Breaking Down My WWE Cosplays

As a cosplayer, I'm always looking for new cosplays to do if they catch my attention. Almost a decade ago, I was preparing to attend my first convention as a cosplayer. That's when an idea popped inside my head: What if I went as a WWE superstar? I did exactly that and in this story, I'll be going over the three WWE cosplays I've done in about the last 10 years. I've been a huge fan of old school wrestling since the late 90s, even though my now estranged parents and aunts, who are African, hated it when me, my youngest brother, and cousins watched it. However, we didn't care and loved every minute of it. I grew up watching The Rock, Kane, D-Generation X, and many others. Bet you didn't know that hidden gem about me, now did you? Anyway, without further ado, let's get ready to rumble!

John Cena (GlitchCon 2014)

John Cena was one of my first cosplays I've debuted in 2014. I had no problems getting the stuff I needed for it. I already had at least two of the items, but the replica WWE World Heavyweight Championship belt was the most expensive of them all. Not that it was overly priced, but still, it made a great addition to my cosplay. My cosplay consisted of a John Cena Never Give Up shirt, U Can't C Me wristbands, black sneakers, green camo shorts, and of course, the replica belt. This was the first of three WWE themed cosplays I've done.

CM Punk (GlitchCon 2017)

Three years later, I went as another WWE superstar for a con. That person was none other than CM Punk. He was and will always be one of my top favorite wrestlers. This is the same guy who held the WWE Championship title for 434 consecutive days, which lasted from November 20, 2011 to January 27, 2013. I was fortunate enough to watch him accomplish a majority of that feat on TV, especially watching Monday Night Raw. I've spent a lot of money putting this cosplay together and finding a replica WWE Championship belt wasn't easy to find that was within my price range. Luckily, I found one that was a little over $100. Plus, it was a bit heavy, especially while wearing it around my waist and also carrying it at times during the con weekend. The other items I had to make this cosplay happen were the following: a yellow GTS shirt and wristbands (by the way, GTS stands for Go To Sleep, which was CM Punk's signature move), black athletic shorts, knee pads, kick pads from elucha.com, and a pair of black Adidas wrestling shoes (size 10.5, even though I wore a size 10, but I didn't care). This was the most expensive WWE cosplay I've done to date.

I want to shout out Too Sweet Cosplay. If you're not familiar with who they are, they're a pro wrestling cosplay group based in Chicago who set up gatherings and other events, like conventions, according to their social media pages. It was so amazing when they mentioned me in their Facebook post, seen above, about my CM Punk cosplay. I can't recall when they posted this on Facebook, but I was lucky to take a screenshot of it, along with my cosplay and share it with my followers on social media. However, this was not the first time I've gotten recognition from them.

I.R.S. (Arkansas Comic Con 2019)

Approximately six weeks after winning my first cosplay contest, I was in Little Rock for Arkansas Comic Con, which was my first time attending this specific con. On the second and final day of the event, I went as the legendary wrestler I.R.S., whose real name is Mike Rotunda. He's also the father of Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas. I.R.S. stood for Irwin R. Schyster, his ring name. I debuted this cosplay in February of that year with my replica WWE Tag Team Championship belt in hand. At least a couple of people knew who I was going as, because they saw me carrying the belt. Above are a couple of pictures of me from the event.

Remember when I said earlier that it wasn't the first time that Too Sweet Cosplay showed me some love on social media? Well, they were so kind to do exactly that for the second time. This Facebook post, seen above, was from around the time I debuted my I.R.S. cosplay online.

I tried and failed to audit anyone at Arkansas Comic Con. I've written a full review of this con, which you can find in my profile. I R.S. was a wrestler I wanted to cosplay as for who knows how long. He's one of my favorites and I enjoy watching his old matches on YouTube. He always reminded us to pay our taxes. As far as what you need for this cosplay, you'll need a white short sleeve dress shirt, a plain red tie or a red tie with any pattern you'd like to wear, red suspenders, black dress pants, dress shoes, glasses (which are optional, but I choose to wear them since I always wear glasses anyway), and of course, a replica WWE Tag Team Championship belt. If you're lucky to find any afford a more expensive one, that'll work as well. My belt didn't cost that much, so I was fortunate to stay within my cosplay budget.

Out of all the cosplays I've mentioned in this story, I would say that I.R.S. was my overall favorite. I wouldn't rule out doing more WWE cosplays again.