9 Ways WWE Owes A Debt To UFC

9. The Clothes Make The Man

Before MMA, and UFC in particular, the in-ring gear for pro wrestlers followed one of two patterns. It was either the usual variations on tights and trunks (the kind of gear that wrestlers have worn since the year dot) or it was a variation on the kind of clothes that people wore in real life, customised for the ring - suits, jeans, uniforms, you know the kind of thing.

The look of a character is key in establishing certain basic assumptions about them, and when elements of legitimate fighting gear are used in a professional wrestler’s attire, you can bet it’s because they want the crowd to make those associations with legitimate competition.

In moving towards that appearance of legitimacy, plenty wrestlers now ape the functional and stylistic conventions of mixed martial arts in their gear.

Rusev went barefoot for some time (representing the character’s supposed Muay Thai roots), Brock Lesnar still dresses for the Octagon, and Kevin Owens, the so-called prizefighter, also wears baggier boxing/MMA style shorts.

Wrestlers have been taping their wrists for additional support for a long time now, but relatively recently there’s been a spate of performers who - like CM Punk - taped their wrists and fists for both support and grip, and also for the appearance of legitimate toughness.

The idea is that, just as with boxers, the taped fist/wrist protects the hand from injuries that might be sustained while punching someone a whole hell of a lot.

Similarly, The Undertaker first began wearing MMA gloves at the end of 2001 to help denote the transition between his American Badass babyface character and the bullying heel Big Evil character.

Since then, plenty of others have followed suit: the gloves are designed to protect the hands while punching yet still allow grappling.