History Main / WrestlingMonster

Most monsters are {{heel}}s, which is why you usually hear the term "monster heel" being used to describe this kind of wrestler. However, monster {{face}}s are not unknown, with probably the most well-known example being TheUndertaker.

* Amazon in the NES Pro Wrestling game is a masked wrestler who plays a half man half plant mutant and bites people

* Bruiser Brody made a career of being a monster heel, and was one of the most feared men in the ring back in the day -- so much so, in fact, that he was killed for it.

* After Hulk Hogan's ''No Holds Barred'' movie, someone got the bright idea to bring his opponent Zeus from the movie into the wrestling world and give him the same monster gimmick. He completely no-sold everything unless his opponents went for his eyes, which not only hurt but apparently made him vulnerable to other things.

* Generalissimo Takada, leader of the Monster Army in HUSTLE, could shoot wrestlers with freaking laser beams and also could heal wrestlers back from injury. He had a weakness which proved fatal though when [[MakeWayForTheNewVillains King Riki sent one his lasers back at him.]]

** Unlike similar monster gimmicks, The Boogeyman did not have any powers. He was just an actor for a canceled UPN show who got LostInCharacter, though he was billed from [[TheBible "The Bottomless Pit"]]

->"I am the reaper of wayward souls, I am the world heavyweight champion and this, this is the holy grail of everyone who steps foot in this ring. And that is why it was so important that I possess it, because every wayward soul would stray from crossing the path of The Undertaker! But now, consumed by the lust of fortune and fame, the recognition that this championship brings will lead them down a road which they will sorry they ever embarked. Because that road ends in my yard. For them it will be a graveyard."

[[AC: Professional Wrestling]]

** Gangrel and Rio Storm are two more wrestling vampires and they are known for teaming up on occasion. Rio storm is the more monstrous of the two.

But the biggest thing that makes a monster different from TheGiant is movement. Monsters are tough, but not as unmovable as giants, and are more likely to chase down fleeing foes than giants. Wrestlers will often be given giant gimmicks to emphasize their appearance while distracting viewers from their lack of talent. Monsters may lack in some areas of WrestlingPsychology or [[LargeHam charisma]], but the gimmick is usually given so a wrestler can spend more time showcasing their impressive offensive moves and less time selling. WildSamoan is a subtrope.

* On one episode of ''Kim Possible'' Executive Promoter of GWA (Global Wrestling Association), Jackie Oakes uses an UpgradeArtifact to turn himself into a giant jackal man and attacks the wrestlers booked in the main event without anyone batting an eye because they think it's AllPartOfTheShow. It actually was planned to be part of the show but Jackie turned it into a shoot.

* VampireTheMasquerade had the Extreme Wrestling Confederation, run by a subsidiary of Pentex, in which compete vampires, shape shifters and other supernaturals. First mentioned in the Children Of The Night source book, along with the Nosferatu Luchador El Diablo Verde.

* Already something of an InvincibleHero, WCW tried to turn the Ultimate Warrior into one of these. He had many squash matches but the run is mostly remembered for an infamous [[SpecialEffectFailure mirror scene.]]

* Big Bad Mama of GLOW had voodoo powers too, but she used her's for mind control. Eventually, someone turned her voodoo around on her, so she resorted to squashing wrestlers the old fashion way. She even got to use the gimmick on an episode of ''MarriedWithChildren''.

* Evil dead, JCW's wrestling zombie. [[OurZombiesAreDifferent A little less intact than the Undertaker]], [[EvilIsVisceral his outer layer of flesh is gone]]. He feels no pain, knows no fear and has to be restrained by a pair of {{Monster Clown}}s when he's not in matches.

** Kevin Thorn was a "legit" ECW monster after they ran weeks worth of parodies such as shambling zombies for Sandman to beat with his cane. Fans suspect he was there to meet the science fiction requirement, back when SyFy was still called Sci fi.
* Monster Bono of HUSTLE, born when The Great Muta's green mist got on the crotch of Yinling The Erotic Terrorist. The ManChild was one of the too dumb to know better examples as his daddy didn't love him and he accidentally {{Killed Off| For Real}} his mother.
* After Hulk Hogan's ''No Holds Barred'' movie someone got the bright idea to bring his opponent Zeus from the movie into the wrestling world and give him the same monster gimmick. He completely no-sold everything unless his opponents went for his eyes, which not only hurt but apparently made him vulnerable to other things.

* Bill {{Goldberg}}, who steamed rolled through the entire roster during his WCW reign and became the biggest face in the company. His monster status became most obvious when he no sold a flurry of offense from the similarly undefeated Glacier. It took a taser to keep him down.
* TheUndertaker, but less so during his biker gimmick. Being a soul stealing, zombie gravedigger it came with the territory. Besides the standard monster endurance he could also control electricity and instantly move through darkness.
* {{Kane}}, being the little brother of the Undertaker. He was less known for winning titles than for torturing the rest of the roster. The Christmas creature was the real prototype to the character though.

* Jon Heidenreich, a violent poem reading barbarian who could not accept the fact he lost to the Undertaker. Famously kidnapped and suggestively punished Michael Cole. Became best friends with Booker T after the latter bashed him upside the head with a chair, Heidenreich thought they were friends anyway.

* Festus the "Corn Fed Colossus" was usually subdued, only becoming this trope when he heard the sound of a bell. It was revealed his family were using drugs to keep him sedate but Jesse discovered that bells made him come alive for some reason and decided to sick him on the WWE.
* {{Batista}} used to be this trope, especially in OVW where he was "The Leviathan, Demon Of The Deep, Right Hand Of The Devil Himself!". It pretty much came to and end once he was allowed to hold a microphone for over a minute. He remained a tough competitor but lost the invincibility and the mystique.
* BrockLesnar, the next big thing. Smackdown had a nice amount of cruiser weight wrestlers to feed him and he was faster than most of them too. He also out muscled the those in his weight class and was pretty much booked to be an invincible heartless bastard helped by the fact he [[RealLifeWritesThePlot broke Hardcore Holly's neck,]] and the fact he finished a match when his own was broken!
* Hitting moonsaults while weighing around 91KG at 1.70 meters was impressive enough but Bull Nakano sometimes completely no sold back suplexes just to drive in how futile her opponent's effort was.
* [[IHaveManyNames Amazing Kong/Awesome Kong/Karma]] has been booked as a giant style wrestler but she can play this role she as well. Best seen in TNA where she started as immovable giant but became better known for never staying down, her all around skill and for her evil manager.
* Her "mentor/rival" Aja Kong is a similar case, who not unlike the Undertaker, played a monster that claimed to worse than the devil yet was a face for long portions of her career. She was even built up as a monster in the WWF where she practically won the Survivor Series by herself.
* To address complaints fans had over SamoaJoe's booking TNA tried to turn him into one of these. Given the trope's nature this only lead to [[WildSamoan more complaints]].
* The Boogeyman was more so this trope in Ohio Valley Wrestling where he appeared out of nowhere when the heels [[CandleJack spoke his name]] and briefly no sold whatever they tried before beating them around the arena. Not so much in WWE but he would still only briefly gyrate when struck with anything less than a mallet or a SignatureMove and would just keep coming. He broke clocks over his head, carried around a heart and force fed the wrestlers he defeated worms he regurgitated after swallowing them. {{Face}}.

* Speaking of Kharma, the original Awesome Kong was one half of a tag team. The Colossal Kongs are most famous for their [[FashionVictimVillain odd dress]] and for being called the worst tag team of 1993 by The Wrestling Observer but they were convincing monsters. Pretty much all their matches were {{Squash Match}}es that were over in under four minutes.

* After Hulk Hogan's ''No Holds Barred'' movie someone got the bright idea to bring his opponent Zeus from the movie into the wrestling world and give him the same monster gimmick. He completely no sold everything unless his opponents went for his eyes, which not only hurt but apparently made him vulnerable to other things.

Some monsters are too dumb to understand anything other than fighting. Some are reasonably intelligent if a little disturbed, criminally psychotic by most standards outside of wrestling world. Some turn out to not be that bad, simply mislead by a depraved manager but these are bad for the reigning champion, as the manager can give them a focus they would otherwise lack. A monster's strength and fury can be fueled by external forces like medicine that had unintended side effects on him. Some claim to have super natural powers, some claim to beasts that only take the guise of men.

What all monsters have in common is incredible endurance. They may be huge but being big isn't enough. They maybe crazy or vicious and but that still isn't enough. Many have power contested only by the TheGiant or the WorldsStrongestMan along with the agility of high fliers but to be a monster he must also be insanely tough. Some will teeter but not fall. Others will always get back up. The worst seemingly FeelNoPain at all: move them, bruise them, cut open their bodies but it will do little to slow them down. After all, reducing his [[TheatricsOfPain selling]] is the easiest way to convince the audience this guy is abnormal.

But the biggest thing that makes a monster different from TheGiant is movement. Monsters are tough but not as unmovable as giants and are more likely to chase down fleeing foes than giants. Wrestlers will often be given giant gimmicks to emphasize their appearance while distracting viewers from their lack of talent. Monsters may lack in some areas of WrestlingPsychology or [[LargeHam charisma]] but the gimmick is usually given so a wrestler can spend more time showcasing their impressive offensive moves and less time selling. WildSamoan is a subtrope.

->"He revolutionized what people thought of a monster heavyweight wrestler. He elevated the standards of what it meant to be an agile giant who could make fans believe that he could destroy everyone."

** Matilda The Hun was a more mundane example, being a large indomitable athlete with EvilForeigner overtones. Both of them feuded with [[TheGiant Mount Fiji]], the only one who could undermine Mama's voodoo powers and Hun's claims of master race superiority.

** {{Kane}}, being the little brother of the Undertaker. He was less known for winning titles than for torturing the rest of the roster.

* Big Van Vader, as said by Zach Arnold

* There was an attempt to get world judo champion and STO innovator Naoya Ogawa some monster cred by squashing smaller wrestlers then taking on and fighting evenly with Bill Goldberg.

What all monsters have in common is incredible endurance. They may be huge but being big isn't enough. They maybe crazy or vicious and but that still isn't enough. Many have power contested only by the TheGiant or the WorldsStrongestMan along with the agility of high fliers but to be a monster he must also be insanely tough. Some will teeter but not fall. Others will always get back up. The worst seemingly FeelNoPain at all: move them, bruise them, cut open their bodies but it will do little to slow them down. After all, reducing his [[TheatricsOfPain selling]] is the easiest way to convince the audience this guy is not abnormal.

But the biggest thing that makes a monster different from TheGiant is movement. Monsters are tough but not as unmovable as giants and are more likely to chase down fleeing foes than giants. Wrestlers will often be given giant gimmicks to emphasize their appearance while distracting viewers from their lack of talent. Monsters may lack in some areas of WrestlingPsychology or [[LargeHam charisma]] but the gimmick is usually given so a wrestler can spend more time showcasing their impressive offensive moves and less time selling. WildSamoan is a subtrope. For a broader take see OurMonstersAreDifferent.

Some monsters are too dumb to understand anything other than fighting. Some are reasonably intelligent if a little disturbed, criminally psychotic by most standards but you can get away with a lot in wrestling world. Some turn out to not be that bad, simply mislead by a depraved manager but these are bad for the reigning champion, as the manager can give them a focus they would otherwise lack. A monster's strength and fury can be fueled by external forces like medicine that had unintended side effects on him. Some claim to have super natural powers, some claim to beasts that only take the guise of a man.

What all monsters have in common is incredible endurance. They may be huge but being big isn't enough. They maybe crazy or vicious and but that still isn't enough. Many have power contested only by the TheGiant or the WorldsStrongestMan along with the agility of high fliers but to be a monster he must also be insanely tough. Some will teeter but not fall. Others will always get back up. The worst seemingly FeelNoPain at all: move them, bruise them, cut open their bodies but it will do little to slow them down.

One thing that makes a monster different from TheGiant is movement. Monsters are tough but not as unmovable as giants and are more likely to chase down fleeing foes than giants. Wrestlers will often be given giant gimmicks to emphasize their appearance while distracting viewers from their lack of talent. Monsters may lack in some areas of WrestlingPsychology or [[LargeHam charisma]] but the gimmick is usually given so a wrestler can spend more time showcasing their impressive offensive moves and less time [[TheatricsOfPain selling]]. WildSamoan is a subtrope. For a broader take see OurMonstersAreDifferent.

* Parodied in the ''JusticeFriends'' episode, "Rasslor". Rasslor (an alien, so ''literally'' a "monster") is a seemingly undefeatable foe, and intends to destroy the Earth unless someone can defeat him in the wrestling ring - although in the ring itself he displays over-the-top politeness as he handily defeats each foe. [[RandySavage OH YEAHHHHH!]]