And before you say anything, no I don't want to just be a Monk. I want to be a fighter whose specialty is punching things. No Ki abilities or monastic tradtions or anything like that.
My character for this particular campaign is essentially a retired wrestler based very much on the WWE style of wrestling. She specializes in punches, grapples, and other more close-quarter combat techniques. We have actually pseudo-joked that before she chokeslams people she bellows "Kord! Guide my hand!"
To make this easier for me, the DM has already allowed me to take the Monk's Martial Arts class feature in place of any Fighting Style that I acquire or may acquire in the future, and has allowed me to take the Tavern Brawler feat in lieu of the ability score increases as a human.
My question, however, is what else can I do to focus this character on unarmed combat and wrestling? Especially when it comes to altering the equipment package because… well, all the weapons are pretty useless.
Best Answer
Damage isn't the only way to help in combat.
So the best part about unarmed strikes in combat, is that you can be grappling two people since you have two arms, and you can still attack them with headbutts and kicks. Unarmed strikes are done with any part of your body, and do not require your arms to be free. So, a good thing you can do is grapple targets and then use your unarmed strikes (wrestling moves) to do some serious damage to them.
If you have a rogue, this will greatly benefit them as well since they'll automatically get their sneak attacks against these targets. Oh, and don't be afraid to walk them near a cliff and throw them off.