If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission.
Rapper and noted wrestling fan Wale has teamed up with Foot Locker and designer Dan “Mache” Gamache for his final WWE-inspired clothing collection.
Tied to SummerSlam 2022 this weekend, Wale’s sixth and final WWE collection features tees and hoodies that honor some of WWE’s biggest stars: Bianca Belair, Becky Lynch, Big E, and AJ Styles. Each wrestler’s initials are displayed on the front of the shirts and hoodies, as well as their title belts down the arm of the hoodies.
Related: How to Stream WWE SummerSlam 2022
The new Wale x WWE collection will be sold exclusively at FootLocker.com, with prices ranging from $40 to $120.
Foot Locker
When Wale launched his first WWE collection last year, we spoke to the “Lotus Flower” rapper about his love for wrestling: “Watching WWE Superstars on Saturday morning,” he tells Rolling Stone. “Marty Jannetty jumping through that window was the day nothing would be the same again,” Wale says, referencing the now-infamous clip of wrestler Jannetty trying to escape from his nemesis, Shawn Michaels after a barber shop brawl.
The sartorial rapper is a big sneaker collector too, he admits, which makes the partnership with Foot Locker and Footaction something of a no-brainer (“Sneaker culture was a part of most of our childhood… I probably just took it too far and never grew up,” he says, adding that the first pair of shoes he ever saved up for were the Nike Total Air Foamposite Max, famously sported by basketball star, Tim Duncan).
Foot Locker
Since 2014, Wale has held the annual WaleMania, a one-of-a-kind event merging the worlds of music, sports, fashion, and entertainment around the same time as WrestleMania. This year’s incarnation of the event saw fellow rappers Westside Gunn, Smoke DZA, and Yella Beezy in attendance, as were some big WWE names like Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins (The Street Profits), and Cedric Alexander.
As part of his wrestling celebration, Wale has rolled out six WWE-inspired collections since WrestleMania 2021. Some pieces from previous collections are still in stock at FootLocker.com — check them out here.
Foot Locker
The rapper says the collaborations allow him to showcase his passions outside of music, which not only include wrestling, but sneaker culture and fashion too.
“I think extending the brand beyond music is important, especially after the year we’ve all just had,” he says. “It’s always good to show your supporters more sides of you, and I think this year we all learned a lot more about ourselves than we probably were ready to. That being said, I think a lot of my fans and supporters know my name is synonymous with sneakers and sneaker culture, my respect for the sneaker world is genuine and this is a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with the biggest in the game.”
See the full selection of Wale’s WWE merch — including his latest release for SummerSlam 2022 — on FootLocker.com.
