Who is making Mercede Mone’s and Naomi’s wigs and why do they look so damn good?!

Hiya!

Welcome to my first non-music post! SOOO HAPPY YOU COULD MAKE IT! Miss you cutie! Long time, no see. 

It’s officially time for a new Queasy Cardigan blog post. Hope you’re hyped! If you’re not, then come back when you are. If you are though, then onwards we go!

Today, we’re talking about wigs. More specifically, the wigs of two of my favourite wrestlers, Naomi (a.k.a Trinity whilst outside of WWE) and Mercedes Mone (a.k.a Sasha Banks whilst inside WWE). Originally, I just wanted to gloat about how cool their wigs are until I found out that they’re made by the exact same artist dun dun dun! The artist in question is none other than “Shannon Romano”. 

“Just who is she?!” you may excitedly ask with the immediate follow-up question “And why haven’t you shown me their cool designs yet?”. Admittedly, these are very good questions (thought of them myself). Luckily, thanks to yours truly, I’m here to give you a breakdown of Romano and her career, as well as a rough idea of how she makes these cool wigs. As well as this, we’ll be looking at my favourite wig designs she’s done for Naomi and Mercedes and giving my most delectable opinions on them.

Let us start off by addressing the first question. Shannon Romano has spent over 20 years of being a cosmetologist (a trained person whose job is to improve the appearance of a customer's face, hair, or skin using make-up and beauty treatments (Cambridge Dictionary)) and she sees hair as an artform and enjoys seeing how she can push boundaries with it. Side notes are that she is from New York and is also a mother of four (awwwwwww) (Romano). 

The general process for making her wigs starts with her colouring the hair wefts with direct dyes. For those that don’t know, a hair weft “is a collection of hair strands which have been woven onto a fine strip of cloth”. Wefts “will differ in width dependent on their length, but are generally referred to by their weight.” (Hair&BeautyCorp). After colouring the hair, she washes and dries them. Then she sews them into a wig cap (Alhamed). After this comes the fun part: she uses body paint to paint the wigs’ beautiful designs onto them. Romano does this freehand with the wefts sewn on because that way the hair is laying exactly where it will be once it’s on the head (Alhamed). She uses Mehron body paint to do this: Mehron being a high-end makeup brand that is used in Hollywood and specialises in body paint, special effects products etc. (Mehron). I’m not sure exactly which product of theirs she uses (or used because there’s always the possibility she might have changed products since), but I’ve made the educated guess that it is the “Fantasy FX'' range, as they’re alcohol based body paints, meaning “Their combination allows for an opaque and smooth finish with a matte look that can resist water, sweat, and friction for extended periods of time.” (Jest Paint), which is great for a wig (especially a wig for a wrestler).

Before we finish with the background section, I'd like to touch upon, generally, the usage of wigs in professional wrestling. Despite watching wrestling for years and seeing the wrestlers’ hair change quite regularly, it for some reason didn’t clock that they’re not always dying their hair - they’re also using wigs. Silly me…it is kinda obvious thinking back on it. What was also obvious is why they use them. Nia Jax (another prevalent wrestler) explained that it’s simply just to protect your natural hair (Treese)…whodathunk! 

The only part about the wig-wearing that did seem insane is the fact that they’re able to keep them on. ‘The Iron Claw’ actors shared how crazy it was for them to be able to pull off all these dramatic and aggressive moves and their wigs don’t come off (Coggan). Essentially, the reason why is most likely just due to them being fastened professionally with things like glue, pins, sometimes silicone sheets, wig caps etc. (The Lauren Ashtyn Collection).

And with that, we end our didactic part of this blog and move on to the fun part: gawking at these beautiful designs. It’s gonna be an alternation of looking at Mercedes Mone’s and Naomi’s wigs, and we'll be looking at my three faves for each of them. None of these wigs have names per say so I will just be referring to them by their main feature.

#1 Naomi’s “Mania” Wig

This bright yellow and stark black wig is a great first piece to look at - it shows off Romano's work so well. I just love how deliciously “Mania” has been painted onto it. Naomi wore this masterpiece at Wrestlemania 40 where she teamed up with “The Storm” Jade Cargill and “The EST” Bianca Belair against Damage CTRL (link to match highlights here). The cut is very clean. Naomi pretty much always has this style of cut and you know what they say “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” and this wig is far from broken! The last thing to note is that the colouring and the font is reminiscent of the first wrestlemania logo (they change the logo every year). Whether it was intentional or not IDK?

#2 Mercedes Mone’s “CEO” wig

I love the colour combination and patterning of this wig so, sO, SOOO much. The attention to detail with the black dollar signs being exquisitely placed onto the primarily red and orange wig. However, the star of the show is the white section at the back with “ALL ELITE CEO” written on it. This is from her AEW (All-Elite Wrestling) debut. For those that don’t know, AEW is WWE’s (World Wrestling Entertainment) biggest competitor in the world of Western Wrestling - think Coke v.s. Pepsi. Essentially, Mercedes switched from working for “Coke” (being WWE) to “Pepsi” (being AEW). I remember being absolutely gobsmacked by her debut and then being even more gobsmacked by her new entrance music, and then even more gobsmacked when she was announced with the new nickname “CEO” and then somehow even more gobsmacked when she turned around and her wig said “CEO” on it!

#3 Naomi’s “NAOMI” wig (Cheetah Print Edition)

First of all, we have the same ol’ long hair with fringe hairstyle we saw earlier, which is totes adorbs and really gives the perfect canvas for a pattern like this. The strips of green cheetah print inbetween the blocked-out-black really makes the colours pop, and it looks even more breathtaking on a wig with such a sleek cut. Green and black has been a staple colour combo for Naomi over the past couple of years and you can understand why - she looks unapologetically fabulous! This wig was worn on the 15th March 2024 episode of Smackdown, where Naomi aided Bayley in fending off “Damage CTRL” (a team of wrestlers that, at the time, was comprised of Bayley, Iyo Sky, Dakota Kai, and Asuka), after Bayley had a match against Damage CTRL member Dakota Kai (link to match highlights here).

#4 Mercedes Mone’s “Cheetah Print” wig

This is the wig that sparked my whole obsession with Romano’s designs! With it being the first design of hers that I saw, I was shooketh! I remember thinking that “Omg how did she dye her hair like that? That must be awful to maintain!” and little did I know that it was a wig after all…

I love the cut, the colour combination, and the gradient. It’s simply a chef's kiss!

This was the wig that Mone debuted with during her short-lived run with NJPW (A Japanese Wrestling Brand) - alas she got injured and quietly left the brand (Bajpai). Note to self that I’m also sharing with you, my VIR (Very Important Reader): Must watch the match she did against Kairi whilst she was in NJPW (link to match here). 

#5 Naomi’s “UK” wig

Now, contrary to popular consensus, I’m a big fan of the Union Jack so therefore I find this wig to be quite pleasant, if a lil’ simple. Naomi wore this beauty during IMPACT wrestling’s (link to match highlights here), now known as TNA (Total Nonstop Action) Wrestling (again), UK invasion tour from 2023 which was the first time in eight years they’d done a major tour in the UK (TNA). I love the glossiness and vibrance of the blue colour, as well as the direct placement of the Union Jack on the back of the wig, which, dare I say it, makes it look a lil’ silly but in the best way of course!

#6 Mercedes Mone’s “UK” wig

Now I don’t like pitting women’s wigs against women’s wigs but I do prefer this UK-themed wig to Naomi’s (don’t cancel me please). This wig was from the AEW All-in 2023 event at Wembley stadium where Mercedes was in the audience and so was I - unfortunately not next to her though! 

I remember being sat waiting for the show to start and everyone in Wembley Stadium started cheering like crazy, and my sister and I were just looking around thinking “what the hell is going on?!” until we looked at the screens in the centre of the stadium and there she was - Miss Mone in all her wigilicious glory (hence pics above)! Obviously, like Naomi’s UK wig the design of it is based on the Union Jack. This means that it has the same vibrant red, white, and blue colours. However, the cut of Mercedes' is shorter and has a middle part in it, with the two front sections being coloured after the Union Jack, which gives it a much less silly and more sleek look in my opinion.

AND WITH THAT, we’ve come to the end of this blog post. I hope you had fun! Let me know which wig was your favourite or least favourite if you’re feeling (a lil’ bit) toxic. Also let me know if you’ve learnt anything new or was all my research for nothing?!!!!

Anyways, bysie byes. Run along now!

Works Cited

Alhamed, Alison. “Meet Shannon Romano: The Artist Behind the Hair Paintings.” Modern Salon, 20th February 2019, https://www.modernsalon.com/377908/meet-shannon-romano-the-artist-behind-the-hair-paintings-at-p-i-g-m-e-n-t. Accessed 2 May 2024.

Bajpai, Anutosh. “Mercedes Mone Was Told Her Ankle Injury Was Career-Ending.” SEScoops, 8 March 2024, https://www.sescoops.com/wwe/mercedes-mone-ankle-injury-career-ending. Accessed 14 June 2024.

Cambridge Dictionary. “COSMETOLOGIST | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary.” Cambridge Dictionary, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/cosmetologist. Accessed 2 May 2024.

Coggan, Devan. “'The Iron Claw' cast say they put their wrestling wigs 'through hell.'” Entertainment Weekly, 7 November 2023, https://ew.com/movies/the-iron-claw-wigs-zac-efron-jeremy-allen-white-harris-dickinson/. Accessed 2 May 2024.

Hair&BeautyCorp. “Description and Use of a Hair Weft.” Hair&BeautyCorp, https://www.hairaisersshop.com/description-and-use-of-a-hair-weft-s/1864.htm. Accessed 2 May 2024.

Jest Paint. “The Ultimate Face Paint Brand Comparison Guide For The Best Paint — Jest Paint - Face Paint Store.” Jest Paint, https://jestpaint.com/blogs/how-to-face-paint-face-painting-tips/the-ultimate-face-paint-guide-brands-comparison. Accessed 2 May 2024.

The Lauren Ashtyn Collection. “How To Keep Your Wig From Slipping.” The Lauren Ashtyn Collection, 9 November 2017, https://thelaurenashtyncollection.com/blogs/blog/how-to-keep-your-wig-from-slipping. Accessed 2 May 2024.

Mehron. “About Mehron.” Mehron Makeup, https://www.mehron.com/about-mehron/. Accessed 2 May 2024.

Romano, Shannon. “Believe in Your Passion & Its Purpose.” The Tease, 7th September 2020, https://www.thetease.com/believe-in-your-passion-its-purpose/. Accessed 2 May 2024.

TNA. “IMPACT Wrestling Announces Multi-City UK Invasion Tour For October 2023 – TNA Wrestling.” TNA Wrestling, 27 July 2023, https://tnawrestling.com/2023/07/27/impact-wrestling-announces-multi-city-uk-invasion-tour-for-october-2023/. Accessed 14 June 2024.

Treese, Tyler. “Nia Jax Shows Off Her New Short Hair, Explains Why Many Wrestlers Wear Wigs Or Extensions.” Wrestle Zone, 24th June 2019, https://www.wrestlezone.com/news/1106513-nia-jax-shows-off-her-short-hair-after-chopping-it-all-off. Accessed 2 May 2024.