However, like any good, rebellious teenager, I broke the rules. One day, while flipping through the channels, I saw Hulk Hogan on my TV. Even though I wasn’t allowed to watch wrestling, I knew who this all-American hero was–except fans were booing him and throwing trash at him. Before I could sort out my confusion, some guy with his face painted like the Crow dropped from the rafters and beat the hell out of everyone.

I was hooked.

And now, Hogan’s heel faction, the nWo, that hooked me into pro wrestling has so many hilarious parallels to Notre Dame’s pseudo-membership in the ACC. I just had to make some new merch for this occasion and, like all new merch, it’s 35% for 72 hours in our store.

It’s not even stretching a comparison or joke at this point: a group banded together, many coming from outside the company and had themselves a hostile takeover of an established brand. Not only that, when Hulk captured the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, he spray-painted it and called it the nWo Championship (hop to 6:30 for the actual act):

While the nWo eventually lost the title and, like all things in pro wrestling, the group ended, Notre Dame has an opportunity to do what no one else has done or can (probably) ever do again: win a conference title and leave with the gold, remaining champion…FOR LIFE.

The post The Following Merch Announcement is Brought to You by Wrestling Nostalgia appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

First we have “Go Irish, Beat COVID” which is fairly self explanatory, no? All proceeds will benefit my Extra Life campaign, benefiting the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Oklahoma City. I do this in honor of a family friend, Aven, who passed from Leukemia when he was only two. Over the years, we’ve raised nearly $30,000 in his memory to the only freestanding children’s hospital in the state of Oklahoma, who will never turn any family away regardless of financial status.

You can buy the mask here ($8 at debut discount) and the shirt here ($14 at debut discount).

To sweeten this pot, I will also donate proceeds from the sale of any mask in our store (with one notable exception as described below). Keep in mind that with the purchase of every mask, TeePublic will donate a medical-grade mask to Direct Relief.

The notable exception to the mask donation mentioned earlier is the “Fighting…For Equality” merch. Inspired by a rather well known campaign ad, I’m taking the question of “what are you fighting for?” rather seriously and with tangible action.

As our friends over at Notre Dame, Our Blogger pointed out, Notre Dame as a whole–the institution, students, alumni, and fans–have failed in making people of color feel truly and completely welcome and equal under the Dome. The first step is recognizing it. The next is trying to bring about change like signing this petition started by the black alumni of Notre Dame.

But we can’t just stop within the Notre Dame bubble. In the spirit of trying to bring about said change, all proceeds from the “Fighting…For Equality” merch will be donated to the ALCU (masks included). The ALCU has been right of the middle of practically every fight for justice and equality representing people of every race, creed, and sexuality over the years. Those fights will continue as we fight for true equality for all.

If you’d rather skip the TeePublic middle man and donate directly, I highly encourage you to do so:

• Extra Life, benefiting the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Oklahoma City
• America Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

The post Masks Are Back, Plus New Designs Benefiting Charity! appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.