Scariest of All-Time: The Brood

  

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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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.

Christian's Second (or Third) Wind

Christian
Photo courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents

I've been a fan of Christian's since his days in the Brood.  He was the first member of the clan to capture WWE gold when he won  the Cruiserweight championship.  He and Edge evolved from a pair goth "brothers" into a dynamic duo who had the right combination of charisma, comedy, and wrestling ability.

When the team split and both went their separate ways, I feared the Christian would be the Marty Jannetty to Edge's Shawn Michaels.  It goes without say that Christian may not have had the glory Edge did, but it's easy to see he did not flounder in the singles ranks either.

Pinning the champ
Photo courtesy: WWE

Since returning from his most recent injury, Christian has had a renewed passion.  I like the push he's getting at the moment.  His pinfall victory over World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio was one of the highlights from Raw.  The match was solid and both men put a lot of heart and soul into the contest.  I must admit I was surprised by the win, as I figured the plan was to make Del Rio be a dominant champ heading into SummerSlam.

Even though Christian has picked up several wins in recent weeks, I do not anticipate him getting another run at the top of the mountain.  It's a shame too, as I feel like his time as WHC was cut too short in 2011.  He and Randy Orton had a great rivalry for the gold, a feud that slightly sparked my interest in Orton.  Then out of no where, Mark Henry walked in and got the championship push.  I don't know all the factors involved in the decision, but I wish Christian could have had more time in the spotlight.

I'm not going to over analyze things right now and just sit back and enjoy the ride as one of Christian's peeps.  Who's with me?

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.