The Next Era of WWE: What Does Topps Need to Do When They Return To Wrestling Cards

Yesterday I started talking about the legacy that Panini has left behind during their short tenure in wrestling cards. If this is truly the end of the road for them, pending the outcome of the pile of lawsuits currently in progress, that inevitably means that Fanatics will be back in charge. As of last year, Fanatics has acquired Topps to be their flagship provider in trading cards, putting in motion one of the largest consolidation plans in hobby history.

The good thing is, we have had lots of experience with Topps at the helm, and collectors have a TON of expectations if/when they come back. We already knew that come 2026, Fanatics would be back in charge of wrestling cards – that was announced the week of Prizm’s launch in 2022. This means, regardless of the outcome of the litigation, Topps will be back in the fold in the near future.

With that notion in focus, I wanted to take some time to talk about some of the things that I believe need to happen to continue the success that Panini has cultivated over the last 18 months. Coming into the Panini era of WWE cards, I had VERY low expectations given their history in NFL, NBA, UFC, and other sports. I think my expectations were blown out of the water, and Panini did a tremendous job bringing new attention to the niche area of wrestling. Now that the bell has been rung, what are the next steps to keep that attention in place?

Part 1 – Avoiding the Fanatics Way

Let me start by saying Fanatics has a horrible reputation in many areas of their business for producing lower quality goods than meet the expectations of their customers. They have recently received a ton of criticism for clothing and other goods being produced with low standards of quality, including a national story about a fan who ordered a Philadelphia Eagles shirt. Here is why those things happen.

Fanatics is a multinational conglomerate whose business depends on high margins to be successful. This means producing goods at the lowest possible cost and selling them for a price that consumers still find acceptable. If you have ordered a shirt from Fanatics WWE Shop recently, you can already tell the quality of the shirts has diminished significantly. I still have shirts from the late 1990s bought during WWE events, and I can tell you that they used to have higher quality in their production. Even recent shirts I bought are much higher quality.

If Topps comes back with this mindset in tow, we are going to have major, major issues. I haven’t ripped baseball since Fanatics took the reigns, so I cant comment on any changes in quality there. But recent problems with duplicate superfractors, errors in production, and horrible collation issues seem to signal a greater issue.

I see this issue being exacerbated in WWE, being that it will end up being a license that should be 6 or 7 rungs from the top of the ladder in the grand scheme of things. In the past with Topps WWE, the amount of care delivered to the license was representative of its place within the corporate structure. Smaller budgets, lower amounts of attention, and as a result, some ongoing issues around products, timing and content were frequent.

It would make me exceptionally happy if WWE got more equal treatment within the corporate structure at Topps, even though I know that NFL, NBA, Star Wars, UFC, and of course MLB will continue to get the bulk of the attention. If there is an expectation of more gimmicks and higher margin to increase consumer demand, I have major concerns about the quality that will result from these choices.

Part 2 – Better Autograph Checklists Need to be a Focus

There was one thing that Topps did exceptionally well during their run, and it was refreshing. Most of their products by the end of things featured a majority of on card autographs. Stickers were used in some circumstances, but for the most part, autographs were hard signed.

That being said, outside of Transcendent, autograph checklists were severely lacking and incredibly repetitive. There is a finite universe of people that can sign for products, but Topps seemed to focus ONLY on the easiest to obtain. When Panini came to WWE, there was a tour de force of new signers that were featured across a ton of brands. They even got people like Batista and Scott Steiner back to the fold after long hiatuses from the card business. Other signers like John Cena, Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, and the Undertaker were regularly featured and very accessible.

Because Topps was more cost and risk averse in their previous run, signers like this rarely made it into sets, if ever. Sometimes they wouldn’t even be put on the base checklist. That all needs to change, especially if there is now going to be more budget available. Even if it means more redemptions need to be issued, I fully support Topps assuming this risk, as I was supportive of Panini taking similar risks. Collectors may bitch and moan about having to wait, but those redemptions still carry exceptional value on the secondary market. Despite all the complaints, people still want autographs of the biggest names in the sport. From last count, Panini had a pretty high success rate of return as well, so many of their redemptions were worth it. Although some bigger names are still outstanding, their track record suggested that they would be fulfilled with more time to execute the signings needed. For a set like Immaculate that had a lot of redemptions, my tracking was showing more than 3/4ths of the outstanding ones had been fulfilled.

Now that we know what is possible with Panini in this space, its impossible to put that toothpaste back in the tube. They found ways to make autograph checklists a strength for their products, even when they were issuing sets with 100% hard signed cards.

Part 3 – Photo Choice Has to be a Huge Focus

If you look back over what Topps produced during 2013 to 2022, there were major struggles in one specific area, and that’s photography. Too many times Topps relied on the WWE render database to build their cards, over the iconic photos that were available from the historic moments in WWE history. For those unfamiliar, a render is the posed shot that WWE uses in their match graphics on TV. For many wrestlers, they reused the same renders quite a bit, and it made products hard to digest.

When not using renders, Topps didnt really have success in finding action photos from events that encapsulated the best of what wrestling fans were looking for. Championships, big TV moments, entrances, and finishers are the four buckets I align to great photo choices in sets like Select and Prizm. Topps tended to go the opposite direction. Wrestlers were rarely shown with titles, and action shots were from forgettable TV spots.

I hope that the experience with Panini and the collector response to the photos will spur action upon Topps’ return. This is an area that was arguably the strongest that Panini products displayed, and it will be hard to go back to the previous approach if not remedied.

Part 4 – Relics Need to Be More Interesting

From 2019 through the end of the license, Topps relied almost exclusively on mat relics or furniture relics to fund their memorabilia sets. Collectors CONSTANTLY complained about this, and were bored with relic content to a point that those cards became relatively worthless. When they offered unique relics in fully loaded in 2020 and 2021, there wasnt much of a response because of a small checklist, and pre-conceived understandings about the value of Topps relics.

Starting in Select 2022 and going through Select 2023, Panini opened the door to show us what is possible. Although the relics were player worn instead of match used, the visual appeal of the cards were undeniable, and collectors didnt seem to care that they werent from items worn during a TV taping. Immaculate had some of the most incredible looking relic cards in any sport in any year, and values reflected this with huge secondary market performance.

When Topps comes back, I hope we get to continue this approach, because it just didnt work the last time around. Relic cards lacked appeal, and with a lack of appeal comes a lack of value. Sets like Undisputed and Transcendent would greatly benefit from these new relics, and I would love to see what doors are opened if Topps continues what Panini started.

Part 5 – Build a Chase in Every Product

Back in 2016, Topps started focusing a lot of energy on autograph content in products. They signed a deal with the Undertaker, dedicated resources to include more autograph content in every box, and as their deal moved on, brought back Steve Austin. They also accomplished something that Panini was unable to – Vince McMahon had his first ever pack available autographs. In a way, the autographs became the chase.

When Panini came to WWE in 2022, they took that ball and ran through a wall. They added high value chases to every single product they put out. WWE logos made their debut in 2022 Select, and rare case hits in Prizm, Select, and Revolution became a favorite of collectors. Instead of autographs being the chase, Panini used their brand notoriety to create value in base parallels and rainbow hunts to add value to products without adding more cost to the box. As a result, values went up across the board for these cards, and products were more widely opened by mainstream breakers and resellers.

Although secondary market demand often put box cost well above MSRP, the chase made those box prices more easy to stomach for people like me who collect the super premium cards. Panini even put some of these chases in the more affordable products like Revolution and NXT, to ensure collectors had something to hunt for in every release.

When Topps comes back, this might be one of the more important elements they can focus on, and it cant just be for ultra premium releases like Transcendent. It needs to be more prominent, and it needs to be cool. Panini set the bar REALLY high here, and collectors will notice if Topps decides to avoid this part of the planning.

Thankfully, Topps has things like Superfractors, which have become hobby benchmarks for collecting, and they also should have access to go to the same well that Panini went to with more logos and awesome relics. Without this element, products will feel more boring and flat, and less attractive to breakers who give collectors more options and access to the experience of collecting.

Part 6 – Create More Product Variety and Crossover

When you look back over Topps Wrestling from 2005 onwards, there is an extreme focus on affordability and mid range products. Flagship, Heritage, NXT and Women’s Division were calendar staples, and Undisputed was one of the only premium releases on the calendar. Although the creation of Transcendent WWE in 2019, brought the most expensive wrestling card product in history, it wasnt enough to satisfy the demand for high end collectors that have joined WWE since 2015. Sets like Chrome and Finest can deliver premium cards, but that isnt the target delivery of those product checklists.

When Panini took over in 2022, they had more focus on a variety in their calendar, and focused all but one product on a previously successful brand name that collectors could identify with. They also had a number of premium releases that were readily accessible to collectors, with plans for more as their license went on. They played the hits for WWE, and sets like Chronicles filled in the gaps where there needed to be more affordability in play.

As much as I loved Undisputed, its maybe the only unique to WWE product that carries any real weight or value with collectors. Although there are prominent members of the previous WWE collecting community that loved Women’s Division, NXT and other ‘WWE only’ sets, the value outside that small (but vocal) group of people was small. None of them really brought new people and new eyes.

If Topps were to come back with sets that were incredibly popular in MLB and other brands, the entire scope of their calendar could change. Sets like Dynasty, Museum Collection, or Masterworks could add huge value to their portfolio when paired with favorites from the previous era like Chrome, Finest, and Undisputed.

Part 7 – Find Opportunities to Maximize the Shiny

Topps is the innovator of Chrome style sets in the modern sense that most products are built upon. Not only that, but Topps has EXTREME brand equity in this space, even though the cards arent as valuable as we have seen Prizm and Select become over the boom period. It took a risk in 2020 for Topps to even consider bringing back Chrome and Finest after being gone for multiple years. Both sets were insanely successful on the secondary market, and were some of the only cards in Topps’ run to be in demand through the Panini era.

The introduction of Prizm and Select in 2022 changed the game for WWE cards going forward. The most expensive wrestling card ever sold comes from Prizm. Maximizing this continued focus that started in 2020 needs to be a top priority. More configurations like Sapphire or Bowman could be a huge addition to the portfolio, or even shiny elements to other products like we saw with 2021 Transcendent Superfractors.

As the boom has transpired in the mainstream hobby, shiny cards became a gigantic element of what drives a successful product in all niches and licenses. Topps has the methods and IP in place for Baseball that could be similarly successful in WWE.

Part 8 – Make it a Focus to Engage the Community

One thing I think that no company has been successful with in the hobby is engagement around the community aspect of collecting. I proposed to Topps, late in their WWE run, that more community spotlight opportunities would be great to drive the competitive tendencies in their collecting base. We all know how competitive each person can be when they have a desire to curate a top notch collection, and I think Topps needs to put a focus on this aspect for their return to WWE.

Unfortunately, I think this is one area Panini completely fumbled during the last few years. Their entry into WWE caused a huge divide amongst the existing collector base, and there was little effort spent to highlight any area of the community to repair the damage. Honestly, it might not have helped even if they had tried.

Fanatics is quickly gaining a negative reputation across the entire world of sports, and finding ways to showcase their success with the community could be a huge olive branch for collectors in a small space.

Overall, I have been an avid Topps and Panini collector now for 6 years, and I have high hopes for the future of wrestling cards. Im sad the litigation strategy has thrown a wrench in the vastly successful period we are in right now. Cards are more valuable, more people are engaged, and products are selling well enough for card manufacturers to invest more in their creation. Its unfortunate this has been ground to a halt. If Topps can come back to the fold and give more due to this smaller license, things will go great. If they dedicate the same resources as before, we could see gigantic issues arise. Values will drop, fewer collectors will stick around, and investments in the future will diminish. If you just want cheaper cards, its a stupid and narrow thought process about the future of wrestling cards. I hope we dont have to go that direction.

Panini in WWE Cards: How Will the History Books Look Back on This Period of Time?

Although it could be a long drawn out process, the Panini era in wrestling cards looks to be in a state of flux. WWE has effectively terminated their relationship in favor of moving forward early with Fanatics, a move that was already in place to happen in 2026. With Topps under the Fanatics banner of hobby consolidation, many in the hobby are left wondering what brand name will be on the cards they are buying in the future. Will it be the originator of the modern wrestling card era with Topps, or the company responsible for the boom after Topps lost the license in Panini?

More importantly, if this is the end of Panini WWE, what can we take away from this 18 month period in the timeline of the hobby? I wanted to look back as a sort of retrospective, but also talk about the impact of Panini’s legacy in WWE even after Topps returns.

Part 1 – Panini Accelerated The Boom of WWE cards

When I started collecting WWE in 2017, it was easy to find wrestling cards in the budget area of a local card shop. Ebay listings were a small trickle of new cards, rather than the deluge we see today. Wax prices were beyond affordable, where many of the products could be bought by the case for the same price as a single box of cards in other sports.

When the Pandemic forced everyone to change their daily lives, and cards became the new hot collectible item, Wrestling cards lagged behind. Most prices in 2020 stayed pretty static, while the rest of the hobby exploded. While Topps was closing out their first run in WWE, Panini established themselves as the premier sports card brand, as Prizm, National Treasures and Contenders started churning out five figure sales every day of every week for multiple years.

Eventually, in mid 2021, Panini announced publicly that they had acquired the license to produce WWE cards. For the first time in the modern era, all the standards that funded the recent boom would make their way to wrestling. Because of the way Panini branded cards had performed in the years leading up to the boom, as well as during the boom, almost instantly WWE was on the radar for investors and thousands of new collector eyes.

Modern Topps WWE cards shot up in value almost overnight, with shiny sets like Chrome, Finest and others quadrupling in value. We also saw the first five figure modern wrestling card sale, and content flowing from podcasts, youtubers, and collectors on a new WWE hobby stage.

Although wrestling cards had started to trend upwards by the time the announcement was made, the acceleration of that growth after the Panini announcement was undeniable. Panini had started a fire, and the smoke around the future of WWE in the hobby was starting to get awfully thick. That wouldnt have happened in such an accelerated fashion without Panini in the mix. Love them or hate them for what they stand for in other sports, coming to wrestling brought a ton of attention and value to this niche area.

Part 2 – Panini Produced the Most Valuable Wrestling Card(s) of All Time

Ill get to the community divide here in a minute, but there is no amount of screaming or yelling that can offset the numbers Panini put on the board during this 18 month period. When Prizm was released in April of 2022, there were multiple gigantic sales of cards that created all new records for the history books. Prizm black 1/1s of big names started cranking out five figure sales beyond a number of expectations, and the Rock’s Prizm gold sold for absolute mega money to the point where it started challenging all time numbers.

The one card people were looking for took a while to surface, and when it did, the mainstream hobby took notice. The Rock’s Prizm Black 1/1 was pulled in a break and sold twice privately before ending up with prominent IG account “Thatstheoldprice.” His affinity for big time Prizm black cards is known hobby wide, thanks to his acquisition of gigantic cards of Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, and Lebron James. Adding the Rock to his collection set an all time sales record, but because the sale was private, many questioned it’s true number. When it was eventually listed for sale on PWCC’s elite auction over the spring of 2023, it was time to see the true power of the Panini brand.

Although the auction started slowly, the final price was something that no one expected. Selling for a massive $126k closing price, the Panini modern era of WWE cards had produced a unicorn sale. Not only did it more than double the price of the previous record wrestling card sale, it was a stake in the ground for what Panini was capable of in a smaller market area for the hobby.

Other huge sales followed, including another 5 figure sale of the Rock’s black prizm from the sophomore Prizm set. Panini brand power was on display during these last two years, and its a major component of the legacy they will leave behind. Its possible that Topps comes back and creates new standards, but the consistent value of the top end of Panini’s values look to be untouchable.

Part 3 – Panini Split the Once Harmonious Community

One of the main reasons that I loved wrestling cards more than any other type of card is because of the people. I loved how the community banded together for each other, helping collectors connect with each other, and cheering each other on as they achieved milestones in their PCs. It was truly a situation that should have been a model for the rest of the hobby, and it was the one thing that wrestling cards had above every other niche. It was one of the main reasons we were able to have so much success in creating the Main Event for the 2023 National Convention.

When Panini came to town, everything seemed to change. The community became split over the new era, mainly the pre-conceived understandings of rising prices and exposure to parts of the hobby landscape that wrestling was previously immune to. A portion of the community longed for the chance to collect their favorite Panini brands for the first time in WWE, regardless of the price. The other side of the community felt like everything would change for the negative, given Panini’s history of issues in NFL and NBA.

Wrestling card social media became a very contentious place for collectors to engage, especially as Panini collectors and previous community members clashed over the impact the new cards were having on the market. Many felt they would be priced out, or unable to continue the way they had before, angry and bitter that higher prices and more eyes on wrestling cards had changed their ability to exist the same way in the hobby.

As for the people joining up, they were exposed to both sides of the aisle very quickly. A celebration of the new life that wrestling cards had taken on, combined with gatekeeping and vitriol from others. Some of the anger stemmed from a lack of understanding of the greater hobby and how Panini had created such an immense following, as many existing wrestling collectors werent familiar with the ways of the greater hobby and the way collectors assigned value to cards and parallels.

In similar fashion, the newer collectors coming in were subject to some culture shock a bit, as the Wrestling Card community was tight knit, and very particular in the way they approached their collections. Lack of understanding of why people werent wise to the modern hobby norms, or just general personality differences led to blowups all over facebook, twitter and other platforms.

Part 4 – Panini Showed What Was Possible in Modern WWE Cards

For years, Topps had a method of operations in their product releases. A focused checklist of current stars and legends that signed for each product, coupled with relic content that focused on pieces of mat provided by WWE from their events. Up until 2018, Topps did have access to things like shirts and other relics, but over time, they stopped using them in product as the supply seemed to run out and not be replaced.

When Panini came in, they turned everything on its ear. Huge signer checklists with readily available autograph content of seemingly every star on the roster, and all the top legends of the attitude era that Topps reserved for big product releases to drive value. Giant names like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Undertaker, Hulk Hogan and John Cena became available in every product, giving collectors access to autograph content that was out of reach during most of Topps’ run from 2013 on. Panini also dove deep into the annals of WWE lore, getting people to sign for sets that had rarely signed, or never signed. ECW, WWF, and even some of the older territory wrestlers became common checklist subjects, much to the joy of collectors who grew up during the respective eras.

Panini also opened up the doors on player worn relics, which brought a ton of variety and fun to products over their run. Instead of relying solely on match used materials, Panini and WWE coordinated to have superstars wear shirts and other items during signings to then cut up and include as swatch content in most of the releases.

For the first time ever, there were chases in WWE sets that mirrored the favorites in the mainstream four sports. WWE logos, patches, and relic content that used the extensive library of colorful shirts available on WWEshop became a standard, and with new content, brought huge value in the box hits for premium sets like Immaculate and Impeccable.

In Immaculate, the new relic content was coupled with on card signatures that was never achieved in the Topps era outside of some rare examples. Multi-signed on card autographs were also available for the product as well, something Topps only achieved in very specific circumstances in Transcendent. Stars like Roman Reigns, Becky Lynch, Rhea Ripley and others were paired with quad signed and triple signed cards across a product that might have been the most extensive wrestling product ever created.

Topps will have their work cut out for them to equal the level of content that Panini, but hopefully this approach will be possible across Topps legacy brands like Transcendent, Chrome, Finest and potential new brands like Dynasty. Because Panini was spending 3-4x in licensing costs with their time, versus what Topps was originally spending, there is a lot of hope within the community that having a larger budget could open up avenues unavailable previously. Topps has their own hobby standards that were similarly successful over the boom period, and now that they have this roadmap of possibilities, we might see how those standards are applied to wrestling cards in a similar fashion to Panini.

Part 5 – Panini Had Issues With Timing Across the Board

When looking back over the last year plus, it was clear that Panini did a lot of things that were great. They continually fell short in one area, and that is timing. Products releasing on time, autograph redemptions being fulfilled for certain superstars, and things like the Asia configurations being basically non-existent until a year after their release.

In terms of releases, Products rarely hit their timelines, which is beyond problematic. It was a horrific issue for Topps as well, but given the circumstances, it doesnt change how frustrating it is to have consistent delays across the board. There were multiple products that released weeks to months after they were supposed to hit shelves, and I can only imagine what it must be like for the breakers who have to pay for allocations and then not get them on time.

Similarly, many products, especially Immaculate, had redemption issues for top guys. Its one thing if the redemption is for Ivar or Chad Gable, but Roman Reigns, Hulk Hogan and the Undertaker were all late in getting their cards back. I want these people in the products, and I understand the logistical issues that align with hard signed cards. However, it doesnt make it less of a problem. Thankfully most of the redemptions are at a better spot now, but some remain woefully on the indefinite calendar of waiting.

Part 6 – Panini’s Photos in Every Product Might Be the Best in the History of Trading Cards

Yes, this is a very hot take, but Ive been collecting cards for a long time, and I have never been so impressed with photos the way that they were used in every Panini WWE product. There are very few instances where a photo sank a Panini WWE card, but very many instances where a photo choice made a Panini WWE card more valuable.

Panini’s focus on moments that made fans excited for the product on television made perfect sense, especially in cards that define Panini WWE as a whole. Topps was notorious for snoozeworthy photo choices or relying on renders supplied by WWE to make their products. Panini had a wonderful balance of epic moments, championship moments, and history in all their products, and it made every single set stand out among the crowd.

With Select, the photos became the selling point as much as the cards themselves, with almost universal praise for how much better the cards looked as a result of how the photos were chosen. Adding in a wide ranging checklist of current stars and legends, and it became abundantly clear the amount of care that went into choosing the photo for each subject.

There have been awesome photo focused sets in other sports too, Stadium Club Baseball comes to mind. The consistency of greatness across every Panini WWE product is unparalleled.

Part 7 – Product Quality Was Up and Down for the Biggest Sets of the Year

I remember seeing the first packs of Prizm WWE opened, and I couldnt help but notice all the issues that were in place for centering and surface of the cards. I hadnt opened a Panini product in a long time, and I hadnt had the experience of how Panini QC could impact a product.

Prizm seemed to be the tip of the iceberg, and even worse, it seemed to get worse year over year. In 2022 Prizm, the vertically oriented base cards and the white sparkle parallel packs were filled with centering issues. In Select and Impeccable, there were major issues with collation, and how the cards were put into the packs themselves.

Although design, photos and autograph content were all top notch, the way those cards were put into practice had a very up and down life at Panini. This is pretty consistent over the entirety of their business, and its unfortunate they couldnt get past it in WWE circles.

Part 8 – Panini Found Ways to Make People Aware of What They Were Doing in WWE

From the time that Prizm was announced, to their recent booth setup at the NSCC, Panini made WWE a focus for their entire brand across the hobby. They found ways to incorporate their WWE license into new spaces that Topps was never able to do, and as a result, many more people saw that wrestling cards were a viable focus for a trading card or memorabilia collection.

I remember when I first saw Panini WWE cards being advertised during the live broadcast of WWE RAW and Smackdown and how cool that was. I may not have the clearest memory, but I dont remember the last time cards got a spotlight on any sort of WWE programming.

Additionally, there was a gigantic WWE wall on their booth for the national convention, cards in the giveaway packs delivered for wrapper redemptions, and wrestling cards in the VIP packs for the party that is held annually.

Panini also got WWE superstars to make videos ripping packs, which were then showcased all over social media. These types of activities are all exceptionally helpful in driving new attention for the wrestling card market.

Overall, there were some major issues that happened during the last few years, but I cant help but talk about how shocked I am at the success that Panini has had. I went into this era with VERY low expectations given my experiences in the other sports. Panini found a niche to do some great things in a small market, which has created undeniable buzz and entertainment for collectors. That is a legacy that hopefully stands the test of time.

WWE vs Panini – Updates and Information as Fanatics Waits in the Wings

Coming into last Wednesday, I dont think anyone expected things to blow up the way they did. Its like the end of Monday Night Raw where the match ends, the champion’s hand is being raised, and then the heel attacks from behind. Eventually the entire locker room comes running down the ramp and a giant brawl fills the screen as the show goes off the air. Starting the entire legal landscape of Fanatics vs Panini with a steel cage match over the WWE license seems fitting, and I wanted to make sure there is a place where people can come to get caught up if they are feeling their head spinning.

Let me start by saying there are a lot of people weighing in on this topic, as its a subject that hits home with almost every WWE collector, but also the many enemies Panini has deservedly made across NFL, NBA, and the other licenses they have owned since forming out of the ashes of the Donruss, Leaf, Playoff company. Additionally, because the hobby on social media is a very tribalistic, opinionated hellscape at times, there are lots of angry individuals with axes to grind as well. Some of those axes are very sharp having been at the wheel for years, others are dull much like the people sharpening them.

It can be a tall task to differentiate between sources you can trust and sources that just want to watch the world burn, so Ill try my best here to showcase the people and conversations to keep close to your inner circle, and avoid others whose conversations are more like you watching a train barrel through a car on the tracks.

First – lets start with the more official reporting. I wont have much commentary here, just links to use for your information.

Here is the tweet from Darren Rovell that kicked off this whole fiasco:

Here is the report from Fightful Wrestling:

Here is the report from the Wrestling Observer:

Now lets get into some of the reaction commentary, of which ill have more to offer in terms of feedback and how they approach the different areas of their coverage. There are a few main sources for wrestling knowledge out there, and a handful of them do a great job of covering the different aspects of what has gone down over the last few weeks.

Ill start with the content I have made in partnership with WrestlingTradingCards.com, which has been one of the most trusted sources of wrestling card content for decades. I joined up with Tony back last year because I valued what his mission was, and having Paul from WrestlingCardPriceGuide.com and Ryan Schear join up as well has made us a dream team of coverage from all sides of the collecting spectrum. Tony is a shop owner, and a long time wrestling collector, promoter and jack of all trades. Paul is a master set collector and an incredibly intelligent individual when it comes to the business side of the market and the hobby. Ryan has been well versed in all areas of the hobby from his decades of experience in cards.

I also was able to put together a recap after the hearing on the restraining order that happened last week.

Moving onto some of the other content creators who do a tremendous job in wrestling cards and covering the hobby. These are the places that I go when I want to watch or listen to content related to wrestling cards, and I absolutely love the way these guys approach their consideration. Each of them brings a unique perspective, and I think its important to read through, watch or listen to what they put out.

Here is a tremendous tweet thread breakdown of all the legal proceedings by Paul Lesko, who has meticulously documented every piece of this case, the TRO hearing, and everything.

Zhan Mourning has been covering wrestling cards on his youtube channel for a very long time, and does a great job with production, and his coverage. He is also one of the most balanced sources in his coverage, given that his collection is so widespread across basically everything. He did a live video (brave man!) to cover the topic which hits on a ton of different areas, and the hour long session is worth a watch, along side all the other content on his channel.

The boys from the Card Foundation are a must listen with their podcast that airs weekly on the Major Pod Network. The episode that contains the breakdown of all of this is part of their Patreon right now, but will be available tomorrow for everyone who wants to listen. You can get all of their episodes at the spotify link below, and it is absolutely worth joining their patreon for access to their facebook group and the early content.

Brett from Stacking Slabs has been a frequent guest on WTC panel discussions, and I have been a guest on his show a number of times as well. He recently put out an episode where he gives his thoughts on the termination of the license and the impact it has on the collectors of wrestling cards. Brett is a huge wrestling fan and its beyond important to have content creators with big audiences that talk frequently about WWE cards.

Sports Card Radio and Sports Card News, run by Colin and Ryan Tedards did a live broadcast recently as well, where they used their large youtube following to talk through some of the ins and outs of how they see the different parts of this going down. They cover a wide range of topics, usually stemming from outing scams, breaking down scandals, and being overall hobby watchdogs, so check them out.

Lastly, Dan Nguyen, otherwise known as the Great Curator has become a big wrestling card collector over the last year, and was a guest at the Main Event when we hosted it at the National Convention earlier this year. His show “Between 2 Slabs” covered the topic here as well on their live broadcast, and this is probably one of the more follower heavy channels in the hobby to cover it. There are other platforms as well, but Im not going to signal boost people who I dont support like Geoff Wilson.

Bottom line guys, there is a ton of content to consume any time a big story breaks in this hobby, and I rarely care as much as I do with this particular story. There are ways to engage with collectors on facebook and instagram as well, as groups like Wrestling Cards and Collectibles have threads with tons of conversation about how individual collectors feel about the license.

This is going to be a long and arduous process to sort out the litigation, the relationship, the outstanding products and redemptions, and all sorts of stuff that come along with how a partnership breaks down. This was a ten million dollar license that was terminated in an instant, and its almost guaranteed to be messy.

As a result of the messy legal proceedings, using contextual information from collectors braving the same set of circumstances is a great exercise to frame your approach, or at the very least, come to a better understanding yourself. Find a balance between the guys who think redemptions are the work of Satan and the journalists who do this for a living. As scary as it is, our experience in this hobby may not change if the ongoing product stream is removed, but a consolidation plan that impacts people, businesses and jobs within the hobby landscape could definitely change the way we engage. Its best to educate yourself as it goes through its process.

Is the the Panini WWE License Termination a Marker For Greater Hobby Implications?

When we look back on September 20th, 2023 years from now, it will absolutely stand out as a red letter date in wrestling card history. Pending the outcome of some litigation, it might actually be a date that has implications across the entire trading card world. For someone like me, it has direct impact as a wrestling card collector since 2017, but for others, it could be a bellwether for many other trading card licenses that Fanatics is set to acquire in the coming years.

On Wednesday, Darren Rovell announced that at the end of August, WWE had effectively terminated Panini’s WWE trading card license, the second licensor to do so in as many months. Previously, the NFLPA had also terminated their Panini trading card license. Unlike the NFLPA, WWE immediately went on the offensive, filing an injunction in the southern district of NY with a temporary restraining order to prevent Panini from releasing any further product under said terminated license.

For a video breakdown of everything associated with this post – check out our WTC Supershow Panel Discussion Here:

As expected, Panini immediately sued WWE for breach of contract, to which WWE countersued. We have the public filing of Panini’s suit, WWEs was filed under seal. According to Panini’s suit, it looks like WWE had used financial benchmarks to terminate the license claiming the license had fallen short of delivery on minimum guaranteed performance. Given that trading cards is in one of its biggest boom periods in the history of the hobby, this is a tall order to prove, and Panini promptly claimed in its filing that it had over-performed across every quarter of its WWE license tracker.

This begs the question – what happens now?

Well, a few things need to be decided before we get to the litigation. First, a judge needs to rule on the temporary restraining order, and determine if Panini needs to stop all product releases while they determine whether a breach of contract happened. If the TRO is granted, Panini is basically dead in the water until the termination is held up or dismissed. We also dont know the full details of the termination, because most of what WWE has filed is not public information. There could be other details leading to why the contract was terminated, and we just dont have them yet.

Similarly, once two parties get to litigation like this, I think its very unlikely they come back to a situation where both are going to be working together in a cohesive way. A judge could force the issue, uphold Panini’s suit and say to reinstate their contract, but even then, what does that relationship look like? Can Panini continue to work with WWE to get card designs approved, autographs for their products, access to superstars for relics? I think its hard to believe that wont be contentious.

We also found out through the filings that Panini was set to have the license through October of 2025, which effectively puts them in control of WWE through the end of that year with the typical 90 day grace period to clear out inventory. We were set to get another 2 years of Prizm, Select, and the like, and now we are left with less than half of that amount. Its going to be interesting to see how the litigation rules for this time period, because WWE has demanded $5.6M in royalties due for the contract over the remaining years. That isn’t a small amount of money.

If that isn’t enough, Panini has already sued Fanatics under an Antitrust (monopoly) statute, which is what kicked all of this off this past July. This means its entirely possible that the SEC and FTC could get involved in sorting this out through some sort of litigation coordination to ensure that filings in multiple districts dont deliver conflicting results. At some point, Michael Rubin and the Fanatics conglomerate will have to be judged for their process, and this is one domino in a long line of dominos to fall.

Here is where this gets interesting. If the restraining order is granted, it basically signals to other licensors that this process now has precedent, and can be replicated. Its unlikely that the NBA, NBAPA, NFL and other pending licenses wait until 2026 to move over to Fanatics, especially given their equity stake in the company. Ultimately, this is a losing battle for Panini, its just how long they have before the guillotine blade comes slicing down through their neck.

For WWE collectors, this could be a long road without much on the market, even if the restraining order fails. If Elite is not complete, getting WWE to cooperate with filling outstanding holes in the autograph checklist could be a non-starter. If it is done, its already been pushed back quite a bit, likely to accommodate for the challenges in the courts. If the judge sides with WWE, then its basically a waiting game. Topps might not be able to jump right in either. The understanding is that Fanatics will effectively take over, but even so, it could take 4-6 months before we see any new WWE sets. It would have to be a simplified set, likely a port from baseball with sticker autographs and a smaller checklist. Sets like Chrome and Finest with on card autographs could take a year plus to get back to their previous successful states due to production timelines. This is all if everything goes perfectly.

For everyone else, this is likely the beginning of a long 3 years before 2026 and the true beginning of the Michael Rubin as Thanos inevitability plan. If he finds that his playbook is successful and the licenses can be terminated early, the courts could tie up that plan for months and months. If its unsuccessful, who knows what the implications could be?

There are also numerous questions about things like redemptions, which are a bane for many collectors currently waiting on signatures from people like Roman Reigns and the Undertaker on the WWE side of things. Again, I have to believe those areas of the battle are the ones with the most question marks, and probably ones I would tag for pieces of a settlement if Panini indeed sees that there is no path forward.

My opinion is this – regardless of how people feel about Panini, I think this whole situation is bad for the hobby. Competition is good. Exclusives are bad. Ive lived by that platform on this blog for almost 15 years. Fanatics swinging their big dick around to ensure that every aspect of the hobby is under their control doesnt benefit collectors – no matter how much they say it will. By 2026, they will own all the major sports licenses, an auction house, a vault, a breaking platform, all the distributors, the card printers, among other things. Aspects of the hobby like what COMC and PSA provide are likely on the target list. It might not serve as a monopoly enough to get the government to shut them down, but in a functional aspect, it is a monopoly for the layperson. That’s just a bad situation where few will have accountability for any real issues. If you have been around this hobby long enough, you know how many issues there are.

Looking at the WWE, we all need to pay close attention to what is going on, because it could be a clear indicator as to what could be going down with all the other licenses. Get ready people, this is about to get pretty fucking nuts.

NFLPA Terminates Panini – What Impact Does This Have on the Greater Hobby?

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As mentioned almost everywhere yesterday, the NFLPA has terminated their license with Panini three years early. We already knew the Fanatics plan for total hobby domination was going to take effect in 2026, with eventual exclusive control over NFL, NBA, MLB, WWE, F1, and other major licenses, but this was a bit of a surprise. It was the hobby equivalent of the movie scene where the hero clips the wrong wire on the ticking time bomb, and the timer drops from one minute to five seconds.

That wire that was cut is a pretty well covered wire as well, with Panini deciding to sue Fanatics for their consolidation plan in an anti-trust (monopoly) lawsuit, which promptly forced a countersuit. Because the leagues have ownership stakes in Fanatics, it was likely a contributing factor to wanting to end the Panini relationship early, although there really arent a lot of details as to how they were able to move forward with the termination in this manner. All will be revealed shortly, I would guess.

Background

Lets talk about what this means, because Im not sure people truly understand how card licensing works. To make a licensed trading card with current player likenesses, photos, logos, stadiums and everything one would need to associate with a league, a trading card manufacturer needs A MINIMUM of two licenses. First is the properties license that governs the uniforms, logos, and everything that isnt player related. Currently the MLBP license exclusive is owned by Topps, the NFLP, and NBAP exclusives are owned by Panini.

The second license they need is the player’s association license, which grants them access to all current players and their names and likenesses. Currently, Topps owns the MLBPA license, and seemingly, the NFLPA license. Panini also owns and MLBPA license, which grants them the ability to make logoless products, as well as an NBAPA license. Without an NFLPA license, Panini can make cards of legends, and team cards with lots of players on them, but they cant use current players in their sets.

What Impact Does This Have?

Let’s state the facts first – it doesnt look good for Panini overall. They poked the sleeping bear that wasnt supposed to come out of hibernation until 2026, and that was likely a survival move to begin with. The lawsuit over Fanatics’ control of the trading card industry seems to have standing, but it also isnt a slam dunk either. Right now, its going to be really hard for Panini to make football products without current players and rookies under contract to appear in their set. The PA was also one of the main bodies Panini likely used to ensure the autograph contracts the players signed actually got fulfilled.

Topps will not be able to produce fully licensed NFL products at this point. They still need an NFLP license before they can do that. Right now, that seems to be an inevitability, but it hasnt happened yet. I think the entire hobby would like exclusive licenses to go away in their entirety, but having one company with one side of the license and another company with the other side of the license isnt a good situation. It almost happened in 2015 when the NFLPA signed its exclusive deal with Panini before NFLP had a chance to decide on their exclusive rights – but eventually gave in and signed with Panini later that year.

Could Other Licenses Follow Suit?

This is the real question that everyone is asking, and I think the answer is more complicated than people imagine. There are four licenses that have future Fanatics deals in place – NBAP, NBAPA, NFLP and WWE. I think there is a significant chance that a few of them could terminate early if the precedent set by the NFLPA holds up. They are four separate organizations with four separate sets of corporate standards.

In my opinion, the outlier is WWE, which is slated to likely switch over in 2025 – a year earlier than the major sports licenses. WWE has no ownership stake in Fanatics, and this could end up being Panini’s Alamo if the tidal wave seems to go the opposite direction. Im curious if Panini could be in the middle of a Jerry Maguire moment here, where they are calling all their clients wondering who is sticking around. If they are trying to get a sense of where things stand, keeping WWE in their stead until that license ends would seem to be a major focus for their team.

The Post 2026 Landscape

Overall, we all have speculated that the Panini dream ends in the near future, which is why the monopoly focused lawsuit was not a surprise. We know that Fanatics will own the most profitable sports licenses, an auction house, a breaking platform, a vault, all the distribution, the top printer, and a number of other important hobby adjunct businesses. It was clear that Michael Rubin’s plan was to consolidate the entire landscape around a singular brand. As a result, most people in the hobby speculated that Panini would sell their trading card intellectual property to Fanatics, and ride off into the international sunset, where they could remain successful selling stickers and being a gigantic Italian company where things were in 2009.

When that deal fell through, Fanatics targeted and poached a significant number of Panini employees instead, which seemed like a coup in itself. Now it seems even more like Panini will have more struggles trying to figure out how to survive in a world without a major license that can drive profitability the same way the NFL and NBA used to.

Similarly, there seems to be much celebration around the hobby that Panini is getting what is coming to them. A few years ago, I probably would have been among that group of people. This company has notoriously had issues with customer service, redemptions, and all sorts of other things, and seeing the company squander the remaining time on their contracts has to be pretty satisfying for a number of collectors out there.

Let me say this – I dont like exclusives. I dont like monopolies. I dont like having one throat to choke in this situation. Competition is a major factor in creating great things in any marketplace, and without two companies going at it, I fear that we are setting ourselves up for a lot of new problems that most of us have never even fathomed could be possible. Because Fanatics now owns or partially owns so much of the major support mechanisms of the hobby’s landscape, there are very few reasons to continue to challenge the status quo. They will claim they can invest more into their business because their money is secure for a long period of time, but the collector is robbed of the choices they had before as a trade off.

I want to have Topps Chrome NFL and NBA back in the mix. I want to have Dynasty across more sports than just MLB. However, I also understand that also having Prizm and National Treasures is something that other collectors would like to have as well.

It used to be that trading cards were such small potatoes in the licensing game that the leagues didnt want to have to deal with more than one company. Now that trading cards are big business, the leagues realize that signing exclusives can be lucrative, especially if those exclusives are baked in with organizations they have equity stakes in.

Everyone needs to take inventory of how they feel and quickly, because this is about to get really dicey. We all think that Panini getting their comeuppance is what’s best for business, but Im not so sure they are the heel people think they are. Especially if the new overlords taking over the rest of the industry have literally no check on their power. Fanatics is more in bed with the leagues than any other company has ever been, and that could lead to some very interesting outcomes.