The Hammerlock of the Gods – Pro Wrestling and Horror – A Word On The Devil
A word on the Devil
A discussion of horror would not be complete without mentioning the Prince of Darkness. His presence is woven throughout the genre, from Christopher Marlowe’s Dr Faustus way back in 1592, all the way through to his modern iterations in literature and film, from Ray Bradbury’s, Something Wicked this Way Comes (1962), to Stephen King’s Needful Things (1991), from William Hjortsberg’s Falling Angel (1978) and its cinematic interpretation, Angel Heart, (1987), to Constantine (2005), the Devil’s place in the horror genre is well trod.
Naturally, Satan dips his toes into the carnival world of wrestling too. How could he resist? While there has never been a wrestler directly portraying the role of Satan as far as I am aware, his presence can be seen influencing the work of wrestlers like Kevin Sullivan, Jake the Snake Roberts, the Undertaker in his Ministry of Darkness period, and Bray Wyatt’s Fiend character, among others.