When it came time to plan his last ever WWE outfit before announcing his retirement at this year’s Wrestlemania, Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista knew exactly where to turn: some expert cosplayers and a very big pair of Lebrons.
While working on Guardians of the Galaxy a few years back, Bautista heard about a place called GSTQ from a crewmember, the cosplayer Miss Sinister. GSTQ Fashions is a workshop in Atlanta, owned by Catherine Jones, that produces not just screen-quality cosplay outfits, but costumes for actual TV shows and movies as well.
So Bautista decided to work with GSTQ earlier this year to make sure he was looking sharp. His “boots” are actually two pairs of Lebron 11 Soldiers, one worn as usual, the other chopped up to create a “superhero” hi-top look, while his trunks have his name embossed in leather across the front and a big-ass lion across his...ass.
Bautista says he came to a place like GSTQ ahead of time because his last appearance in the ring was “unplanned...I didn’t have trunks, I didn’t have boots”.
GSTQ put this video together of the creation of his outfit and its fitting, which is cool if you’re into serious cosplay work, but also wrestling! This isn’t a side of the WWE that I knew anything about or ever paid much attention to, but it was really interesting seeing a wrestler plan out and get a costume put together like this.