T-shirts are the biggest part of wrestling merchandise in history. A few had withstood the test of time and become iconic as the best ever.
Pro wrestling fans are a rowdy yet loyal bunch. For as much criticism as the wrestling audience dishes out, they also tend to get behind specific performers and help make them stars. One of the easiest ways fans can show their support is through the merchandise they buy and proudly display. Perhaps the most important weapon in any pro wrestling fan's arsenal is the wrestling t-shirt.
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For decades fans have sported some great t-shirt designs in support of their favorite wrestlers. There have been thousands of designs and variations over the years but a handful of them have embedded themselves permanently into pro wrestling history.
Being a pro wrestling heel back in the late '70s was not for the weak of heart. In an era where kayfabe was king, performers had to remain in character at all times to protect the business. That wasn't a problem for Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He grew up around the business and knew exactly what buttons to push to get a reaction from the audience.
In 1977, Valentine defeated Chief Wahoo McDaniel for the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship, breaking his leg in the process. Like the true heel that he was, Valentine capitalized on the opportunity by wearing a black shirt that simply read "I Broke Wahoo's Leg" on the front and "No More Wahoo" on the back. The shirt design was simple yet extremely effective. The incident and t-shirt are still talked about today.
In 2011, CM Punk sat on the Monday Night Raw stage and verbally ran down Vince McMahon and his promotion, becoming the absolute hottest commodity in pro wrestling in the process. Oddly enough, the fallout was the biggest push of Punk's career. Fans wanted all the CM Punk they could handle and WWE was happy to oblige.
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Arguably the most popular CM Punk item ever produced is the classic white t-shirt featuring Punk's classic taped fist logo on the front and the words "Best In The World" on the back. The t-shirt quickly became WWE's top seller and would later be released in black as well. For anyone who experienced it, "The Summer Of Punk" was a special time to be a fan and this shirt is part of that legacy.
The late '90s was a hotbed for anti-hero characters in pro wrestling. In response to the wildly successful nWo faction in WCW, WWE green-lit D-Generation-X in 1997. Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Chyna, and Rick Rude originally made up the group. Eventually, Michaels and Rude would be phased out, making room for X-Pac, Road Dogg, and Billy Gunn.
By 1998, DX was on top of the world. They were WWE's most popular faction and had one of WWE's top-selling t-shirts. The simple black tee with the DX logo on the front sold like hotcakes. D-Generation-X eventually overtook the nWo as pro wrestling's most popular faction, with DX shirts being displayed proudly in arenas across the country.
Mick Foley's Cactus Jack character is one of the most beloved hardcore wrestlers ever. That fact is unsurprising. However, what is surprising is that such a brutally violent character could have one of the most famous t-shirts ever.
Cactus's iconic tee was all black with a large yellow image on the front resembling a wanted poster. On the poster were the words "Wanted Dead Or Alive," with an image of Cactus. In some cases, Cactus even sported a variation of the shirt that simply read "Wanted Dead." It remains one of pro wrestling's most recognizable pieces of merchandise.
The '80s was a huge part of pro wrestling's Golden Era. With that in mind, it's a bit odd that only a handful of wrestling t-shirts from that era have stood the test of time. One such t-shirt is "Macho Man" Randy Savage's classic purple tee. The tee is simplistic by today's standards, but at the time, it was pretty innovative.
The purple tee has the words "Macho Man" in black font across the front. Above that, Savage's trademark sunglasses are outlined and filled in with images of him. The shirt remains a must-own for any true Randy Savage fan and is still in production today.
Much like Randy Savage, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper has one of the handful of '80s wrestling t-shirts whose popularity hasn't waned over the years. The simplistic nature of '80s wrestling shirts did little to drive down their popularity. Piper's shirt was white with a red collar and red borders on the bottom of the sleeves. In the middle, the shirt read "Hot Rod" in red and yellow font. Piper's personality is what made the shirt one of the most popular ever.
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In recent years, the shirt, or at least the essence of it, has made a comeback after Ronda Rousey used the same design for her t-shirt. The influence of Piper and his iconic t-shirt cannot be denied.
When Prince Devitt joined forces with "Machine Gun" Karl Anderson, Tama Tonga, and Bad Luck Fale in 2013, the Bullet Club was born. At the time, the Bullet Club was the shot in the arm that NJPW and the entire wrestling world needed. As the group's numbers increased so did their popularity. One of the catalysts to Bullet Club's success was undoubtedly their Bone Soldier t-shirt.
By the late 2010s, the classic black shirt with white font had become the hottest t-shirt in the business. The Bullet Club's popularity has decreased over the last couple of years due mostly to a mass exodus of talent from NJPW to AEW. Regardless, the original Bullet Club t-shirt has achieved iconic status in both the U.S. and Japan.
When Hulk Hogan shocked the wrestling world in 1996 by joining forces with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, the pro wrestling landscape was forever altered. Gone were the days of screaming Hulkamaniacs filling arenas with red and yellow "Hulkster" t-shirts. Replacing them would be the new breed of fans who cheered for cool heels.
This demographic's go-to t-shirt was the black and white nWo logo t-shirt. The shirt quickly became WCW's top-selling t-shirt ever. It even enjoyed overseas success by moving major units in Japan as well. The black and white nWo t-shirt remains a popular item today, nearly 25 years since its original release.
When Vince McMahon decided to build his empire around Hulk Hogan in 1984, it would prove to be a genius decision. Hogan turned out to be extremely marketable, helping McMahon sell out arenas and everything from lunch boxes to shampoo bottles.
At the peak of Hulkamania, WWE's hottest selling item was easily the classic Hulkamania t-shirt. Whether it was yellow with red font or vice versa, the t-shirt was a universal symbol of fandom for Hogan fans and pro wrestling fans across the globe. Over 35 years later, Hulkamania shirts remain popular with wrestling fans.
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin is the highest drawing superstar in WWE history. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that his signature t-shirt is the highest-selling pro wrestling t-shirt of all time. The black shirt with white font simply read "Austin 3:16" on the front and had a smoking skull with the word "Austin" on the back.
The more beer drinking and stunning that Austin did, the more t-shirts he managed to sell. Fan's couldn't get enough of Austin or his merchandise. His follow-up t-shirt designs would also go on to sell very well but no t-shirt has ever managed to surpass or even match the numbers that Austin's original t-shirt did.
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Wesly Avendano is a writer from a small town in southern California. A Life long pro wrestling, Los Angeles Lakers, and Philadelphia Eagles fan. He's a writer, podcast host, and runs the @flashbackwrestling account on Instagram.