18 Most Intimidating Wrestler Nicknames

by Andrew Pollard

1. The Crippler

Ray Stevens was and is known as The Crippler, but for most fans that moniker will forever be associated with Chris Benoit. Whilst many refuse to even acknowledge that Benoit ever existed, and that's certainly understandable, he was one of the greatest in-ring performers that the wrestling business has ever seen. But his career will always be tarnished due to the atrocious acts of his final few days on the planet. The nickname of The Crippler was given to the Edmonton native during his time in ECW after he'd taken out Rocco Rock. This nickname was only further emphasised when he broke the neck of Sabu. Just hearing the nickname of The Crippler was a reminder that Benoit was somebody who could tie you in knots and put you out of action if he so chose. As it was, though, the respectful Benoit was the ultimate professional and it was just that his style was an extremely physical one that brought added believability to any match he was involved in. Where things get too real in all of this is that when people hear the name The Crippler these days, they are instantly reminded of the double murder/suicide that Chris Benoit will be forever remembered. With the fantastic WWE Network, the service's library makes for great background noise. Even to this day, you'll have an old PPV on whilst you get on with other things but then suddenly Benoit's theme music hits and you find yourself pausing for a second, struggling to digest the harsh reality of what this man did, and those matches are now extremely hard to watch if not impossible for some people. Sadly the nickname of The Crippler will forever be synonymous with what Chris Benoit did during his final hours of life.
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Senior Writer
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.