Buzz Break: 2023 Donruss Elite WWE wrestling cards (blaster)

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The box: 2023 Donruss Elite WWE wrestling cards (blaster)
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of what was in this one.

Packs per box: 6
Cards per pack: 4
Cards in this box: 24
Base set completion: 
18 of 100 (18 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards – Chelsea Green, Cody Rhodes, Gunther, Dominik Mysterio, Xavier Woods, Shotzi, Karrion Kross, Zelina Vega, Dakota Kai, Charlotte Flair, Asuka, Roxanne Perez, Cora Jade, Carmelo Hayes, Ivy Nile, Andre Chase

Rookie Cards (2) – Hank Walker, Ava

Insert cards: 6 (all cards from box in gallery below)
Green Powerhouses (1) – John Cena
Green Spellbound (1) – "Stone Cold" Steve Austin ("O")
Green Full Throttle (1) – Matt Riddle
Pink parallel (1) – Natalya
Pink SP (Nos. 101-150) parallel (1) – Tito Santana
Status Explosion parallel (1) – Matt Riddle (/275)

Autographs/Memorabilia: None

What's Buzz-worthy: My second one of three here is pretty much the same as the first but with some small tweaks to the insert lineup. The box was probably slightly better than my first on the basic names front for younger stars but still a but underwhelming with one of the insert names showing twice and dismissed from the company. (It happens.) One thing I hadn't seen here was an SP and it as a parallel -- some of those could be sleepers over time if somebody tries to build a Pink set or a master set with all colors. ... As I noted last time, I've never been a big fan of the foilboard focus that is Elite but this delayed WWE debut release has some bright spots so I bit on a trio of blasters instead of a pricier hobby box. And, well, based on my trio I'd say do the hobby boxes if you dig this one. The lineup here is what, for the most part, most blasters will look like -- the main set is only 100 cards and you get about a fifth of that every time. The only variations to that will be if you land a Legends subset SP (Nos. 101-150), an SP parallel or an autograph. Ink can be found here with Pen Pals, Elite Signatures, Elite Impressions, New Breed Of Autographs and Turn of the Century Signatures all in Green parallels. Other parallel colors apparently come into play for Turn and and Impressions ... but I'd suspect that, based on my first (three) impressions here, none of them will be found that heavily in this format. (I went 0-for-3 on that front.) The only other base parallels to be found here that were not in this box are the Aspirations Swirl cards (/75), while all other insert sets in this one are, as with pretty much all Elite releases, found here but only in Green. Production-wise, these are clean -- especially for this kind of stock -- but the top edges of cards do at times show minor denting from packaging -- probably one more sign to rip into hobby packs that have twice as many cards in them vs. here. There's a lot to find in this one -- hobby boxes include a pair of autos every time and a lot of color -- while this format apparently delivers one numbered card as a baseline with varying color otherwise for starters. I think this one is probably going to be a singles hunt for me more than anything going forward, though I do have some group break cards incoming to see if other shades and versions there appeal to me more. This format seems way too simple for this release but it would be more fun with a little more insert volume -- maybe another color in every pack other than Green -- and then some better idea of how often ink flows. I'll probably dabble with blasters when they hit the bargain bins and you can see my final one during BuzzMania 7 on April 5.

Product Grade: B+
Box Grade: B
Fun Grade: B-

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