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Recently, WWE.com has been compiling multiple lists. After naming the best Tag Teams, submission holds and WCW stars, they have clearly run out of ideas. They have now rated the best FACE-PAINT DESIGNS used in the WWE.
Named 'WWE's 15 Wildest War-paints', the list does make for some curious reading. Check it out below.
15. The Missing Link - One of dozen's of animal-listic wild-men that rarely talked and liked to bite and headbutt people. The Missing Link had very little success and is best remembered for his brief stint as one of Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan's clients. Heenan loves to tell the story of how Missing Link wanted Heenan to be his manager in real-life too. He asked Heenan to pick up plane tickets on his behalf because he could not ask for them, seeing as his character could not talk. Heenan told him that he needed to learn how to talk before the next morning, or he would miss his flight.
14. Abe "Knuckleball" Swartz - Swartz appeared in the WWE during the infamous Major League Baseball strike on 1994. He wore a baseball uniform and had a baseball painted on his face. And that is all people can remember about him. Rumours that he was based on The Baseball Furies gang in 'The Warriors' were never confirmed. Swartz hit his biggest fame as the Brooklyn Brawler.
13. Hakushi - Hakushi will always be over looked by many fans because of his lack of exposure in the US. But the Japanese wrestler did make an impact during his short stint in the WWE, and he has a cult following around the world, including America. Hakushi would compete with Japanese symbols covering his face, arms, back and torso. It is rumoured that his body-paint contained a hidden message relating to the opponent that he was about to face. But as most American fans cannot read Japanese, most of these messages will go unread. His look and style would inspire future wrestlers, including Tensai. Triple H is said to have embarassed himself in front of Hakushi in 2000. Triple H accompanied Mr. McMahon in meeting Hakushi in Japan. Triple H later admitted that he had no idea who the Japanese wrestling icon was.
12. Powers of Pain - The Warlord, The Barbarian, Lord Humongous, Animal, Hawk, Crush, Ax and Smash all have one obvious thing in common; all of them were based on one specific character from the Mad Max movies. Warlord and Barbarian were one of the few tag teams that could stand toe-to-toe with the Road Warriors. They are frequently remembered by WWE.com as one of the greatest tag teams of all time, despite the fact that they rarely won.
11. Kamala - Kamala is not the first animal-listic wrestler who was unable to talk. He isn't even the first one on this list! But Kamala is one of the most beloved. WWE fans will remember him as comedy character who was more cuddlely than cruel. But anyone who saw his matches prior to WWE saw a true monster, who frequently lost matches because he didn't understand the concept of "civilised competition". He is clearly the blue-print for Umaga.
10. Smash - I have no idea why the Demolition member is on the list by himself. But the WWE article notes that the tag team veteran may be the most successful of all face-painted competitors in the WWE. Demolition were allowed to use any combination of their 3 members to compete in tag matches, and Smash was in the main line-up most of the time.
9. Doink - Have you ever seen a clown with an un-painted face? Doink will always be remembered for his pranks and assistants, particularly the diminutive Dink. But most people tend to forget that Doink was a skilled technical wrestler in addition to being a master of ring psychology. And let's not forget, when Doink came up against larger and stronger opponents, he usually won. When someone with the size and power of Crush or Bam Bam Bigelow were furious with you, you would not dream of laughing right in their faces. Unless you were Doink.
8. Ax - Again, why is Ax listed seperatly from his Demolition team mate Smash? Especially when the Powers of Pain were listed together. Anyway, the future Repo Man would claim the 8th spot on the list.
7. Animal - Does this Road Warrior have the most distinctive face paint in wrestling history? I think so. While Hawk would change his face-paint on occasion, Animal made very few changes to his self-designed face mask. Having to face the Legion of Doom is always intimidating, but wrestlers and fans were always more scared of Animal.
6. Papa Shango - Contrary to popular myth, Papa Shango was based on a character from the James Bond movie 'Live and Let Die'. The voodoo witch doctor would use dark magic to "curse" opponents and control his allies. In his most famous feud, he would cause the Ultimate Warrior to fall victim to a number of curses. But his powers were weak against Hulk Hogan. In interviews, The Godfather repeatedly said that his dream opponent would be Papa Shango. Don't expect to ever see this match.
5. Goldust - Goldust went from being one of the creepiest performers of all time to one of the most entertaining. Goldust was obsessed with all things gold, especially awards and championship titles. He was bitter at the lack of recognition he had received throughout his career and would take out his frustrations on those who seemed to be successful or popular in the WWE. In the early days, many people believed Goldust to be a homosexual because of his lustful actions towards male rivals, and habit of dressing in women's underwear. But over the years, Goldust's sinister nature softened, and he would take on a much more comedic personality. To this day, some of the funniest backstage skits have starred Goldust. For those who don't know Goldust is portrayed by Dustin Rhodes, the son of Dusty Rhodes and the half-brother of Cody Rhodes.
4. The Great Muta - Each year, the number of WWE, ROH and TNA stars that were inspired by Muta grows. He is quite possibly the greatest star that Japan has ever produced. In spite of his short size, Muta had seemingly mastered every wrestling style. He was equally proficient in amateur, hardcore, brawling, technical, submission, luchadore, powerhouse, dirty, psychological and martial art styles. His only weakness was his short height. Sadly, he is greatly forgotten to due his lack of exposure in America. But Muta has to be one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.
3. Hawk - Hawk had spent almost all of his career as a member of the Road Warriors or Legion of Doom with Animal. Even though his look was not as intimidating, people were still afraid of being his opponent. Today, Hawk is remembered more for his botches and rambling promos, and his catchphrase, "Well....". But he and Animal are still arguably the greatest tag teams of all time. Or at least the one that every tag team since is compared to.
2. Ultimate Warrior - In spite of having one of the most distinctive face paint designs of all time, it is easy to forget about Warrior on a list like this. Like Hawk, he is remembered more for his botches and rambling promos than his matches. But when Hulk Hogan was in his prime, Warrior was the only person who ever matched him popularity. Due to professional and legal disagreements with Hogan and Vince McMahon, the WWE rarely looks favourably upon Warrior, often suggesting his crazy onscreen persona is a reflection on his real life. Warrior may be a victim of re-written history. But he was always be the first man to beat Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania, and the first man to hold the WWE and Intercontinental championships at the same time.
1. The Boogeyman - Marty Wright was one of the 50 finalists in the 2005 Tough Enough competition. He was the only contestant to show up wearing face-paint, and having a strange haircut. Despite proving to be more charismatic and physically capable than all of his 49 rivals, Wright was officaially dropped from the final 8. The TE officials discovered that he wore face-paint and shaved his hair-line so that no-one who guess that he was 40 years old (the competition was exclusive to men aged 18-35). But Wright was so impressive that he got a developmental contract. After losing most of his front teeth in a training match, Wright chose to keep the teeth out. He then invented the Boogeyman gimmick, which was based on his love of horror movies. The gimmick is often compared to Papa Shango. After an initially large push, the Boogeyman spent much of his time on the injury list or as enhancement talent. The earthworms that he sometimes ate, or put into opponent's mouths, were real. And Wright's real birthday is Hallowe'en. Part of his placement on this list may be disputed as much of his facepaint is painted onto his mask.
Named 'WWE's 15 Wildest War-paints', the list does make for some curious reading. Check it out below.
15. The Missing Link - One of dozen's of animal-listic wild-men that rarely talked and liked to bite and headbutt people. The Missing Link had very little success and is best remembered for his brief stint as one of Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan's clients. Heenan loves to tell the story of how Missing Link wanted Heenan to be his manager in real-life too. He asked Heenan to pick up plane tickets on his behalf because he could not ask for them, seeing as his character could not talk. Heenan told him that he needed to learn how to talk before the next morning, or he would miss his flight.
14. Abe "Knuckleball" Swartz - Swartz appeared in the WWE during the infamous Major League Baseball strike on 1994. He wore a baseball uniform and had a baseball painted on his face. And that is all people can remember about him. Rumours that he was based on The Baseball Furies gang in 'The Warriors' were never confirmed. Swartz hit his biggest fame as the Brooklyn Brawler.
13. Hakushi - Hakushi will always be over looked by many fans because of his lack of exposure in the US. But the Japanese wrestler did make an impact during his short stint in the WWE, and he has a cult following around the world, including America. Hakushi would compete with Japanese symbols covering his face, arms, back and torso. It is rumoured that his body-paint contained a hidden message relating to the opponent that he was about to face. But as most American fans cannot read Japanese, most of these messages will go unread. His look and style would inspire future wrestlers, including Tensai. Triple H is said to have embarassed himself in front of Hakushi in 2000. Triple H accompanied Mr. McMahon in meeting Hakushi in Japan. Triple H later admitted that he had no idea who the Japanese wrestling icon was.
12. Powers of Pain - The Warlord, The Barbarian, Lord Humongous, Animal, Hawk, Crush, Ax and Smash all have one obvious thing in common; all of them were based on one specific character from the Mad Max movies. Warlord and Barbarian were one of the few tag teams that could stand toe-to-toe with the Road Warriors. They are frequently remembered by WWE.com as one of the greatest tag teams of all time, despite the fact that they rarely won.
11. Kamala - Kamala is not the first animal-listic wrestler who was unable to talk. He isn't even the first one on this list! But Kamala is one of the most beloved. WWE fans will remember him as comedy character who was more cuddlely than cruel. But anyone who saw his matches prior to WWE saw a true monster, who frequently lost matches because he didn't understand the concept of "civilised competition". He is clearly the blue-print for Umaga.
10. Smash - I have no idea why the Demolition member is on the list by himself. But the WWE article notes that the tag team veteran may be the most successful of all face-painted competitors in the WWE. Demolition were allowed to use any combination of their 3 members to compete in tag matches, and Smash was in the main line-up most of the time.
9. Doink - Have you ever seen a clown with an un-painted face? Doink will always be remembered for his pranks and assistants, particularly the diminutive Dink. But most people tend to forget that Doink was a skilled technical wrestler in addition to being a master of ring psychology. And let's not forget, when Doink came up against larger and stronger opponents, he usually won. When someone with the size and power of Crush or Bam Bam Bigelow were furious with you, you would not dream of laughing right in their faces. Unless you were Doink.
8. Ax - Again, why is Ax listed seperatly from his Demolition team mate Smash? Especially when the Powers of Pain were listed together. Anyway, the future Repo Man would claim the 8th spot on the list.
7. Animal - Does this Road Warrior have the most distinctive face paint in wrestling history? I think so. While Hawk would change his face-paint on occasion, Animal made very few changes to his self-designed face mask. Having to face the Legion of Doom is always intimidating, but wrestlers and fans were always more scared of Animal.
6. Papa Shango - Contrary to popular myth, Papa Shango was based on a character from the James Bond movie 'Live and Let Die'. The voodoo witch doctor would use dark magic to "curse" opponents and control his allies. In his most famous feud, he would cause the Ultimate Warrior to fall victim to a number of curses. But his powers were weak against Hulk Hogan. In interviews, The Godfather repeatedly said that his dream opponent would be Papa Shango. Don't expect to ever see this match.
5. Goldust - Goldust went from being one of the creepiest performers of all time to one of the most entertaining. Goldust was obsessed with all things gold, especially awards and championship titles. He was bitter at the lack of recognition he had received throughout his career and would take out his frustrations on those who seemed to be successful or popular in the WWE. In the early days, many people believed Goldust to be a homosexual because of his lustful actions towards male rivals, and habit of dressing in women's underwear. But over the years, Goldust's sinister nature softened, and he would take on a much more comedic personality. To this day, some of the funniest backstage skits have starred Goldust. For those who don't know Goldust is portrayed by Dustin Rhodes, the son of Dusty Rhodes and the half-brother of Cody Rhodes.
4. The Great Muta - Each year, the number of WWE, ROH and TNA stars that were inspired by Muta grows. He is quite possibly the greatest star that Japan has ever produced. In spite of his short size, Muta had seemingly mastered every wrestling style. He was equally proficient in amateur, hardcore, brawling, technical, submission, luchadore, powerhouse, dirty, psychological and martial art styles. His only weakness was his short height. Sadly, he is greatly forgotten to due his lack of exposure in America. But Muta has to be one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.
3. Hawk - Hawk had spent almost all of his career as a member of the Road Warriors or Legion of Doom with Animal. Even though his look was not as intimidating, people were still afraid of being his opponent. Today, Hawk is remembered more for his botches and rambling promos, and his catchphrase, "Well....". But he and Animal are still arguably the greatest tag teams of all time. Or at least the one that every tag team since is compared to.
2. Ultimate Warrior - In spite of having one of the most distinctive face paint designs of all time, it is easy to forget about Warrior on a list like this. Like Hawk, he is remembered more for his botches and rambling promos than his matches. But when Hulk Hogan was in his prime, Warrior was the only person who ever matched him popularity. Due to professional and legal disagreements with Hogan and Vince McMahon, the WWE rarely looks favourably upon Warrior, often suggesting his crazy onscreen persona is a reflection on his real life. Warrior may be a victim of re-written history. But he was always be the first man to beat Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania, and the first man to hold the WWE and Intercontinental championships at the same time.
1. The Boogeyman - Marty Wright was one of the 50 finalists in the 2005 Tough Enough competition. He was the only contestant to show up wearing face-paint, and having a strange haircut. Despite proving to be more charismatic and physically capable than all of his 49 rivals, Wright was officaially dropped from the final 8. The TE officials discovered that he wore face-paint and shaved his hair-line so that no-one who guess that he was 40 years old (the competition was exclusive to men aged 18-35). But Wright was so impressive that he got a developmental contract. After losing most of his front teeth in a training match, Wright chose to keep the teeth out. He then invented the Boogeyman gimmick, which was based on his love of horror movies. The gimmick is often compared to Papa Shango. After an initially large push, the Boogeyman spent much of his time on the injury list or as enhancement talent. The earthworms that he sometimes ate, or put into opponent's mouths, were real. And Wright's real birthday is Hallowe'en. Part of his placement on this list may be disputed as much of his facepaint is painted onto his mask.