commissioner for Sukeban, an all-female Japanese pro wrestling promotion in the States.

16 Viscera & To A Lesser Extent, Big Daddy V

The Gimmick Changed Rather Quickly

Nelson Frazier Jr. played a few characters during his time in WWE, but the scariest was undoubtedly his run as Viscera. Viscera was introduced to fans as an enforcer of the Ministry of Darkness. He wore white-out lenses, bleached his hair, and sported a bodysuit. Coupled with Frazier’s build and overall imposing presence, Viscera was a truly frightening sight to behold.

What made him so effective was that he was effortlessly scary, which is pretty rare in the business. Unfortunately, his in-ring work never matched his intimidating presence and his matches were often marred by very middling and botch-filled offense.

His Tenure Was Short-Lived Both Times

Kevin Fertig had multiple gimmicks during his time in WWE, starting as a character named Seven while in Ohio Valley Wrestling, later becoming Mordecai, and eventually Kevin Thorn while in the WWE rebrand of ECW.

Mordecai and Kevin Thorn stand out as his most popular. After getting some more training in OVW and a short time away from the WWE, Fertig was rehired and brought in to work on ECW with a new vampire character alongside his valet, Ariel. The original plan was to have them partner with Gangrel, similar to a third version of The Brood, but those plans never materialized.

14 The Brood Were A Vampire-Like Trio

Edge & Christian Broke Out After The Brood

Starting with the arrival of Gangrel, who previously worked as The Vampire Warrior, the faction of The Brood started to take shape. Soon after, both Edge and Christian debuted and aligned themselves with the vampiric character, with all men portraying members of a vampire cult.

The original formation of the trio didn’t last long and split in the summer of 1999. Another popular tag team at the time instead took Edge and Christian’s roles in The Brood, those being Matt and Jeff Hardy, long-time rivals of Edge and Christian.

13 Waylon Mercy Helped A New Generation

Bray Wyatt Wouldn’t Exist Without Waylon

Dan Spivey played Waylon Mercy in only a handful of matches but made a big impression in that time towards the end of his career. This character was inspired by Robert De Niro’s portrayal of Max Cady in Cape Fear.

His work with this character eventually influenced the creation of Bray Wyatt’s backwater cult-leader character, as both men worked closely to bring it to life. So even if fans didn’t get a good look at Waylon Mercy, his spirit lived on in Bray Wyatt.

12 Doink The Clown Shifted Dramatically

Became A Goofy Character After A Few Months

Looking back on Doink the Clown it is easy to see him as a stupid gimmick. However, the original booking for Doink was not what the character morphed into. See, when Matt Bourne came to WWE, he took on the role of Doink, and he was a terrifying WWE character.

Doink the Clown was not the lovable prank-pulling clown wrestler that others portrayed him as later. Doink was an evil clown. He was sinister and cheated to win, using dastardly tactics. When he saw kids in the audience, his goal was to scare them. The original Doink the Clown was brilliant and scary, and it only took WWE a short time to ruin him.

11 Papa Shango Was An Early Attempt At Horror In WWE

Charles Wright Portrayed Many Characters

When Godfather received his WWE Hall of Fame induction, he spoke about the different gimmicks he had to portray before he found the one that clicked. He said playing the Godfather gave him a chance to be himself, while other characters saw him become a censored version of himself and an MMA fighter.

With that said his first character was a scary wrestler known as Papa Shango. His entire purpose was to come in and feud with Undertaker, giving one scary supernatural character an even scarier one to battle. He was a voodoo priest and could control Undertaker when he got the urn, but his time was short in WWE.

10 The Wyatt Sicks Continue Bray’s Legacy

They Also Seem Just As Scary

After numerous hints, videos, takeovers, and anything else the faction could do, the June 17th episode of Monday Night Raw marked the official debut of the new Wyatt Sicks faction. Led by Bo Dallas portraying his Uncle Howdy character, he is flanked by the following members: Dexter Lumis, Erick Rowan, Nikki Cross, and Joe Gacy.

The group’s debut was one of the most interesting the company has had, with several backstage members looking like they had been attacked, and the infamous Chad Gable looking like he had been killed. The Wyatt Sicks have only been able to appear a few times since debuting, but each appearance has been just as scary as the last.

9 Mankind Was A Sick & Twisted Character

Foley Took Off In Unexpected Ways

As mentioned, Bray Wyatt is modern-day Mankind. Before Mick Foley came to WWE, he was Cactus Jack. He was a brawler and a hardcore wrestler in WCW, Japan, and ECW. When WWE signed him, they gave him a scary gimmick change — Mankind.

Mankind was a mentally unstable person with schizophrenia who came to the ring in a mask and would often sit in the corner, ripping his hair out, while screaming “Mommy.” He lived in boiler rooms and destroyed everyone he got his hands on. This led to his feud with Undertaker and Foley becoming a legend. The gimmick would shift and see Mankind become more like the real Mick Foley.

8 OG Bloodline Members, The Wild Samoans

The Brother Duo Captured Numerous Tag Titles

Looking at the modern-day Samoan Dynasty in WWE, fans see the trash-talking Usos, The Tribal Chief Roman Reigns, and the mega-successful Hollywood movie star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. However, at one time, the idea of the Samoans was scary — with even modern-day examples of Umaga showing monsters who destroyed their opponents.

In the ’90s, the Samoan Swat Team was a scary duo that ran all over WCW and WWE. However, this all started back in the ’70s with a tag team comprised of Afa and Sika — The Wild Samoans. They barely spoke and were two of the scariest wrestlers in the world, winning 21 tag team titles along the way.

6 The Kamala Character Has Not Aged Well

James Harris Played The Character As Well As Anyone Could

In the ’80s, there was a manager in the territories called General Skandar Akbar. He brought in monsters from all over wrestling to work for him in Devastation Incorporated. These men included Kamala, One Man Gang, Missing Link, and many more. Many of these wrestlers went on to WWE with different gimmicks.

Kamala kept his gimmick in WWE, as a Ugandan savage. He always had a handler in Devastation Incorporated known as Friday and kept it in WWE. He had Classy Freddie Blassie managing him when he arrived and was a scary monster who ran all over everyone until Hulk Hogan finally ended the threat. His final feud in WWE was against Andre the Giant.

5 The Duo Of Luke Harper & Erick Rowan Were Menacing

Their Time In The Wyatt Family Was Amazing

The perfect backing duo for Bray Wyatt came in the form of Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. Starting as the “sons” of Wyatt, the two captured the NXT Tag Team Championships, showing that they were a faction to be feared. That fear continued as they debuted on the main roster until the group broke apart.

Harper would find success as a singles star while Rowan started to flounder, resulting in the duo pairing back up, now being known as The Bludgeon Brothers.

4 Bray Wyatt Created Some Of The Most Interesting Characters

The Fiend Became The Biggest Act At One Point

Bray Wyatt’s Fiend persona was the most frightening thing WWE had given fans in years. It was a callback to men like Mankind, who came to the ring in a mask, with ominous music, and only cared about hurting people. However, Bray Wyatt added something to his performance.

He was The Fiend, the scary monster who wants to hurt anyone and everyone who gets in his way. There was also Bray Wyatt, who acted as a rehabilitated children’s show host who wanted people to follow him. It is similar to Mick Foley, who himself had multiple personalities. Bray Wyatt is a genius and one of the scariest wrestlers in WWE history. With his passing in 2023, he leaves behind a terrifying legacy in WWE.