The design, like the WWE set earlier this year, is modeled after Topps’ flagship baseball product for 2017. The angling, parallel lines are a nice complement to “the squared circle.”
The base set contains 100 cards and is generously sprinkled with wrestlers from the past such as Dusty Rhodes, Harley Race, Jerry “The King” Lawler, Bret Hart, Bruno Sammartino, Shawn Michaels, Andre the Giant, Ultimate Warrior, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Wendi Richter.
As someone who enjoyed wrestling in the 1970s and deep into the 1980s, to me these names are like magic.
More current stars include Roman Reigns, Sasha Banks, Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, Charlotte Flair, Nikki Bella, Rusev and Becky Lynch. There are NXT competitors within the set, too.
The main insert out of the blaster box was the Finishers and Signature Moves collection, part of 50 cards. While hobby boxes average two of these per pack, the blaster box I opened had 20 of these cards, or almost three per pack.
The final 10 cards in the John Cena Tribute is the fourth grouping in the 40-card insert set. I pulled two of these cards from my blaster box.
The pro wrestling sets that Topps puts out are slick and attractive. It’s not the cheesy stuff that used to prevail in the cards that were issued during the 1980s and 1990s. I wish that there had been a nice-looking set devoted to the old Championship Wrestling from Florida wrestlers. That would be amazing.
But the WWE Then Now Forever set is a nice substitute. Since the days of Lou Thesz and Gorgeous George, including Mildred Burke and the Fabulous Moolah, professional wrestling has always had an appreciative audience. The list goes on. A new generation of stars has entered the ring, and Topps is keeping them fresh for a new audience.