Scariest of All-Time: The Brood

  

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

Listen to the podcast

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

When it comes to impressive ring entrances, it's hard to argue that the Brood isn't among the best. I loved the music and the rising from the arena floor. Gangrel, Edge, and Christian were portrayed as three vampires ready to take a bite out of the WWF.

They did too. Adding to the scariness of the gimmick, Gangrel would drink from a goblet of blood. While I thought he played the role very well, I never really bought into Edge and Christian as vampires. I think maybe they were supposed to be more goth than vamps.  I don't know the exact etiquette here.  But obviously, the two of them evolved through the years, and each became world champion.   

The Brood also ended up joining forces with the Undertaker and his Ministry of Darkness. Gangrel would separate from Edge and Christian and teamed briefly with Viscera.  But he never enjoyed the same success his Brood brethren did in WWE, but he's still active to this day. And let's not even bring up the New Brood... 

Boo: The Daywalkers

The Daywalkers in action

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

Through the years, vampires have been a part of professional wrestling.  You'd be hard pressed to find a more popular group of vampires than the Brood.  Gangrel (who wrestled at one time as the Vampire Warrior) led a young Edge and Christian through the goth gimmick in their early days in the WWE.  Then there's Kevin Throne and Ariel who were part of the wave during the WWECW days.  Vampiro was in on the act too as WCW's resident nightwalker.

Earlier this year, Gangrel was part of a Wrestling Is Intense show and created a new breed of vampires. Matt Cage and Alex Castle have been a big part of the independent wrestling scene, especially here in my region of southern Illinois.  Collectively they were known as The Kentucky Buffet.  But one bite from Gangrel and the duo became known as the Daywalkers.  Alexandre Barnabus Castle and Mathias Cage made it to the second round of the Chikara Tag World Grand Prix in 2013 the night after their encounter with Gangrel.

Cage

I recently had a chance to see the Daywalkers wrestle as a tag team for the first time.  Like I mentioned before, I'd seen Cage and Castle wrestle individually and with other partners, and I've always been impressed with what they do.  Now as the Daywalkers, they've given their careers a new look, which in the world of wrestling, it's always important to evolve.  The duo wears plastic fangs to the ring along with long black capes.  Their merch table includes the teeth, and several of the fans at the WII show I attended were proudly wearing.

Castle

Inside the ring, Castle and Cage are top notch.  They're two of my favorites on the indy scene.  Outside of the ring, they are quality people too.  I've worked with both of them in All American Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Collision.  They've always treated me with respect and I've enjoyed talking with them backstage before shows.  I hope that we'll be able to work together again someday, but more realistically I hope they get their break in the business and move on to bigger and better things.  They truly are deserving individuals.

Boo: Heart Breakers

Luna & the Blackhearts

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

In the early 1990's a tag team by the name of the Blackhearts was taking over the Stampede area.  The wrestler we all know now as Gangrel sported a mask and wrestled as Destruction.  His partner, Tom Nash was known as Apocalypse.  They were managed by Luna Vachon.

The original idea behind the gimmick was the masked twosome were the illegitimate sons of Stampede founder and promoter Stu Hart, hence the Black Hearts moniker.  (At least I read this part somewhere online, so take that with a grain of salt)  The trio eventually left Stampede and wrestled in a handful of other organizations, including the reincarnated UWF.   I never saw them on TV, but remember seeing pictures and reading about them in the Apter magazines.  I found all three of them to be beyond bizarre, which makes them a perfect fit for this series of blogs.

Luna leads the Blackhearts
UWF on EPSN Classics

They wore white masks on the outside of their regular masks when they headed to the ring.  But the black masks they wore in the ring wasn't your traditional mask.  It was a plain black one with no eye, nose, or mouth holes.  Luna not only managed the team, but would get involved in their matches and helping beat up opponents.  She also carried a snake to the ring, at least during the UWF days.

Luna and Nash were married at the time, but eventually split up.  Of course that lead to the end of the tag team, and Luna ended up marrying Gangrel (David Heath).  Ironically (or maybe not) they tied the knot on Halloween 1994.  He became the Vampire Warrior in USWA and eventually Gangrel in the WWE, leading Christian and Edge in the Brood.

Boo: We Suck (Blood)

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

I think wrestling was ahead of its time when it comes to the trend of vampires.  Back in the 1990's and mid 2000's, there were a handful of vampire gimmicks.  This of course all came BEFORE the popularity of things like Twilight (the books and movies) and the TV series on HBO, True Blood.

The Brood (from WWE)

The Brood immediately comes to mind.  Gangrel, Edge, and Christian made up this threesome of goth characters.  Gangrel had wrestled in USWA as the Vampire Warrior and had some success there.  He had the look down pretty well, fangs and all.  When the Brood would enter the ring, they came up through the arena floor.  Gangrel would also drink from a goblet of blood.  While I thought he played the role very well, I never really bought into Edge and Christian as vampires. I think maybe they were supposed to be more goth, than vamps.  I don't know the exact etiquette here.  But obviously the two of them evolved through the years and each became world champion.   Early in the storyline too, Edge and Christian were brothers, but I think the WWE eventually stopped acknowledging that and called them "best friends."

The "New" Brood (WWE)

The Brood also ended up joining forces with the Undertaker and his Ministry of Darkness.  Gangrel would separate from Edge and Christian and teamed briefly with Viscera.  But he never enjoyed even a fraction of the success his Brood brethren did.  A New Brood was also formed at one point when Gangrel started managing the Hardy Boyz.  I don't remember that relationship lasting very long though.

Vampiro (From WWE)

Vampiro, I think became WCW's answer to the Brood during the Monday Night Wars.  He had enjoyed success with the character on the indy scene prior to that.  I don't really think he caught on with the fans though.  This was in the dying days of WCW, I remember he feuded with Mike Awesome, the Kiss Demon, and Sting.  If memory serves me, there was some kind of "blood" soaking involving him.  He also joined up with the Insane Clown Posse during their time with the company.  When WCW went belly up, he spent some time with TNA.  And I'm pretty sure he still wrestles under the name Vampiro back in the indies.

Kevin Thorn & Ariel in Poplar Bluff, MO

Kevin Thorn and Ariel were a part of the new ECW back in 2006.  The two made a good pair.  Thorn was a bit green in the ring, but I didn't really have a problem with him.  He had a hell of a time getting over though.  Earlier in the decade he wrestled as Mordecai in a gimmick that didn't last too long.  He was repackaged into the vampire gimmick.

With Thorn and Ariel, I think they were just before their time in terms of the popularity of vampires now.  But I've read reports that both of them had heat with WWE management, so it's hard to prosper under those conditions too.  I saw Thorn wrestle Jerry Lawler just over a year ago.  He's still got the vampire gimmick to an extent.  It's not to the extreme that it was in WWE.

Freddy Blassie bites the Captain

And here's a way back one for you.  "Classy" Freddie Blassie was called "The Vampire" in his early days in the ring.  Legend has it, it's because he would bite his opponents so often and draw blood.  Hard to believe the Fashion Fad Plate had such a violent streak.

I added this cuz she's hot!

I wonder if a vampire gimmick would get over today.  Would fans welcome back someone like Gangrel or Kevin Thorn?  Perhaps they could create competing vampire factions or have a group of werewolves also get involved.

Like they used to say, "anything can happen in the WWF."  If nothing else, bring back Ariel.

Boo: Ministry of Darkness

Members of the Ministry of Darkness

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

This is the first of what I hope is 31 Halloween related wrestling blogs.  Chad and I are going to take turns writing about different gimmicks, matches, and wrestlers who have some kind of tie to Halloween.  Some have scary outfits, others are just plain silly.  We'll also take suggestions.

I've decided to start off with the Ministry of Darkness.  This group formed during the Attitude Era.  Paul Bearer and the Undertaker had reunited after being a part for a couple of years.  The duo was also joined by several up and comers in the WWE including Edge and Christian, along with their Brood partner Gangrel.  Faarooq and Bradshaw, known as the Acolytes were also in the group as were Viscera (formerly the fun loving rapper Mabel and evil King Mabel) and Mideon (who once carried a slop bucket as Phineas I. Godwin).

Bossman hanging out.

This was during what I would describe as Undertaker's satanic phase.  He had gone from the cold blooded heel stuffing opponents into body bags to the babyface who was impervious to pain to this demonic figure. 'Taker put his men through sadistic rituals as they were initiated into his group.  Undertaker claimed to be taking orders from "the Higher Power", and  he and the Brood members worked together to hang the Big Bossman at Wrestlemania 15 during their Hell in a Cell matchup.  Bossman was a member of the feuding faction "The Corporation" headed by Vince McMahon.

Do you take this woman...

One of the highlights of the angle was the kidnapping of McMahon's daughter and the satanic wedding that was to take place.  Stephanie McMahon was tied to the Undertaker's symbol, but like all wrestling weddings, something had to happen.  Stone Cold Steve Austin foiled the plans and saved the Billion Dollar Princess.

Eventually, the Ministry of Darkness would merge with the Corporation and form the Corporate Ministry.  During this time, the higher power was finally revealed, and in one of the biggest letdowns in wrestling history (IMO) it was Vince McMahon himself.  It was a big swerve, but I have no idea if that's what the original plan was.  I have a hard time thinking that's how the angle was supposed to end.

The higher power is...

Eventually the Corporate Ministry would disband, and the Acolytes would become the popular APA, Edge and Christian would take off as one of the best tag teams of that era, and go on to great singles careers, and Mideon and Viscera would well, ummm, they kinda flounder.

Undertaker of course went on to continue the most talked about "streak" in wrestling history.  He'd also win the WWE championship several times over.  Paul Bearer would "die" a couple of times, who knows if and when he'll be back.