Pro wrestling has often been referred to as a soap opera for men. The physical toll endured by performers is very real but the outcomes are pre-determined and most interactions between performers are scripted. As such, pro wrestling falls into the fiction realm of entertainment. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that pro wrestling has seen its fair share of supernatural characters.
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Some supernatural characters beautifully walk the line between fiction and reality, making it easier for fans to suspend disbelief. However, some other performers either don't commit enough to a character or over-commit, making the performance feel disingenuous and making it harder for fans to accept.
10 Loved: Gangrel
In the late 90s, a vampire subculture began to emerge. In reality, these vampires were just regular people who had fangs surgically added and drank blood. WWE's 1998 signing of Gangrel was an attempt to appeal to those fans. The character turned heads as soon as he debuted on WWE programming. His entrance where he rose from a ring of fire and spit blood in the air was a spectacle in its own right.
Gangrel was eventually paired with Edge and Christian to form The Brood. The group was very popular during The Attitude Era but eventually broke up as Edge and Christian were earmarked for greater things. Gangrel was released from WWE in 2001 but his popularity with the vampire subculture remains strong on the independent circuit
9 Hated: The Warrior
The Ultimate Warrior is one of the biggest stars ever. In WWE, Warrior's character was never fully explained but that ambiguity was part of what made him special. In recent years, the theory that Warrior was a Native American character has picked up steam but has never been fully confirmed. Regardless, it was never implied during his WWE career that Warrior possessed any supernatural powers.
Despite that, in 1998, Warrior showed up in WCW displaying supernatural abilities. Perhaps the most memorable instance was when only Hollywood Hogan could see Warrior's image inside a mirror. Warrior's supernatural powers didn't go over well. Most fans questioned where the character suddenly picked up powers from. As a whole, Warrior's WCW run was viewed as a disaster.
8 Loved: Sting
Some wrestling characters come equipped with supernatural powers. Others acquire them at some point during the storyline. Then, there are characters who just suddenly have powers one day. Like The Ultimate Warrior, Surfer Sting was a huge fan favorite thanks to his charisma and intensity. Also like Warrior, Sting developed powers. Suddenly, he could teleport and command a vulture.
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The difference was, Sting's powers coincided with a gimmick change. Fans were willing to believe that the character they'd previously cheered for suddenly had powers because he didn't resemble that character anymore. Needless to say, the gimmick change and supernatural abilities enhanced and prolonged Sting's career.
7 Hated: Papa Shango
WWE's New Generation era was an interesting conundrum. On one hand, it featured some of the most ridiculous gimmicks ever in pro wrestling. On the other hand, there were a handful of out-of-the-box gimmicks that could've been great had circumstances just been different. Papa Shango was a little of both. In a vacuum, a voodoo priest and his dark magic have no place in wrestling.
However, during The New Generation era, Shango was right at home. The character was full of potential. Unfortunately, fans didn't get behind it enough to persuade Vince McMahon to keep him around. Since its demise, the Papa Shango character has become a cult classic. If Shango had as much fan support in 1992 as he does now, the character would've certainly had a longer run.
6 Loved: Bray Wyatt
Bray Wyatt is one of the saddest cases in wrestling today. When he and The Wyatt Family initially debuted in 2013, the sky seemed to be the limit for Wyatt. He was a great talker and seemed to have a great handle on his character. The cult leader-like "Eater of Worlds" seemed poised to achieve a lot in WWE. He was without a doubt WWE's best supernatural character since The Undertaker.
Unfortunately, none of that has seemingly mattered to the WWE brass. Despite a character change that only made him more popular than ever, Wyatt seems destined to receive hot and cold booking for the remainder of his time in WWE. Still, he remains one of the company's most popular performers.
5 Hated: Kevin Thorn
After a failed run on SmackDown in 2004, Kevin Thorn received a second shot at stardom in 2006 as a member of the revamped ECW brand. Initially, Thorn wasn't given a name and was only seen on vignettes spitting blood at the camera. The original plan was for Thorn to be joined by Gangrel and Ariel as part of a vampire stable but plans for the stable were scrapped.
Instead, Thorn would eventually join The New Breed and aid them in their feud against The ECW Originals. Perhaps if Thorn would've gotten to lead a stable with Gangrel like originally planned, his vampire character would've gotten over. Unfortunately, though, his gimmick failed to catch on with fans. He was sent back down to developmental in November of 2007 until leaving the company in 2009.
4 Loved: Kane
In 1997, the WWE Universe was introduced to The Undertaker's not-so-little brother, Kane. In storyline, Kane was thought to have died in a fire as a child. However, at Badd Blood: In Your House, Paul Bearer unleashed "The Big Red Machine" on The Undertaker and kicked off one of the best WWE rivalries ever.
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As The Undertaker's brother, it was easy for fans to accept that Kane also possessed supernatural abilities. Due to Kane's origin story though, his powers involved a lot more fire and flames than The Undertaker's. Kane would go on to have a Hall Of Fame career playing both a monster heel and a character babyface to perfection.
3 Hated: Mordecai
Some gimmicks have no chance of succeeding regardless of how good the idea is. That was the case with Mordecai. The character was pitched to Vince McMahon in 2004 by the performer who would end up playing the role, Kevin Fertig. Mordecai was supposed to be a religious zealot obsessed with riding WWE of sin.
In theory, he was supposed to be the polar opposite of The Undertaker which would lead to a feud between the two later on. Unfortunately, that would never happen. The WWE audience chewed Mordecai up and spit him right back at creative. The gimmick was soon scrapped. The next time the wrestling world saw Mordecai he would be portraying another supernatural character in WWE's ECW.
2 Loved: The Undertaker
In all honesty, The Undertaker's character probably shouldn't have made it out of its first year. A zombie-like undertaker led by a deranged mortician is a bit bizarre even for the occupational gimmick-obsessed New Generation era. However, The Undertaker's superb portrayal of the character and his willingness to evolve over the years, have given the character longevity that no one could've predicted.
Even when he attempted to play a heel, The Undertaker's fan support was among the top in the company. To this day, simply cutting the lights and ringing a gong elicits a massive reaction from a live crowd. It's safe to say that no other supernatural character will ever match or surpass The Undertaker's popularity.
1 Hated: The Zombie
WWE's attempt at relaunching ECW was a complete and total failure. Despite two wildly successful reunion shows under the WWE umbrella, ECW's blood and guts style was never going to succeed long-term in WWE. Despite that notion, ECW premiered on Syfy in 2006. Right off the bat, the writing was on the wall. During the debut episode, a zombie character stumbled down to the ring.
Since ECW would be airing on Syfy, the network wanted WWE to incorporate some science fiction into the show. Naturally, the rowdy ECW crowd rejected The Zombie. The audience happily cheered as The Sandman Singapore Caned him into obscurity.
NEXT: 10 Supernatural Wrestling Characters Fans Forgot About
