Former WWE performers Sean “X-Pac” Waltman and Lilian Garcia appeared as guests on the Maria Menounos-produced late night talk show, “The Tomorrow Show with Keven Undergaro,” recently and spoke about the origins of WWE’s past dress code.
“What happened was, after a while there was the, “oh ok we’ll dress casually but nice, we’re traveling” and that kind of thing,” recalled Lilian Garcia, the former longtime ring announcer for WWE. “Then the guys started coming with… cut off shorts, obnoxious comments on t-shirts and stuff and that was when Vince McMahon was like, “that’s it. You guys represent this brand of WWE, we call you superstars but you’re not dressing as a superstar.”…he said, “once you leave the house, you’re representing the brand, then through the airport, you know, anywhere you’re traveling, wherever, I want you to be dressing up nicely.” And you know the guys definitely and the girls, whatever, we were like “what??” because… we kept saying, “alright, I totally get it, and I always look nice.”…But like for the females, we dressed in high heels shoes, whatever,and we’re driving like 2,300 miles. And I drove by myself a lot…So I’m thinking holy crap, what if something happens to me on the side of the road and I’m dressed like a little, you know.”
For his part, Waltman claims he liked to dress “like a star” when he left his house anyway, but if he didn’t, he would “be damned” if someone was going to “take his money” if he didn’t.
“NBA players are pampered. I don’t give two s–ts what anyone says, they’re pampered and we are f–king pirates,” said Waltrman, comparing the way pro wrestlers are treated versus pro basketball players. “We rent our own cars, we pay for our own hotels, our own food. It’s way f–kin’ different… My personal policy was to dress and look like a star when I left the house, but, you know, if I didn’t, I’ll be damned if I’m going to have somebody take my money because of it. That’s bulls–t.”
“The Tomorrow Show with Keven Undergaro” airs live on Mondays and Thursdays from 10-12am EST at TheTomorrowShow.com. The show is also available via iTunes.
