Do you think that movies are the best place to find deep, compelling characters? It might be time to give wrestling another look because the predetermined sport has some of the most entertaining characters available in any medium!
10. Velveteen Dream
The Velveteen Dream is compelling both in the way his character is written and in the story behind Patrick Clark, the performer who portraits the Dream. The character is very much like an intimidating version of Price. Clark rose up from the WWE's Tough Enough reality show, which doesn't exactly have a track record for creating successful wrestlers. Combine that with Clark being only 23-years-old, and it's easy to see that he's a superstar in the making.
9. Kane
Kane is the Undertaker's little brother in the storyline, and his early run the WWE was some of the most entertaining stuff the company has ever produced. Each week Kane would attack a random wrestler to get his brother's attention, and seeing who was going to be his victim each week was one of the most exciting things in the WWE. His character has evolved over the years (even seeing him become a suit and tie wearing version of himself known as Corporate Kane).
8. Sting
The version of Sting that was truly interesting is the one who wasn't unlike Brandon Lee's beloved character in The Crow. The dark and brooding Sting walked around in his long leather coat toting a black baseball bat and was the very definition of cool. Even now, when Sting makes a rare appearance at a wrestling event, it's still super exciting.
7. The Undertaker
We've already talked about how The Undertaker is a perfect wrestling character for anyone who likes horror, but he's really just a perfect character with some incredible depth that anyone can enjoy. Between the aforementioned storylines with his brother Kane, the power of the urn, and his incredible ability to tell stories, Taker is an all-time great and a character who blows away most movie characters with ease.
6. Mick Foley
Mick Foley is absolutely incredible at playing characters. He's so good, in fact, that he managed to play multiple characters that all existed within the same universe throughout his career. There was the hardcore legend Cactus Jack, the sadistic Mankind, the fun-loving Dude Love, and Mick Foley himself. He could switch between them with fantastic continuity, which is nothing short of impressive.
5. Bray Wyatt
Bray Wyatt has seen some evolution over his career, and some of it has been hit or miss in terms of quality. In fact, if I had put this list together just three or four months ago, he probably wouldn't have made the cut. But the work Bray is doing on the Firefly Fun House with his new split personality gimmick is incredible, and it's keeping wrestling fans glued to the edge of their seats.
4. The Rock
All the WWE had to do was put a microphone into the hand of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's hand and magic would flow. The man created more catchphrases than anyone would ever want to count, and he was able to tell verbal stories in a way that few performers ever could. It's no wonder he's gone on to become a massive star in Hollywood, as The Rock really is a charisma machine.
3. Stone Cold Steve Austin
Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, and Vince McMahon literally carried the WWE through one of its biggest boom periods known as The Attitude Era. In terms of pure wrestling star power, few performers have been able to capture the crowd in the same way Stone Cold did. Between his stories of rebellion with Mr. McMahon and his ability to create catchphrases that are still used in wrestling today, it's hard to not be entertained by Steve Austin.
2. Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon is the real-life boss of the WWE, but during the late 90s, his Mr. McMahon character was one of the greatest bad guys the wrestling world has ever seen. Vince did a fantastic job of making wrestling fans hate him, and when he finally got his comeuppance, it was so satisfying. Not only is he responsible for putting together many of the storylines we know and love, but in the Attitude Era, he was a critical onscreen part of the show.
1. Broken Matt Hardy
Personally, I think Broken Matt Hardy is one of the greatest characters in professional wrestling's long and storied history. Matt Hardy created an entire universe around his Broken character including roles for his wife, his brother, his son, his father-in-law, and even his drone. The WWE tried its hand at working with Broken Matt Hardy, but it was his work in TNA that truly set the wrestling world on fire.