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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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  • 1969 Jose Lothario def. Johnny Valentine for the WCCW Texas Heavyweight Title
  • 2008 Ky-ote Johammed def. Dane Griffin for the 3DW Violent Division Title
  • 2008 Mo'Body Gillespie def. Ky-ote Johammed for the 3DW Violent Division Title
  • 2013 Bobby Starr def. Steven Sterling for the ComPro Showtime Title
  • 2013 Ignition def. Super Skunk Ape, Jr. for the ComPro Oklahoma X Division Title
  • 2013 The Canadian Red Devil def. Michael York for the ComPro Heavyweight Title
  • 2014 Steven Sterling def. Sam Stackhouse for the ComPro Showtime Title
  • 2014 Jake O'Brien def. The Canadian Red Devil for the ComPro Heavyweight Title
  • 2014 Terry Montana def. Ignition for the ComPro Oklahoma X Division Title
  • 2014 Havoc def. Buster Cherry for the SWCW All-American Title
  • 2014 Rick Russo def. David Kyzer for the SWCW Luchadore Title
  • 2014 Kevin James Sanchez def. Kareem Sadat for the SWCW Hardcore Title
  • 2014 Kareem Sadat def. Kevin James Sanchez for the SWCW Hardcore Title
  • 2014 Terry Pantera became the BPPW Junior Heavyweight Champion
  • 2025 Frankie Lee def. K. J. Gold for the RDW Iron Man Title

Week of Sun 06-07 to Sat: 06-13

  • 06-07 1969 Jose Lothario def. Johnny Valentine for the WCCW Texas Heavyweight Title
  • 06-07 2008 Ky-ote Johammed def. Dane Griffin for the 3DW Violent Division Title
  • 06-07 2008 Mo'Body Gillespie def. Ky-ote Johammed for the 3DW Violent Division Title
  • 06-07 2013 Bobby Starr def. Steven Sterling for the ComPro Showtime Title
  • 06-07 2013 Ignition def. Super Skunk Ape, Jr. for the ComPro Oklahoma X Division Title
  • 06-07 2013 The Canadian Red Devil def. Michael York for the ComPro Heavyweight Title
  • 06-07 2014 Steven Sterling def. Sam Stackhouse for the ComPro Showtime Title
  • 06-07 2014 Jake O'Brien def. The Canadian Red Devil for the ComPro Heavyweight Title
  • 06-07 2014 Terry Montana def. Ignition for the ComPro Oklahoma X Division Title
  • 06-07 2014 Havoc def. Buster Cherry for the SWCW All-American Title
  • 06-07 2014 Rick Russo def. David Kyzer for the SWCW Luchadore Title
  • 06-07 2014 Kevin James Sanchez def. Kareem Sadat for the SWCW Hardcore Title
  • 06-07 2014 Kareem Sadat def. Kevin James Sanchez for the SWCW Hardcore Title
  • 06-07 2014 Terry Pantera became the BPPW Junior Heavyweight Champion
  • 06-07 2025 Frankie Lee def. K. J. Gold for the RDW Iron Man Title
  • 06-08 1959 Frankie Kovacs & Jerry Miller def. Pretty Boy Collins & Duke Scarbo for the TSW Louisiana Tag Team Titles
  • 06-08 2013 L. J. McDaniels became the SWCW Hardcore Champion
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  • 06-09 2023 Red James def. Mr. Nasty for the CPW 918 Title
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  • 06-10 1985 Tim Brooks def. Scott Casey for the WCCW Television Title
  • 06-10 2006 Dexter Hardaway became the AACW Mid-American Light Heavyweight Champion
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  • 06-11 2011 Tim Storm def. Michael Faith for the NWA-OK Oklahoma Heavyweight Title
  • 06-11 2022 Pastor Brent & Andrew Fenix def. The Rejecs LM (Elijah Sparks & Dr. Corvus) for the WAH Tag Team Titles
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  • 06-11 2022 Umbra def. Koko for the WAH Living Hope Title
  • 06-11 2022 Dan Webber def. Paul Puertorico for the WAH Heavyweight Title
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  • 06-13 1998 The Bad Boys (Splash Jackson & Bull Schmitt) def. The Texas Outlaws (Dan Wilder & Bernard Funk) for the OPW Oklahoma Tag Team Titles
  • 06-13 2008 Brent Albright def. Slam Shady for the NWA-OK Oklahoma Heavyweight Title
  • 06-13 2008 High Society (Al Farat & Thomas Trump) became the NWA-OK Oklahoma Tag Team Champions
  • 06-13 2008 Josh Michaels became the ACW Heavyweight Champion
  • 06-13 2009 The Canadian Red Devil became the ComPro Showtime Champion
  • 06-13 2015 Seth Angel & Adrian Dell def. Nemesis (Bobby Starr & Damien Morte) for the ComPro Tag Team Titles
  • 06-13 2015 Killista def. Paul Puertorico for the ComPro Oklahoma X Division Title
  • 06-13 2015 Rolling Thunder def. Michael Duplanti for the NAW Heavyweight Title
  • 06-13 2015 Paige Turner def. Erica for the IZW Queens Title
  • 06-13 2015 Michael Wolf def. Jake O'Brien for the ComPro Heavyweight Title
  • 06-13 2015 Jake O'Brien def. Michael Wolf for the ComPro Heavyweight Title
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