Lausanne, Switzerland - On January 16th,  United World Wrestling, (UWW) announced some major changes to the competition presentation, wrestlers' uniforms, and official's uniforms for the upcoming season. While sports fans may be used to seeing various changes in other sports every year, wrestling has not seen changes as significant as these in over forty years.  

Many wrestling administrators expect to see a new uniform combination that is similar to a rash guard on the upper body and fight shorts on the lower body.  While this is pure speculation at this point, there has been a great deal of discussion about moving away from singlets at all levels of wrestling.

An excerpt from the United World Wrestling Press release:

"The traditional wrestling mat colors of yellow and red, which were first adopted for the 1972 Games in Munich, will be replaced with dark blue and orange. The colors were chosen as part of a larger effort to improve the online and television viewership experience.

The wrestling uniforms, though not finalized in design, will come in a variety of colors and will be adapted to appeal to a younger audience. Referees, who once wore a suit and tie, will now wear a polo shirt and trousers.

“We are taking the steps to ensure that wrestling is attractive to viewers,” said United World Wrestling president Nenad Lalovic. “The traditional singlet is not something that is worn around the gym. We want apparel that our wrestlers and fans will feel proud to wear and we are going to make that happen.”"

To read the entire UWW press release, click on the link below. 

http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2015/January/16/UWW-changes-mat-color-and-other-presentation-items