Wrestling
with face paint, bodyart and human statues; Ultimate
Warrior, Sting, Jeff Hardy, Lord Tensai and more
*orginally published in March 2012
Profiles
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Pro
wrestling is different things to different people,
but it's widely accepted as one of the most popular
forms of entertainment - especially for men and kids.
Every
week millions of fans tune into television to watch
promotions like the famous WWE and Impact Wrestling.
Pro
wrasling may be as American as apple pie, but Australia
is one of the world's biggest non U.S fan bases, and
we back it up with impressive PPV buy rates via Foxtel
as well as weekly top 10 number crunching for programs
such as RAW and SmackDown!
There
are many elements that make the pseudo sport exciting.
The spectacular moves, the amazing bodies, the ring
entrances, the storylines, the costumes and face paint.
Say what - face paint! Yes, even most casual fans
would have heard of the man they call Sting (currently
with Impact Wrestling, but featured on the WWE website),
Jeff Hardy, The Ultimate Warrior, and let's also include
the recently renamed WWE super heel - villain, Lord
Tensai (tattoos and bodyart galore). It also appears
that current WWE champion Sheamus aka 'The Great White',
uses a little white paint or some other substance
on his chest area (you need to look closely, but check
out the WrestleMania 28 footage and judge for yourself).
We
think that Australian pro wrestlers might soon more
readily adopt face painting as another way to help
stand out from the pack.
Famous
Pro Wrestling Stars With Face Paint...
Sting
The
Man Called Sting. Icon or not, he has an impressive
pro wrestling body of work and knows how to work the
crowd.
He
has the 'It Factor' and is almost as famous for his
face paint, as he is his matches with fellow legend
Ric Flair.
His
red version of the paint during his time in the NWO
Wolfpac was something to behold.
He
even had previous face paint along the lines of Ultimate
Warrior styling when he still had blond hair and more
recently at Impact Wrestling with Joker type face
paint. No wonder WWE seem to be making a play to sign
Sting, or at least to have him officially inducted
into the WWE Hall of Fame.
The
different changes have lent him to using his face
paint as both intimidation and character enhancement.
Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal)
Considered
by many as one of the greatest tag teams of all time,
if not the greatest, The Road Warriors both had simple
but awesome face paint.
Hawk
and Animal had their Mad Max-inspired gimmick down
to a science, spiked shoulder pads and all.
This
face paint seems to be a combination of character
inspiration and intimidation.
RIP
Hawk. Ah, what a rush!
Jeff Hardy
Jeff
Hardy aka 'The Charismatic Inigima' might just be
the king of the face paint in professional wrestling.
His
use of face paint is pure character enhancement, but
nobody has ever done it better.
He
changes it frequently, and usually it comes up looking
amazing. Most hardcore fans will tell you that Hardy's
face paint has been better and more creative in Impact
Wrestling than in the WWE. Maybe Hardy has more control
in his current promotion, which is also a scary thing.
Great paint, and well done on cleaning up your act
Jeff, if we should believe the press.
The Ultimate Warrior
The
Ultimate Warrior had some of the coolest face paint
of all time.
Some
have noted a dash of Batman themes in the mix.
Add
the paint to the interviews, chiseled body and unique
and crazy ring style, and this guy was one of a kind
wacko (and successful). Will Triple H bring back the
Warrior? Stranger things have happened, and Triple
H has hinted via the WWE website and leaked elsewhere
that he would be interested in getting a 1-2-3 over
Warrior, so stay tuned.
Demolition
I
can remember it like yesterday "I'm Axe and "I'm
Smash" and we're going to kick your stinking
teeth in". The them went something like "Here
comes the Ax and here comes the Smasher. The Demolition
is coming to get ya". Red, black and silver have
never looked so good (or scary).
Like
The Road Warriors, Demolition also employed a Mad
Max-inspired theme in their gimmick.
Demolition
seemed to use their paint as intimidation and character
enhancement.
The KISS Demon
The
KISS Demon was created with a licensing agreement
with KISS the band. Supposedly the beginning of a
stable that was to include wrestlers modelled after
each of the KISS band members. Only The Demon came
to pass, and it didn't last. Another WCW idea that
went south. I would have trusted my marketing and
promotion with KISS top brass Gene Simmons and Paul
Stanley more than with the then WCW marketing department.
How about you KISS Army fans?
The Powers of Pain (The Warlord and The Barbarian)
The
Powers of Pain was a team that consisted of the Warlord
and The Barbarian. Managed by Mr. Fuji, who for a
few years was one of best managers in my estimation.
Their face paint was fairly generic but nevertheless
intimidating.
After
the team split up, they both stepped away from using
facepaint and each gained a new managerWarlord
being paired up with Slick and Barbarian joining Bobby
Heenan.
The Missing Link
The
Missing Link was a character not so unlike to that
of George 'The Animal' Steele and Madog Vachon - a
crazy man that needed a handler to bring him to the
ring and keep him under control.
He
would repeatedly smash his own head into turnbuckles
during matches and use his head as a weapon (but in
reality his forearm appeared to take most of the blow).
Kayfabe!
His
face paint seemed to be geared more towards furthering
his character.
'Dewey'
Robertson passed away in August 2007. RIP.
Yoshi Tatsu
Yoshi
wrestled in WWE for some time before debuting the
above look.
During
a feud with Tyson Kidd, where he was written off of
television for a few weeks, Yoshi debuted this look
when he returned citing it as a tribute to The Great
Muta and his Japanese heritage. You have to long his
ring entrance music and video, but his win - loss
record is not on par with the rest of his act. Maybe
he would have had more impact 10 years ago. Sadly
we will never know. Tipped to enter a feud with Lord
Tensai at some point, judging by Twitter, or might
soon end up being shown the door, thanks to new WWE
talent coming in. We like your work Yoshi and hope
things pick up for you whatever happens.
Kamala The Ugandan Giant
The
Ugandan Giant wrestled mainly in the 80's and 90's
and his gimmick was that of a head hunter. Slap that
huge belly. Recently told some dirt sheets that he
wasn't happy with his paydays and guys like Hogan
were making millions. Kamala, you were never Hogan
(but we get your point).
Vampiro
Was
a very good wrestler, especially by old WCW standards.
He
has mainly competed in smaller organizations and wrestled
in WCW for awhile. Face paint was simple, but effective.
Bull Nakano
Competed
in Japan for most of her career. Many fans from North
America know Nakano from feuding with Alundra Blayze
/ Madusa in WWE and WCW.
Her
face paint is fairly understated most of the time
save for the crack like streaks down her face.
Nakano
is understood to have given professional golfing a
swing!
Papa Shango
The
man that would go on to become Kama and The Godfather.
A good gimmick (geared to kids).
His
voodoo gimmick of causing wrestlers to vomit and ooze
oily looking stuff out of their heads was only enhanced
by his skull inspired face paint.
The Great Kabuki
The
man credited with being the first to blow 'Asian Mist'
into his opponent's face has pretty cool face paint.
Almost looks like he was on the receiving end of the
Asian Mist himself.
He
held a series of retirement matches in 1998 and was
always a very solid worker.
The Great Muta
The
Great Muta has had many different styles of face paint
throughout the years.
Mostly
known in North America for his stints in WCW and short
time in WWE, Muta has always been a top wrestler wherever
he has competed.
Changed
over to wearing a mask since shaving his head. Check
out Muta VS Hogan which took place in Japan about
15 years ago. Classic.
Hakushi
The
whole gimmick of Hakushi 'tatooing' his face and body
with Kanji characters was very cool. Very good worker.
Goldust
Dustin
Rhodes eccentric character has one of the coolest
paint jobs ever. You have to love the Hollywood theme
and intro, and how about the trademark promo "You
will always remember the name... GOLDUST".
Umaga
The
Samoan Bulldozer was awesome. Umaga's face paint appeared
to be an extension of his tribal tattoo art that he
had across the rest of his body.
Umaga
used his face paint to enhance his character and as
a source of intimidation to his opponents with it
resembling war paint of certain tribes.
Sadly,
Eddie Fatu passed away in 2009. RIP.
Damien 666
While
the colours and styles of Damien 666's paint changed
throughout the years, the number 666 has always emblazoned
his forehead.
Wrestling
for most of his career in Mexico, Damien uses his
paint as a character enhancer as well as for intimidation
purposes.
The Bogeyman
If
any gimmick was perfect to have face paint associated
with it, the Boogeyman is it. He made a few alterations
to it throughout his WWE career, but all consisted
of a blood red backdrop on to which he superimposed
other weird things.
His
apparent eating of worms added additional intimidation
factor to the whole gimmick.
Others
Lord
Tensai, a major heel (villain) in the WWE has heavy
face and body tattoos and body piercings, most if
not all of which are legit. A former name he wrestled
under was 'Prince Albert' (look it up and draw your
own conclusions). A tough and legit SOB with loads
of talent. Give the hardcore fans more time and they
should come around and back him up more in current
WWE storylines.
So wrestling and face paint fans. There you have it.
Got
a wrestling match or fancy dress party coming up?
Why not contact face painting and costume specialists,
Human Statue Bodyart, for more details about how you
can bring your pro wrestler to life. Masks and other
costumes and accessories are also available.
Thank
you to the extremely talented pro wrestlers who keep
entertaining the fans each week, and Sting, Jeff Hardy
and friends... please keep wowing us with your artistic
creations.
That's
it for the wrestling and face painting unmasked news
today, but stay turned for developments as the countdown
towards AWF 'Australia VS The World' and WWE 'Over
The Limit' continues.
*The
writer is the business manager of Human Statue Bodyart,
Eva Rinaldi Photography and the director of Media
Man and Australian Sports Entertainment.
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