Style With Substance: The Beauty & Brilliance Of WWE WrestleMania Attire
The Clothes Show.
Stone Cold Steve Austin was having a bad day.
He'd already lost a backstage bet to his WrestleMania 15 opponent The Rock before the two closed the 1999 spectacle, foolishly staking money on Bart Gunn defeating Butterbean in their ill-fated 'Brawl For All' clash that night. Though his professional life was soaring as the brightest star in a galaxy never more expanded, 'The Rattlesnake' was going through a painful divorce that clouded his head to such an extent that it would impact one of the biggest nights of his career.
He strode to the ring not in his trademark sleeveless leather vest, but a t-shirt barely even synonymous with his character. He fumed externally as his character required, but internally he was just as livid. As he put it during a podcast discussion, "When I opened up my suitcase, I was mad as a f*cking hornet. Here [I am] in a high profile match on the biggest stage of all and I gotta go out there in a rinky-dink t-shirt. I kick myself in the *ss over and over and over again about that particular night".
Austin is often drawn upon for inspiration as one of the industry's great minds, not least because of his awe-inspiring main event run. Capturing fierce control over his own character (and career trajectory), Stone Cold had demonstrably exhibited his knack for getting over and staying there. Understanding the importance of aesthetics was just another example of his attuned approach.
As a man that only wore all black as per his gimmick's requirement, an entrance waistcoat was often as flashy as he permitted himself to be. WrestleMania in particular called for the extra effort - Austin's self-flagellation wasn't entirely unjustified. (CONT'D)