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Question About Tights

Hi, Scott.  I had a question that I thought might make an interesting topic on conversation for the blog.  I was recently watching the Randy Savage Anthology on Netflix, and around the time he became the Macho King he transitioned from the short trunks to long tights, which he kept for the rest of his career.  It got me thinking about wrestling tights in general.  Some wrestlers make a transition from trunks to long tights, like Savage or Hulk Hogan, others switch the other way, like Triple H or Chris Jericho.  Still others keep the same look for an entire career, like Edge, while others seem to constantly be changing, like the Undertaker, Kurt Angle, and more recently CM Punk.

So my question(s) are: Who makes the call on switches like this?  Does Vince or whoever tell a wrestler what to wear, or do they have some input based on what they prefer to wrestle in?  The second part of my question is, which wrestler do you think had the best costume/tights?  My own vote would be for the Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase, especially when taking into account the badass alternate white suit and tights.  That outfit summed up his entire gimmick so well that even a first time viewer could tell exactly what he was supposed to be on sight.

Thanks,

Jonathan Dalecki  

When they were up here for Canadian Stampede in 1997, my roommate actually had drinks with Shawn Michaels' then-finance, who was the person in charge of designing and making all the tights for the guys.  So at that point there was someone who was assigned to taking care of it for them, and I assume it's the same thing today but even more corporately motivated.  Like if Punk wants to change his tights he likely has to go through proper channels so that Mattel can alter the new line of figures and the videogame people can change their coding and so on.  However, since they're ultimately the ones who use and wrestle in the gear on a daily basis, it would have to be mostly their call.  

Dibiase's gear was always a favorite of mine, although classic 80s Randy Savage is the most awesomely understated and yet garishly perfect gear you could imagine.  Bright primary colors for the boots and tights, stars on the front and "MACHO MAN" in unambiguous letters on the back.  One look at those and you know you are watching a professional wrestler.  IRS's outfit kind of summed up the character perfectly, the uptight doofus wrestling in a suit and tie.  

Comments

  1. When I was a kid I always thought whenever Hogan wore his alternate trunks, like his white or his blue that it was going to be a fun match, usually with lots of blood.

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  2. The way I understand it, it's like cutting your hair. You have some freedom of expression but you generally have a look that fits the character that's been established for you and you go with it.

    I remember Miz gave an interview right before he had his main event run where he said that Vince complimented him on his legs so he was "encouraged" to switch to the speedo trunks and away from the jean shorts/tights. The way he phrased it made it sound like it was his call in the end but it wouldn't have been wise for his career to not listen to Vince's "opinion".

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  3. HBK's tights once he switched to the broken hearts were awesome, with the greatest being kept for ppvs. This was circa 95-98. Survivor Series 96 and Summerslam 95 are my personal favorites.

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  4. Same here. Love the broken hearts.

    I dont get the previous look though...i mean what was up with that. They reminded me of a cow. The heart break moo if you will.

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  5. I will never understand his attire for Survivor Series 2002.


    SHIT BROWN TIGHTS with cowboy boots?

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  6. His "Smoking Guns" look at Summerslam 2002 was awesome too.

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  7. I dont know why bit i always associated the bret hart era as when wrestlers started wearing pants and not "underwear".

    Dont ask me why but as a kid i never noticed wrestlers wearing tights so i always thought it was a new guy thing since i was a huge fan of hart and hbk.

    It sounds so dumb thinking back on it.

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  8. Undertaker's "Cowboy Mortician" look was always my favorite. Especially with the purple gloves.


    I don't know why but I'm also a mark for the way Triple H tapes his hands. I have no idea why it just looks cool.

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  9. I enjoyed Kurt Angle's white boots with ANGLE down the side circa 2002. I like white boots in general.

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  10. Those were awful.

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  11. I loved those tights. I even thought that the Texas flag broken heart tights were cool, and I generally hate anything involving Texas besides King of the Hill. He might be one of the worst dressed men ever when he's not wrestling though.

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  12. As mentioned, Million $$ Man's white suit/trunks combo was the best. I also marked out for Bret's alternate all-pink, and when Nash wore all red in WCW. Kane's black costume (as first featured in Warzone) circa 99/2000 was badass too.

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  13. They were supposed to be earth tones or something but they weren't finished in time, so he just went with what they had. For some reason he seemed hesitant to just be HBK at first.

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  14. All of the pre-Macho King stuff was awesome. After than some of the stuff was a bit over the top (I'm looking at you, Savage Wedding attire).


    I'm a fan of most of Taker's wardrobes except for the lace-up number he wore awhile facing Mankind.

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  15. Minor threadjack: While I wasn't completely gaga over the Punk-Cena match from Raw like the rest of y'all, the legend of this match only grows.



    1. From Newz! and Scoopz! type sites: the piledriver was unplanned and Vince was ticked off backstage about it.


    2. From Jim Ross: Punk had the flu. Will this be referred to as "the flu match" much like Michael Jordan's "the flu game"?

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  16. I assume body change has something to do with it. Undertaker seemed to get into good shape in 2006, and switched back to tights. HBK's legs were small and he wore knee braces so he went with the baggy pants. Would that be why HHH wore the shorts at Summerslam 2003? Couldn't work his legs and they would have looked small?


    I remember Booker T wore long tights in the 2006 Rumble. I always thought it was weird, he only wore them once and they weren't old ones he just threw on.


    I always wondered why some guys wear long tights with trunks over them, like two pieces? When HHH first switched he just stopped wearing the long parts.

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  17. I always liked some of Rob Van Dam's airbrushed singlets back from his ECW days. He had some cool designs going back then. Another one of my favourites was Kurt Angle's from Wrestlemania X-8 that I swear Scott referred to as his Alternate Universe tights.

    Worst tights in my opinion has to be Jeff Jarrett's during both his Country Singer and Aztec phases.

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  18. They were short of guys for the Rumble Match, so they had an injured Booker (who actually in the midst of a best of five series against Benoit and had to be 'represented' by Orton for the remainder of matches after he got hurt injured) come out, donning his WCW tights to hide the knee braces, and and him eliminated in less than 7 seconds.


    Now if you excuse me, I have to go move back in with my parents.

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  19. I'm always a sucker for those specialty uniforms. Like Rey Mysterio's annual WrestleMania comic book attires, or CM Punk's GI Joe attire. Kofi Kingston is one of my favorites when it comes to his tights. He's had some great inspired ones, including Ghostbusters, Batman, Riddler, Robin, Slimer, Skeletor, Battle Cat, Superman.... He's had some great ones.

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  20. If I could get a pair made I'd wear them as pj's.

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  21. Bret's gear was always awesome. Great basic get-up, but always had a new variation for PPV. I loved them all, so it's hard to pick a particular favorite.

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  22. Cant have a thread like this without a Rick Rude mention. His WWF stuff was way ahead of its time.

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  23. HHH wore those shorts because he had a bad groin injury.

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  24. I hate, hate, hate the black tights/black boots look. So boring and generic.

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  25. Good call, especially with how he used the designs on his tights to depict Jake Robert's wife to further intensify their feud. I'm surprised how no one has tried to copy a similar idea to that in recent years.

    Similarly I still get a good chuckle out of Cactus Jack wearing the Faces of Fear and Forgive me Eric t-shirts in his tag match at ECW November 2 Remember 95.

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  26. What's scary is that is replicated in a lot of the rosters for WWE 12 and 13! Thank God for the Superstar threads option that allows you to change the colours of their tights.

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  27. "and I generally hate anything involving Texas"


    Fuck off, dude.

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  28. UP VOTE! And not to jump on the Triple H bash wagon, but I cannot tell you how often I've read interviews where a guy says that Triple H told them (in so much words) that to be considered a credible main eventer, you need to be wearing black trunks. Aside from some rare exceptions, the main event scene over the past decade or so has been so repetitive and interchangeable, appearance wise.

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  29. I was also going to say Hogan's white was awesome.

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  30. It also bothers me that guys like Randy Orton and Christian and Batista and to a lesser extent Miz and even lesser extent Triple H used to switch up the color schemes of their uniforms.....now they almost always wear black with a colored trim. Christian used to wear blue, red, yellow, orange, white, etc. Since his WWE return, the primary color of his tights have always been black.

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  31. Giant Gonzalez needs a mention here

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  32. Yup. If it was anybody else on the roster they would have vacated or dropped the belt to Goldberg immediately.

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  33. I seem to recall at some point that Mickie James was told to stop wrestling in skirts because they thought her thighs were too big, or something along those lines. I can also pinpoint this as pretty much the exact point that Mickie James' WWE career started declining, and I don't think it's a coincidence.

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  34. Whoever told her that can doe slow in a grease fire. I'd use her thighs as earmuffs.

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  35. I HATED wrestlers that wore street clothes to wrestle in (unless it was a hardcore-type match)

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  36. I liked the black tights with the neon green Dx logo worked into them.

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  37. Hogans black/silver trunks he wore in japan were killer as well.

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  38. Cena had no problem with them.

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  39. Not sure I buy that. I think it was also around the time that they had ALL of the Divas change to more "tasteful" attires. You could constantly see up her skirt when she was wrestling. If they were becoming more family friendly, it made sense to have her change her attire. And while she did go through a period where she was jobbing to Melina on a weekly basis, the vast majority of her title reigns came during her pants-wearing time.

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  40. But then again didn't Cena admit that he enjoyed shagging fat chicks?

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  41. I merely jest. I'd personally let her use my face as a space hopper!

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  42. Hogan's transition from yellow trunks to Hollywood Hogan tights is probably the biggest upgrade in ring attire in wrestling history. And the superstar billy graham beard was also an improvement. Made him look way older when he went back to his old look in 1999.

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  43. Well played...well played indeed.

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  44. Then you won't hear the sound of Arbys

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  45. Can't forget Warrior. His likeness was like the Poochie of likeness: whenever Warrior's around, a picture of him needs to be somewhere on his shirt, jacket, or tights. And if that's not possible, there should be a tattoo of the Warrior's face somewhere on his body.

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  46. Maybe this is too obvious but Flair's robe, tights, knee pads below the knee, RF on boots and tights, finger tape, was just classy and flashy yet simplistic and understated. WOOOOOOOOO

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  47. How has Angle's look always changing? It's always the singlet. The only things that's changed is him having hair.
    I could the argument for Punk a bit better. Used to wrestling capris, I think. Then over the last few years went to short tights, then the blonde hair went natural, then it got shaved.

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  48. DID YOU KNOW...


    ...that that design was meant to mimic a GUITAR? Yes, the random strips were supposed to bring to mind guitar strings. And they couldn't even have 6 of them on there. Or even 4 to pretend it was a bass.

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  49. People would always bust Flair's chops for wearing his kneepads around his ankles, but by his own admission that was b/c he didn't like how he had really thin ankles.

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  50. Taker, Texas Ranger

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  51. Discussion of HBK's PPV tights cannot go without a mention of the poop brown SurSer '02 tights that apparently weren't finished yet he wore them anyway.


    Plus the Prince Valiant hair bob he was rockin'.

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  52. I DID NOT KNOW... but now I do thanks to you. Knowledge is power.

    Excelsior!

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  53. You shut your mouth!


    Aztec Jarrett was awesome. Including his music.

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  54. Cena no longer wearing throwback when he wrestled was b/c Jim Barnett thought he needed to show off "that muscle-y chest."


    Yes, you're supposed to read that in Herbert's (Family Guy) voice.

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  55. Needs more discussion of Velvet Sky cat suit.

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  56. Akeem's big blue pajamas

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  57. You know what drove me crazy, though? During the Evolution period where Flair would wear boots/knee pads that didn't match his trunks in the least. There was this stretch where he'd wear lavender boots, purple knee pads, and black trunks with red initials on them. Very un-Flair like.

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  58. RF on boots and tights


    How interesting. it was reported that Feinstein had the same things on his boots and tights.


    But you had to be a male minor in order to see those

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  59. What the hell was she thinking? I can only assume maybe she felt she could wrestle more comfortably in them but it sure as hell didn't showcase the pigeons properly at all!

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  60. You know what was one of the WORST looks?


    Big Show wearing a singlet with jeans seemingly hiked up to the middle of his torso.

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  61. I swear doing the Evolution period his attire was shit. That red/yellow robe seemed so low rent to me for some reason.

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  62. How about worst attire?


    I swear when the New Age Outlaws first started teaming up, they looked like the jobbiest pair of jobbers that ever jobbed.

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  63. Austin was the first to get it to work in the modern era, so everyone jumped on the bandwagon.

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  64. Contrast with say Madison Rayne's flesh colored undies with the heart on the side where if you didn't know any better you'd be like,


    Be: "WHOAH, BUTTHEAD, CHECK IT OUT!!! BARE ASS ON TV!!!
    BH: "YEAH! And she's got like a heart right there on her butt. Come to Butthead."
    Be: "No way, fartknocker, I saw her 1st! Heh heh"
    BH: "Beavis, don't make me slap you. Huh huh."
    Be: "Do it it, dillhole! You--"
    *SMACK*
    Be: "ARRRRRRGGGGGGGHH!. Heh heh. Oh yeah. Sorry. Um, howzitgoin'?'
    BH: "Uh, pretty good. Huh huh. Dumbass."

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  65. Currently, I detest Big Show's camouflage singlet.

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  66. Road Dogg was always embarrassing looking. At least Gunn wore actual tights.

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  67. Funny you mention Madison Rayne as I had been wondering why she had been missing off Impact? But yeah those flesh undies were like totally kewl!

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  68. At least he's not wearing that beanie hat anymore.

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  69. Hahahaha true that

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  70. Really? I actually think it makes him look svelte.


    Worst Big attire of course what I mentioned below: singlet under high jeans.

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  71. I'd like to see Show with some sort of design on his tights - not some crazy "Steiner Bros." thing, just his logo or name or something.

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  72. Aldo Montoya's attire was awful but I can't imagine a masked Portuguese Man-Of-War attire could get any better!

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  73. Definitely - the simple little lightning on the side was fantastic, as were the air-brushed boots.

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  74. Punk's different themed tights were great, especially when he wore the Yankee themed tights in Boston at Night of Champions, the pink and yellow Macho Man tights he wore right after Macho died, and the Hart attire you mentioned (which if I'm not mistaken, didn't he wear those the night he got punched out by Bret as well?)

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  75. Her popularity declined, as well.


    I whole-heartedly believe that most wrestling fans prefer a thicker girl to a thinner one, Trish and Mickie being prime examples.

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  76. Owen Hart and WWE HALL OF FAMER Koko B Ware's MC Hammer pants

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  77. Speaking of Justin Credible I hated when wrestlers came out with a long hanky hanging out the back of the pants. Never understood why?

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  78. Call me weird, but I also always liked when opponents wore different colors, like in boxing. It goes back to grade-school, where you had a "red" team and a "blue" team.

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  79. Gotta love when Piper would wear a skirt.


    No, thank you, Piper, for saving Flair! It's a kilt! I know that!


    Wait, what is Piper doing to the champ? I should have guessed, he's wearing a skirt!

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  80. I get what you mean. It was like two low totem indy guys grabbing some South Park shirts cause they were big at the time and just going with that as their ring attire.

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  81. There's a picture of him wearing Lance Cade's at a house show though.


    Linda McMahon might have met him once.

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  82. Part of the issue is that he's been wearing them, non-stop, for so long. Unless your character is military based, there's no reason why you should be wearing camouflage for a year + (Dudley Boys and Bushwhackers are the obvious exceptions here). On top of that, the camouflage pattern on his singlet appear to be brown based, whereas the pattern on his boots are green based. Which means he doesn't even really match.

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  83. HowmuchdoesthisguyweighFebruary 27, 2013 at 9:08 PM

    Those were awesome by punk. I always liked Bret's attire with the paint splashes all over (debuted rumble 94 I believe). . . Loved punks ode to savage also

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  84. I'm a fan of most of Taker's wardrobes except for the lace-up number he wore awhile facing Mankind.


    Even the Dead Man Phenom is allowed to feel sexy once in a while.

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  85. I kinda liked the blue triangle thing he had going on when he was teaming with Jericho.

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  86. there's no reason why you should be wearing camouflage for a year


    Maybe he just really wants to hide.

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  87. Remember when Mae Young wore the prosthetics at Rumble '2000? Good times.


    I mean, ZE GOGGLES, ZE DO NOTHING!!!

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  88. That "Piggie James" angle is for me one of the low points in WWE history. If they had a problem with her appearance (which I can't understand why they would but nonetheless), pull her aside backstage and tell her to shed some weight. If she doesn't, don't use her on TV. But the WWE is all about "Being a Star" so we got what we got. It was one of those angles that made me ashamed to watch. I'd say it was even worse than the "Molly Holly has a big ass" angle.

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  89. Actually, wouldn't Mr. Ass be a nominee? Shiny lime green tight shorts with pink and orange lip prints on them?

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  90. I read everything in Herbert's voice. It's more fun that way.

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  91. Speaking of "thick females" in wrestling...Reggie Bennett and her construction uniform look. How's THAT for obscure?

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  92. ...until Little Show came out and surprised everyone.


    Speaking of awkward attire, how long until Big E has a dick slip?

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  93. NO! I was so pissed when Taker came back in 04 when he didn't have the old school purple gloves. He just added a damn hat!

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  94. Jericho has a similar story. When Jericho switched to the traditional tights, Vince said something along the lines of, "So you've been hiding those nice, toned, muscular thighs all this time?" Not soon after, Jericho was World Champion.

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  95. Them both coming out in cutoff South Park shirts seemed weird.

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  96. Sandman used to carry around a snot rag, not as a ring gimmick, that's just what Hak did. Then Raven quickly took it, and claimed he was the originator... and still carries a snot rag to this day.


    I always liked Jeff Hardy's version of the snot rag... made his Whisper in the Wind move look extra cool.

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  97. So Vince likes thighs eh? Now I understand his madness.

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  98. She may have had more title reigns after the switch, but I don't think she was as over. Maybe that's just my opinion, though. After Trish and Lita left, the title really became meaningless, as it devolved into "Whose turn is it to have the belt this month?" territory.

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  99. Ultimate Warrior shouldn't go unmentioned. The tassles were happening!

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  100. HowmuchdoesthisguyweighFebruary 27, 2013 at 9:21 PM

    Loved camo-angle (debuted at vengeance vs. rock and taker) I think

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  101. Demolition's KISS/S&M gear. You remember that whether you want to or not.

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  102. Yeah, I'm a big fan of "special occasion" outfits. I'll always mark for Adam Bomb's green tights.

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  103. To be an effective wrestler, it helps to have a little bit more thickness to absorb bumps. WWE pushes the skinny girls, but they all basically suck. Gee, I wonder, why?

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  104. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Booker was dealing with a groin injury at the time, not a knee injury.

    Not trying to be "that guy", just throwing it out there.

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  105. Wow... I actually never put that thing together with the strings. I guess it makes sense... in a retarded wrestling sort of way.

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  106. http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m899lzv6rl1qzx70zo1_1280.jpg?.jpg


    Forget the tights - Taker looks like he's seriously jonesing for some meth.

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  107. MVP was awesome - I really hated how, after he turned face, his tights got progressively less blinged out.

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  108. I think they were designed that way to hide his crazy tattoos. Then when he was at the point of, fuck it, he ditched the sleeves and teamed with Mark Henry... which would be a completely different tag team if done again today.

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  109. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/bios/r/reggie-bennett/



    Had to look her up. She's cute.

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  110. Always hated Terry Funk's crazy long tights. HATED. He could not have picked worse attire.

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  111. I was watching RAW every week at that point, and one week they just came out together while Ross & King acted like they'd been together for years and we should know how annoying they are (kind of like Cole & King did a few weeks ago with Zeb Colter)... this was after they had just been feuding.

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  112. I can read stories about Mickie and her roast beef curtains all night....

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  113. Looked like something he bought at a garage sale

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  114. I always liked how Shane-O-Mac incorporated stuff on the jerseys he wore when he was in a match.

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  115. That "paint splatter" look was kind of big in pop-culture at the time, definitely thought Bret's were awesome.

    Always loved his "Survivor Series, 1996" tights, as well - the orange accents looked great, and his usual pastel pink was replaced with a deeper fuschia.

    http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/slides/photos/000/490/436/Survivor_Series_1996_-_Bret_Hart_Vs_display_image.jpg?1289190283

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  116. Awesome tights right here - all shiny and textured and everything.


    http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/pictures/d/dx/01.jpg

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  117. No way, the big splotches were awesome.

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  118. As a fifteen-year old in 1997, I thought there was nothing cooler or more anti-authority than "South Park" shirts. It worked for what they were going for.

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  119. They got even worse than that.

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  120. Nah. That's honor's gotta go to Taker's Booger Red transformation.


    Honorable mention: LOD 2000.

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  121. Wait, Wikipedia's source says it was an 'ankle injury.' How in the hell that warrants long tights is anyone's guess.

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  122. Mr. Perfect's singlet, which changed colours from match to match. I think Hennig was the only guy wearing that amateur-style singlet at the time, which made it stand out all the more.

    Also, no discussion about great ring gear is complete without mention of Rick Rude's long tights, usually airbrushed to taunt his current opponent (i.e. the Cheryl Roberts tights).

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  123. There's a Bulldog/Mr.Perfect match from a VHS where Bret gets involve and his tights are really cool - his skull design is on the ass. I don't ever remember seeing them again though.

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  124. The "bleeding" off the singlet straps on that one is awesome too.

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  125. Texas owns.


    Source: Me, a Texan

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  126. I also Liked the one time only HBK down the side one's he wore when he wrestled RVD right after he won the WHC

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  127. Nothing beats Hogan's Blue trunks 84-85.

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  128. I was a big-time mark for the Midnight Express' color schemes during the Eaton/Lane era. And good on Cornette to keep up: when he busted out the tux with the rackets on the blazer, you knew it was an important match.

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  129. I've argued we've never seen its like since.


    Rude's tights were in a different league altogether. I'm surprised they haven't tried it before with someone else on the rest. Think of all the heat Rude got for having Cheryl Roberts on his tights, and how it advanced the feud without anyone having to say a fucking word. That kind of nuance is as foreign to today's product as the Event Center with Sean Mooney.

    (Got my fingers crossed for Old School Raw, just the same)

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  130. JR might be working you.

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  131. Uh...weren't LayCool heels?

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  132. "I just passed the test"

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  133. it also advanced Cheryl Roberts to fucking Rude shoot... though I doubt Jake had signed on for that...

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  134. Never heard that side of it.

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  135. If my head was between her legs fast food would be the last thing I'd be thinking about eating...

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  136. Because Vince has a type that *he* likes. To this day I don't understand the appeal of Stacy Kiebler. While she is not ugly I keep hearing about how nice her ass is and she doesn't really have one.

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  137. The "Bam Bam" Bigelow tights are a nice touch.

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  138. Her appeal isn't her ass; it's her legs and her smile.


    But, yeah, the Divas are mostly there to be eye candy, not to be taken seriously as wrestlers. The problem is that they make them wrestle.

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  139. What's with you and Beavis and Butthead as of late? Not complaining mind you... just wondering if it is your new gimmick...

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  140. and to add to that his Dutch boy hairdo and it was the worst possible look for him to win his only big belt after his return.

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  141. It made me laugh when Kevin Nash was doing commentary on Nitro and he said Ric Flair was the only man that never wears his knee pads on his knees.

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  142. I wish TNA could trade Velvet for Nattie Neidhart.

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  143. Its because his finisher is or was called the WMD. That's apparently close enough to military based for WWE.

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  144. Yeah, he's gotten the work covered up.

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  145. Yeah, but you really wouldn't have a choice (I hope you do understand the Arby's reference; it wasn't random)

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  146. Inverse Kane (black as the main color with red slashes) is sooooo cool. I want him to go back to his original look just so that he can use that again.

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  147. I always wondered about those Bret tights with the spots all over them. I always wondered if there was a wash mishap and he just kept using them. Never liked them really.

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  148. If only we could be so lucky.

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  149. You're not being fair to Flair. He had to cut somewhere to keep up with the alimony payments.

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  150. COSIGN. I never got the obsession with Stacy. Maria has been slightly more appealing during her ROH run.

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  151. That's an interesting pattern if you follow which direction the flames lead from.

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  152. I always wondered why he did that, though I suppose with a lot of his offense the pounding would go on the front of his leg where he put the pads instead of right on the knees. Also I know Terry Taylor a a couple other guys at least did the same with their pads.

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  153. To be fair, there was a legion of creepy Taker groupies in the '90s that probably helped serve that purpose.

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  154. Holy cow is that Big Show or a bush right there? That must be how he snuck up on guys to punch them in the face backstage.

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  155. Man, that's gotta be one weird locker room.

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  156. I think I'm done with any combination of black/gray/silver. I want crazy dudes in neon tights. I want face paint. I want tassels. Basically, I want some combination of Sting, the Warrior, or the British Bulldog. Those three always looked awesome.

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  157. Best ever:

    Warrior's retirement trunks in the 'Mania match against Savage, featuring the airbrushed championship belt and the words "It's About Much More Than This" or some such.

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  158. Yeah they got together on Shotgun the week before and had no real history at that point. Still amazing that Rockabilly and The Real JJ hitting the Honkytonk Man over the head with a guitar added up to a Hall of Fame tag team.

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  159. As the guy who sent the email, let me explain what I meant about Angle. I was talking about all the different designs or logos and color schemes he worked into his tights over the years, especially compared to some guys now who, as others have mentioned, seem stuck in the black on black look (Orton, Miz, etc.) It bums me out, because Orton used to rock a lot of different colors: red, blue, purple, and now he just sticks with black.


    Speaking of Punk's hair, that's a side question I almost asked about. Do the guys have to approve hair changes? Punk seems to go back and forth, and with different facial hair, but then there's guys like Cena who basically have one length and stick with it for years and years.

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  160. I remember reading that the baggy pants also helped with the superkick...they made a better sound when he'd slap his leg to really sell the "snap" of the kick.

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  161. Warrior will always be my favourite especially the airbrushed style trunks with the awesome tassel boots, but biased aside Rick Rude had epic airbrushed tights long before anyone else did, they amazed me as a kid getting his opponents face usually on them which gave him some psychological advantage. Bret's were always very distinctive and his style were so badass he made pink cool.

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  162. Undertaker is probably the closet to Batman in terms of costume changes. Remember the debut at Survivor Series, he had the skintight greyish black gloves, which got switched out really quickly for the more iconic grey gloves that flared out at the wrists? Always reminded me of the way Batman debuted with short purple gloves back in the day.


    I appreciated when Undertaker brought the classic look out for his Wrestlemania 13 title match, although it really underscored how much his body had changed, both physically and with all the tats.

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  163. In a weird way, it's a shame that a body building obsessive (Triple H) will be taking over for a body building obsessive (Vince). It would be nice to get a transition away from that type of "look".

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  164. Yeah all of those are hard to beat. I love the point about them using Rude's to push the idea that he had a psychological advantage, I loved the nice little touches like that.

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  165. I legit laughed out loud at this.

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  166. Was Michael's fiance Julie something? The one who eventually married Droz, and then Shannon Moore?

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  167. I haven't watched anything he's done in years, so it's working.

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  168. Punk seems like the type that shaves and gets a hair cut and then doesn't do it again until someone points out he needs to.

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  169. I never even thought about the type of groupies that would want to have sex with Undertaker. That's scary.

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  170. You have to envy a man who hits to a point in his life where he can cover himself in tattoos and grow his hair down to his ass.

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  171. I never minded the long tights on Macho but I never liked the shirt.
    Kurt Angle's Red white and blue camo were awesome.

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  172. Yea but they didn't write out the angle themselves. That was WWE's not so subtle way of telling Mickie to lose some pounds. And LayCool won the feud in the end, which really shouldn't have happened.

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  173. M' boy, you need to show off those pecs, m' boy,

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  174. ..the roast beef thing. Yep. (even though I don't like Arby's that much.)

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  175. Raven was one of my favorite wrestlers and ECW was Hardcore...

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  176. My biggest pet peeve in wrestling gear is the short trunks. Both their overuse, and the fact that I think its a cheesy look and makes the whole thing feel vaguely homoerotic. I really wish wrestling would get away from them. Worst is that, to make a lot of modern people on a No Mercy emulator, you have to overuse the same few tights that were less common those days, and you end up with a billion people in Saturn's trunks. Plus all the cool long tights that Eddie and Jericho had back then are almost useless.

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  177. I don't think the homoeroticism is lessened by the length of the tights.



    I do agree, however, that's there should be a more varied range of ring gear. It's part of the reason why I'm loving The Shield. Yes, I realise they're essentially all dressed as Big Boss Man circa 1999, but they look unique and badass.

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  178. FACE-PAINT! Yes!


    Nobody does that anymore, it's seriously time for a comeback.

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  179. THIS is what a champion looks like:


    http://www.wwe.com/f/reign/image/2005/06/453262.jpg

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  180. I'm pretty much the same way - I only get a haircut every three months or so.


    Don't know why, but I'm like a five-year old when it comes to getting a haircut.

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  181. Like I said, I could have been completely wrong.

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  182. Everyone has their own fetish.

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  183. Gotta disagree, thought they were pretty indy-looking.

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  184. One guy that hasn't been mentioned yet - I think Miz has awesome tights. Love the logo and the bright colors.

    https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQnyoxmNvG-TY-EO9p00YDXjNvjA71uiwPWXSNCeKiQpC7dOdD1

    https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRDJmvFlQ05t88Y3lWEKKuNSeqrbh-cRORavhxhOktRMNM3N2_Vrg

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