Surely I’m not the only wrestling fan who likes to see a pair of laced up leather boots in action. They say the wrestlers wear such tall boots to protect their ankles and shins from injury, but I’d say they wear them for looks too. They come in the wildest, brightest colors, and resemble something a gladiator or Superhero or motorcycle cop would wear. And there are plenty of matches where the camera-man who is filming the action zooms in for a closer look at the eye-catching footwear, making me think there’s more to wrestling boots than injury prevention. Boots convey authority and strength, especially tall laced-up boots, and make a pro wrestler seem more serious and more talented than if he just wrestled in sneakers or flip flops.
Boots of different colors and styles can tell you a little about the wrestler wearing them: Black is for fierce, serious bad guys. White is for heroic good guys and pretty-boys. Pink is for the flamboyant sissies and flamers. Red is for the hot-shot high-flyers. Yellow or baby blue is for the jobbers and baby faces. Cowboy style is for, well, cowboys. Wingtips, where the toe and heel are a different color, seem to be favored by the highly talented veterans who have more holds in their arsenal than their boots have lace holes. The taller the boot, the more sadistic the wrestler wearing them, and Arabian wrestlers favor boots with a curled up pointed toe.
A nice colorful pair of shiny boots is a wearable piece of art. Part of the appeal of wrestling boots is their potential usage as a weapon, when one wrestler will kick or stomp his opponent repeatedly, making the boot an object of respect and danger. “Kissing someones boots” is the ultimate sign of submission, and standing with one boot on the opponent’s chest or neck is the ultimate sign of domination.
