A handful of WWE wrestlers have embraced pop culture as a part of their brand over the past decade. WWE itself is a staple and a beacon of American pop culture, and it makes sense that expressions of respect for pop culture as a whole would be represented by the stars of the show. That's exactly what New Day's Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston have done, as they have shown off new outfits inspired by the Power Rangers franchise.
Woods' outfit is inspired by the white ranger, while Kingston's outfit is inspired by the green ranger. Both Woods and Kingston are especially notable for their vocal appreciation for so-called nerdy subjects. In fact, Woods is a huge fan of the Final Fantasy video game franchise, while both of the wrestlers are fans of anime series' like Dragon Ball Z. The wrestlers' fandoms have done a lot to allow fans of WWE, video games, and anime to cross into each other under a united umbrella.
Woods and Kingston released the image of their Power Rangers-inspired outfits on Instagram last Tuesday. The outfits are linked together by their golden secondary colors and their bright disco-light textures. Great care has been taken to create a design that calls back to the rangers while also being great wrestling outfits in their own right, with boisterous shoulder pads and the addition of gloves sporting the Reebok logo. Jonathan Davenport was the designer of the outfits.
For over two decades, the Power Rangers franchise has steadily maintained its grasp on American pop culture. For example, a Power Rangers feature film released in 2017 to modest success and the fighting game Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid has maintained its fanbase, and it continues to receive content updates to this day. For instance, Ryu and Chun-Li of Street Fighter fame have recently been added to the game. In addition, the most recent season of the television series, Power Rangers Dino Fury, began airing episodes on Nickelodeon earlier this year.
Woods and Kingston, two very popular and influential wrestlers, will likely continue to give nods to notable pop culture IPs in the near future. On other the hand, Power Rangers is hoping to improve on the last feature film with a reboot in the works, which Hasbro and eOne plan to include as part of a shared universe consisting of movies and TV shows, and the first movie in the line-up is rumored to involve a time-traveling story.
The original Power Rangers series is available to stream on Netflix in Canada.
Source: Main Event Gear