Secret Impact of Mortal Kombat on Pro Wrestling

Since its debut in 1992, the Mortal Kombat video game franchise has grown to become one of the most popular gaming series of all time. But what many may not realize is how much it has also impacted professional wrestling!

AJ Lee and Glacier Mortal Kombat inspired artwork. [Photo artwork/design:ย Tim Buckler]
AJ Lee and Glacier Mortal Kombat-inspired artwork. [Photo artwork/design: Tim Buckler]

Mortal Kombat and Its Influence on Professional Wrestling

"GET OVER HERE!!!" was a familiar sound that emulated from arcades and homes across the world in the early โ€™90s.

Colorful and varied characters competing against each other using moves that would kill a person in real life? Sounds a bit like pro wrestling and the legendary Mortal Kombat video game franchise!

The two hold many similarities, a sentiment AEW commentator Excalibur had when promoting the new Mortal Kombat movie in an interview with Polygon.com.

"If you think of what pro wrestling is," Excalibur explained, "itโ€™s real-life taken to an extreme."

He continued, "If somebody gets powerbombed in real life, chances are theyโ€™re not getting back up from that. Weโ€™re in a pro wrestling ring. It can happen five nights a week, ad nauseam.

"Fighting games became taking pro wrestling moves out of the ring and putting it back into a real-world setting. The pro wrestling fighting game and a Mortal Kombat movie are like cousins on the same side of the family tree."

Strangely enough, off the top of my head, I canโ€™t think of a single "wrestler" Mortal Kombat character. Street Fighter has the ravishing Russian Zangief, Tekken has the jaguar (not Tiger) masked King, and Dead Or Alive has the physic defying and ridiculous bounciness of Tina.

No, wrestling may not have inspired Mortal Kombat (at least not until later on anyway), but Mortal Kombat as sure as Goroโ€™s balls has inspired wrestling. Thatโ€™s what weโ€™re here to talk about today.

1. The Mortal Kombat Inspired Vince McMahon Saturday Morning Show that Never Was

In late 1993, there were rumors that Vince McMahon was potentially starting a new Saturday morning show inspired by video games such as Mortal Kombat, which blurred the lines of fantasy and reality the same way as professional wrestling. Bruce Pritchard confirmed the rumors during episode 25 of Something To Wrestle.

"The idea was to produce a Saturday morning, half-hour, โ€˜battle artโ€™ show, for lack of a better term," Prichard began.

"The idea was to create a studio, and have an indoor arena, and you would take these great karate fighters from around the world, and pit them against each other culminating in a tournament and a champion at the end of the season."

According to Bruce, the show never happened due to the fighters having bigger egos than the WWF superstars.

They decided to do their best Hacksaw Jim Duggan impersonation by refusing to do the job for anyone, despite the possible money from live shows and merchandise.

WWF pulled out of the project, but a year later, the show, or at least one similar in design, would see the light of day without the federation backing it.

WMAC Masters was an American live-action television show featuring choreographed martial arts fights.
WMAC Masters was an American live-action television show featuring choreographed martial arts fights. [Photo: Alchetron.com]
Renamed the WMAC Masters, the premise was that the World Martial Arts Council would kayfabe batter each other about for the legendary Battle Star trophy.

Hosted by Bruce Leeโ€™s daughter Shannon (for the first season at least. Yes, somehow there was more than one season), you can watch the show on youtube, and it is as gloriously ridiculous as you imagined.

YouTube video

2. The Midway Games (1995-1996)

Aside from all the fireball throwing, spine ripping, and dick punching, another thing that made Mortal Kombat stand out was its photo-real digitized fighters. It was a style defined as Midwayโ€™s signature look, later being utilized for the NBA Jam series and eventually their own WWF fighter, WrestleMania: The Arcade Game.

WrestleMania: The Arcade Game.
WrestleMania: The Arcade Game. [Photo: jeuxvideo.com]
The game was less of a wrestling simulator and more of a traditional arcade fighter, with wrestlersโ€™ moves being heightened and reinterpreted to fit the Mortal Kombat style.

By that, we donโ€™t mean adding a tremendous amount of gore. For example, rather than The Undertakerโ€™s tombstone being a finisher where the opponentโ€™s head would explode on impact, it was a literal cartoon tombstone that the Deadman would batter his opponents with.

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Ports were made for home consoles, and a sequel, In Your House, was released shortly after.

You can read more about that, plus other wrestler games for the Sega Genesis, here:

Sega Genesis – Every Wrestling Game Brought Back!

We have hundreds of great Pro Wrestling Stories, but of course, you canโ€™t read them all today. Sign up to unlock ten pro wrestling stories curated uniquely for YOU, plus subscriber-exclusive content. A special gift from us awaits after signing up!

3. Dungeon of Doom

In 1995, when wrestling was still trying to figure out its next evolutionary step, Taskmaster Kevin Sullivan assembled a team of terrifying evil-doers with a penchant for the dark arts that was not too dissimilar to Shao Khanโ€™s evil forces of Outworld to combat Hulkamania.

WCW's Dungeon of Doom faction led by Taskmaster Kevin Sullivan.
WCWโ€™s Dungeon of Doom faction led by Taskmaster Kevin Sullivan.

One could lay claim that the Dungeon was influenced by Mortal Kombat, especially when one of their more god-awful/brilliant moments (depending on how you look at it) introduced us to "The Yeti."

4. Super Giant Ninja

The enormous Ron Reis portrayed The Yeti character which made its disastrous debut at Halloween Havoc โ€™95, draped in toilet paper and bear-hugging/weirdly humping the Immortal Hulk Hogan.

Soon after, he was repackaged in "Super Giant Ninja" attire, a look akin to that of Mortal Kombat ninja and poster boy Scorpion.

Super Giant Ninja (Ron Reis) with manager Sonny Ono.
Super Giant Ninja (Ron Reis) with manager Sonny Ono. [Photo: WrestlingFigs.com]
Yes, it can be debated whether or not Mortal Kombat influenced the Dungeon of Doom, but one gimmick that came from the mind of Eric Bischoff during this time most certainly was. I think you all know who Iโ€™m talking about…

 

HUGH MORRIS!!!!

Just kidding. It was Glacier.

5. Glacier

There were undeniable similarities between wrestler Glacier (Ray Lloyd) and Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat.
There were undeniable similarities between wrestler Glacier (Ray Lloyd) and Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat.

The similarities between Raymond M. Lyoddโ€™s Glacier gimmick and Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat were undeniable.

First of all, you had the promo packages that heralded his debut.

The Glacier promo package heralding his debut looked quite similar to the intros used in Mortal Kombat movies.
The Glacier promo package heralding his debut looked quite similar to the intros used in Mortal Kombat movies.

Dark, ancient, mystical martial arts imagery amplified but industrial techno inspired by Techno Syndrome, or the "Mortal Kombat Theme" as it is more widely known. You know, the one where the guy yells the game title at the drop that you canโ€™t help but techno rave fight to?

Even the "Glacier" title that appears at the end of the package shoots at the screen then epically slams to the side for the reveal, EXACTLY like the intro to the Mortal Kombat movies.

Intro used in the Mortal Kombat movies.
The intro that was used in the Mortal Kombat movies.

Glacier wore a blue mask, a trendy blue waistcoat, did martial arts, and had ice powers. Yes, Glacier truly earns his place along with the likes of Arachnaman and The Toxic Turtles when it comes to freebooting gimmicks in wrestling.

Unlike his contemporaries, however, Glacier didnโ€™t look like a cheap dime-store knockoff Halloween costume. The budget was thrown at his entrance and attire. Pun totally intended; Glacier was kind of cool.

Soon, other Mortal Kombat-style characters were introduced, like Mortis (Chris Kanyon in a mask) and his tag partner Wrath (Brian Clark, sometimes in a mask) to do battle with the iceman. So what went wrong?

Wrath (Bryan Clark, FKA Adam Bomb in the WWF), manager James Vandenburg, and Mortis (Chris Kanyon) in WCW.
Wrath (Bryan Clark, FKA Adam Bomb in the WWF), manager James Vandenburg, and Mortis (Chris Kanyon) in WCW.

According to Eric Bischoff, talking to Conrad Thompson on this chilly subject that keeps popping up on their podcast 83 Weeks, it was timing and casting.

"It had all the ingredients, it was just late to the party," Bischoff admitted. "By the time Glacierโ€™s character actually arrived that party had been shut down, and everyone had cleaned up and gone home. It was over with before it even got started."

Bischoff continued, "If we would have done Mortal Kombat with a character that was of Billy Kidman size, or, you know, someone who was a really great martial artist like Ray was, but someone who was a little smaller so the presentation just looked more like the audience expectations of what a Mortal Kombat character would have looked like, it may have done better."

You can read more about Lloydโ€™s time as Glacier here:

Glacier in WCW – Eric Bischoff’s Frigid (and Costly) Failure

6. AJ Lee As Kitana

Former WWE superstar AJ Lee is a massive fan of video games (sorry, another intended pun), as she proved during the 2011 Divaโ€™s Halloween Battle Royal when she debuted her now-legendary Princess Kitana outfit.

AJ Lee as the Mortal Kombat inspired Princess Kitana in 2011.
AJ Lee as the Mortal Kombat inspired Princess Kitana in 2011.

Not only did her costume look the part, but she also gave the nod to the fan swipe move, sending marks of both wrestling and Mortal Kombat into a bit of a frenzy.

AJ Lee performing Kitana's fan swipe move during the 2011 Divaโ€™s Halloween Battle Royal.
AJ Lee performing Kitanaโ€™s fan swipe move during the 2011 Divaโ€™s Halloween Battle Royal.

In an interview with Uproxx back in 2013, AJ delved into her fanhood of the Mortal Kombat series a little bit further.

"I think a lot of people like Mortal Kombat II better. I donโ€™t hear 3 a lot as peopleโ€™s favorite, but again, sentimentally, there was a time when that was like the only game I had. That, and Samurai Showdown I think. I fell in love with Kitana and Sonya."

But who is her favorite character?

"Iโ€™ve always loved Sub-Zeroโ€™s story. Everything about him has been really interesting, so probably him."

I wonder if AJ is a Glacier fan tooโ€ฆ

7. Triple H = Shao Kahn?

For the last decade or so, as the career of Triple H winds down, he has found himself in somewhat of an "end boss" role, the villain in charge raining down punishment on our heroes, such as his feud with Daniel Bryan in 2014.

In fact, it was his match with Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 30 where he cemented his role as the big bad by channeling Shao Kahn during his entrance!

Triple H and his Shao Kahn inspired entrance at WrestleMania 30.
Triple H and his Shao Kahn-inspired entrance at WrestleMania 30.

Giant throne, Giant Sledge Hammer, Skull helmet, leather underpants, Triple H and Shao Kahn are indeed a perfect match!

Find me the person who says this look wasnโ€™t inspired by the Mortal Kombat seriesโ€™ main antagonist, and I will show you the biggest liar since Mr. America claimed he had no association with Hulk Hogan!

Shao Kahn from Mortal Kombat.
Shao Kahn from Mortal Kombat. [Photo: thechosenprime.com]
Since then, Helmsley has rocked out the skull hat look now and again with different variations, and at WrestleMania 32, Stephanie McMahon would join in the fun by giving us her best impression of Shao Khanโ€™s evil wife (and Kitanaโ€™s mother): Queen Sindal!

Stephanie McMahon makes a Queen Sindal-inspired entrance at WrestleMania 32.
Stephanie McMahon makes a Queen Sindal-inspired entrance at WrestleMania 32. [Photo: wrestlinginc.com]
She stood high above the crowd, the background resembling a Mortal Kombat 3 skyline, and delivered an epic evil speech to her undead minions. Sadly, she did not include the infamous "YOU WILL DIE!" line from the Mortal Kombat Annihilation film.

8. Mortal Kombat 11 (2019)

In 2019, Mortal Kombat released the eleventh main game in the series and cast none other than former WWE Womanโ€™s Champion Ronda Rousey as badass soldier Sonya Blade.

Ronda Rousey rocking a Sonya Blade of Mortal Kombat look.
Ronda Rousey rocking a Sonya Blade of Mortal Kombat look.

Speaking in the trailer for Mortal Kombat 11, Rousey said, "Sonya Blade was the first kick-ass girl I saw come onto the scene. Iโ€™ve always admired her and admittedly tried to emulate her in my own way, and now I get to be her!"

She continued, "The first time remember playing Mortal Kombat, my mom was a college professor and one of her students let me play. I was completely button bashing but I was Raiden, and I beat him as Raiden. It was the first time I beat an adult at anything!"

At the launch event for the game, Ronda was joined by some of her WWE co-workers in full Mortal Kombat cosplay.

WWE in Mortal Kombat inspired gear: Kofi Kingston as Shang Tsung, Ronda Rousey as Sonya Blade, Xavier Woods as Shao Khan, and Zelina Vega as Jade.
WWE in Mortal Kombat inspired gear: Kofi Kingston as Shang Tsung, Ronda Rousey as Sonya Blade, Xavier Woods as Shao Khan, and Zelina Vega as Jade. [Photo: 411mania.com]

9. WWE Immortals Game

Of course, Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston are massive video game fans.

Xavier Woods as Lord Raiden.
Xavier Woods as Lord Raiden. [Photo: @themikalmosley on Twitter]
As a special treat, Neatherealm studios, the Time Warner-owned game publishers who continued to carry the Mortal Kombat torch after Midway went under, reimagined Woods as Lord Raiden, a playable character in WWE Immortals.

Xavier Woods as Raiden in WWE Immortals.
Xavier Woods as Raiden in WWE Immortals. [Photo: thesmackdownhotel.com]
Woods and Kingston continue to show their love for the classic fighter to this day, most recently appearing on RAW in outfits inspired by Scorpion and Glacier. Sorry, Sub-Zero!

Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods in Scorpion and Sub-Zero inspired outfits.
Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods in Scorpion and Sub-Zero inspired gear in 2021.

Co-creator of Mortal Kombat Ed Boon approved of Kingston and Woodsโ€™ inspired gear, tweeting, "Oh. Hell. Yes."

Sadly, Immortals shut down in early 2019. That might have something to do with another wrestling company hitting the scene around that time…

10. Mortal Kombat and AEW

AEW programming is shown on TNT and soon TBS. These networks are owned by Time Warner, who also own Neatherealm Studios and the rights to Mortal Kombat, so expect all future grappling crossovers to appear on that show.

So far, the only noteworthy reference is Chuck Taylor leaping off the Mortal Kombat 1 cabinet and Miro using the Mortal Kombat 2 cabinet as a foreign weapon during the Arcade Anarchy match earlier in 2021 around the time of the new Warner Brothers-produced Mortal Kombat movie release. Liu Kang would be proud!

Miro (FKA Rusev in WWE) stares at the Mortal Kombat II arcade game during AEW's Arcade Anarchy match in 2021.
Miro (FKA Rusev in WWE) stares at the Mortal Kombat II arcade game cabinet during AEWโ€™s Arcade Anarchy match in 2021. [Photo: fanbyte.com]
As for the new movie, there may be one more WWE crossover to make it to the silver screen.

11. The Miz and Johnny Cage

Comparisons have been made between The Miz and Johnny Cage for years, as both carry the sunglasses-wearing, Hollywood a-hole gimmick to a tee. So it is no wonder fans have been campaigning for the awesome one to appear as Cage in the sequel. Itโ€™s something The Miz would love to happen, as he told TMZ.

"If I had a shot at it I would want to make sure I give everything I possibly can to make sure that the director, the production company is happy with the character I get, but also the fans because they are the ones so adamant about Johnny Cage being in the movie."

The Miz continued, "Iโ€™m not a black belt in karate, but I am willing to do whatever it takes to get every single move perfect and correct.

"This is the first time my name has ever been dropped in something and everyone has gravitated towards the positive side and was really appreciative of that, it really hit me. I was playing this game when I was a kid, Sega Genesis, not Super Nintendo because it didnโ€™t have the blood. I always played the Sega Genesis version and I remember playing as Johnny Cage and to see this all happen would be like a dream come true."

Here is a picture I created to help you imagine what The Miz would look like as Cage, and in no way a cheap plug for my Instagram account @thelittletellyupstairs.

The Miz as Johnny Cage. [Photo artwork/design:ย Tim Buckler]
Do you know who else gives Miz his blessing? Original Johnny Cage game actor Daniel Pesina, and it doesnโ€™t get more legit than that!

The Miz with original Johnny Cage game actor Daniel Pesina.
The Miz with original Johnny Cage game actor Daniel Pesina.

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Tim Buckler, a senior writer here at Pro Wrestling Stories, has been an author for over a decade, penning articles for sites such as WhatCulture, Screen Rant, Inside The Ropes, and many more, but his heart will always belong to Pro Wrestling Stories. He also presents a pop culture radio show entitled "The Little Telly Upstairs," which airs every Thursday 8-10 pm on Radio Woking, featuring news, views, and music from film, television, comic books, video games and, of course, Pro Wrestling. Follow him @blockbusterman on Twitter for more of his ramblings!