5 wrestling characters that were reportedly inspired by movies

WWE is not shy when it comes to lifting storylines and angles from Hollywood. In fact, some of the most successful wrestling angles and gimmicks of all time have been borrowed from the movies.

WCW used to do this more than WWE does today. The Atlanta-based company even incorporated fictional movie characters into their wrestling angles from time to time. Robocop once formed a tag-team with Sting and Chucky from "Child's Play" once cut a promo on Rick Steiner. Not to mention the various "Spin the Wheel Make a Deal" type movie vignettes the company aired.

To be fair, nearly every wrestling promotion has been influenced by movies to some degree. Some promotions have been better than others at it, however. Here are 5 examples of wrestling characters that were inspired by movies.

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#5 Paul Burchill (Pirates of the Carribean)

In 2006, Disney released Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest, the sequel to the first movie in the franchise which had been released in 2003.

WWE wished to take advantage of the popularity of Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow character by dressing Paul Burchill up to look like a pirate the same year. His character dramatically even swung from a rope during his entrance in the same way a pirate would swing onto a boarded ship.

Some claim Vince McMahon had no knowledge of the Pirates of the Carribean film or Johnny Depp's character when this gimmick was in use. However, it's clear somebody involved with writing it did, as the similarities are a little too much to be a coincidence.

Needless to say, the character only lasted a few months.

#4 Sting (The Crow)

The Sting character in the late 1990s was a take on the popular movie "The Crow" — starring Brandon Lee. The movie took on cult status after Lee died during filming after an action scene went terribly wrong.

It is said that Scott Hall was the one who suggested to Sting that he don the Crow makeup and lurk in the rafters. It turned out to be pretty good advice!

Later in his career, Sting would take on the mannerisms of another popular movie/comic character. Sting's character became much like the Joker during 2011, while he was in Dixie Carter's company: TNA.

#3 Razor Ramon (Scarface)

When Scott Hall signed with the WWE, Vince McMahon initially wanted to give him a gimmick that played off his family's military background. Hall didn't like the idea, however, and suggested something entirely different.

Hall did his best Scarface imitation and Vince loved his performance. His gimmick became a colourful character who spoke with a Cuban accent and referred to himself as "the Bad Guy". It's no wonder Hall would later suggest to Sting that he rip off a movie character as well; after all, it worked out pretty well for him.

#2 Waylon Mercy (Cape Fear)

Some of you might be aware that the Bray Wyatt character was tried before. Both the current Bray Wyatt character and the Waylon Mercy character from the 1990s are based heavily on the character Max Cady from the 1991 film "Cape Fear".

Robert De Niro played the role in the film. The character has a certain way of dressing and a deep Lousiana bayou accent which Wyatt and Waylon both portray as well. In the film, Cady is a homicidal maniac with a religious fervour.

While WWE gave up on Waylon Mercy pretty quickly, Bray Wyatt has been featured on WWE programming consistently and has made a name for himself.

#1 Bray Wyatt & Sister Abigail (Psycho)

While a viral illness would eventually cause Bray Wyatt to be pulled from the match, the original plan had been for Sister Abigail to take on Finn Balor's Demon at TLC 2017.

Wyatt had recently revealed that he is Sister Abigail in the same way Norman Bates played the role of his own Mother in the movie Psycho. During his promo to mention this, Wyatt even quoted a line from the movie when he said that Sister Abigail "couldn't even hurt a fly". The line was delivered near the end of the famous Alfred Hitchcock movie.

Whether WWE will pick-up the Demon vs Sister Abigail storyline when Wyatt returns is unclear at the moment.

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