The top 30 horror gimmicks in pro wrestling history

24. Damian Priest f/k/a Punishment Martinez

Before he became the “Archer of Infamy” Damian Priest was known by another name.

Punishment Martinez, trained at the infamous Monster Factory wrestling school, was an interesting mix of a Mad Max villain and a vampiric looking warrior. Debuting in Ring of Honor in 2016, Martinez found his way into the Top Prospect Tournament and aligned himself with the evil mastermind, Kevin Sullivan, who was feuding with Steve Corino at the time.

Martinez came out to the ring with pulsating red strobe lights, dark rock electronic music and at times a horde of scary minions. His in ring style complimented his look well as he was able to intimidate his opponents with his size, speed, and agility.

Martinez signed to NXT in 2018 and debuted as Damian Priest in 2019. Priest takes some elements of Martinez but seems to abandon the Mad Max vibes and goes full force into the vampiric character. Priest is not as horror-based as Martinez but Priest can always delve back into that dark energy in the future.

23. Willow

The dark and whimsical alternate persona of Jeff Hardy is as unsettling as it is strange.

Back in 2013, Jeff Hardy was working for TNA under Dixie Carter and after a string of losses he, in kayfabe, walked out of the company. A few months later vignettes started to play hyping the debut of Willow, an old persona of Hardy from his OMEGA days. Willow debuted at Lethal Lockdown to team up with team MVP.

Willow was a deranged, witchy-looking character who donned a black cloak, black and white face paint, laughed hysterically and carried an umbrella to the ring.

Willow feuded with EC3, who tried to hunt for Willow in a haunted abandoned house with his then-tag partner Rockstar Spud. Willow also fought for the TNA Title in matches against Magnus but he was not able to come away with the championship.

Willow only stayed around for a few months due to The Hardy Brothers reuniting in July of 2014 but while he was around he was a scary and kooky presence.