BuzzMania 6: The Mysterious Panini WWE Import (Hour 3)

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 third break of the day is one that many collectors may not have seen as it's a release that was made for the European audience -- one that's got some moments but also is as simple as it gets. 

The Brand: 2022 Panini WWE International -- Panini Group (made in Italy) mega box

Where to buy: Will take some hunting ... BlowoutCards.com for other boxes & cases

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

Base Breakdown

Packs per box: 10
Cards per pack: 5
Cards in this box: 50 (see everything in the gallery below)
Base set completion: 
37 of 160 (23 percent)
Duplicates: 8

Base cards – Hulk Hogan, Rhea Ripley, Shotzi, Gigi Dolin, Beth Phoenix, Asuka, Nikki Bella, Bianca Belair, Natalya, Queen Zelina, Meiko Satomura, Triple H, Dusty Rhodes, Iron Sheik, Ron Simmons, Jerry Lawler, JBL, Lex Luger, Shelton Benjamin, Reggie, MVP, Bobby Lashley, Marcel Barthel, Big E, Kofi Kingston, Mace, Drew Gulak, Humbero, Angel, Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Undertaker, Bret Hart, Randy Orton, The Rock

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Rookie Cards (1) – Veer Mahan

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Insert Breakdown: 5
Red parallels (4) – Undertaker, Brock Lesnar, Xia Li, T-Bar
Green parallels (1) – Trent Seven

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The Hits (Autographs/Memorabilia) Breakdown: None in product

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My Take Before I Broke This: The eBay prices for singles here are pretty strong for basic base cards, so I had some high expectations here when I finally found some priced worth the rip. (Since they are from Panini for international distribution and not sold by those in the U.S. it takes some looking and international shipping unless you're buying off of somebody who already did that.) I figured the surprise factor here might get some fans to check this one out.

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Who Won The Battle? No battle this time again (don't worry ... more to come) but this one was a bit of a battle to open as, well, it's basically as simple as it gets, has some rough/lighter stock and dark colors that showcase cutting flaws easily. (And I have learned in breaks after I prepped this that, well, the quality control can be very, very bad here at times. You'll see here soon.) There wasn't a lot of "mega" here as a blaster is six packs, a mega box is just 10 and a full box is 24 ... and how the parallels drop as noted on the wrapper apparently only apply if you're ripping the big box. I opted for the middle box for optimal cost (not that cheap here ... but also not that pricey on the big one) but was fine I only did that as, well, I didn't realize how simple this one really is. The full lineup? Just 160 cards -- 100 stars, 40 legends and 20 champions. The only chase? Parallels -- Red (six per 24), Green (three per 24) and Gold parallels (one per 24) -- and that's it. The smaller boxes and import cost/availability explain the secondary market prices some ... and I may go the singles route to grab what I need as, well, this was not that fun to rip. I did land a few names I would have wanted ... but certainly others I didn't and some more than once.

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The Top Rookie: There are a number of RCs on the checklist here but Veer Mahan gets the nod by default.

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Card That Stole The Show: When I briefly thought the Champions cards were inserts, I considered this Red Undertaker to be the best of the best ... it probably still is. The Champions cards are by far the best-looking cards here and some of the photo choices are unique compared to a lot of stuff that has been used in WWE sets through the years.

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Box Grade: A- ... Reds of a couple top names makes this one pretty decent considering odds in play here
Fun Grade: B- ... This wasn't that great ... but I have seen worse since opening this one.

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The Bottom Line: There are some nice cards to be found here but the only real challenge is the Gold parallel and to a slightly lower degree the Greens. I'll chase the rest I want via singles. The main challenge here is finding anything gradable as the quality control can be very rough here.

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