The use of animals in WWE has seen them featured as part of entrances, storylines, and character development. WWE used to be considered the place for larger than life characters which meant some talents having pets as part of their gimmick. The animals became popular as well whether having a consistent role or just being part of a short-term idea.
Various careers changed thanks to the animals in question either providing a positive or negative impact. WWE rarely utilizes the animals in frequent roles today, but they do still have a rare appearance. Find out which creatures made an impact during their time in the company. WWE found success with the following animals.
10 Pepper (Al Snow's Dog)
One of the strangest storylines of the Attitude Era featured Al Snow having a pet chihuahua named Pepper. The comedic character of Snow having a dog with him at ringside during matches made sense for him more than others.
Pepper would, unfortunately, find his way into the worst possible ending. Big Boss Man killed Pepper and fed him to Snow in a cruel segment that showed how ridiculous the time was. WWE clearly doesn’t want viewers seeing moments like these today.
9 The Undertaker's Vulture
WWE started to put more emphasis on WrestleMania entrances around the time Undertaker became a big star for the company. Undertaker had an attraction match against the massive Giant Gonzalez heel at WrestleMania 9 in the outdoor setting.
The plan for his entrance featured the legend holding a vulture as a sign for his opponent. Undertaker’s spooky character had enough fun additions to make it work for the average viewer. The vulture was a small part of a legendary career that mattered at the time.
8 George (Mankind's Rat)
Mick Foley took the risk of playing the Mankind character when signing with WWE. Many pundits thought the gimmick was too farfetched for a changing industry when Foley had to start the biggest chapter of his career.
The vignettes for Mankind showed him having a pet rat that he spoke to named George. Viewers were meant to be creeped out by Mankind’s actions since he was playing a demented heel coming to WWE with a feud against The Undertaker. George was an underrated part of Foley’s start to the rest of his career.
7 The Boogeyman's Worms
The Boogeyman was one of the strangest characters in WWE history and quite outdated when debuting. A spooky character with such a name was likely going to thrive most in the early ‘90s when wrestling had hokey gimmicks, but he failed in the 2000s.
Boogeyman had a few out of the box ideas that came before and after his matches. Worms were frequently used as a weapon of choice from the peculiar character. Boogeyman would have worms in his mouth that he placed on the bodies of his fallen opponents.
6 Lucy (Triple H's Dog)
Triple H’s pet dog in kayfabe was utilized as a part of his storyline with Chris Jericho and Stephanie McMahon heading into WrestleMania 18. Stephanie used Lucy against Triple H in their divorce storyline trying to get into his head.
The heel heat for Jericho came when he ran over Lucy with a car seemingly by accident. Jericho ended the night attacking Triple H with a sledgehammer when he confronted Stephanie. Lucy had a short shelf life as part of a main event angle.
5 Ricky Steamboat's Komodo Dragon
Ricky Steamboat was one of the most talented wrestlers in the industry during his peak in the ‘80s. The in-ring style was ahead of his time and the nickname of The Dragon added a fun tie-in for him to have his own pet in WWE.
A Komodo dragon was the obvious choice with Steamboat walking it to the ring before matches. Steamboat got over with the younger audience fascinated by the cool animal at his side. The unique animal was also used to combat Jake Roberts’ snake during their feud.
4 Chloe (Torrie Wilson's Dog)
Torrie Wilson started using her dog Chloe as part of her act during her time with Candice Michelle and Victoria during their run as Vince’s Angels. All three ladies were close friends and Chloe became the unofficial mascot of the group.
The pairing of Torrie and Chloe saw the dog used after the split, still as part of Wilson’s act. Chloe was the real dog of Torrie for years after her departure from WWE. The news of Chloe recently passing away saw WWE fans mourning her.
3 Frankie (Koko B. Ware's Parrot)
Koko B. Ware was one of the most colorful characters in wrestling with his gear, hair color, and pet parrot all adding to the act. WWE wanted to have characters that instantly stood out to the younger demographic as Koko did.
Frankie was the name of the parrot who accompanied Koko to the ring as part of the gimmick. Fans loved the bird since parrots were very popular at the time. The Hall of Fame induction of Koko was polarizing, but Frankie played a huge role in his success reaching that level.
2 Matilda (British Bulldogs' Dog)
The British Bulldogs tag team of Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid found success in every promotion they worked for. Both wrestlers made the journey from Stampede Wrestling in Canada to the WWE tag division in the ‘80s.
Matilda was the actual bulldog that accompanied Dynamite and Davey to the ring for their matches. Neither man was known for being charismatic which made the addition of an animal a smart call. The Bulldogs became a top face team with fans loving Matilda at their side.
1 Damien (Jake Roberts' Snake)
The most popular animal to ever be involved in WWE was Jake Roberts’ snake, Damien. WWE came up with the idea of Roberts having a snake with him to add to his heel character. Snakes were intimidating to the average person like Roberts was to the average fan.
There were a few different snakes used by Roberts, but Damien was the most popular one who was used in his most dastardly attacks. The talent of Roberts would have likely succeeded either way. However, the addition of Damien made him a legend.