So You Loved The Undertaker? Meet The Supernatural Stars of Today's WWE

by Anne St. Marie a year ago in feature / list / pop culture / celebrities

With ambiguous werewolves, dancing vampires, part-time demons and sinister swamp families, the WWE's modern roster is keeping the magic flowing

Okay, who summoned The Demon King? Kevin? Come on Kevin, we know it was you.

Whenever you grew up within the long (long) career of The Undertaker, you probably thought he was pretty cool. Heck, you most likely thought this even if you were an adult. The Undertaker’s gone through a few different phases of his character over the years, but, through everything, he’s always stayed cool. Apparently the combo of black leather and vague necromancy just has that timeless appeal. And the man can roll his eyes right back in his head ---- c’mon, that’s pretty impressive all on its own.

Or 'Taker, as his friends like to call him.

Also he can rock a hat like nobody's business. Look at that sucker.

But yes, that was mostly back in the day, when characters like an undead magical necromantic biker undertaker (possibly also from Hell) ‘worked’ better on lower-budget sets. People were more impressed by smoke machines then, is what I’m saying. Nowadays? Tougher crowd. If The Undertaker debuted now, would crowds react the same way? Well, in some cases . . . the answer would be a resounding 'Yes!'. A number of supernaturally-inclined WWE superstars are currently active, and here I’ll run down the list for you. Ready for a little magic, a lot of punching, a splash of dramatically-spoken creepy dialogue, and the copious usage of dry ice? Let’s start off with . . .

#0: The Undertaker and Kane

It's a battle pose. Don't interrupt the battle pose.

Supernatural: 100%.

Class: Zombie death wizard and his bro, ‘The Devil’s Favorite Demon’.

Character and abilities: Yes, I already mentioned the guy, but hey ---- he’s still wrestling. (Which, after all these years, is pretty dang impressive). Not only is The Undertaker still active, so is his ‘brother’, the Demon Kane. They even united forces recently to re-form the Brothers of Destruction. The Undertaker has a number of powers, primarily dark magic related, along with the occasional army of druids. Kane, on the other hand, is all about the pyro. His entrance alone features copious amounts of flame, and, every time he emerges victorious inside the squared circle, the ring-posts themselves erupt with fire. Not too shabby. In addition to that, Kane has a tendency to rise up through the ring itself, dragging his kicking and screaming victims ‘down to Hell’ through the canvas. At the IRL ages of 51 and 49, respectively, these two supernatural menaces are some of the oldest current WWE stars . . . and fans hope they’ll both stick around to Chokeslam/Tombstone Piledrive their unfortunate opponents for a while yet.

#4: Baron Corbin

He's got his eye on you. And so does his shoulder skull.

Supernatural: ????? (Maybe? Heavily hinted at, but nothing confirmed).

Class: Post-apocalyptic biker werewolf. Probably.

Character and abilities: Somewhat in the tradition of The Undertaker, Baron Corbin is a biker werewolf. Or maybe not. Frankly, he’s at this spot because it’s never been confirmed if he’s actually a werewolf or just a massive long-haired guy who says a lot of werewolfy things, calls himself ‘the lone wolf’, uses a wolf at his emblem, and adds a few festive animal skulls to his vest at the occasional pay-per-view. Though evidence leans very much in the werewolf direction, he hasn’t yet eaten anybody or been caught changing from man to wolf. (Also no report yet on his reaction to Milk Bones). He’s one to keep an eye on.

#3: Ember Moon

Ember Moon Fact: All her pictures have redeye.

Supernatural: Gotta be.

Class: Vampire? Werewolf? Both? Lots of moon imagery and very red eyes for sure.

Character and abilities: Ember Moon recently debuted in the WWE’s developmental brand NXT, and her teaser trailers strayed heavily in the ‘probably a werewolf/vampire’ direction. Moon imagery for days, distinctly blood-red eyes, general atmosphere.

Ember Moon's Initial Teaser

Verewolf? Werepire? Excellent hood game, either way.

Having now appeared in person, she’s more like a werewolfy-vampiric Mortal Kombat character, or possibly a werewolfy-vampiric Mortal Kombat amazon woman, given her outfit. Despite being obviously supernatural in some way, she hasn’t yet demonstrated any occult powers in or outside of the ring. Nope, she just turns up all red-eyed and ominous, handles her business, and often dances. She’s not the most threatening supernatural being on this list . . . but, then again, who knows what she’ll do when her powers finally kick in?

#2: Finn Bálor

The same guy, but different.

Supernatural: Very much, but part-time.

Class: Mostly human. Sometimes the host for an eons-old demon from Irish folk mythology. Hey, life’s complicated.

Character and abilities: 85% of the time, Finn is an occasionally-adorkable mostly-stoic leather-wearing nerd who loves Lego, Star Wars, and Adventure Time.

Pictured: Regular Finn

He also has set of abs you could grate cheese on.

However, when big fights come along (such as PPV opportunities), he digs deep down and ‘opens a door within himself’, causing himself to be possessed by the ancient and legendary Bálor, ‘The Demon King’. As one does.

Pictured: Bálor, The Demon King

AUGH YIKES WHAT THE HELL FINN

Ability-wise, Bálor is far more powerful than Finn, defeating opponents that Finn loses to and breezily kicking out of moves that would’ve defeated his human side. In appearance, Bálor also differs. ‘The Demon King’ apparently likes him some body paint, and said paint’s often changed up due to the fight’s location. Jack the Ripper for London, Texas Chainsaw Massacre for Texas (complete with actual chainsaw) . . . the list goes on. Tube dreadlocks are also a thing. No, I don’t know why. Ask Bálor. You may think this sounds corny, but trust me ---- Bálor’s entrance alone is one of the coolest WWE has to offer. You’ll get shivers up your spine.

Finn Bálor's NXT Champion Entrance

This is just a section of it. It's one of the longest and most epic entrances of any WWE superstar, challenging even The Undertaker.

The above is from back when he was the WWE's NXT champion, before he debuted to the main roster, immediately beat their top guys, and became their first-ever WWE Universal Champion. You can't keep a good demon down.

#1: Bray Wyatt (+ The Wyatt Family)

Bray is a man who believes deeply in the power of dry ice.

Supernatural: Definitely.

Class: Clairvoyant and demonically-inclined swamp preacher, also maybe some kind of magician. Plus once he ate part of The Undertaker and Kane’s souls and turned the former’s druids into his own personal minions. No biggie.

Character and abilities: By far the most supernatural of the younger WWE roster, ‘The New Face of Fear’ Bray Wyatt is a highly charismatic and equally magical cult leader/doomsday preacher, who regularly refers to himself as a God and has a vast array of powers. Teleportation, hypnosis, mind-reading, soul eating, brainwashing, and creeping around upside-down like a goddamn spider are all well within the abilities of the ‘Eater of Worlds’. He’s usually very polite, has a tendency toward eerie singing, and his finishing move involves gently kissing his opponent’s forehead right before violently slamming them into the ground. (It’s called the ‘Sister Abigail’, after the entity/ghost/angel/demon/maybe-just-a-long-dead-lady that Bray appears to worship and regularly invoke the power of). He’s basically the successor to The Undertaker’s creepy crown, is what I’m saying. Bray refers to his fan-followers as ‘fireflies’, and the fans in question obligingly light up their cell phones and lift them high during his darkened lantern-holding entrance. It’s an unnerving sight.

Bray Wyatt's Entrance

Yes, that is an creepy pregnant lady in his initial video flash.

Sort of alarming, isn't it? And that's just him solo.

. . . + The Wyatt Family

They're here, and they're bearded.

Thought one unsettling possibly-demonic swamp dude was spooky? How about four of them? Yes, Bray Wyatt has followers ---- and, while none of them seem to be inherently supernatural in themselves, being associated with Bray appears to lend them some amount of power. The Wyatt family frequently teleports to and from the ring or entrance ramp, occasionally bringing objects (and, sometimes, people) with them. While their number has varied over the years, probably the most familiar Family to fans at this point consists of Luke Harper (a giant bearded man in a ratty undershirt and jeans), Erick Rowan (a giant bearded man who wears a white sheep’s mask), and Braun Strowman (the Wyatt family’s ‘black sheep’, an absolutely huge bearded man who wears a ---- you guessed it ---- black sheep’s mask).

The Wyatt Family Entrance

This entrance is immediately after that little time when Bray had them kidnap both The Undertaker and Kane, allowing him to eat part of their souls and gain their powers. You do you, Bray.

They follow Bray faithfully and are absolutely devoted to him, going to any lengths and sustaining any personal damage necessary to serve their master. As you can imagine, the collected Wyatt family is a formidable force. Bray encourages others to find them by ‘following the buzzards’ . . . but most might be wise to take another strategy outlined by the Eater of Worlds. As Bray himself often urges, “Run”.

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