The Supernatural & Occult

Happy Halloween, Reading Wrestling fans! We thought it would be fun to do a seasonally appropriate episode, so today your favorite wrestling readers will be discussing instances of the supernatural and occult in professional wrestling. 

Amid the motley and colorful cast of characters in the show, a relatively small number, at least in the U.S., transcend the professional athlete archetype and invoke the supernatural and occult. Characters like the Undertaker, hailing from Death Valley and explicitly called “the dead man,” are altogether different than their, at-most, eccentric mortal counterparts. These figures form the bridge between wrestling’s premise as a sport and its aspirations to being its own Marvel Universe of superheroes and villains. Whether it’s Kane conjuring hellfire with the movement of his arms or Abaddon (named for a demon or dark angel of destruction) crawling to the ring as if she were straight out of the movie The Ring, these figures are used sparingly and with great aesthetic effect.

We start off talking about why there is such a limited amount of wrestlers with supernatural gimmicks, at least in the American tradition. In the course of the conversation, we discuss the Undertaker, Kris Statlander, and others. 

We move on to discussing shades of the occult, pondering whether there is a liminal space between mortal and supernatural characters. Dave brings us to characters like Kevin Sullivan and to the Dungeon of Doom. Chris takes us to a favorite of his, "The Most Illegal Move in Wrestling," featuring the dance hypnosis of the Osirian Portal. Noell brings us to the Wyatt Family's gothic-occult aesthetic, which ends up leading in to the Fiend. 

In the course of our historical sweep on the topic, we discuss Jake The Snake's cerebral occult, Andre the Giant, Big Van Vader, and The Great Kabuki. 

Then, for the first time, we imagine a fantasy booking situation where we have the opportunity to book the main event at Halloween Havoc. Noell takes great liberties here by booking an entire battle royale! Dave goes to the Yeti vs...the Shark? Not the Dungeon of Doom again... 

We end with the question of some characters who were intended to be supernaturally awe-inspiring yet ended up being more bizarre than anything else. Noell discussed The Boogeyman. Dave takes us to the Zodiac...of the Dungeon of Doom! Chris wraps up the question with a precis on Kevin Nash as Oz.

Put on your costume, pop in your earbuds, and take a stroll through the graveyard with us, as we discuss it all, from frights to flops.