This weekend, the WWE, which stands for World Wrestling Entertainment, will be in Toronto to host their popular wrestling program, Friday Night SmackDown, and their Pay-Per-View event, Money in the Bank, on Saturday night.
With both events taking place at the Maple Leafs' home rink, Scotiabank Arena, the two organizations have come together to create some Leafs-inspired wrestling merchandise that will certainly appeal to the scores of Maple Leafs fans as well.
As The Hockey News' David Alter reported earlier this week, not only have the WWE and Toronto Maple Leafs collaborated on something before, dropping a special Adam "Edge" Copeland Leafs themed shirt, but they've had Cody Rhodes, the current WWE Universal Champion, release a shirt of his own as well. However, that's not the shirt that everyone is talking about. The one people are raving about links Auston Matthews to wrestling legend Stone Cold Steve Austin.
The Maple Leafs and WWE have created special white Money in the Bank shirts that have "Auston 3:16" printed across the front in blue, with Stone Cold Steve Austin's iconic smoking skull on the back, with blue and white smoke coming out of the eye sockets of the skull.
If I'm being honest, I'm surprised it took this long for Auston 3:16 shirts to enter circulation, and I do hope that they're not just a 1-time offer.
Obviously, with WWE owning the rights to the whole Austin 3:16 idea, there would have to be some sort of royalty deal put together, but it could be one of the most popular shirts among Maple Leafs fans for as long as Auston Matthews is a Leaf.
Source: The Hockey NewsWWE-Specific Maple Leafs Merchandise for Money In The Bank Includes an 'Auston 3:16' Shirt Inspired by Auston Matthews and Stone Cold Steve Austin
POLL | ||
5 JUILLET | 518 ANSWERS Maple Leafs and WWE release the greatest Auston Matthews shirt of all time Would you buy an "Auston 3:16" Maple Leafs shirt? | ||
Absolutely | 123 | 23.7 % |
No, not much of a wrestling fan | 293 | 56.6 % |
Yeah, but wouldn't go out of my way to find one | 102 | 19.7 % |
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