Tom Fleming: The Drawing I Did Of The Giant Gonzalez Costume Did Not Translate To Real Life
Tom Fleming comments on Giant Gonzalez’ costume.
One of the most infamous outfits in wrestling history is that of Giant Gonzalez, who wore a flesh airbrushed suit with hair. The concept for the costume was down by artist Tom Fleming, who drew something that looked a little different on paper than what the finished product turned out to be.
Speaking to Conrad Thompson on Insiders, Fleming said he took the measurements for Giant Gonzalez, and that’s when he came up with the concept.
The idea of a Yeti popped in my head. I did a drawing of it, and on paper it was kind of Marvel comics type of feel and looked pretty cool on paper. When they sent it off to have the costume made, it did not translate. It looked like they kind of sued carpets to his shoulders. I thought it was going to be long, natural swinging hair so that when he walked it looked like it was waving and he had this primitive look. When he came out, it was, 100%, ‘I’m not going to take any credit whatsoever for the airbrushed muscles.’ The airbrushed muscles, when I saw that, I was like, ‘Oh god.’ When all this happens, it was one of those costumes that I never mentioned. That was one that I avoided. It turns out, a lot of fans were like, ‘You’re off on this. You might have thought it was cheesy, but I was seven years old and that was incredible. It was fantastical and it had an effect on me.’ This is why you shouldn’t assume anything,” he said.
— Conrad the Mortgage Guy (@HeyHeyItsConrad) September 29, 2023
Fleming created gear for the likes of Papa Shango and Razor Ramon, as well as the famous Survivor Series 1993 poster.
Giant Gonzalez competed in WWE in 1993, famously wrestling The Undertaker at WrestleMania and SummerSlam.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the original source with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.
