I think there is a good chance that you are reading this and asking yourself, “wait, they make wrestling cards?” Not only have wrestling cards been steadily produced with a vibrant (but small) community for decades, but recent sales are turning heads in ways that were previously only reserved for major sports cards.

Given that wrestling’s popularity has drastically declined since the late 1990s, its likely similarly surprising that like UFC, Soccer, and other niche sports, WWE cards have exploded in value recently. I want to go through some of the main factors going into this spike, as it is a bit different than previous factors that impacted the trading card boom over the last few years.

Panini’s License Acquisition

Ever since that time, when you could walk around a shopping mall and see Austin 3:16 and Degeneration X shirts scrawled on people’s chests, Topps has been the main manufacturer in line with WWE. Prior to that, there were some smaller sets produced by promoters who thought it would be fun to offer cards at events or through the magazines that informed people about what was happening around the country. Those vintage sets have set the world on fire with big sales of the major names, which was surprising in its own right. That boom really didnt spread to WWE until Panini’s announcement a few months ago that they would be taking over the license from Topps.

Panini’s announcement and subsequent Prizm release accomplishes a few thing in spurring a market. It brings a history of brand launches that have blown the doors off of expectations, and it also brings a crowd that will buy on speculation this will take place. Similar to Topps owning WWE, UFC was also a major brand that they had produced cards for a long time. Like WWE is doing now, UFC prices went into overdrive on older wax, and produced some record sales of big cards.

The reason why this happens is two fold. First, Prizm has become the default flagship product for the trading card boom over the last 3 years. This has spurred a huge speculative interest in any release with Prizm as the focus, especially with 1st product releases. The hobby loves rookie cards, so buying out the inaugural product run of a product shouldnt be a surprise tactic.

Secondly, there is a growing audience of collectors who are looking for the edge in making money, and Panini products is what they know. For the time where they have been a part of the hobby, in most cases, Panini was the only game in town for the two biggest high end sports. That spurred an entire generation of hobby participants that saw Panini’s participation as the most important manufacturer. Announcing a new addition to that portfolio of brands is something that creates a wave, and we have already started to see the impacts of early adopters driving up wax and singles prices across the hobby.

The first batch of Prizm boxes were listed at 700 dollars for WWE, and sold out almost immediately. Blowout listed their pre-order at 900 and its already getting low. To think the box price will be anywhere close to this by this time next year is a pipe dream. Its insanely expensive already, but this is just the beginning thanks to the factors in this post.

A Small Universe with a Small Amount of Cards

To this point, WWE is one of the smaller niche parts of the hobby. Historically Topps has printed products to order, so a small engagement from dealers and collectors meant that smaller runs were produced. When a wave of demand comes to a market with a comparatively small supply, crazy things happen. We have seen what are seen as common cards go for insane prices, only because there just arent a lot of WWE heavy hitters to satisfy a crowd that feeds only on the most premium examples.

Lack of product isnt the only thing that will create a feeding frenzy in WWE. Unlike UFC, the wrestling hobby had been around forever. Loyal collectors, myself included, spent hours and hours combing facebook groups, ebay and other places to find cards for our designated PCs. Most of these PCs were built at the fraction of a price it would take to build a similar example in another sport, so the money isnt as much of a factor.

Therefore, when Roman Reigns, the Rock, Steve Austin and the like are seeing record prices, there wont be a lot of people who are going to dig out their PC to list on eBay. The choice to suffocate the supply is one that many wrestling collectors will happily make, because this was never about acquiring wealth when they started their journey. Right now, I have a shelf and three cases worth of premium Becky Lynch cards – and it will take life changing money to pry them from my hands.

Most collectors will have a ceiling to which they will stay involved, but there is a reason why they wont sell for anything less than a windfall. For most, Wrestling is the only thing they collect. Liquidating a collection without the ability to re-enter the hobby is a tough proposition for people to understand. Decades worth of work might be worth a lot of money, but it will remove most of the participation they have had to this point as well. Im not ready for that, and I know a number of others arent either.

As a direct correlation, this mentality can spur some enormous sales. If a desirable card hits eBay and checks the right boxes, there are hungry new entrants to WWE cards and investors that will snatch them up. Quickly. This brings me to the next point.

Wrestling is FUCKING INEXPENSIVE!

As of now, the top modern sale of a WWE card is $15k. Lets be honest, that is peanuts compared to sales we see DAILY in other parts of the hobby. For many investors, a card isnt even important until it can clear six figures, or is available enough in a high grade that it can result in 5 figure growth in a lot sale format.

Right now, spending a couple thousand on wrestling card isnt on that radar, but for some, its not even a thought, considering what they spend to maintain their portfolio in the NBA or the NFL. Baseball has also seen significant growth in the hobby, and a once low end sport can churn out five figure cards on the regular now.

Because Wrestling has no comparative equity in value to the major sports, its easy to change an entire market with a small investment. If I wanted to change the NBA market, I would need millions to spend. If I want to change the WWE market in a day, I could do it with 100k. Thats just crazy. Spend six figures on a market wide spread, and everything would be worth 5x in minutes. Not only is it concerning that the FOMO is such a dependency to creating value in anything collectible, but it is scary that someone with funds could do it overnight in WWE ahead of the Prizm release.

Wrestling has yet to produce a six figure card, but I have a feeling that day isnt far off. The Rock is the biggest movie star in the world, and his Prizm Black 1/1 is coming shortly. Im not saying its a 100k card off the bat, but its not out of the realm of consideration that someone could pull that trigger.

A Global Audience

The best thing about WWE is that the audience is gigantic. They have more social media followers than the four major sports combined, and are regularly among the top social media producers on the planet. Even though their TV audiences have shrunk, nothing else has. There are more people engaging with WWE content now than in the history of the company. This is because they have an enormous platform across multiple global regions, all of whom are expected to engage with products and marketing from the company.

If you think about that audience, its similar to what the NBA has tried to cultivate. Like the NBA, Wrestling is deep rooted in Asia with almost a century worth of Pro-wrestling related history. Newer markets like India and the Middle East are in the same growth pattern. UK and eastern Europe all have long histories with the industry. All of that made NBA the most premium brand in sports cards, and it could do the same for WWE.

I help run one of the largest wrestling card facebook groups there is, and international collectors were always a minority. We are now getting up to 25 new members per day, and a growing majority of those collectors are from overseas.

All of this will create global demand for product that isnt there currently. Panini’s global reach far extends that of Topps and we are already seeing the interest now as a result.

Overall, we like to think that we have the inside track on where to spend our precious funds, but I dont think there is any denying that Wrestling cards are going bananas for a reason right now, and none of that is going to stop soon.