Face paint is an often overlooked part of the wrestling folklore, quite unjustified, as it contributes to the coolness and uniqueness of the sport a lot, and even though it is not used as much as it was, its value cannot be denied. Whether it was put on to be a gimmick, to intimidate, or to strengthen the character’s background, displaying its heritage, face paint is the reason a lot of us got into wrestling.
In order to honor our childhood fascination, we decided to decide what is the best face paint in wrestling history.
The Demon
How could we pass on The Demon? Come on, it just can’t be done, even though he wasn’t that famous and was better known as The KISS Demon. One of the greatest rock bands of all time gave their blessings for their trademark face paint to be used in the WWE and it was truly awesome, but the character was underutilized.
The Road Warriors
The arguably greatest tag team duo of all time got the inspiration for their name and face paint from the Mad Max franchise, and they couldn’t go wrong with that foundation. They had minor tweaks to their war colors during the year, but the black spider was always there to enhance the menacing look of these two wrestlers.
Papa Shango
In a way Papa Shango’s face paint makes him look like a demonic panda, and even though that might not sound frightening, it really is. The wrestler that later became Kama Mustafa and The Godfather had a voodoo approach to fighting and his face paint really fit in with his whole style, and even though it was simple, it definitely deserves a place on this list.
Yoshi Tatsu
The Japanese wrestler fought for years without a face paint, but fortunately, that changed after he returned from his break from television, and while the paint was there to pay respects to his Japanese heritage, it was great because it looked really cool. Not to mention that it made him resemble the Street Fighter character, Vega.
Hakushi/ Jinsei Shinzaki
Simple, but really effective. That summarizes Hakushi’s tattooing his face and body with Kanji characters. The Modern-Day Kamikaze managed to look cool with such a simple premise, and the face and body paint really added a deeper layer to the character and a more visible connection to his roots.
Kamala
Use of face paint is most commonly associated with foreign wrestlers, and the Ugandan Giant mimicked the head hunters’ face paint during the 80’s and 90’s. Round shapes of the simply colored face paint combined with the painted lips really left the impression of a crazed blood-thirsty warrior.
The Boogeyman
Even really manly grown man would probably start screaming if they bumped into The Boogeyman at night as his face paint is straight up terrifying and we can’t actually understand how it was allowed to be televised for the kids to see. It differed from time to time, but always had the same tone and really bright and strong colors, he really did deserve his wrestling name.
Finn Bálor
Even though he hasn’t made his mark in the wrestling world as much as the other wrestlers on the list, Finn Bálor deserves to be on the very top of it just because of the complexity of the face paint, as it an example of true art. His war paint transcends the ring and looks like something that can easily find its place in the modern comic-book movies.
Sting
Taking inspiration from the famed Zulu warriors, the Sting’s face paint is as simple as it is great, black and white are all that was needed. His menacing eyes compliment the subtle, but effective black lines on the canvas of white with real purpose and his Crowesque persona could never have been achieved without the war paint he has on his brooding face.
Umaga
The Samoan Bulldozer is almost synonymous with face paint in the wrestling world, his tribal stripes not only tell a story about his roots but also intimidate opponents and make him look really cool while fitting perfectly with the rest of his look. The biggest achievement of his face paint is that it somehow appears like it isn’t a face paint, but rather something the great Umaga was born with.
Do you agree with our list or have a different opinion on the best face paint in wrestling history?
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