2017 saw WWE branch out into several different types of merch that aren’t t-shirts, including gaming chairs and ugly Christmas sweaters. A brand-new partnership with geek activewear brand Wild Bangarang keeps this trend going into the new year.
Wild Bangarang dropped the second phase of its officially-licensed WWE leggings collection on Friday, and it’s just the latest step on a long road to collaboration between the two brands. It started with Mickie James modeling some of their leggings on her Instagram, which led to Wild Bangarang making custom pairs for Dana Warrior, Beth Phoenix, Becky Lynch, and Alexa Bliss.
After much campaigning on the part of Wild Bangarang, their relationship with the WWE is such that they get to release officially-licensed merch. It’s a pretty good development in WWE making more products targeted at women and girls, and not just those who watch Total Divas or are of doll-playing age.
“Sure, the advancement of North American women’s wrestling through capitalism is cool,” you might be thinking, “but what about the leggings themselves? Are they any good?” That’s a great question. Because leggings are fashionable and fashion is art and art is deserving of criticism, here is our definitive ranking of the new WWE/Wild Bangarang leggings, from worst to best.
7. “Fabulous” Carmella
The more I look at these, the more confused I am. Carmella tends to have some of the more shoot-fashionable ring attire on the roster, but there is a shoe on these leggings. These also seem to indicate that Carmella’s time as Ms. Money in the Bank has been legendary, which … okay, she is the first “Ms.” (although we have had a “Miz,” yeah, yeah) to hold the briefcase, but that storyline has seemed more and more stagnant since the Riott Squad debuted. If Carmella’s cash-in turns out to be epic, I’ll mentally bump these leggings up a few ranks.
6. “Livin Large” Liv Morgan
I guess these are relatively inoffensive, but they have to be low on the list, because I’m not sure anyone is dying to buy Liv Morgan merch right now. Can she even claim to be livin’ large right now, in her position as Ruby Riott’s second-most-memorable sidekick? Has she even eaten game meat? I don’t think Liv Morgan leggings are likely to inspire anyone to achieve any type of fitness goals beyond like 20 minutes on the elliptical.
5. “DeadMan” The Undertaker
Confusing capitalization in the product name aside, these leggings are the perfect purchase to kick of a health goth phase. I like that they remind me of “American Badass” Undertaker because they feature the type of flames you’re more likely to see on the side of a motorcycle than on somebody’s legs. Even so, I can’t bring myself to rank this font/fire combination any higher for aesthetic reasons. I’m sure there are plenty of hardcore Taker fans who would be very into these, though.
4. “Legit Boss” Sasha Banks
Like Sasha’s ring gear, these leggings have a color scheme that requires commitment. They’re a bold fashion choice in a way I think would inspire you to work out super hard. These leggings force you to either step up and become the Legit Boss of your gym, or do anything less and look like the fitness fashion equivalent of losing the Raw Women’s Championship in eight days.
3. “HBK” Shawn Michaels
These and the Taker leggings are definitely the most Walmart of the collection, but I like these a lot more. They have a streamlined look and remind me of NASCAR, which I think would be motivating for cardio workouts. The main caveat here is that wearing a dudes’ first and last name in a heart basically on your butt inevitably makes you look super thirsty for that dude. But HBK 1) is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, and 2) was in Playgirl back in the day, so that might not hurt sales.
2. “Cenation” John Cena
This might be my favorite piece of John Cena merch I’ve ever seen — probably become it’s the only one not specifically designed for six-year-olds. These leggings look very sporty, the color scheme works here, and John Cena is definitely a worthy guy to emulate in the gym. I even saw Cena’s theme on one of those workout playlists on Spotify the other day. Those trumpets just keep popping up everywhere.
1. “Amazing” Naomi
First, my issues with these: they are not called anything GLOW-related, and they feature the bare minimum of neon. Still, these are far and away the best-looking piece of clothing out of this collection. Also, I get like 95 percent of my #fitspo intake from Naomi’s Instagram, so I believe these leggings probably give you a six-pack and the ability to do the splits in like a week.
