Pro Wrestling: Will Brock Lesnar's Sponsored Ring Attire Be a New Trend?

Professional wrestling is a business and, like any other business, is driven by the almighty dollar. Any idea that is worth making a dollar on is an idea that WWE is interested in. Just about anything is getting sponsored today, including jerseys getting sponsored across the world with soccer teams.

It has been brought to the mainstream in North America with the WNBA following the same path and the four major sports being just a few years down financially from doing the same thing. As for pro wrestling, their style of trying things before those four major North American sports could have them using sponsorships in unique ways.

Brock Lesnar's latest in-ring gear was inspired from his days in mixed martial arts. In MMA, sponsoring on anything and everything is about as common as Joe Rogan getting really excited during a fight. The UFC octagon had eight sides with different sponsors at each corner. There are multiple names on the canvas and countless advertisers that pop up during introductions, as well as those with logos on the pants of the fighters themselves.

Some fighters end up looking like NASCAR drivers, but there is a method to that madness. Advertisers are looking for new and unique ways to get noticed now more than ever. It may be difficult to swing it with other superstars, but Lesnar's advertisers on his in-ring gear is unique to his character and it works for him.

WWE has already been seen in recent years using advertisers in unusual ways. Some of their guest hosts would be on simply to promote a movie or a TV show. It almost had the feel of some random celebrity throwing out the first pitch to a baseball game. When Donald Trump bought WWE and owned RAW for one week, he had the show be commercial free, but it was still sponsored by KFC, included some chicken on the commentary table.

Perhaps the oddest of the past few years was the sponsorship with Keystone Light. Randomly, we would be subjected to shots of Keith Stone, the fictional spokesman of the beer brand. He would be carrying  case of beer around and be seen at ringside and backstage. Suddenly, he was gone. Nobody really missed him, but we were curious as to why he was on a TV-PG product to begin with.

A few weeks ago, another chapter was added to this saga. Taco Bell became the sponsor of a tag team match with Brodus Clay and Hornswoggle taking on Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger. It was the final match of the night. In that regard, the main event match on a night was directly sponsored by Taco Bell.

WWE hasn't quite gotten to the level that some have. TNA has Direct Auto Insurance sponsoring just about anything and everything, including having their logo on the ring apron. WCW got really nuts by having the legendary rock band KISS sponsor a superstar, known for most of the time as The KISS Demon or simply The Demon. In the contract, The Demon was promised a main event pay-per-view match. This prompted WCW to give him a random match and refer to it as a co-main event simply to avoid breaching the deal.

It could be rather easy for some. At a time, John Cena simply wore more Ecko brand jean shorts. The logo would appear on his rear end while he wrestled. For others who simply wear small wrestling trunks, logo placement could be a little bit more complicated. Perhaps the real reason that WWE was okay with Lesnar keeping his sponsors on his shorts (besides the fact that he was paid a lot of money to appear) was because it was the beginning of a new trend in WWE.

Just imagine some of your favorite superstars with sponsorships on them during matches. Can you think of any that would really make sense? What about any that are simply just too funny to not mention? Put your advertising ideas together in the comments section below or follow me on Twitter to continue the conversation.

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