The Wyatt Sicks: Dissecting the possible horror-themed inspiration for each character's design ahead of their RAW in-ring debut
Tonight on WWE Monday Night RAW, the Wyatt Sicks will make their official in-ring debut. Last week, we saw Rambling Rabbit, Huskus the Pig Boy, and Mercy the Buzzard unmask themselves. While Erick Rowan was already revealed (and was kind of an obvious member from the get-go), Joe Gacy and Dexter Lumis were revealed as Huskus and Mercy, respectfully. Outside of Howdy, the rest of the faction represents different puppets of the Firefly Funhouse.
The Wyatt Sicks, as well as Abby the Witch AKA Nikki Cross, attacked The Creed Brothers and Chad Gable after weeks of psychological torture and stalking. With their first match as a group taking place tonight, we're taking one last look at the terrifying gear the group will be wearing on the way to the ring.
The new masks for each member of the Wyatt Sicks come from Callosum Studios, a special effects studio based out of Pittsburgh, PA. The duo behind the company, Jason Baker and legendary special effects icon Tom Savini have worked with WWE before as they were responsible for the various versions of Bray Wyatt's Fiend masks.
Much like his late brother Bray Wyatt, Bo Dallas is quite a horror fanatic, so we can only imagine how thrilling it is for him to once again be working with Callosum Studios. Horror fans understand how dense Savini's résumé is, as he's worked on Dawn of the Dead, The Black Phone, The Prowler, a handful of Friday the 13th movies, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, and more. Jason Baker's work is incredible in his own right. As well as working on several movie productions, he's also responsible for masks worn by heavy metal band Slipknot.
Due to the shared love of the horror genre between all parties, it's hard to not look at the masks of the Wyatt Sicks and notice some inspiration from other works. Today we'll be taking a look at each mask and what properties may have influenced Callosum Studios in their design.
It's important to note here that nothing here is confirmed and these are purely the opinions of a horror and wrestling fan noticing some strong similarities.
#5. Wyatt Sicks member Joe Gacy AKA Huskus the Pig Boy
Joe Gacy's Wyatt Sicks debut saw him abandon his dress pants and button shirt for a sleeveless shirt with some flannel over it. His mask appears to be a pig skin stitched gas mask. Well...we hope it's pig skin.
On the initial reveal with the dimly lit arena, it seemed to be a very obvious take on the gas masks used in movies like My Bloody Valentine and, one of Tom Savini's lesser-known works, The Prowler. However, the more we've seen of it, it's clearly based on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The chainsaw-wielding lunatic was based on real-life serial killer and body snatcher Ed Gein, who dressed furniture and other objects with human skin and bones.
Leatherface, the fictional killer of the Texas Chainsaw series, has had a variety of different masks throughout the franchise with one common feature. They're all made from human skin.
Looking at the Huskus mask, I'd assume that Baker and Savini took inspiration from The Prowler as well as Leatherface in creating this abomination that we...again...hope is supposed to be pig skin. Gacy just may end up the Butcher of the Wyatt Sicks.
#4. Wyatt Sicks member Dexter Lumis AKA Mercy the Buzzard
Dexter Lumis has gotten a full-on makeover for his Wyatt Sicks run. He seems a lot leaner now than the last time we saw him stalking RAW's Superstars. Sporting a Hawaiian shirt reminiscent of former WWE Superstar Waylon Mercy, who heavily influenced the creation of Bray Wyatt, Lumis also has dreadlocks and a beard.
Dreads were part of Wyatt's look late in his career, and are also sported by Bo Dallas as Uncle Howdy. However, this hair on Lumis along with the marking over his head looks incredibly similar to Heidi Hawthorne from The Lords of Salem, a Rob Zombie flick from 2012. Hawthorne is the main character of the film, a DJ who soon finds herself intertwined in a plot of witches and satanic rituals.
It might be a stretch to say Lumis's look is completely taken from Lords of Salem. For one thing, the make-up is vastly different and the symbols on Heidi and Dexter's heads look nothing alike. Still, at a glance, it's hard not to see the resemblance. However, it's nearly impossible to look at the mask and not think of another film in Rob Zombie's wheelhouse, House of 1000 Corpses.
Specifically, the Mercy mask has some striking similarities to the appearance of Dr. Satan, a killer of legend in the film who brutally dismembers one of the characters. Dr. Satan wears a pointed oxygen mask and is bald on the top of his head, leaving strands of grey hair on the side. His appearance is rather bird-like, seeming like a mutated buzzard.
#3. Wyatt Sicks member and former RAW Women's Champion Nikki Cross AKA Abby the Witch
Nikki Cross seems right at home in the Wyatt Sicks. At her best when playing deranged and disturbed, she's a perfect fit for this new cult led by Uncle Howdy. Cross began teasing this change many months before we even saw clues of Howdy's return. She'd appear in the background of several backstage segments, either staring off into nothing or arguing with nobody.
She even abandoned the 24/7 Championship right after winning it, seemingly spacing out and staring into the sky. It was almost as if she was being guided down a different path all along.
Since returning as a member of the Wyatt Sicks, Cross has swapped out the black leather pants and tank top for a dirty white dress and a mask that covers her entire face, minus the eye holes. However, the mask sits so far forward on her face that it's almost impossible to see her eyes through it, leaving what seem to be black voids on the visage of the former RAW Women's Champion.
Spooky women in white dresses and matted hair have been seen quite a lot in the horror genre. They're a trope in themselves and are often the violently angry ghosts of someone done wrong in life. Most that saw Nikki's new appearance were instantly reminded of Samara from The Ring, or the original Japanese film Ringu and the evil spirit Sadako.
Regardless of which version you're watching, Samara/Sadako is a violent and evil entity that attacks victims after they've watched a cursed videotape. After seven days, they kill their victims. This is the only character in the Wyatt Sicks that we can confidently say is 100% inspired by something.
With Nikki Cross delivering several video tapes to Michael Cole and Pat McAfee this summer, there's no doubt that her new character is based on The Ring. The mask itself, though, does bear a slight resemblance to a different horror villain. One that also haunts its victims through horrific footage, though they're film reels instead of tapes.
Spoilers ahead for a twelve-year-old film.
In Sinister, Ethan Hawke's family is the target of the Bughuul, a demon that prays on the youngest member of families and coerces them into committing unspeakable acts of violence on their loved ones. After that, it takes them into its domain where they forever become one of his collection of undead children.
The Bughuul's visage is nearly identical to Nikki Cross's mask and hair. The only difference is the smile that Cross's mask wears, as the Bughuul had no mouth. But its eyes are empty black voids, much like Cross's when she's donning the Abby the Witch gear.
Nikki Cross's new character is definitely inspired by The Ring/Ringu, but there may be something more...Sinister...behind it all.
#2. Wyatt Sicks member and multi-time WWE Tag Champion Erick Rowan AKA Ramblin Rabbit
When it comes to this game, there's only one member of the Wyatt Sicks whose mask seems...well, the problem is that Ramblin Rabbit's mask could be an homage to many things, not just one or two in particular.
Speaking to a colleague of mine, they claimed that they instantly thought of the 2001 cult classic Donnie Darko after watching the Wyatt Sicks debut. A man in a bunny outfit, Frank, warns Jake Gyllenhaal that the world will end in 28 days and some change.
Frank is an omen. A warning of impending doom, but also whose presence gives the main character the drive to try and change things as they are before the world around him falls apart.
Sure, Rowan is rocking a horrifying bunny mask, but calling him an omen wouldn't exactly be right. Had he appeared a few times before the Wyatt Sicks utterly demolished the backstage area and seemingly killed Chad Gable it would have some merit. What we could be seeing, instead, is an interpretation of one of the members of the cult in the 1973 British horror film The Wicker Man.
In it, a cop is lured to an island to investigate the disappearance of a young girl by the name of Rowan. He believes that the island is planning to sacrifice her to their god to guarantee a healthy crop. However, by the end, we learn that Rowan isn't the sacrifice, and has been a member of the cult all along.
It's a bit of a stretch, but Rowan has found himself another family after losing Bray Wyatt and Brodie Lee. He's joined yet another cult and abandoned his role as a sheep, sometimes considered a sacrifice, only to return as something more. We'll have to wait and see how his character plays out before we can nail anything down, though.
#1. Wyatt Sicks leader and former WWE Tag Champion Bo Dallas AKA Uncle Howdy
This year isn't the first we've seen of Bo Dallas's alter-ego, but the visage of Uncle Howdy has undergone a serious change. Originally, it was a full-face mask that helped hide the wearer while they spoke to Bray through the titantron. It seemed very thick, and fans could tell that it was tough to speak through it even if it was dubbed over.
By the time Uncle Howdy arrived in the ring, the mask was a bit more slimmed down, seemingly less suffocating for the wearer. It was a full grey human shape with a wicked grin and heavy furrowed brows. We didn't have much time with this iteration either, as both Howdy and Bray Wyatt disappeared from TV soon after Bray's return match against LA Knight at Royal Rumble 2023.
When Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks finally arrived on RAW back on June 17th, he was wearing some brand-new headgear. Much like Dexter Lumis, he had long blonde dreadlocks hanging off his head and nearly reaching his waist. His top hat was brought back, but the mask was much smaller and didn't cover up as much of the face as it once did.
The mask now only runs from the top of Bo's head down to his nose, leaving the bottom half of his face open. It's probably done for a handful of reasons when it comes to practicality. Off the top of our heads, it's possibly easier to breathe in since it doesn't cover the full face, and probably won't overheat the Wyatt Sicks' leader as fast. We never got a match with Uncle Howdy in his old disguise, and it looks like this new version is more ring-appropriate.
As far as what it resembles, the original Uncle Howdy design was a clear take on the Grabber, the villain from The Black Phone. Callosum Studios was brought in to create several different versions of the mask for the villain, as it changed throughout the movie depending on the mood of the killer. Each mask represented joy, despair, and nihility. The original mask was split into multiple pieces, keeping the Grabber's appearance shifting throughout the film.
While Bo Dallas's latest mask absolutely takes inspiration from The Grabber, the rest of his gear, hair included, bears a striking resemblance to American Horror Story's version of Papa Legba, a West African Vodun. While I'm not educated enough in the religion to speak on Papa Legba in that way, his visage is almost identical to that of Uncle Howdy.
Played by the late Lance Reddick, Legba sports a top hat, dreads, and some white paint or powder of some kind that covers the majority of his face. That substance stops right at his nose, leaving his mouth free, much like Uncle Howdy's latest design.
What do you think? Did we nail the inspiration for each member of the Wyatt Sicks? Hit the discuss button and let us know if you noticed something we didn't.