10 WWE Stars Who SERIOUSLY Need A New Look
Isn't it about time Sheamus stopped dressing like Brad Pitt's Snatch character?
As French cultural theorist Roland Barthes once observed, wrestling is a spectacle of excess, sharing lineage with both Greek drama and bullfights.
Along with their excessive gestures and exaggerated explanations, every sign displayed by a wrestler is imbued with meaning that should be immediately obvious to the audience. This includes each detail of the wrestler's posture, manner of speaking, and what they wear. A wrestler's gear communicates a great deal to the audience about the role they play, who they are, and how they want you the viewer to feel as soon as you look at them.
As Barthes says, everything must be understood on the spot, and bad choices can leave the audience confused about what the performer is trying to portray. Personal style can be subjective, and sometimes a performer will not realize when their choices are not having the intended effect. Likewise, when a wrestler refuses to update their gear after everyone has seen it a hundred times, the audience may begin to take the performer for granted, like an old set of curtains, or the wallpaper in your granddad's den.
These men and women fall into the second category...
10. The Undertaker
Yes, really.
The Undertaker has had final matches, retrospective documentaries, left his hat and gloves in the ring, had final farewells, and just about anything else you can think of that means "okay, this really is it for this character."
For now, at least.
Maybe.
However, with WWE's love of nostalgia and its frequent desperation to pop a rating, there's no doubt Mark Calaway will show up again soon. But if The Undertaker really is retired, maybe Mark should show up in the future without this particular gimmick.
From his first appearance in 1990 to his most recent farewell appearance 30 years later, Mark has remained loyal to the basic bones of his look, with the hat, coat, and different iterations of facial scruff. There have been deviations as well, including the more demonic Ministry of Darkness cloaks, and the American Badass biker gimmick, but the basic hat and coat have always returned. That's fine-- people love it. But if you're going to tell us a hundred times that it's gone for good, eventually Mark is going to have to decide that the next time he arrives, he's not going to be dressed like it's the 1800s.