Pro Wrestling Tees is a website and store for

professional wrestlers Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

to sell their

merchandise Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of Product (business), products ("merch" colloquially) to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative w ...

and is the largest website of its kind. The site regularly organizes meet ups for wrestlers and their fans around wrestling events. The company provides a platform for well-known professional wrestlers to sell their merchandise all over the world.

History

The brand was founded in 2013 by Ryan Barkan headquartered on the North side of Chicago. It first started as a digital print shop in 2008, where Barkan sold custom T-shirts under the company One Hour Tees. In 2010, Barkan received an email by a well-known independent wrestler

Colt Cabana Scott Colton (born May 6, 1980), better known by the ring name Colt Cabana, is an American professional wrestler, color commentator, and podcaster. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a wrestler and as a coach, and he performs the same ...

to help create a shirt for his friend

CM Punk Phillip Jack Brooks (born October 26, 1978), better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw brand. Regarded as ...

that would say, "I Broke Big Show’s Hand". After that, Ryan received more orders from Colt Cabana and later Colt offered Barkan a deal for promoting One Hour Tees on Colt's podcast, ''The Art of Wrestling''. After getting featured on Colt's podcast, the brand bloomed and got the attention of the wrestlers such as

The Young Bucks The Young Bucks are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of brothers Matthew Massie and Nicholas Massie, who perform under the ring names Matthew Jackson and Nicholas Jackson. , they are signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), whe ...

, Joey Ryan,

Kevin Steen Kevin Yanick Steen (born May 7, 1984) is a Canadian Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Kevin Owens. As of A ...

Christopher Daniels Christopher Daniel Covell (born March 24, 1970), better known by the ring name Christopher Daniels, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he works as the Head of Ta ...

and

Frankie Kazarian Frank Benedict Gerdelman (born August 4, 1977) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and musician signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), performing under the ring name Frankie Kazarian. He is also known for his wo ...

. In 2013, Ryan started the website ProWrestlingTees.com which is a marketplace of over 1,200 wrestlers who sell their own merchandise worldwide. In 2014, the company signed partnership deals with

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...

. In 2017, they signed a deal with

Hot Topic Hot Topic, Inc. is an American fast-fashion company specializing in counterculture-related clothing and accessories, as well as licensed music. The stores are aimed towards an audience interested in rock music and video gaming, and most of the ...

to supply them the wrestling clothing and merchandise. In 2019, they become the official merchandise partner for

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. It is owned and operated by Shahid Khan, Shahid and Tony Khan, with the latter serving as President (corporate title), president an ...

, launching ShopAEW.com.

Business model

Barkan came up with the idea for ProWrestlingTees.com along with Colt Cabana to help wrestlers sell merchandise worldwide. The website was formed as a platform for the professional wrestlers and their families to design and sell their own apparel and other items including DVDs, posters and action figures. The wrestlers own their individual stores on the website and also own all the photos and products that they sell on ProWrestlingTees.com. The profits received from the merchandise directly go to the wrestlers or their families.

Partnerships

The company has direct business with many famous wrestlers including:

Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler, rock musician, and actor. As a wrestler, he has been signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) , where he ...

Hulk Hogan Terry Gene Bollea (; born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as a brand ambassador. Known for his flamboyance and massive physiq ...

Randy Savage Randy Mario Poffo (November 15, 1952 – May 20, 2011), better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler and professional baseball player, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation ( ...

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Flair's career spanned 50 years. He is ...

Shawn Michaels Shawn Michaels (born Michael Shawn Hickenbottom on July 22, 1965) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he is the Senior Vice President of Talent Development, Creative, and oversees the creative aspects of th ...

Cody Rhodes Cody Garrett Runnels Rhodes (born June 30, 1985) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. As of April 2022, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand. He is also known for co-fou ...

Kenny Omega Tyson Smith (born October 16, 1983), better known by the ring name , is a Canadian-born professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the current AEW International Champion in his first reign. He also works as an ...

, Andre the Giant,

Scott Hall Scott Oliver Hall (October 20, 1958 – March 14, 2022) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his tenures with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under his real name and with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE ...

Mick Foley Michael Francis Foley (born June 7, 1965) is an American retired professional wrestler and author. He is signed to WWE, under a Legends contract while also serving as an ambassador. Foley worked for many wrestling promotions, including the W ...

Steve Austin Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson and later Steven James Williams; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American media personality, actor, producer and retired Professional wrestling, profes ...

Roddy Piper Roderick George Toombs (April 17, 1954 – July 31, 2015), better known as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, was a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. In professional wrestling, Piper was best known to international audiences for his work with the Wo ...

, and many others. Colt Cabana was the first ever professional wrestler to have a store in the company's website.

Sales figures

During All In weekend, Pro Wrestling Tees sold half a million dollars in merchandise. In April 2019, Pro Wrestling Tees announced they paid out over $5 million in royalties. On December 3, 2020, Pro Wrestling Tees owner Ryan Barkan stated on his Instagram page that

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

's AEW t-shirt quickly broke the single day record for t-shirt sales. During the

Brodie Lee Celebration of Life Brodie can be a given name or a surname of Scottish origin, and a location in Moray, Scotland, its meaning is uncertain; it is not clear if Brodie, as a word, has its origins in the Gaelic or Pictish languages. In 2012 this name became the 5 ...

, Pro Wrestling Tees' Shop AEW store released a t-shirt in memory of Brodie Lee with all proceeds benefiting The Huber Family. In less than two hours, it set a new record for most shirts sold within 24 hours, breaking

's previous record. In just under four hours, it became the highest selling t-shirt of 2020, breaking

Orange Cassidy James Cipperly (born May 4, 1984), better known by his ring name Orange Cassidy, is an American professional wrestler and Glossary of professional wrestling terms#school, wrestling trainer. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is ...

's previous record.

References

External links