10 Best (Worst) Wrestling Horror Matches
Terrifying or terrible?
At WrestleMania, Bray Wyatt conjured up images of bugs to try and shake Randy Orton during their WWE Championship match, but it was all for naught. Orton was unfazed by the mysterious apparitions, and managed to defeat Wyatt in order to claim the championship.
Wyatt's tricks weren't quite done yet, though. After Orton's win, Wyatt challenged the new champion to a "House of Horrors" match. While fans learned that the bout would take place at Raw's Payback PPV on April 30 (Wyatt was drafted to the Raw brand on April 10), no details regarding what the match actually entails have been released.
Perhaps it's just as well that things are kept under wraps for as long as possible. In the history of pro wrestling, horror-themed matches tend not to go off so well. While there are some notable exceptions, that level of gimmickry often lends itself to cartoonish overbooking, and the results are often a little inconsistent to say the least.
Which offenders are the worst of the worst, and which ones often enhance a battle? This list counts down 10 horror-themed matches that run the gamut from good to so-bad-they're-acutally-pretty-good. Hopefully, the "House of Horrors" match is more the former than the latter, but let's not get our hopes up.
10. Hell In A Cell Match
While not specifically a horror-themed match the way that most of the other entries on this list are, the intimidating name (and, of course, the terrifying legacy) of Hell in a Cell ensures that it belongs alongside the scariest match stipulations in wrestling.
The very first use of the stipulation - which sees a gigantic, roofed cage covering the ring and surrounding area - came at Badd Blood '97 and saw The Undertaker beat Shawn Michaels to a pulp... until the evil Kane made his debut, ripped the door off the Cell, and attacked The Undertaker. If that wasn't enough to cement the Cell as absolutely horrifying, the second major Hell in a Cell match - pitting Undertaker against Mankind - was one of the most brutal bouts in wrestling history.
There's no doubt that the gimmick has been watered down and used for nonsense over the years - just think about the Kennel From Hell match and The Undertaker's hanging of The Big Boss Man - but the announcement of the right Hell in a Cell bout will still strike terror in fans' hearts.