10 Weirdest Wrestling Cults Ever

Kevin Sullivan’s satanic infused ‘Prince of Darkness’ gimmick followed him throughout his career, and even into his personal life. With Benoit Tragedy truthers often using the gimmick as evidence in favour of casting Sullivan, also Nancy Benoit’s ex-husband, as the Benoit family’s killer.

Sullivan established The Army of Darkness while wrestling in the America’s god-fearing South for Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF). He was careful never to use the words “Satan” or “satanic” and avoided using direct religious references. However, the group included several aspects that were easily read as occult. Sullivan was flanked by minions obscured with black ropes and corpse face paint, often draped in boa constrictors, and was known to open his opponent’s foreheads with a spike weapon.

Sullivan’s gimmick tapped into the same vein as heavy metal, viewed as part of the insidious takeover of culture by the occult. He combined bizarre rambling promos, which sounded profoundly religious and mockingly random concurrently, with shocking acts such as the hanging of ‘Superstar’ Billy Graham and Sullivan punching a kayfabe female journalist (Luna Vachon).

Sullivan was the wrestling prototype for future cult leaders using the squared circle as their soapbox.