10 Ways WWE Completely Buries Babyfaces In 2017

6. They Have Awful Merchandise

Dean Ambrose
WWE.com

An admittedly subjective one, this, but it's getting harder and harder to wear a babyface's colours with pride when they look so awful with anything else you'd wear.

At one point at the cutting edge of a style that suited both the character and the fan, the company have fallen drastically behind favoured t-shirt pushers such as Pro Wrestling Tees and Barber Shop Window, as well as independent companies and performers producing their own wildly popular threads.

Merchandise can, when done correctly, be a curious middle ground where a supporter can briefly link arms with their favourite performer. John Cena's day-glo rotations are hideous to most discerning adults, but attract the attention of a younger fanbase WWE understand are crucial to keep on message. Similarly, CM Punk's white 'Best In The World' t-shirt paradoxically represented him without leaning on pro wrestling iconography, taking away a certain embarrassment many feel about sporting such apparel.

Reverting to something out of a mid-80s in-house catalogue, the shirts today often crudely splatter logos and catchphrases (front and back) without any consideration for style or substance.

'No Good Dean Goes Unhinged' appears on a shirt currently available on the company website. Dean Ambrose wrestles in a shirt, and often his own, but what does this even mean? And why, unless you're also an unhinged person called Dean, would you wear it or want to advertise it?!

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett