Thick Soles (Protection for Your Feet)
"It Doesn't Hurt at All"
Dory Funk Jr. - Lacing the Boots
They say if you don't enjoy lacing your boots up before a match you
won't be worth a darn anyway.
As NWA World Champion, I always enjoyed coming into the dressing room
casually and moseying over to a vacant bench,
taking my time opening my bag and pulling out my wrestling boots and
lacing them up.
It gave opportunity to check everybody out. Were they relaxed and easygoing
or was there a tenseness in the dressing room?
I liked to listen to the boys talk. Just listening, I would get a feel
for how the house was in comparison to their regular cards.
(Did it draw more money because the world champion was there?) I could
watch the different officials come into the dressing
room. (Announcer, referee, booker, promoter and various dignitaries
who were allowed in the dressing room)
After fifteen minutes of lacing my boots and getting the socks just
right and the laces tucked in there would be a lot you would
know about the people you were going to be working with.
Good shoes are important to your performance. The soles are flat, usually
made from rubber. They should not stick in the mat.
I have seen wrestlers injured because their shoes had too much traction
and they stuck in the matting. Once a broken ankle and
even a broken leg. (Rob Van Dam broke his leg in a match when his foot
stuck in the mat. He incidentally finished the match
doing a back flip; of the top rope and landing on his broken leg.)
This shoe is the only kind the great Ric Flair will wear. It is double
lined with leather and gives support to the ankle. They fit like
a glove. They are hand made by Clifford Macias in Houston, Texas. Clifford
designed this shoe after the Reddell football shoe
for strength across the top of the instep and all-round support.
Good shoes are the most critical piece of equipment you will have as a professional wrestler.
I remember seeing Killer Kowalski on a television talk show in Sydney
Australia. The host asked him if it really hurt when he
stomped people in the face with his size fifteen wrestling boots. His
answer, "No, I have special thick soles to protect my feet.
It doesn't hurt at all."
Well worn wrestling boots.
