One of the best parts of the WWE is the fact that one minute you can have a brutal and bloody fight between two enemies, and the next you can a demon showing up out of nowhere to interfere. It’s the kind of balance that keeps all kinds of audiences tuning in for different aspects of the program each week. Curses, brainwashing, possession, astral projection, hell fire, and more have been at the core of wrestling entertainment for quite a long time. The work of those tasked with bringing their wackier ideas to life was absolutely crucial in making the supernatural acceptable, however.
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The best supernatural performers made their gimmicks completely click with the rest of the roster. Regardless of how out of this world they are supposed to be within the greater WWE canon, in-ring each of the best made sure to click with the rest of the roster. You completely buy into the fact that more grounded stars like AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan or Roman Reigns could legitimately fight.
The best supernatural wrestlers in the WWE all vary in how far they go with their ideas, but each one has left their mark. Read on for ComicBook.com’s picks of the best supernatural performers, and let us know your favorites! There are far too many to list here, so be sure to tell us who you’d like to honor in the comments!
The Demon Finn Balor
Although stories in recent years have skewed more towards being grounded in reality, the latter half of the 2010s saw supernatural characters and ideas making their return. A good blend of both of these was Finn Balor, who was huge right from the outset thanks to a mix of fan hype from his run with other companies and his Demon other half. Referred to as “The Demon,” this darker side of Balor would come out for key matches and ramped up his entrance to cool new levels. The Demon’s final moments in the WWE might not be the best in retrospect, but it’s hard to deny the impact for Balor’s trajectory early on.
Bray Wyatt
But while Balor dabbled in the supernatural, Bray Wyatt is the current prime example of how to fully nail the wacky ideas needed for otherworldly foes. Wyatt’s Fiend and Firefly Fun House dichotomy might be the most visually striking, but the Wyatt Family’s swamp horror aesthetic was totally a breath of fresh air. Wyatt then had the genius move to officially combine all of his characters into one during a Firefly Fun House match with John Cena, which to this day remains one of the most experimental matches of all time.
A supernatural character truly succeeds when it feels like the wrestling world changes to fit their fighting style, and that’s essentially been Wyatt’s entire career since his supernatural makeover. Not only that, but there’s been an influence on others such as Randy Orton, Alexa Bliss, Braun Strowman and more. Wyatt’s supernatural powers are treated with respect, and that’s after years of building.
Boogeyman
Boogeyman’s abilities might not have been treated with that same respect, but it certainly was a strong concept visually. The initial concept for Boogeyman might be an odd one as he’s supposed to be an actor for a show that never made it to air, but that’s what also made the character so intriguing. Making things even odder was smashing clocks over his head, stuffing his mouth full of worms, and even having a sidekick at one point, yet it’s still all a compelling package. WWE seems to think so as well as we’ve seen quite a lot of Boogeyman segments in matches over the years as one of many returning Legends.
Papa Shango
Charles Wright might be more (suitably) well known for his work as The Godfather, but his earlier Papa Shango incarnation does deserve some credit. It was not the best received character among fans, and might not entirely work in today’s climate, but Shango was actually kind of scary. Watching as a kid and seeing someone who could cast a scary looking kind of curse on someone like the Ultimate Warrior (who is also supernatural in his own right) was startling. Wright put so much into this character that was received so poorly (regardless of how he felt about it at the time), so thankfully he did get his much due respect later down the line.
Gangrel
While the other supernatural characters on this list had mystical power, Gangrel just being a straight up vampire felt fresh and pretty cool. He also had one of the best entrances as he just rose up through flames while drinking blood. He’d go as far to even drench his opponents in blood. Gangrel was so magnetic that he drew several up and coming stars toward him (with the most memorable being Edge and Christian), so he quite literally took over for a while. It’s probably why we haven’t had a vampire in a while. It’s hard to replicate this kind of magic.
Kane
Kane is part of the reason we buy into indestructible monsters at all. His story suggests that he acquired the abilities to summon fire and an indestructibility just out of sheer hatred and spite towards his brother, and Glenn Jacobs made sure we absolutely believed it. Not only has he spent time as one of the most terrifying stars on the roster, but he was also part of some of the funniest stories as well. It’s a complete supernatural package that works in any context as Jacobs has proved over the years.
The Undertaker
But you wouldn’t have Kane, or any supernatural character really, without The Undertaker. The Undertaker’s retirement last year was a huge deal because it was the first time fans were getting a chance to get to know the man behind the character, Mark Calaway. While his commitment to the Undertaker identity was great for the business as a whole, it was even better for the idea of supernatural characters.
The Undertaker’s lingering shadow always left room for a wrestler who wasn’t exactly human. His remaining a pillar for so long kept the supernatural fires alive and allowed room for the experimentation we’re seeing today.
