Illustrator Ben Tallon: "I worked on over 40 projects for WWE"

BEN TALLON stared at his computer screen, refreshing the page like a man possessed. He’d spent five days on lockdown in his ink-splattered living room. The following 24 hours he’d spent obsessively watching a FedEx tracking page surrounded by tea-stained mugs.

Somewhere between his Manchester flatshare and Titan Towers, 15 tubes – each containing a hand-painted, eight-foot-tall banner – were in transit. WWE had been his childhood obsession. Now they were his dream client. At that moment, it was all at the mercy of baggage handlers and delivery drivers.

“My career was essentially in those tubes,” he says. “Then the ‘arrived’ notification landed on my screen. Ultimate relief. I could finally get some sleep.”

“Wrestling characterised my childhood. It continues to thrill me to this day.”

How did we get here? Like many lifelong obsessions, it began in Ben’s teenage bedroom in Keighley, West Yorkshire. Sky TV was a luxury out of the reach of his working-class family. His paper-round could only fund so many Silver Vision tapes, so he begged a bloke his dad worked with to record the pay-per-views. Once he held those tapes in his hands, Ben would create his own covers for the Scotch or Memorex cassettes handed to him.

“When I was 15, I had no idea that graphic design, or the creative industry existed,” he says. “I just got into these amazing flow states and lovingly made these covers.”

He rediscovered them years later, hidden in the back of a wardrobe, while already working for WWE.

“They were offensively bad,” he laughs. “But they made me realise I should embrace the entire process and not be preoccupied with the end result.”

That DIY passion grew into a degree in illustration from the University of Central Lancashire, and eventually a freelance career. He didn’t know it at the time, but those hand-drawn sleeves set him on a path that would one day lead to Stamford, Connecticut.

“Wrestling is one of the tribes I belong to. We bond over a common passion.”

The pull of WWE was too strong to ignore. One day, Ben decided to shoot his shot. He sent a portrait of Sin Cara to WWE’s then-creative director, Dave Hilton, and was stunned when Hilton replied and asked him to call back in a few days.

Sitting on his bed with his mouth open, Ben read the email over and over again.

“I felt like I might vomit,” he says.

“When you love something as much as I love professional wrestling, the idea of any form of first-hand encounter with your object of affection seems as impossible as understanding life and death.”

The Sin Cara portrait, drafted in his spare time, had made an impression.

As luck would have it, Dave Hilton was also from the UK, having grown up in Bolton. The pair bonded over an international phone call that cost Ben £120.

“I’d have paid three times that amount and then some if it meant I could heighten my chances of attaining my dream client.”

Hilton warned that change didn’t come easily inside a giant corporation like WWE. He was right. It didn’t happen overnight, but Ben’s patience and persistence paid off. An email landed from the art director of WWE Kids Magazine, asking if he’d be interested in illustrating a portrait of The Rock.

“Had the chair not been directly behind me, I’d have fallen on the floor like one of those ‘60s teenagers you see being carried by police at a Beatles gig.”

Euphoric – and already dreaming up scenarios involving his own WWE action figure – Ben pulled himself together and got to work. The piece would only be signed off when The Rock himself had approved it. A second commission soon followed. One rainy Manchester afternoon, Ben got a call asking him to design a John Cena poster.

“Pencil Hulk Hogan drawings progressed to my dream WWE commission.”

As Ben’s relationship with WWE grew, so did the scale of the work. One of his most memorable projects was a set design. WWE’s creative team, restricted to backstage photo shoots and digital backgrounds, needed something fresh. Dave Hilton – rushing to a meeting with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon – called Ben and said he wanted something more organic.

15 banners were requested, to be hung up and lit behind their most deplorable heels. WWE footage played constantly on Ben’s TV while ink-covered sheets hung from every surface of his flat. Once dry, he carefully rolled them up and trusted a courier to get them safely to Stamford.

The banners became the set design for WWE Magazine’s Faces of Evil feature. A showcase of wrestling’s greatest villains, wrapped in Ben’s raw, expressive style.

“Holding the copy of WWE Magazine featuring my banners was special. ”

Sometimes briefs were more open-ended. When asked to create a poster for WWE Champion Dean Ambrose and given a blank canvas, Ben was uninspired by the polished, high-resolution photos in WWE’s library. He wanted to capture what he saw as the “ragged and raw” nature of Ambrose’s character.

Ben had an idea: “I took some consciously low-quality images and blew them right up at the old-school Xerox copy shop around the corner from my studio.”

Now with those gloriously gritty prints in hand, he created a claustrophobic, in-your-face composition. He “attacked it” with ink, paints, pens and brushes, drawing inspiration from Ambrose’s catchphrases and persona.

The result was a lo-fi poster that perfectly encapsulated ‘The Lunatic Fringe’ – it was gritty, dishevelled and dangerous.

"I followed my own interests and passions wholeheartedly."

Ben worked on more than 40 projects for WWE, most notably for WWE Kids Magazine, which – unlike WWE Magazine, discontinued in 2014 –  continued as UK-exclusive for several more years.

A personal highlight was a Halloween special, which saw Ben illustrate a front and reverse cover featuring a rogue’s gallery of legendary ghouls: ‘Demon’ Finn Bálor, The Undertaker, Mankind, Bray Wyatt, Papa Shango, Kane, and Doink the Clown. Every character was drawn and painted by hand using ink, acrylics, pens and brushes.

“I loved that one,” he says. “There’s so much creativity within those darker characters.”

"My wrestling fandom is a constant source of inspiration to me."

WWE magazines no longer line the newsagent shelves, but Ben Tallon is still an illustrator and much more. He’s also a creativity coach, author, and host of The Creative Condition podcast.

In 2024, things came full circle when he designed the cover art for the forthcoming book RAMPAGE.

“I could never have allowed this one to go anywhere but my desk,” he says.

The RAMPAGE cover blends the chaos of his WWE work with vivid memories of his childhood. It was created using traditional media, then brought together digitally.

“I wanted to make sure I could fully get into the zone,” he explains. “First task was to absorb as much content from that era as possible – a nostalgia barrage – and distil it down to a shortlist of immediate visual triggers.

“It took a while to explore many ideas, but we eventually landed on this microcosm: the kids scrapping, doing it, living it.

“We were never on mattresses in fields, or on bedroom carpets carrying out our own theatre. We were there – under the bright lights, on the canvas in ludicrously brash outfits, in front of adoring, screaming fans waving their foam fingers.”

It’s the perfect image, not just of Ben’s childhood, but of a shared memory of every kid who wore an Ultimate Warrior t-shirt or Bret Hart sunglasses in 1992.

Ben Tallon: "The WWF dominated our homes and playgrounds."

Wrestling didn’t just inspire Ben’s work, it shaped his life. By embracing what he loved – and staying true to that – he experienced not only career highs, but unforgettable life moments.

“I got to go to WrestleMania 30 in New Orleans and the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony thanks to my work with the company.

“I was shown around the HQ offices and saw the sketches and mockups of my work on the walls of Dave Hilton’s office. I felt like a teenager again.”

His story isn’t just about a fan who got to work with his heroes. It’s a reminder of what’s possible when you take a leap of faith and follow the things that inspire and excite you.

“I worked on over 40 projects for WWE, but more important was the belonging and energy and inspiration I took from belonging to a community," shares Ben. "I've always sought it in my life."

Ben has since produced work for Channel 4, The Guardian, The New York Times, Bloomsbury Books, and The Premier League. His long-awaited second non-fiction book, The Creative Condition, is out now, following on from Champagne and Wax Crayons: Riding the Madness of the Creative Industries. His podcast, The Creative Condition, is available on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and Spotify. Find out more at bentallon.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lee Herbert is the author of the forthcoming book Rampage — a heartfelt tribute to the glory days of the WWF’s first UK boom. Packed with moments, merch, and memories, it explores how a golden era of American wrestling turned a generation of British kids into lifelong fans. Lee’s writing is a celebration of everything that’s great about professional wrestling. Follow the book's progress at @wwframpagebook.

WRESTLING LIFE ONLINE: REAL TALK FROM REAL TALENT

Wrestling Life with Ben Veal shines the spotlight brightly and positively on those who shaped wrestling's past, drive its present and influence its future. Widely available, the show features honest, open and inspiring conversations with many of the sport's biggest names, including Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Mick Foley, Lilian Garcia, Candice Michelle, Buff Bagwell, Doug Williams, Eric Bischoff and many more. The show is presented by award-winning journalist and content creator Ben Veal, co-author of Marc Mero's autobiography, Badd To Good: The Inspiring Story of a Wrestling Wildman.

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