Clothes Make the Wrestler

Entertainment can be defined as 50% talent and 50% presentation. WWE of course prides itself on being sports entertainment, a heightened version of professional wrestling. For many years, at least as many as I’ve been watching WWE’s production value has been unmatched. From the sets to the quality production staff over the years, it’s clear they have that game on lock. When it comes down to the superstars, they have presentation as well as talent. They need to be sure their demeanor is in line with their character, that their promos are in line with the direction they’ve been given and that their work in the ring is high quality. And another part of their presentation is their ring attire.

Ring attire is one of my favorite parts of wrestling, this is what helps transforms them from ordinary people into superheroes, just like Clark Kent trading his suit for the Superman costume and Bruce Wayne donning his cowl. Ric Flair is probably one of the first to make his ring attire a big part of his presentation with his expensive and glorious robes. Many wrestlers would wear robes both before and after Flair, but I don’t know if anyone quite pulled it off like the Nature Boy. No one probably spent as much as he did either, as each robe hand crafted by Olivia Walker costed in the thousands of dollars.

As you can see, they are still valued today:

Ric Flair worn and signed robe went for $27K in @GoldinAuctions sale last night. pic.twitter.com/p5HBFplkUB

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) December 10, 2017

Today, the legacy of “the robe” is carried on, in WWE, by Bobby Roode.

Of course, with the good, comes the bad too of course. I think the most recent example of this is Nia Jax’s ring attire. Nia is a beautiful, strong and powerful woman, who herself has a love of fashion…and her current attire just accentuates her in the wrong way. It doesn’t portray her as a beautiful, strong woman, and doesn’t accentuate her beautiful figure. So while attire can go really well and help polish up a diamond, it can also tarnish it as well.