Back in 2017, while watching Wrestlemania with my sons, I was reminded why I loved wrestling and decided to get back into one of my favorite obsessions of my younger years . This past week at the National Sports Cards Convention, I was reminded why I love being a part of this community.

The last few years have no doubt been a wild ride across the hobby, but that is no more evident than what we have seen in Wrestling Cards. Once a dark corner of the niche collecting universe, Wrestling has become one of the most fun and well developed parts of the collector population who make up the hobby. Even as recently as a few years ago, Wrestling cards were inexpensive but fun, supported by a small community of people that wanted nothing but to have a great time collecting.

As Panini came on board in 2022, this niche group of people were flooded by a tidal wave of new interest sparked by the release of Prizm, and a huge spike in value for both vintage and modern cards. Since that time, the market has crashed across the hobby, but wrestling cards is one of the only areas to not be hit quite as hard by the downturn.

With a multitude of new faces to increase the visibility that Wrestling had in the hobby, 2022 marked the first time that the community had its place at the show of shows. Paul Anand of Wrestling Card Price Guide and Tony Vela of Wrestling Trading Cards were able to secure a spot on the main stage to have their time in front of the biggest crowd of the year. Through that experience, collectors with wrestling focus started to think about why our favorite cards had virtually no representation at the show? Few tables had wrestling cards for sale, most of the events of the week were focused on the major sports, and many of these collectors wanted more.

For 2023, a group of us got together and thought there was no better opportunity to take this to the next level. With Paul and Tony on board, as well as official sponsorship from Panini America, and support from huge community members like RBICru7 and Sports Card Junction, six of us created what we hoped would become an annual tradition. Shane Norton (SportsCardNobody), Kevin Kulikowski of New York Roadshow, and Ryan Schear joined up to bring wrestling cards into the spotlight for the first time at the NSCC.

What followed was nothing short of an epic journey towards one of the best nights I have had since started collecting cards as a kid.

The Main Event started as a community meetup where we were planning to head to a restaurant and enjoy a night with a very small group of people we knew would be at the show. It ended up as the largest gathering of wrestling card collectors that I have ever thought was possible.

Thanks to our official partnership with Panini America, we were able to secure a wonderful space in the Hyatt Regency, give away a TON of prizes, create an exclusive trading card set, and set a path forward for Main Event parties in the future.

I never expected that we would be able to get as far as we did, but we had a huge amount of support on social media, and the support of the NSCC planning committee to be the community that they trusted to try out something to this degree.

The card set was something that I didnt think was possible, but thanks to Tony and Paul’s experience of making the wrestling card collector’s set, we had a way to print exclusive cards to give to the attendees. Being that card design isnt really a skill of mine, designing the cards myself was a daunting task, but I think they turned out better than I could have ever hoped. Each person who came to the event got a set of the cards, and some were lucky to get the gold parallels we inserted as well.

Planning this event was a labor of love, but all of us on the committee absolutely felt the strain of balancing our personal lives with the immense undertaking of making sure the party went off without a hitch. Seeing people lined up an hour before the event, with a smile on their face, chatting with other collectors in line and comparing their collections made that enormous amount of work worthwhile.

Through the entire night, we had a packed house of collectors, trading, chatting, and sharing their passion for wrestling cards. We knew that passion was always a top characteristic used to describe a wrestling collector, but the Main Event had that on display in spades. Over 150 people attended the event, and made it one of the most special gatherings I have ever been a part of over the many NSCC shows I have been to.

Not only that, but I cant explain the feeling of walking the aisles the week of the show, and have people pull me aside to tell me how excited they are for the event. I ran into so many of the collectors I have talked to forever on social media, now able to put a face to a screen name.

I also got to meet the members of the planning committee face to face after countless videos and group chats, and being friends for such a long time. Most of us already talked multiple times per day, but being able to spend time at a bar or a restaurant and talk about our shared excitement over the future of the community is one of the best things someone can have in a setting like the NSCC.

We also had a great time the day before, where wrestling was on the Main Stage in the convention hall, for an hour long wrestling card panel for the second year in a row. We had a great time trading “WOOOOs” with the crowd there, and chatting about all the big things that have happened in wrestling cards over the last few years.

This was the biggest NSCC ever, according to many of the show organizers and dealers, but it was also the biggest week in wrestling cards as well. Its an experience that Tony Vela said was an emotional one for him, as he was one of the guys who saw wrestling cards at its smallest, and now is seeing it take center stage for the first time. I agree 100%, and the rest of the planning committee did as well.

The Main Event was something to be acknowledged like Roman Reigns, but it was all the support from the community and the attendees that was truly a showstopper. I wish that more people could have been there to experience the beginning of an era along side the 150 people that joined us this week, but that’s why we will be aiming to make this a yearly event for the NSCC shows coming in the future.

A huge thank you to Tony, Paul, Ryan, Kevin, Shane, Chad, Nate, Ryan B, Tracy, Scott, Lucas, Misha and all the community members who made this incredible week an Andre the Giant sized success. We couldnt have done it without you, nor would we have wanted to. The lifeblood of wrestling cards is the collectors that support the community, and its clear that the 2023 NSCC was something that proved it to the world.

See you all in Cleveland next year!