In the famous words of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Well, in the case of several WWE Superstars, perhaps there is a bit more to fear than that. Whether it’s anxiety brought on by heights, mice, crowds or something a bit more complex, even the toughest competitor can succumb to hair-raising terror. As Raw’s exclusive pay-per-view, WWE No Mercy, lurks on the horizon, find out what deep, dark phobias make WWE grapplers scream for mercy!
Jeff Hardy – For this extreme high-flyer, fear slithers on the ground
“I have a fear of snakes. They are all around by my house. When I’m weeding the pond, I see water moccasins all the time. It freaks me out a bit, but I’m starting to overcome it with the help of my 6-year-old daughter. She loves them!”
Nikki Bella – Fearless turns fearful against eight-legged adversaries or on trips to the circus
“For me, it’s spiders and clowns, especially with the movie ‘It’ out right now. Oh, also ‘FOMO.’ That’s probably my biggest phobia. I have major fear of missing out. And that’s why I never sleep. I always want to be at every party, every event, hanging out with everyone.”
Rhyno – Ready to Gore the door if there’s a mouse in the house
“Mice … also rats, but definitely mice. If I see a mouse in my place, I would probably scream like a girl and jump up on the chair. I’d definitely be moving, jumping, on a chair, on Heath Slater. They just freak me out.”
Sasha Banks – The Boss goes on high alert when scary films go bump in the night
“Actually, my No. 1 fear is a fear of failing. It scares me big time. It gives me anxiety and makes me stay up at night. But I also have a fear of watching scaring movies at night. If it’s pitch black out and I’m watching a scary movie, I will look out the window and think the bad guy is out there. I also hate the feeling, specifically the texture, of velvet. It gives me severe chills.”
Karl Anderson – Strong, skilled and taking the stairs
Karl Anderson: “I despise elevators. I think it started when I was in Japan, for one reason or another. Whenever the elevator takes off too slow or the door doesn’t open quick enough, I start to freak out a little bit. Luke Gallows knows all about it and likes to use it to his advantage.”
Luke Gallows: “I’ll just jump up and down on the elevator a little bit every once and while. But I don’t do it too much. It’s best not to tweak him too much. You don’t want to get him going.”
Renee Young – The sky is the limit … as long as we’re not talking extreme heights
“I am scared of ghosts, and snakes freak me out, as well as anything that touches me under water. In addition, I have a huge phobia when it comes to extreme heights. I didn’t realize this until I was hiking Angels Landing in Zion, Utah. The path narrows up there, and then it is this straight drop down to your impending death. I completely froze and couldn’t finish the hike.”
Heath Slater – Is the four-time Tag Team Champion scared of the WWE Universe?
“Ironically, I have a real phobia about being in front of a big audience. You know, I’m always in front of a huge crowd in WWE, and I play it cool, but inside I am terrified as hell. I’m staring the devil in his eyes or something.”
Curt Hawkins – Much prefers ring rituals to frightening films
“I don’t like scary movies. I don’t like to be scared, so I don’t watch them. In addition, while it isn’t exactly a phobia, I also get very superstitious and have a lot of rituals I do around a match. If I don’t do them, I have a fear of things going wrong in the ring.“