10 Terrifying Wrestling Moments That Still Scare Adults
4. The First Mankind Vignettes
In contrast to Doink's unnerving quotidian horror, Mankind was shrouded in almost complete darkness when first introduced to WWF audiences in 1996. Though more traditional in horror tropes, Foley's deeply unnerving performance transcended them.
Christ, this company used to be amazing.
So f*cking amazing that they would lovingly apply artistic detail to a character's presentation to make them believable even in their own, heightened context. Here, Mankind's squeaking ranting - it was as if he perceived himself to be the rat that accompanied him - was soundtracked by a dripping tap that worked to engineer a feeling of lingering dread.
The promo is tremendous. At one point, Mankind, blaming you for his ugliness - of which he was the manifestation - scream-whispers "It wasn't me it was someone else, it wasn't me it was someone else!"
He reads it more like "Itwasn'tmeitwassomeoneelse, itwasn'tmeitwassomeone else!"
The effect was chilling; Mankind seemed to imagine the victim of his awfulness saying this to him in panic to bargain for their safety.
The framing was inspired, too. You could barely see what was coming, and were encouraged to torment yourself in the theatre of your own mind.