Wrestling MarketWatch: Creepy Collectibles

Clowns, the walking dead, voodoo priests, and morticians.  Standard symbols of Halloween...and professional wrestling!  Let's face it, without these crazy characters there would be a whole legion of fans who may never have discovered wrestling.  The Undertaker, Sting, and Mankind are just a few of the masked and/or costumed superstars that have inspired both dreams and nightmares for their fans, not to mention countless pieces of memorabilia.  In the spirit of the season, this latest edition of MarketWatch takes a look at recent market values of some of the "spookier" wrestling memorabilia ever to grace the shelves.  All values listed are for unsigned examples.

*We start with a figure set that we last visited in MarketWatch about one year ago.  No doubt countless children (and adults) in the '80s and '90s went "Trick or Treating" dressed as Hawk and Animal, The Road Warriors.  The leather, spikes, mohawks, and facepaint of the Legion of Doom was enough to terrorize anyone and has left a lasting imprint on pro wrestling to this day. 

Their very first action figure set was produced by Remco for the AWA line in 1985.  Although Hawk and Animal were released in a two-pack, their manager Paul Ellering was later included as well.  Complete with collars, chaps, belts, and Ellering's shirt, the trio recently sold for $49 out of the package.  A year ago, the set in the same condition sold for $100 which even at the time I had noted was rather high.  I will forever contend that if you're going to include the Road Warriors in a figure collection, this is the set to have.

*If the nightmarish tag team list is topped by the Road Warriors, the list of singles stars can only be headed by The Undertaker.  For over two decades The Undertaker has captivated fans by taking what could have been a one-dimensional gimmick and turning it into a wrestling legacy.  Countless cosmetic changes have helped keep the character fresh over the years and those looks have translated well into memorabilia.

As part of a special FYE store exclusive set, the WWE Hell In A Cell DVD collection was packaged with mini busts of either The Undertaker or Kane.  The likenesses on these busts were incredible and quite the deal when found on clearance.  Recently the set with The Undertaker mini bust sold for $56 in the box.  Outside of the package, the bust alone went for $15. 

*In the past ten or fifteen years, it seems to be almost fashionable to announce that you're afraid of clowns.  I, personally, never understood the fear, but to each his own.  The WWF may have been a bit ahead of it's time in late-1992 when they introduced the character of Doink the Clown.  Though the character later became a fan favorite, the original Doink was an evil clown played to the hilt by the late Matt Borne.

The first action figure of Doink is also the best.  Hasbro went out of their way to make the figure unique and included rooted green hair and a completely new mold.  The figure has always been popular, but in my opinion is still undervalued.  Recently selling for $25 on the card, the figure is one of the many highlights of the Hasbro WWF collection.

*You can't talk about Halloween and professional wrestling without mentioning WCW's Halloween Havoc pay-per-view event.  The October spectacular often included special gimmick matches, themes, and even whacky wrestling stars.  Havoc is one event that I always had hoped WWE would bring back as they did The Great American Bash for a short time, but it was not to be.

Turner Home Video's WCW releases were always a bit quirky, whether it be having the wrong years printed on the box or odd composite photos of wrestlers.  The second Halloween Havoc event is a great example of this.  Halloween Havoc 1990 is called "Terror Rules The Ring" on the official video release.  The Halloween Havoc title is listed nowhere on the box.  Since the tape was, after all, released during the Jim Herd WCW regime, any crazy guess as to why this happened might be accurate.  My best theory is that since the actual video was obviously going to be released way outside of the Halloween season, the Turner execs reasoned that sales and rentals would do better without it being labeled "Halloween."  Nevertheless, many of the Halloween Havoc videos still command a large secondary market price, with 1990 recently pulling in $50.

*One of wrestling's most beloved "creepy" characters left us earlier this year, but is still with us in spirit.  Paul Bearer, forever to be remembered as The Undertaker's macabre manager, passed away this past March.  His legacy has already continued in wrestling with a controversial inclusion in the Undertaker-CM Punk feud that culminated at WrestleMania 29.  A WWE Hall of Fame induction is set to follow in 2014.

One of Bearer's first action figures was produced in the Jakks WWF Managers two-pack series.  Packaged with Mankind and the famous urn, Bearer is as ghoulish as ever with the infamous pale face and jet black hair.  These managers sets are still among the more desirable figures in the "Bone Crunching Action" collection, and Mankind and "Uncle Paul" recently sold for $20.

They're creepy, kooky, mysterious, and maybe even spooky, but any wrestling collection just isn't the same without them.  In fact, they top any pieces of candy that might fall into your treat bag.  Happy Halloween!

House of Nuts: Meeting the Crazies of Wrestling

Each year at this time I come to the same conclusion: pro wrestling is one giant Halloween party. Sure, since the 1980's that has become more and more true, but the industry has always had more than its share of colorful characters. Let's not forget that names like Pampero Firpo, The Sheik, and Abdullah the Butcher all originated more than 50 years ago!

Most wrestling fans would be lying if they told you that at least one of these outlandish, colorful, and many times untamed characters wasn't among their favorites. The matches that most of these men produce aren't exactly "Funk-Brisco classics," but I've always found that the happiest wrestling fans are those that can find enjoyment in all aspects of the sport. Like a connoisseur of music that appreciates the differences in genres, the best wrestling fans appreciate each and every style presented on a particular wrestling card.

Meeting these men can be an equally wild and crazy experience. What fan watching wrestling on a Saturday morning all of those years ago could ever imagine standing next to "The Ugandan Giant" Kamala or grappling with George "The Animal" Steele over just exactly whose friend "Mine" really is?

In actuality, many of these men who chewed anything from raw meat to turnbuckles are among the nicest and most down-to-earth gentlemen that you would ever want to meet. As one of the most memorable characters of 1980's WWF action, Steele barely spoke more than a handful of words. Although it was always the rumor of the schoolyard that "The Animal" actually taught school, it is not until you meet the man himself that you truly grasp the idea. And how about Kamala? The jungles of Uganda were actually the shrubs of Jerry Jarrett's backyard and the gibberish-speaking headhunter is in reality a well-spoken southern gentleman.

That isn't to say that meeting these men destroys the illusion. On the contrary, seeing just how gigantic Kamala actually is would probably surprise most fans. Other crazies of the ring such as Ox Baker barely change outside of the ring with growling, yelling, and even...singing.

Of my encounters with the various screwballs of the squared circle, it's one of the most recent that stands out like no other. Although he never actually had a match, fans of late '80s and early '90s WWF action will clearly remember Jameson. Beginning as a character on the short lived "Bobby Heenan Show" and later "managing" The Bushwhackers, Jameson was an unkempt poindexter who for the time was the go-to guy for comic relief in the World Wrestling Federation.

The man who portrayed Jameson, an actor by the name of John DiGiacomo, has made several wrestling convention appearances this year, most recently at Legends of the Ring in New Jersey. While some fans may question why a character such as his would appear at a wrestling convention, I've mentioned in previous entries that these shows always strive to book "fresh" guests to keep fan interest. Jameson fit that bill perfectly. Any fan who still had reservations about meeting a side "character" such as this was put at ease as soon as Jameson entered the room...and also put into stitches. Jameson's quirky antics were funnier in person than they were twenty years ago on Prime Time Wrestling. Just like George Steele and Mine or Kamala in his full makeup and costume, Jameson rekindled the magic of wrestling's zany best just one more time.

Still yet, there are some crazy characters of wrestling that shock the fans of today in another way. While many assumed that the "Wild Bull of the Pampas" Pampero Firpo was long gone, fans that attended the 2011 NWA Fanfest in Atlanta were proven very wrong. Although he looked quite different from his glory days from the 1950's through the 1970's, Firpo seemed as happy to meet the fans as they were to meet him. Equally as amusing was hearing his colleagues marvel at how shocking it was to see the wildman without his trademark hair and beard.

Though characters such as the Boogeyman still occasionally pop up today, the days of the truly crazy, offbeat, and zany in professional wrestling are all but gone. They'll be back. Fans will only be able to take so many cookiecutter overly muscled types before they're yearning for facepaint, bald heads, and back hair resembling a brillo pad.

Halloween--The Wrestling Spooktacular

There is no holiday better fit for the world of professional wrestling than the one that falls on the 31st of October. Since so many heroes and villains of the ring wars "dress up" to "scare" their opponents and even the fans, it's no wonder that countless Halloween costumes over the years have been inspired by the likes of Hawk, Animal, and even...Hulk Hogan.

Keeping with the theme of memorabilia, it's often the more colorful or bizarre grapplers that make for a better action figure or trading card. While many purists would prefer a wrestler in black tights with arms outstretched in a grappling position, others just live for the face paint, leather, and other outlandish qualities that so many Halloween-esque stars have had. The following will be a look at some of those stars and other "scary" situations from the squared-circle.

Before getting to the grapplers themselves, there's no greater connection to "All Hallows Eve" and professional wrestling than the WCW pay-per-view event called Halloween Havoc. From 1989 to 2000, Havoc was always one of the most anticipated yearly WCW events, usually due to brutally bizarre gimmick matches. The first event featured an electrified steel cage main event pitting Sting and Ric Flair against Terry Funk and The Great Muta. Four legends in their own right, the teams were joined by the late, great Gary Hart and special guest referee Bruno Sammartino.

While early stars such as Pampero Firpo, Maurice "The French Angel" Tillet, and even The Sheik certainly qualify as spooky stars, it wasn't until the '80s that the grotesque were brought out front and center. The Road Warriors and Kamala highlighted many magazine covers during the "Decade of Decadence," with the March 1984 Pro Wrestling Illustrated cover perhaps being the most famous in the magazine's history. The cover, featuring Hawk and Animal illuminated in "horror lighting," was even chosen by the magazine as one of its ten best.

While WCW had Halloween Havoc and The Road Warriors and Kamala were products of the territories, no one can deny that the WWF/WWE has had the craziest cast of characters come through its rings.

The power of Paul Bearer's urn, the worm-eating maw of The Boogeyman, and the vomit-inducing powers of Papa Shango are just a few samples of the "supernatural" happenings to come from Stamford, Connecticut over the years. Even women's wrestling legend The Fabulous Moolah broke out a smoking cauldron and that pesky "horror lighting" along with her charge Leilani Kai.

The Road Warriors did indeed cross through the WWF in several stints before Hawk's death in 2003, but one WWF-born tag team continues to smear their face paint in rings throughout the world to this day.

"Here Comes The Ax...Here Comes The Smasher..." In 1987, Demolition were looked at as Road Warrior knockoffs. As the weeks and months progressed, Bill "Ax" Eadie and Barry "Smash" Darsow proved that they were far more. Taking nothing away from Hawk and Animal, Demolition carved out a style all their own, combining great brawling with excellent wrestling skills. While the debate over which team was better will forever go on, the teams both hold their place in the history of wrestling...and intimidation!

But what about the superhero powers of The Hurricane, hideousness of Bastion Booger, and hilarity of ECW original The Blue Meanie? All worthy contenders showing different sides of the "Wrestling Spooktacular" spectrum.

Events. Tag teams. Comic book heroes. Meanies. They all fit this category nicely. But one wrestler truly deserves to be kept for last.

The Lord of Darkness. The Phenom. The Reaper. A character that probably wasn't intended to last longer than a year or so, much less twenty.


The Undertaker. What more can be said that hasn't already been written? Few superstars have captured generations of fans as Taker has. A comparison to Andre the Giant would not be out of the question in terms of being on top of the game for such a length of time. Rolling into his 21st year in the WWE, Taker continues to cement his legacy as one of the best "big men" in the game, and without a doubt the king of "The Wrestling Spooktacular."

I hope you've enjoyed this look at some the most bizarre competitors, events, and concepts in ring history. I could not include everything or everybody, so let me know if you feel your favorite was omitted. Happy Halloween!