Top 15 Characters In WWE History

Any list of characters needs someone ridiculous, and this list has the Repo Man. Played by Barry Darsow, who spent a career as one half of the best tag teams of all-time in Demolition, also found himself playing some of the worst characters ever. Repo Man makes this list thanks to his awesome catchphrase: "What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine too."

Many people compare Bray Wyatt to the very likely inane Waylon Mercy character, but outside of the Hawaiian shirts and cryptic words, they are very different at the core. Wyatt is a man with a cult leader personality who makes a lot of vague statements and claims to have a plan when, in reality, he has no true goal. He does what he does because he can, as he is a sadistic man who has been blessed with the gift of gab. Mercy on the other hand was soft spoken, disturbed and didn't appear to be fully cognizant of his actions inside the ropes. It had potential to grow into something different or something revolutionary, but it never had time to get off the ground as much more than a concept in its rough stages.

Wrestling is jam-packed with characters who are just completely full of themselves; as narcissistic as men can possibly be. Rude, however, was on a different level. He was a narcissist, he was oily, he was hairy (from his chest to his mustache and possibly beyond) and, as a person, he was an outright slimeball. It worked because he knew it and used it to his advantage. Rude came across as an extraordinarily self-involved man, but he was actually very self-aware, which makes him possibly the best narcissist of all-time and one of the best overall characters, as well.

Similar to Rick Rude, Val Venis was as off putting as they come -- a gravely voice, a hotel room towel and constantly wet, Val Venis was the Attitude Era's answer to Rick Rude and other narcissists of wrestling past. It was the Attitude Era, of course, which meant not only was he full of himself, but actually a porn star who had gotten into pro wrestling. It was a pretty dumb character, but his dedication to pulling it off is what makes this grappling adult movie star a memorable character.

In the 1970s and '80s, Bob Backlund was the preeminent All-American, white bread, hot-dogs-and-apple-pie baby face, and it led him to a six-year run with the WWF Title. After an absence of eight years, he returned and soon became a raging lunatic, something he had shown the potential for on a few occasions in his earlier stint with the company. He had a hot feud with Bret Hart and even won the WWF Title for a second time (only for a couple days). He wound down his in-ring career, but only ended up getting crazier, and his-suspenders-and-bow-tie look, extreme patriotism and erratic behavior has made the Mr. Backlund character one to remember.

"Here comes the Ax, here comes the Smasher..." -- an opening lyric that any wrestling fan in the '80s and early '90s will be familiar with -- led out a dominant tag team known as Demolition. Faces painted, clad in leather and metal and a take-no-prisoners attitude made these men an iconic tag team and a pair of the best characters ever.

It started with the vampire-like Gangrel, who carried a chalice purportedly filled with blood to the ring. He introduced his follower, the young Christian and, after a struggle, his brother Edge as well. The men would enter the arena by coming up from the fires of hell (or just an elevating platform surrounded by a controlled blaze), which made for a spectacular visual. Their signature became the Bloodbath, in which the lights would go out, and when they came back on, the target of their ill intentions would be covered in a symbolic red liquid.

Angle debuted as a real life Olympic wrestling gold medalist and immediately got on the nerves and under the skin of the WWF audiences by patting himself on the back for his prior accomplishments, often mistaking the crowd reactions to him as positive, which kept his ego rolling. Whether as a goofy heel who preached about his Three Is (intensity, integrity and intelligence) and even one time for abstinence, or, as the still goofy and awkward baby face protecting America, entertaining the masses and always getting the job done in the ring. The Kurt Angle character was a joy to experience.

When you think of gimmicks in professional wrestling, one name that always comes to mind is Mr. Perfect. Introduced as a superior athlete and able to back it up in the ring, Perfect played his cocky jock persona to, well, perfection. He was so good at what he did both inside and out of the ring, yet still was never given a run with the WWF Title, something that most fans still talk about to this day. He is often labeled as the best wrestler in the WWF to never win the Heavyweight Title.

The long-lost half brother of The Undertaker, Kane was brought into the WWF with much fanfare. News of his arrival was hyped for weeks and when he finally appeared, he did so in a very impactful manner -- ripping the door off of the Hell in a Cell and using The Undertaker’s own move against him. Kane’s mannerisms and gestures while under the mask were an important part of his character’s fear factor. His transformations throughout the years have been very hit-or-miss, but with every tweak and change, the man behind the mask (and sometimes without it) played the character he was given with full commitment, and continues to do so to this day.

The Bad Guy spoke in a slow drawl with a thick accent attempting to sound like a Cuban big shot (drug dealer). While it wasn’t the greatest accent of all-time, his slow speech patterns and the physical mannerisms that accompanied them were completely in sync at all times. He was such a good in-ring performer that the character took a backseat to the performance. Scott Hall’s ability to play what sounds like a ridiculous character on paper made it an icon instead of a joke.

He may be the fourth-wall breaking Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson now, but when Rocky Maivia started going solely by his nickname, a classic persona was born. He spoke about himself in the third person, talked down to everybody in a way that made it feel like he really believed that there wasn’t a single person in the world qualified to shine his shoes or lace his boots, including his allies. His facial expressions came across as genuine and his timing was impeccable. He was able to seamlessly become a face by only slightly tweaking a few small character traits without changing his brash, cocky attitude.

Mankind, Cactus Jack and Dude Love -- while Foley became internationally well-known while playing the Cactus Jack role, when he was brought into the WWF by Vince McMahon, he was commissioned to play a much different character. He still, at his core, was a man who held no regard for the physical well being of himself or his opponent, but while Jack was a wild man, Mankind was a tortured soul with a history of abuse and neglect. Mick Foley got the opportunity to debut Cactus Jack for the WWF audience after success with the Mankind character, but eventually switched back to being Mankind, just with an evolved persona and different wardrobe. Never one to be creatively pigeonholed, Foley was given the chance to live his dream by bringing his backyard wrestling gimmick, Dude Love, out of the mothballs and onto worldwide television. The character was nothing like his two prior incarnations, but it was fun and different, and Foley was able to play it as a clueless heel and a wacked out baby face. Plus, in the 1999 Royal Rumble, all three of the faces entered.

Vince McMahon started out on camera as the unassuming and pretty dorky commentator, not too unlike Michael Cole. This went on for about a decade until he showed some signs of frustration due to Stone Cold Steve Austin, and then the Montreal Screwjob happened. Overnight, commentator Vince McMahon became WWF Owner Mr. McMahon, telling the live audience that “Bret Screwed Bret;” the WWF’s newest mega heel was born. It was a role he seemed born to play. Mr. McMahon was biased, unfair and straight up evil, and he was very happy to embrace it. The inception of the character helped usher in the company’s most successful era of all-time, thanks to the feud between the corrupt boss and his everyman anti-hero counterpart, Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Few people will argue that The Undertaker is the most legendary and iconic character/gimmick/persona in the history of professional wrestling. A character that would be mocked and booed out of the building if he were to debut today, The Undertaker’s debut in 1990 shocked and awed fans who had never seen anything like the expressionless and dauntingly huge mortician. As is the case with all successful characters, the man’s dedication to never acting like anything that he was doing was silly -- even though much of it in the early years certainly was -- truly made his character a success. The character has been able to grow and evolve with the different directions the company has taken over the years and, when all is said and done, he will enter the annals of history as the most memorable and iconic character of all-time.