Rene Dupree with Fifi, a French PoodleIn the 80s and early 90s, the WWE Creative was in to a lot of over the top and exotic storylines and nothing was more exotic than bringing out live animals to the ring.Snakes, dogs and even Komodo dragons were brought out to the ring as the WWE believed in amusing and astonishing their viewers in the name of sports entertainment. WWE has toned down on the strategy, but has employed it in the past decade as well, most notably with the worm eating Boogie Man and Rene Dupree’s adorable French poodle ‘Fifi’.This list takes a look at the top 5 instances of wrestlers bringing out animals to ringside.Â
#5 Ricky Steamboat - Komodo Dragon
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A Komodo dragon inside a WWE ring – Yes, it happened. Ricky Steamboat was so tired of Jake Robert’s pet snake Damien (more on it later) that he decided to even the odds by bringing out a live Komodo dragon to the ring in a match with Roberts.
The Komodo’s mouth was taped shut with plastic and Steamboat held on to the reptile rather than dropping it on either Roberts or Damien.
The spot was at par with the cartoonish, over the top storylines in the WWE during the 80s and early 90s. No wonder animals are not used in the WWE nowadays, PETA would have probably taken Vince McMahon to task over it.
But a Komodo and a snake together in a WWE ring was certainly an exotic sight to see.
#4 Al Snow - Pepper
During the 90s, Al Snow used to come to the ring with a Chihuahua named Pepper. Pepper was used in one of the most infamous angles involving an animal when she was ‘dognapped’ by the Big Bossman.
The Bossman promised Snow that he would return Pepper – but only if Snow ate a meal cooked by the Bossman. After Snow finished the meal, the Bossman told him that the dish was nothing but ‘Pepper steak’.
The angle proved to be unpopular and it was definitely inappropriate – Sure enough, it did not get Snow over with the fans, either.
#3 Koko B Ware - Frankie
A perennial mid carder in the WWE, Koko B Ware came down to the ring along with a blue and yellow macaw named Frankie. Koko’s persona was that of a flamboyant ‘birdman’ and he used to flap his arms like a bird before and after his matches, dancing in the ring.
His finishing move was named the ‘Bird buster’ to further enhance his character.
Frankie never played a big role in storylines and was just used as to enhance Koko’s character, but the bird did make Koko a hit with the kids though.
#2 The British Bulldog - Matilda
The third member of the famed British Bulldog tag team was an actual bulldog named Matilda. Davey Boy Smith and the Dynamite Kid first introduced Matilda to the WWE fans in the late 80s and she was used in an angle with the Islanders.
Along with Bobby Heenan, the Islanders would ‘dognap’ Matilda who used to accompany the Bulldogs to the ring. The Bulldogs would eventually get Matilda back and team up with another pet friendly superstar in Koko B Ware to take on the villainous threesome in a tag match at WrestleMania 4.
The Bulldogs would have action figures made after them in the 80s which included a special ‘Matilda’ figure as well.
The Bulldogs would leave the WWE in 1986 after a backstage altercation with the Rougeau brothers which had Jacques Rougeau knock out a number of Dynamite Kid’s teeth with a sucker punch that involved a fist full of quarters.
#1 Jake Roberts - Damien
The winner of this list is a foregone conclusion – Jake ‘The snake’ Roberts made his name in the world of wrestling with his snake-like antics and by bringing live snakes to his matches. His favourite pet was a Burmese Python named Damien which utterly terrified wrestlers like Ricky Steamboat and Andre the Giant.
Roberts used to release Damien on to a prone opponent after the match and Damien would proceed to slither on the person’s body, appearing to strangle him. Damien was once kayfabe at the receiving end too when the 470 pound Earthquake supposedly gave a couple of Earthquake splashes to the reptile.
Damien wasn’t the only snake that Roberts brought in to the ring, though. He had a Reticulated Python named Lucifer, a Cobra that would bite Randy Savage and an albino Burmese Python who was named ‘Revelations’ which was brought out during Robert’s ‘born again Christian’ gimmick in the late 90’s.
