Gallery 648
Vested Interest


While the cocky veterans wear long, fancy robes into the ring, the eager young rookies like Danny Collins usually wear shiny vests or tight ring jackets. This tells the fans that maybe these young lions can't afford the expensive gowns, but they are willing to get in the ring and take a beating from the older, more classy wrestlers.

This lad's shiny red coat just screams, "Go ahead and punish me!  You have my permission!"  Satin is the perfect material for a jobber's wrestling jacket because it's shiny, flashy, and thin.

He places his hands strategically on his hips to open the jacket and expose part of his chest and abs.
This patriotic stud knows he must peel off that jacket and wrestle shirtless.  So why did he bother to wear the coat in the first place?  Why not just save time and get in the ring bare-chested?

From BG East, Jax O'Doul vs. 2 Fine Divine, Jobberpaloozer 7
To dress like a jobber, wear clothes that will make you look clean, preppy, and vulnerable, such as bright colors and skimpy trunks. An open jacket is perfect because it makes you look exposed and unprotected.  This hunk, with his Captain America gear and electric blue jacket, is the ultimate jobber!

From BG East, Kid Vicious vs. Jeff Phoenix, Ringwars 5
I guess there must be fans out there who prefer seeing a young wrestler posing in his fancy jacket rather than entering the ring shirtless. Rookies like Kevin Von Erich, patiently signing autographs like a good boy, must haved realized that some fans have a fetish for ring jackets, so he takes his sweet time before getting shirtless.

Meanwhile, the anxious fans want to rip that jacket off him to expose his lean body and start the match already.



This young grappler is clearly teasing the wrestling fans who get off on ring jackets.  He places one leg on the bench in a sexy pose, which just happens to spread his loose coat open, offering a sneak peek at his tattoo and part of his hard body.  

The same tattooed stud continues to toy with the fans' gear fetish, this time looking tough in a white coat.  His boys in the corner also strike a butch pose, almost begging the viewer to challenge them.
Why do some fans seem to drool over seeing wrestlers in jackets??  That seems like an unusual fetish, almost like getting off on a laced up pair of boots or a colorful speedo.  Why is the traditional gear that pro wrestlers wear a sexual turn-on for some men??
I guess after seeing hundreds of studs climb in the ring wearing their fancy jackets, and then watching them suffer in an arousing match, the fans begin to associate the gear with the stimulation of wrestling.  This is like when Pavlov rang his bell and his dogs started drooling, anticipating the pleasure that would follow.  (Is this why they also ring a bell before a wrestling match begins, to make the fans drool??)


From BG East, Chris Bruce vs. Cole Cassidy, Demolition 10

Wow, Wade Cutler strikes a Superhero pose and offers a peek at his incredible physique, his fancy jacket parted like curtains that are slowly opening on a stage.  The preferred colors for ring jackets seem to be red, white, or blue, or shiny gold or silver. Anything bright, colorful, and flashy, like a flower attracting a hungry bee.

From BG East, Wade Cutler vs Max Dare, Hard Pros 2

Wearing an open jacket over a speedo seems to draw the viewer's attention down to the crotch area, somehow making the bulge appear larger. Maybe this is why wrestling fans like seeing their young heroes posing in open jackets?!
Cocky Jeff Gaylord rips open his jacket to show off his ripped stomach.  He had an incredible body and he knew it, often watching his muscles as he flexed for the camera.
He smiles at the camera as if to say "I know you're checking me out.  Go ahead, we both know I'm a stud.  I'll even hold my coat open for you."

Gaylord was known as a "Tweener", which means he would sometimes win, sometimes lose, and was sometimes the good guy, sometimes the bad guy.  Whatever, he was always a hunk!

Tom Zenk seemed to have bad luck with zippers, because he can never seem to zip up his jacket more than a few inches, so his wide chest is always poking out.  He better be careful, he could catch a chill!  

Maybe Zenk learned to love ring jackets from his Tag Team partner, Rick Martel, when they wrestled as the "Can-Am Connection."  Some of the wrestling fans are a bit slow, so wearing a ring jacket helps the dumb fans figure out which Tag Team represents the handsome young heroes who will suffer a painful beating.
When a pretty-boy wanted to switch to being a nasty villain, he would exchange his ring jacket for a black leather vest, as Barry Windham has done.  Wearing leather tells the fans that you are a sadistic bad-ass who likes to hurt other men.
It's time for another quiz.  Are these greasy brawlers in their matching leather vests...

(a) Cute rookies who will follow all the rules and be tricked by their ruthless opponents...

(b) No-nonsense brawlers who know 1,000 ways to punish their victims illegally

I'll give you a hint:  they aren't exactly smiling and hugging their loyal fans.

Alex Wright was almost too beautiful and cute, so they butched up his image by dressing him in a black leather coat like a biker.  He never actually wore the coat over his hard body, but he'd drape them around his shoulders as if he was too hot to zip up.

Some of those stupid fans may be confused by this dirty stud in white trunks.  Is he good or evil??  By growing a long moustache, sewing an Iron Cross over his crotch, and wearing a leather vest with plent of zippers, he shows the fans that he is out to hurt someone by cheating.
The best part about wrestlers who wear jackets into the ring is watching them remove the jackets.  Many studs perform a little strip-tease in the ring, slowly exposing their muscular bodies as the fans whistle and cheer in admiration.
Tommy Rogers, the hotter dude from the "Fantastics" Tag Team, dressed as a male stripper to keep the fans' eyes glued to his hard body.  In case any fans didn't realize he is a stud, he wore a bow-tie and tuxedo jacket like one of the Chippendales.
Jimmy Garvin was never the most muscular or ripped stud in wrestling, so he made up for it by wearing very flamboyant stripper costumes.  Here he gets some hearts pounding by peeling open his shiny gold tuxedo jacket to expose his hairy chest and white speedo.

Wow, this hunk is driving the fans wild by slowly opening his leather coat to show off his hard body and shiny gold bikini.  Some guys know how to say a thousand words just by the way they look at the camera!

I'd say this hunk enjoys the feeling of leather against his skin!  Either that or he has a foreign object stuffed in that gold bikini which he plans to use on his opponent.
Leather vests are also worn when a wrestler wants to look like a rough cowboy, one of the most popular fetish costumes in the world.  Bob Orton perfected the ruthless "Cowboy" image in the 1980's by wearing his leather vest and a black hat.
Here is a hairy blond cowboy climbing the ropes to give the fans a better look at his costume and body.  Is he supposed to represent a Cowboy, a male dancer, or a porn star??
Isn't there a country song called "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy" ?  How about: "Save a Jobber, Rassle a Cowboy!"  This wrangler will be ready to grapple after he peels off that black vest and the leather chaps.



Believe it or not, Tracy Smothers was proud of his Southern roots, for some unknown reason.  He called himself the "Wild Eyed Southern Boy" and wore a confederate army coat, which looked hot draped over his bare chest and tight trunks.

The redneck fans would go wild when this hunk climbed the ropes in his open coat, waving the Stars and Bars around like he was getting ready to lynch a slave.  Usually young Tracy would take a painful beating in the ring, like the humiliating loss the South suffered in the Civil War.
Ricky Nelson was a cute young wrestler, named after the teen idol from the 1950's.  Of course he was required to wear ring jackets all the time, and the promoters probably bought them for him.
A new stud on the Indy scene -- Ricky Landell -- is reviving the ring jacket look.  I guess if your name is "Ricky", you are required to look like a cute blond kid and wear a shiny jacket into the ring.



Now Ricky is looking hot in a red satin jacket and white gear.  He wrapped a clean white towel around his neck to soak up his sweat, and even remembered to put his initials on his bulging white trunks as the old-school wrestlers used to do.

Here is Ricky looking very retro, wearing a denim jacket and tie-dye trunks.  It's nice to see a modern wrestler embracing the old-school style, with the cute jobber gear designed to show off his vulnerability.

When a handsome guy walks by on the street, many male wrestling fans wouldn't give him a second glance. But when just about any man dresses up in pro gear (trunks, boots, an open jacket), he'll have the male wrestling fans eating out of his hand.  This is the mysterious power of pro gear over nearly all male wrestling fans.