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Brothers in Paint: Pro Wrestling's 10 Best Face-Painters

Brothers in Paint: Pro Wrestling's 10 Best Face-Painters

Posted: Jan 9th 2011 By: mikeiles

It's a dying art-form today, but some of wrestling's more colorful and charismatic characters have enhanced their persona's' with the application of some simple face paint. Join me as i take you on a tour of pro wrestling's 10 best face-painters!

As ever, I'm keen to hear your opinions and feedback, feel free to comment below and let me know who else you think should be on the list!

10. Bull Nakano
Bull Nakano was one of the most dominant women in pro wrestling history, making her name in All-Japan Women's Pro Wrestling and CMLL in Mexico (the promotion's first-ever women's champion), Nakano went on to enjoy a decent run in the WWF in the mid-'90s which included a notable feud with Alundra Blayze (WCW's Madusa).

I could be wrong, but i cannot recall another female wrestler donning the paint?that alone warrants recognition in this top-10 list.

Nakano is a professional golfer these days, I wonder if she still dons the paint.

9. Doink the Clown
Is there a creepier paint job than that of a clown? Doink was one of the many colorful heels in the WWF during the early to mid-'90s, his facepaint was simple, yet effective.

8. Goldust
It's hard to believe today, but when Dustin Rhodes morphed into Goldust in the World Wrestling Federation in the Fall of 1995, he was easily one of the most controversial and groundbreaking characters of all-time. His black and gold facepaint, along with the wig and feminine attire generated a lot of interest, confusion, hatred and down-right silly looks from the '90s WWF fan base

7. Vampiro
El Vampiro Canadiense, a virtual rock star in Mexico, made the Vamp look popular long before Edward Cullen. Vamp also enjoyed a relatively successful, albeit short, run in WCW during its dying days. Another case of simple, yet very effective face paint?Vampiro's paint will be remembered for a long time to come.

6. Demolition
They may have been the WWF's Road Warrior clones, but man was their face paint cool! The paint also reflected each character's persona as Smash had the smashed glass style design and Axe went with the Metallic paint with red axe-head designs.

5. The Great Muta
Muta is one of the true greats of professional wrestling and one of my personal favorites of all-time, but man, when I was a kid, few wrestlers scared me more than the Great Muta. Muta's paint added an eerie edge to an already mysterious character.

4. The Road Warriors
The Road Warriors are easily the most recognisable face-painted tag-team of all-time. Their face paint just added to the legitimacy of the feeling that at any given moment, these guys would issue a beat-down and enjoy doing it.

3. Jeff Hardy
For the two men who will rank ahead of him, there are few wrestlers in the business with a more impressive range and style of facepaint than the "Charismatic Enigma" Jeff Hardy. Hardy took a character which was largely an extension of his real life daredevil personality and enhanced it 10-fold with the addition of the paint.

The wild colors and garish designs truly reflect the wild and unpredictable nature of Mr. Hardy, who is your No. 3 on the list of top 10 face-painters in pro wrestling history.

2. Ultimate Warrior
Think face paint and the majority of wrestling fans will think of the Warrior. Ultimate Warrior could not be separated from his face paint, it was who he was. Take the prior entrant, for example, Jeff Hardy. His paint may excentuate the character, but he can easily go without it?it's hard to imagine the Warrior without the paint job.

1. Sting
Time for pro wrestling's No. 1 face-painter, and it's none other than Sting!

Sting has the key qualities of all his aforementioned brothers in paint, but he has gone even further. Sting has embellished and enhanced his character over the years and his face paint along with that.

Sting has used the paint to reflect each of those character changes and ultimately define them, from that blonde flat topped kid with the bright coloured "Warrior" style paint around the eyes; to the silent "Crow" Sting with the sombre and mysterious white and black figure which told an amazing story of mistrust and retribution and defined him as the silent, angel of justice.

And even his brief nWo Wolfpac run saw the Stinger come out of his shell mixing the mysterious crow style with the colorful red of the Wolfpac?symbolising his new-found outspokeness and spontaniety.

Long after he's gone, mention of face paint and pro wrestling will stir up images of the Stinger, for these reasons I bestow the No. 1 spot to Sting.

 

Tags: WWF, WCW, Doink the Clown, Smash, Ultimate Warrior, Sting

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Spotlight in History

  • 2006 AWOL def. Michael York for the TPW Heavyweight Champion
  • 2006 Natural Born Sinners (Appolyon & El Lotus) def. Pretty Young Things (Cade Sydal & Mitch Carter) for the ACW Tag Team Champions
  • 2006 Rexx Reed def. Carnage for the ACW Hardcore Champion
  • 2006 Carnage def. Rexx Reed for the ACW Hardcore Champion
  • 2007 Aaron Neil def. Tyler Bateman for the MSWA Oklahoma Champion
  • 2007 Brad Michaels def. Ryan Davidson for the MSWA Mid-South Heavyweight Champion
  • 2007 Bad Boy & Outlaw became the MSWA Mid-South Tag Team Champion
  • 2011 The Unknown & Johnny USA def. Michael H & Mr. Big for the NCW Tag Team Champions
  • 2011 Mr. Big became the NCW Heavyweight Champion
  • 2012 Sam Stackhouse def. Prophet for the BYEW Heavyweight Champion
  • 2012 Rage Logan became the MSWA Mid-South Heavyweight Champion
  • 2012 Nemesis (Damien Morte & Damon Windsor) became the MSWA Mid-South Tag Team Champion
  • 2017 Aaron Anders became the ComPro Oklahoma X Division Champion

Week of Sun 04-28 to Sat: 05-04

  • 04-28 1954 Red Berry def. Whitey Whittler for the TSW Tri-State Champion
  • 04-28 1976 Ted DiBiase & Dick Murdoch def. Buck Robley & Bob Slaughter for the TSW United States Tag Team Champion
  • 04-28 1980 Kevin Von Erich def. Toru Tanaka for the WCCW American Heavyweight Champion
  • 04-28 1989 The Simpson Brothers (Steve Simpson & Shaun Simpson) def. Beauty & The Beast (Terrance M. Garvin & The Beast [2nd]) for the WCCW Texas Tag Team Champion
  • 04-28 2000 Heather Savage def. Jenna Love for the OPW Oklahoma Womens Champion
  • 04-28 2002 Summer Rain became the OCW Oklahoma Womens Champion
  • 04-28 2007 Eric Rose def. Jersey Devil for the UWF06 Light Heavyweight Champion
  • 04-28 2007 Joe Herell became the UWF06 Violent Division Champion
  • 04-28 2017 Brandon Groom def. Sam Stackhouse for the BPPW Oklahoma Champion
  • 04-28 2018 Dusty Gold def. Wesley Crane for the UWE United States Champion
  • 04-29 2006 AWOL def. Michael York for the TPW Heavyweight Champion
  • 04-29 2006 Natural Born Sinners (Appolyon & El Lotus) def. Pretty Young Things (Cade Sydal & Mitch Carter) for the ACW Tag Team Champions
  • 04-29 2006 Rexx Reed def. Carnage for the ACW Hardcore Champion
  • 04-29 2006 Carnage def. Rexx Reed for the ACW Hardcore Champion
  • 04-29 2007 Aaron Neil def. Tyler Bateman for the MSWA Oklahoma Champion
  • 04-29 2007 Brad Michaels def. Ryan Davidson for the MSWA Mid-South Heavyweight Champion
  • 04-29 2007 Bad Boy & Outlaw became the MSWA Mid-South Tag Team Champion
  • 04-29 2011 The Unknown & Johnny USA def. Michael H & Mr. Big for the NCW Tag Team Champions
  • 04-29 2011 Mr. Big became the NCW Heavyweight Champion
  • 04-29 2012 Sam Stackhouse def. Prophet for the BYEW Heavyweight Champion
  • 04-29 2012 Rage Logan became the MSWA Mid-South Heavyweight Champion
  • 04-29 2012 Nemesis (Damien Morte & Damon Windsor) became the MSWA Mid-South Tag Team Champion
  • 04-29 2017 Aaron Anders became the ComPro Oklahoma X Division Champion
  • 04-30 1954 Frenchy Roy became the TSW Oklahoma Junior Heavyweight Champion
  • 04-30 1955 Ricki Starr became the TSW Oklahoma Champion
  • 04-30 2004 Shadow of Death def. Terry Montana for the TPW Hardcore Champion
  • 04-30 2011 Ryan Reed def. Rolling Thunder for the UWE United States Champion
  • 04-30 2011 Ray Martinez def. Ryan Reed for the UWE United States Champion
  • 04-30 2016 Ray Martinez became the SRPW Heavyweight Champion
  • 04-30 2022 Clayton Bloodstone def. Ky-Ote for the NCWO Choctaw Nation Champion
  • 04-30 2023 El Gallardo/El Vaquero def. Cappuccino Jones for the BPW Lion Heart Champion
  • 04-30 2023 Heavyweight Grappling (Dan Webber & Morrison) def. Subject To Death (Cade Fite & Leo Fox) for the BPW Oklahoma Tag Team Champion
  • 05-01 1981 Super Destroyer def. Jim Garvin for the MSW Louisiana Champion
  • 05-01 2016 Skylar Slice def. Nikki Knight for the MSWA Ladies Champion
  • 05-01 2021 Fuel def. Derek James for the UWE Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-02 1964 Mike Clancy & Al Lovelock def. Karol Krauser & Stan Pulaski for the TSW United States Tag Team Champion
  • 05-02 1969 Johnny Valentine def. Fritz Von Erich for the WCCW American Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-02 1977 Stan Hansen def. Dick Murdoch for the TSW North American Champion
  • 05-02 1984 Krusher Khrushchev became the MSW Television Champion
  • 05-02 1984 The Rock-N-Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) def. The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Dennis Condrey) for the MSW Mid-South Tag Team Champion
  • 05-02 2009 Ozzy Hendrix def. Shank for the SWCW Luchadore Champion
  • 05-02 2015 Gail Kim became the IWR Diamonds Champion
  • 05-02 2015 Kareem Sadat became the BCW Independent Hardcore Champion
  • 05-02 2021 Drake Gallows def. Blade [2nd] for the AIWF National Champion
  • 05-03 1973 Rip Tyler & Eddie Sullivan def. The Hollywood Blondes (Jerry Brown & Dale Valentine) for the TSW United States Tag Team Champion
  • 05-03 1985 Ted DiBiase & Steve Williams def. The Rock-N-Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) for the MSW Mid-South Tag Team Champion
  • 05-03 2003 El Sufamilico def. Ichiban [1st] for the TPW Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-03 2008 Damon Windsor def. Havoc for the SWCW Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-03 2008 Miss Sheila def. Kareem Sadat for the SWCW Hardcore Champion
  • 05-03 2014 Sam Stackhouse def. Steven Sterling for the ComPro Showtime Champion
  • 05-04 1953 Mike Clancy def. Karl Von Poppenheim for the TSW Oklahoma Junior Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-04 1968 Danny Hodge & Skandar Akbar became the TSW United States Tag Team Champion
  • 05-04 1969 Jerry Miller & Jim Osborne def. Danny Little Bear & Frank Dalton for the TSW Louisiana Tag Team Champion
  • 05-04 1973 Blackjack Mulligan def. Jose Lothario for the WCCW Texas Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-04 1986 Kerry Von Erich & Lance Von Erich & Steve Simpson def. The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry Gordy, Michael Hayes, & Buddy Roberts) for the WCCW World 6-Man Tag Team Champion
  • 05-04 1986 The Von Erichs (Kerry Von Erich & Kevin Von Erich & Lance Von Erich) became the WCCW World 6-Man Tag Team Champion
  • 05-04 1987 The Fantastics (Tommy Rogers & Bobby Fulton) became the WCCW World Tag Team Champion
  • 05-04 2003 Ichiban [1st]/Rocco Valentino def. El Sufamilico for the TPW Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-04 2013 Tim Rockwell def. Daemon Storm for the UWE United States Champion
04-29
  • Sunshine Apr 29th Today!
  • Billie the Kiid Apr 30th
  • Dustin Tibbs Apr 30th
  • Joe McCarthy Apr 30th
  • Anarchy [2nd] Apr 30th
  • Prince Maivia May 1st
  • Barrett Brown May 2nd
  • Americos May 2nd
  • Don Fields May 2nd
  • Kari Wright May 2nd
  • Big Bossman May 2nd
  • Nightmare [1st] May 2nd
  • Lily McKenzie May 3rd
  • Johnny Humble May 3rd
  • Lester Welch May 3rd
  • Malik Mayfield May 4th
  • El Hijo del Mascara Sagrada May 4th
  • Bull Schmitt May 4th
  • Olivier Vegos May 5th
  • El Gallardo May 5th
  • Pat O'Dowdy May 5th
  • Maria Brigitte May 5th
  • Bill Watts May 5th
  • Princess Victoria May 5th
  • Miss Diss Lexia May 5th
  • Zane Morris May 5th
  • Shane Rawls May 5th
  • El Matador Dos May 5th
  • Claire Watson May 6th
  • Hercules May 7th
  • Richie Adams May 8th
  • Jake Danielsson May 9th
  • Tito Santana May 10th
  • Billy Brown May 10th
  • Sunny War Cloud May 10th
  • Jerry Brown May 10th
  • Rook Tyler May 10th
  • Big J May 11th
  • Psycho May 11th
  • Charming Charles May 11th
  • Brock Baker May 12th
  • Bill Howard May 12th
  • Sol Yang May 12th
  • Sensei Jamo May 12th

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