Sometime in 2005, the decision was made to create a Boogeyman character. Yes, a group of grownups, paid to come up with compelling and entertaining professional wrestling storylines, was tasked with creating a character known as the Boogeyman. The result? A face-painted, worm-eating enigma that terrorized his fellow competitors and forced them to feast on the same night crawlers he called "dinner" on a nightly basis. Fans watched on, shock, awe and disbelief surrounding the stupidity of the gimmick eclipsing any possible enjoyment they could have gotten out of the character. Even wrestlers were not immune from the comical reactions that accompanied the character. During his days in developmental, Santino Marella was slapped by boss Jim Cornette for laughing the first time the Boogeyman came through the curtain. Cornette was fired for the assault, becoming the first victim of the idiotic character. Booker T, Finlay, Matt Striker, JBL and Jillian Hall would all suffer at the hands of the Boogeyman, who actually managed to become quite popular during his stint in WWE. Unfortunately for him and his fans, WWE Creative never had a good handle on the character and less-than a year after his debut, The Boogeyman was dead in the water. To his credit, Marty Wright, the man behind the face paint, did a tremendous job of making whatever idiocy was given to him work. There was just no getting past the fact that the gimmick was stupid to begin with and was never going to be accepted by the majority of the audience.
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
