Everytime I hear Paul Heyman or one of the other WWF announcers call Rhyno a “manbeast”, I have to laugh. That’s because I remember another so called half-man, half-beast who terrorized the Federation in the mid 90’s…and was the laughingstock of the entire wrestling industry.
His name was Mantaur, and according to some sources, was the little brother of PN News. To tell the truth, it really doesn’t matter who played the role, as the gimmick had “failure” written all over it.
I mean, come on…look at the picture to the left. What wrestling fan in their right mind is going to think, “Wow! That guy DOES look menacing”?
Yes, Mantaur actually wore this big, furry bull head out to the ring. Complete with horns, too.
The mask/headgear was actually so tall that the man underneath had to look out through the mouth hole to see where he was going.
Is this the WWF, or Walt Disney World?
Mantaur would instill fear in his opponents by charging them with his head gear intact…it seems that a feud with El Matador would have been a natural!
As if having a big bull sitting on your shoulders wasn’t bad enough, the headgear actually covered Mantaur’s back all the way down to his tush. It almost appeared that he had a tail!
Sadly, Mantaur didn’t wrestle with the gear on. He would remove it, and then the fun would begin, as he would actually act like a bull in the ring! He would pace about the ring, shuffle his hooves, err, feet, and then charge his opponent.
As if all that weren’t menacing enough, he would moo.
YES, LIKE A COW.
Here, have a listen!!
And you gotta love the smiling cow on his outfit. That’s just a nice touch.
Shortly after his debut, Mantaur appeared in the 1995 Royal Rumble with a slightly modified look. He had “horns” painted on the side of his head, and they appeared to be originating from his eyebrows. Terrifying, no?
Well, NO.
As an aside, rival WCW had actually created a character similar to Mantaur a few years back. Dubbed “The Minotaur”, this goofball was also claimed to be half-man, half-beast, like the mythological creature of the past.
Heck, WCW even threw Paul E. Dangerously out there to put the guy over.
WCW pulled the plug on their half-man, half-beast experiment shortly after its debut.
You would think someone in the WWF would have taken note and killed the Mantaur gimmick before it debuted, but alas, they didn’t, and one of the Federation’s worst characters ever was thus created.
“Those who fail to learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.”
Mantaur moos – yes, like a cow.
Paul E. Dangerously: “Not man, woman, or child can enter the ring with the half-man, half-bull, and not be his victim.”