10 Worst Supernatural Gimmicks

8. The KISS Demon

Boogeyman Jillian Hall
WWE.com

A cross-promotional idea that represented how tone deaf WCW were in their final full year in existence, a marriage of the Atlanta-based organisation and the rock band KISS manifested itself in the form 'The Demon'.

Portrayed by WCW Power Plant graduate Dale Torborg after Bryan 'Crush' Adams flatly rejected the role, the character was a blood-spewing manifestation of a professional wrestler and the stage presentation of the popular rock and roll band.

The first character emerged during a live performance by the band on an episode of WCW Nitro that ended up losing handily in the ratings to WWE's juggernaut-like Monday Night Raw. Defeat by wannabe authority figure Terry Funk on his debut proper, the supposedly frightening character was an immediate flop. Laughable at face value, Torborg was out of his depth as a performer, particularly when dragged into nocturnal conflict with Vampiro in between in his own wars with Sting.

Extenuating the negatives in a direct contravention of promotional logic, a term of the agreement Eric Bischoff made with the band required The Demon to be in 'Main Event' matches. Leaping through loopholes, WCW merely announced his contests as 'Special Main Events' no matter where they sat on the card, undermining the efforts of those involved and his contemporaries in the actual topline contests.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett