Independent wrestling star Gregory Iron recently posted a blog on Cheap Heat that talks about the wrestling merchandise boom, and the artists behind it. Iron, who has appeared for Chikara, Absolute Intense Wrestling and other promotions, praises the efforts of these artists and encourages both fans and wrestlers to support them as you would wrestling stars. You can read a few excerpts below; click here for the full post.

Back in the old days of independent wrestling fifteen or twenty years ago, you’d go over to the gimmick table and see that the merch was much more simplistic: A plain black shirt with generic font stating a wrestler’s name. A pixelated 8 x 10 photo. Maybe even a best of VHS tape or DVD with a makeshift label written in black Sharpie slapped on it somewhere.

In 2015, the merchandise game has vastly changed, making it appear as though guys have huge warehouses where they produce mass quantities of their own merch. Dudes have colorful DVD’s and blu rays for sale. They have several different high quality glossy photographs to buy. Giant posters. Rubber bracelets. Tiny wrestling buddies. Foam fingers. Buttons. Stickers. Hats. Shorts. Koozies– I’ve never used a koozie in my life, but people buy them. Nearly anything you can think of now, wrestlers will produce and sell it.

And the shirts… the shirts are the best and the most creative that they’ve ever been. Gone are simplistic comic sans font tees, and in their place are highly artistic parody and original tees, many that seem to bear no resemblance to a wrestling tee at all (making it much easier to wear in public). With the rise of Chicago based Pro Wrestling Tees, and smaller independent wrestling tee companies like Top Rope Tuesday, the wrestling tee game could only grow to be bigger and better. For the bigger names on the independent scene, the paydays are good, but a good t-shirt design can make your take home cash much better. Just ask guys like The Young Bucks and Colt Cabana, gimmick table juggernauts.

Which brings me to today’s topic: the unsung heroes of the independent wrestling scene. The artists behind the artistic wrestler. The guys that make it possible for us big tough brutes to garner an extra $20 spot from a loyal fan. I’m talking about the t-shirt creators themselves…

http://www.cheap-heat.com/the-unappreciated-artists-of-pro-wrestling/