By Nathan P Hunt
Wrestling has used various religious iconography over the years, including demonic characters, the Austin 3:16 tagline, black weddings and even ‘God’ having his own entrance for supposed involvement in a match (which WWE CEO Vince McMahon won, giving him a win over a deity).
One of the most repeated formulas in this genre is the creation of factions fashioned after religious cults. The current incarnation, The Wyatt Family (reminiscent of both Charles Manson’s ‘Manson Family’ and of Jim Jones’ ‘People’s Temple’) are truly polarising, with Bray Wyatt playing the cult-leader role perfectly and charismatically, drawing incredibly mixed reactions from fans, despite being pushed consistently as heels.
This model has been used many times by various companies, but like many of the recyclable elements of the wrestling business, it has a vast scope, allowing for a great deal of innovation & creativity to allow the factions to feel distinct and unique. Drawing inspiration from religion or from religious cults would naturally have some crossover with inspiration from horror films, as well as from real life examples of cults and religious extremists such as those found in the Salem witch trials and other similar dark portions of religious history. Some of the previous incarnations have been successful, while others have been complete failures, garnering ridicule and laughs rather than the desired fear and awe.
One such group was WCW creation ‘The Dungeon Of Doom’. The group was essentially a revolving door of talent coming into the company or being repackaged as some kind of monster heel with the aim of destroying Hulk Hogan. It was the group in which the wrestling world was introduced to ‘The Giant’ Paul Wight (now known as Big Show in WWE), and hosted some fairly big names in the industry. The team included the leader, Kevin Sullivan whose occult-inspired character was a natural leader for a tribe of ‘evil monsters’, and various familiar names such as Kamala, John Tenta (who was best known as Earthquake of the Natural Disasters Tag-team in WWF) under his new ring name of The Shark, Ed Leslie (best known as Brutus The Barber Beefcake in his WWF days) having been repackaged as ‘The Zodiac’, Meng (aka Haku) and even Big Van Vader. There were other members who had roles of various lengths and importance within the group, such as British wrestling legend Giant Haystacks, working under his North-American ring name of ‘Loch Ness’, The Yeti (played by Ron Reis, later known as Reese in Raven’s Flock), The Barbarian, Konnan, Hugh Morrus & Lex Luger (among others). Despite the array of talent in the group, their outdated and cartoonish promos, which were produced in Hollywood Horror Movie fashion, were too outlandish and surreal to be taken seriously by fans, and failed to inspire the horror that was intended.
Other groups have used similarly Horror-movie-inspired characters, storylines and effects, such as The Brood, The Ministry Of Darkness (both in WWF) and The New Church (TNA), but by retaining at least a modicum of realism meant that these groups have not been so completely condemned by fans and historians as being quite so unbelievable or inaccessible. The Undertaker character has used many elements derived from the horror movie genre in promos, entrances, storylines, spots in matches etc. and perhaps it is testament to his hard work and ability to get these things over with the audience which has saved him from the same ridicule. In general though, it seems to be that the majority of these angles, effects and storylines have been programmed in a way where the overall impression was not one of a live-action Scooby-Doo-esque cartoon, but rather a darkly horror-themed element of an otherwise believable variety show, allowing an acceptable level of suspension of disbelief. While Undertaker’s character was hugely embellished and the supernatural effects were used to a higher degree during the Ministry Of Darkness period than previously, the group hinged on the Undertaker as being a cult-leader-like spiritual axis to a strong group of followers who employed dark mind games to gain the upper hand over their competition.
One faction which took this cult-like following to a realistic and believable level was Raven’s Nest/Flock (the name depending on whether Raven was working for ECW or WCW at the given time). Raven, much like Bray Wyatt today, was an incredibly polarising character - loved and hated in equal measure despite being consitently booked as a heel - due to the character being so starkly different to any other in the industry at that time and to his undeniable skills on the microphone. His groups would consist mainly of journeyman workers who would generally languish at the bottom of the card or working as enhancement talents (putting stars over), who would jump at the chance to be associated with a strong and successful act like Raven. Even when berating and abusing his followers, he would retain their trust and adulation with his charisma and emotional power over them. While not as overtly religion-based as The Ministry Of Darkness, his group certainly always seemed to be more of a cult than a traditional wrestling faction, and of course there were elements which were clearly derivative of Christianity, such as the Raven pose, with arms outstretched as if being crucified, symbolising himself as a sacrificial saviour, and of course there was the infamous incident where he, Stevie Richards & The Blue Meanie crucified The Sandman. This would be later repeated by The Ministry Of Darkness, who crucified Steve Austin, but the latter version did not come under the same scrutiny or cause the same level of controversy, simply because they used an Undertaker logo rather than an actual wooden cross, and Raven had also incorporated a spool of barbed wire as a makeshift crown of thorns, leaving some feeling that a line had been unnecessarily overstepped.
Another realistic interpretation of this theme was CM Punk’s Straight Edge Society, in which Punk was not only the saviour of his group of followers, but was preaching a wholesome (albeit aggressive and unwelcome) message to wrestling fans all over the world. Punk would recycle this character aspect later on when, as the leader of the ‘New’ Nexus, he would do things such as offer to throw himself off the top of the Titantron in an act of self-sacrifice.
Pro wrestling has also used some directly religious characters such as Brother Love, a television evangelist preacher whose sleazy and transparently insincere proclamations of love for everyone were enough to rile up audiences, while Reverend D-Von (managed by Deacon Batista) was a short-lived and more directly preachy version of the heel religious figurehead gimmick. Dustin Runnels would pray in the ring before matches in the brief period following his shedding of the Goldust gimmick in the late 1990s, which was met with boos from fans, and even the return of the newly religious Jake Roberts in 1996 was not received as the feel-good story of triumph over personal demons that it was seemingly intended to be. It seems that only Shawn Michaels has been able to retain his fan base and standing as a babyface while simultaneously being openly Christian and incorporating religious elements into his character. It seems that wrestling fans just do not like to be preached to. That is, unless it happens to be from someone like Bray Wyatt.
Bray’s gimmick is certainly nothing new, in fact his ring gear is identical to that worn by Dan Spivey while playing his ‘Waylon Mercy’ character in 1995. Despite this, Wyatt has used his natural abilities and creativity to hone the gimmick into something not only workable, but interesting, fresh and captivating. His natural charisma and verbal skills make him comparable to Raven, but the overwhelming response by fans, such as the lighting up of mobile phones to create a ‘blanket of stars’ effect during his entrance (referred to as Wyatt's 'Fireflies') and the volume of fans singing along with ‘He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands’ has created an environment where the cult has expanded beyond the faction itself and now encompasses the entire ‘WWE Universe’. It has become cool to be a part of the cult, in the same way that it was cool for the fans to play the heel role during the attitude era. This is almost entirely due to Bray’s charisma, which was evident even while lumbered with his previous moniker of Husky Harris. He does not elaborate the cultish nature of his gimmick with overtly religious themes and imagery, however he does deliver his promos in a southern-preacher style, and while the messages he espouses are vague and mysterious, they are littered with the same kind of imagery that is usually found in a sermon or religious text, giving weight to the spiritual hold that he seemingly has over not only Rowan & Harper, but increasingly over the fans as well. While pro wrestling itself seems to have a strained relationship with religion, usually portraying it as fundamentally evil in itself, it seems that Bray has managed to make the gimmick so outrageously evil that it has become something good, which the fans want to embrace.
To
keep up to date with details of other interviews, reviews &
articles from Eye On Wrestling, as well as news and trivia, please
follow on Twitter and like the Facebook page.
Wrestling has used various religious iconography over the years, including demonic characters, the Austin 3:16 tagline, black weddings and even ‘God’ having his own entrance for supposed involvement in a match (which WWE CEO Vince McMahon won, giving him a win over a deity).
One of the most repeated formulas in this genre is the creation of factions fashioned after religious cults. The current incarnation, The Wyatt Family (reminiscent of both Charles Manson’s ‘Manson Family’ and of Jim Jones’ ‘People’s Temple’) are truly polarising, with Bray Wyatt playing the cult-leader role perfectly and charismatically, drawing incredibly mixed reactions from fans, despite being pushed consistently as heels.
This model has been used many times by various companies, but like many of the recyclable elements of the wrestling business, it has a vast scope, allowing for a great deal of innovation & creativity to allow the factions to feel distinct and unique. Drawing inspiration from religion or from religious cults would naturally have some crossover with inspiration from horror films, as well as from real life examples of cults and religious extremists such as those found in the Salem witch trials and other similar dark portions of religious history. Some of the previous incarnations have been successful, while others have been complete failures, garnering ridicule and laughs rather than the desired fear and awe.
One such group was WCW creation ‘The Dungeon Of Doom’. The group was essentially a revolving door of talent coming into the company or being repackaged as some kind of monster heel with the aim of destroying Hulk Hogan. It was the group in which the wrestling world was introduced to ‘The Giant’ Paul Wight (now known as Big Show in WWE), and hosted some fairly big names in the industry. The team included the leader, Kevin Sullivan whose occult-inspired character was a natural leader for a tribe of ‘evil monsters’, and various familiar names such as Kamala, John Tenta (who was best known as Earthquake of the Natural Disasters Tag-team in WWF) under his new ring name of The Shark, Ed Leslie (best known as Brutus The Barber Beefcake in his WWF days) having been repackaged as ‘The Zodiac’, Meng (aka Haku) and even Big Van Vader. There were other members who had roles of various lengths and importance within the group, such as British wrestling legend Giant Haystacks, working under his North-American ring name of ‘Loch Ness’, The Yeti (played by Ron Reis, later known as Reese in Raven’s Flock), The Barbarian, Konnan, Hugh Morrus & Lex Luger (among others). Despite the array of talent in the group, their outdated and cartoonish promos, which were produced in Hollywood Horror Movie fashion, were too outlandish and surreal to be taken seriously by fans, and failed to inspire the horror that was intended.
Other groups have used similarly Horror-movie-inspired characters, storylines and effects, such as The Brood, The Ministry Of Darkness (both in WWF) and The New Church (TNA), but by retaining at least a modicum of realism meant that these groups have not been so completely condemned by fans and historians as being quite so unbelievable or inaccessible. The Undertaker character has used many elements derived from the horror movie genre in promos, entrances, storylines, spots in matches etc. and perhaps it is testament to his hard work and ability to get these things over with the audience which has saved him from the same ridicule. In general though, it seems to be that the majority of these angles, effects and storylines have been programmed in a way where the overall impression was not one of a live-action Scooby-Doo-esque cartoon, but rather a darkly horror-themed element of an otherwise believable variety show, allowing an acceptable level of suspension of disbelief. While Undertaker’s character was hugely embellished and the supernatural effects were used to a higher degree during the Ministry Of Darkness period than previously, the group hinged on the Undertaker as being a cult-leader-like spiritual axis to a strong group of followers who employed dark mind games to gain the upper hand over their competition.
One faction which took this cult-like following to a realistic and believable level was Raven’s Nest/Flock (the name depending on whether Raven was working for ECW or WCW at the given time). Raven, much like Bray Wyatt today, was an incredibly polarising character - loved and hated in equal measure despite being consitently booked as a heel - due to the character being so starkly different to any other in the industry at that time and to his undeniable skills on the microphone. His groups would consist mainly of journeyman workers who would generally languish at the bottom of the card or working as enhancement talents (putting stars over), who would jump at the chance to be associated with a strong and successful act like Raven. Even when berating and abusing his followers, he would retain their trust and adulation with his charisma and emotional power over them. While not as overtly religion-based as The Ministry Of Darkness, his group certainly always seemed to be more of a cult than a traditional wrestling faction, and of course there were elements which were clearly derivative of Christianity, such as the Raven pose, with arms outstretched as if being crucified, symbolising himself as a sacrificial saviour, and of course there was the infamous incident where he, Stevie Richards & The Blue Meanie crucified The Sandman. This would be later repeated by The Ministry Of Darkness, who crucified Steve Austin, but the latter version did not come under the same scrutiny or cause the same level of controversy, simply because they used an Undertaker logo rather than an actual wooden cross, and Raven had also incorporated a spool of barbed wire as a makeshift crown of thorns, leaving some feeling that a line had been unnecessarily overstepped.
Another realistic interpretation of this theme was CM Punk’s Straight Edge Society, in which Punk was not only the saviour of his group of followers, but was preaching a wholesome (albeit aggressive and unwelcome) message to wrestling fans all over the world. Punk would recycle this character aspect later on when, as the leader of the ‘New’ Nexus, he would do things such as offer to throw himself off the top of the Titantron in an act of self-sacrifice.
Pro wrestling has also used some directly religious characters such as Brother Love, a television evangelist preacher whose sleazy and transparently insincere proclamations of love for everyone were enough to rile up audiences, while Reverend D-Von (managed by Deacon Batista) was a short-lived and more directly preachy version of the heel religious figurehead gimmick. Dustin Runnels would pray in the ring before matches in the brief period following his shedding of the Goldust gimmick in the late 1990s, which was met with boos from fans, and even the return of the newly religious Jake Roberts in 1996 was not received as the feel-good story of triumph over personal demons that it was seemingly intended to be. It seems that only Shawn Michaels has been able to retain his fan base and standing as a babyface while simultaneously being openly Christian and incorporating religious elements into his character. It seems that wrestling fans just do not like to be preached to. That is, unless it happens to be from someone like Bray Wyatt.
Bray’s gimmick is certainly nothing new, in fact his ring gear is identical to that worn by Dan Spivey while playing his ‘Waylon Mercy’ character in 1995. Despite this, Wyatt has used his natural abilities and creativity to hone the gimmick into something not only workable, but interesting, fresh and captivating. His natural charisma and verbal skills make him comparable to Raven, but the overwhelming response by fans, such as the lighting up of mobile phones to create a ‘blanket of stars’ effect during his entrance (referred to as Wyatt's 'Fireflies') and the volume of fans singing along with ‘He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands’ has created an environment where the cult has expanded beyond the faction itself and now encompasses the entire ‘WWE Universe’. It has become cool to be a part of the cult, in the same way that it was cool for the fans to play the heel role during the attitude era. This is almost entirely due to Bray’s charisma, which was evident even while lumbered with his previous moniker of Husky Harris. He does not elaborate the cultish nature of his gimmick with overtly religious themes and imagery, however he does deliver his promos in a southern-preacher style, and while the messages he espouses are vague and mysterious, they are littered with the same kind of imagery that is usually found in a sermon or religious text, giving weight to the spiritual hold that he seemingly has over not only Rowan & Harper, but increasingly over the fans as well. While pro wrestling itself seems to have a strained relationship with religion, usually portraying it as fundamentally evil in itself, it seems that Bray has managed to make the gimmick so outrageously evil that it has become something good, which the fans want to embrace.
(This article was originally posted on the
'GetRealWrestling' website in July 2014, but was moved here after
that site closed.)