BuzzMania 6: Chronicling The New Era of WWE (Hour 11)

The biggest weekend in pro wrestling is here with WrestleMania 39 set for this Saturday and Sunday from Los Angeles. We'll make today a big one for wrestling collectors right here on The Buzz with #BuzzMania6, a marathon of WWE wax box/pack breaks all day long.

This 11th break of the day offers up one of the better breaks of 2022 that's not high-end ... though price-wise this one isn't bargain-basement right now. Ultimately, it's a collector's brand but some extra flash in these boxes make it a little more pricey than the retail basics, which you have already seen some of today. Will the big box deliver on the big stage? Let's find out ... 

The Brand: 2022 Panini Chronicles WWE (hobby box)

Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

What's inside this one? Keep reading ...

Base Breakdown

Packs per box: 6
Cards per pack: 8
Cards in this box: 48 (see everything in the box in the gallery)
Basic Chronicles set completion: 
10 of 100 (10 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Roxanne Perez, Bret Hart, Becky Lynch, Bam Bam Bigelow, Karrion Kross, R-Truth, Veer Mahaan, Mån.sôör, Cedric Alexander, Tamina

Rookie Cards (9) – See gallery

Short-prints/Inserts Breakdown: 36
Absolute Memorabilia (1) – Roman Reigns
Black (1) – Xia Li, Brutus Creed
Chronicles Red (1) – Reggie (/199)
Certified (2) – Tiffany Stratton, Big E
Certified Red (1) – Yokozuna (/199)
Contenders (1) – Cody Rhodes, Brock Lesnar
Donruss (1) – Roxanne Perez
Donruss Optic (2) – Finn Balor, Seth F. Rollins
Donruss Optic Blue Prizm (1) – Seth F. Rollins (/99)
Elite (2) – Omos, Riddle
Flux (2) – Trick Williams, Gene Okerlund
Illusions (2) – John Cena, Austin Theory
Legacy (1) – Steve Austin
Luminance (2) – Roddy Piper, Guru Raaj
Origins (1) – Eddie Guerrero
Phoenix (2) – Roman Reigns, Roderick Strong
Phoenix Silver Prizms (1) – Torrie Wilson
Playoff (1) – Aleah James
Prestige (1) – Bruno Sammartino
Prestige Purple (1) – Bruno Sammartino (/49)
Rookies & Stars (1) – Shanky
Score (1) – Queen Zelina
Spectra (2) – Asuka, Ricochet
XR (3) – Ronda Rousey, Cactus Jack, Ciampa
Noir (1) – Undertaker (/99)

--

The Hits (Autographs/Memorabilia) Breakdown: 2
Origins Autographs (2) – Afa, Ivory

--

My Take Before I Broke This: My past Buzz Breaks on this one have been a bit un-relenting as a large number of cards I found in several retail boxes -- an unusual number -- have had substantial surface damage to the point where it's a serious bummer for what should be a fun collector-type release absolutely loaded with star power, chase, rookies and real variety. Atop that, my first impression here was rough as collation and just the type of product can make group breaks a serious hit or miss -- I got a miss with literally zero cards in a case of one of the four stars on the box ... nothing -- but despite all that I decided to bite on a cheaper-found big box ... though ironically these hobby boxes only have six more cards than a blaster ... and they can run just as similar (compare the cards above to what was in this blaster ... that was over $100 less). The difference, though, is the guaranteed content here and the perhaps lean approach on numbered cards and hits at retail ... they're easy here and they appear to be rare there. But does two autos and maybe five numbered cards/parallels make up for it?

--

Who Won The Battle? The final insert noted above (and shown below) is the biggie here. These are part of the hobby chase that makes a difference here with the master set of 500 cards capped at just eight potential copies thanks to the rarest tier, Gala. The Noir  (/99) is one of a few with that volume and they are still only combining a few per case. Thankfully I landed a key name there, too. My first pack yielded the Afa auto and while he's a Hall of Famer there's not a ton of value there ... and the ink splatters didn't really help my first impression, either. But, the Undertaker insert and another Hall of Famer auto that isn't pricey but one I didn't mind finding helped out. There's a lot of good potential here but there are a lot of lesser autos on the checklist (value-wise) that can make ripping rough at times. I'll like this one a lot if it dips ... I'll rip more then.

--

The Top Rookie: While I think Tiffany Stratton is next up in the NXT ranks, landing two Perez RCs here gets her the nod. She doesn't have as much cardboard for 2022 as Stratton, either.

--

Card That Stole The Show: These types of rarer cards are only found a few times per case and landing this name is a good, good thing. Did it pay for the box? Nah, but over time I think Undertaker will be a name to hold or even gain value as they, as a whole, start drying up. After all, there are only 98 other copies out there.

--

Box Grade: A- ... Nothing truly big here beyond the Taker card but collectively along with the variety I liked this one.
Fun Grade: B+ ... see above.

--

The Bottom Line: Taker saved this one, though there's a lot to like in the product as a whole. I'll perhaps dabble with some blasters with low expectations of what I'll find for ink or numbered and wait for hobby box prices to perhaps dip (maybe) with a new year of Panini WWE cards on the way.

--

Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com. 

>> Click here to buy WWE packs & boxes on BlowoutCards.com