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.
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.