The lack of color in modern ring attire

[JRH]

I've commented on this before, but after seeing that 4 way last night, where everyone had on black tights, it has to be said. The number of wrestlers wearing black (or black with other dark colors like Judgement Day) is just absurd now. This isnt just a WWE problem, AEW has the same issue. I'm not saying everyone should run around in bright colors, but at least have some varierty. Seeing guys just wear black makes everyone look bland, at least Cody has his Red, White, and Blue tights, and there's still more colorful tights in the women's divisions (though Skye Blue wearing black is just absurd given the name of her character).

[pmo]

It’s kinda everywhere in sports in general.  On one of the sports uni (kit) sites I follow the term is (Black for blacks sake).  Basically it’s about teams that wouldn’t normally wear black adding it to make them look tough.  That said it seems like it’s a thing here.  

[KawadaSmile]

What boggles me is that even some of the shoot-style guys like Tamura, Takada, Funaki, Volk Han et al had colorful attires, not to mention the Four Pillars (plus Akiyama) in AJPW.

John Cena himself, even when in his Marine era, had some flavor to his attires, and he wore JORTS.

[pmo]

Some of attitude era stuff was fine that was sign of the times and a reaction to the hyper colorful rock n wrestling and new generation era.  But then it just stayed kinda dreary and colorful was laughed at.  Look at Cena being colorful he got laughed, see the bowl of fruity pebbles line.

[C.S.]

I've noticed this since the Attitude Era. Unfortunately, as @pmo pointed out above me, very little has changed since then.

Give me back the era of Ric Flair, Macho Man, Razor Ramon, etc. I always loved their color game.

[JRH]

Thing is, even the attitude era had some color to it. Sure, Austin and Rock and Taker all wore black, but most of DX wore colorful gear, as did Edge and Christian, Val Venis, Too Cool, Jericho, and even Kane (his early outfits emphasized the red over the black), among others. It wasnt just all black all the time. Heck, with LA Knight endorsing Slim Jims, it would be great to see him in red and yellow gear.

[Al]

A thought. With high definition tv could it be a matter of black gear being easier to avoid staining?

[Jetlag]

The peak of wrestling attires was the 90s with the simple designs and popping colour schemes. Todays attires are way overdetailed to the point where nothing stands out anymore and it all becomes a muddled mess. Compare the simple color schemes of Hulk Hogan, Vader, Sting, the four pillars etc. to todays average boots and trunks guy. Awful.

[Dav'oh]

It's all easter eggs and homages to superheroes and anime and outdoing each other and other stuff my creaky analogue brain doesn't understand.

"Secret Meanings of WWE Superstars Rumble Costumes"-type articles make Dav'oh sad.

[JRH]

I just hope that when Bron Breaker goes to the main roster he keeps his Steiner Brothers-style tights. I always liked their ring attire and it's nice to see Bron bring that style back.

[KawadaSmile]

26 minutes ago, JRH said:

I just hope that when Bron Breaker goes to the main roster he keeps his Steiner Brothers-style tights. I always liked their ring attire and it's nice to see Bron bring that style back.

Considering he was using way more "serious" ring gear in NXT after his heel turn, him appearing with colorful 90s gear is good news.

[JRH]

2 hours ago, Dav'oh said:

It's all easter eggs and homages to superheroes and anime and outdoing each other and other stuff my creaky analogue brain doesn't understand.

"Secret Meanings of WWE Superstars Rumble Costumes"-type articles make Dav'oh sad.

I'd be happier with homages to superheroes and anime, at least those would end up being more colorful

[NintendoLogic]

As is usually the case in wrestling, the key is to stand out. Being the guy in all black can work if everyone else is peacocking, but it can't hurt to add some color to your wardrobe when everyone else is dark and drab. Seth Rollins has shown that dressing like a clown is the easiest way to fool people into thinking you have charisma. Generally speaking, though, I like when wrestlers have a signature color scheme (as in two or three colors, not the whole rainbow) that serves as the basis for all their ring gear.