Longtime AEW Seamstress Sandra Gray Reportedly Retiring
Professional wrestling is as much an aesthetic business, as it is an athletic one, which is why seamstresses like AEW's Sandra Gray can be so important to a promotion's success.
Fightful Select is reporting that AEW's lead seamstress is finishing up her duties on the road and will be retiring soon. Gray has been with AEW since the company's inception, just a small part of a long career designing wrestling gear. Initially, she was the designer for Marc Mero's Johnny B. Badd character in the 1990s, Gray worked for WCW until the company was purchased by WWE, and then worked for WWE until 2015. Former AEW Chief Brand Officer Brandi Rhodes reportedly hired the seamstress after her WWE tenure. During her time in WWE, Gray would sometimes make cameo appearances on the reality show "Total Divas."
According to Fightful, even in retirement, Gray will continue to make attire for "The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes. Gray has been a longtime supporter of Rhodes, saying that she cried when the former AEW Executive Vice President left the company to go back to WWE. Gray said she was "super proud" of the second-generation wrestler for wrestling in the main event of WrestleMania 39.
Gray was not only responsible for the Johnny B. Badd outfits, as well as Cody Rhodes' current attire, she was also the mastermind of the famous "blood drip" design that Scott Hall wore during his tenure in WCW.
"I had no clue that it would become so iconic," Gray said of the famous design, "and we're still recreating that same exact look today that I didn't think looked like blood, but I guess it looked like blood to somebody."