When I previously reviewed GCW’s latest set of Joey Janela’s Spring Break wrestling cards, one of my criticisms was that it was a smaller set that didn’t include any cards from GCW’s The Collective, which GCW has included in its past few sets of cards. That meant we didn’t receive a new set of EFFY’S Big Gay Brunch cards, one of my favorite subsets of independent wrestling cards. Well, in a sense, that ship has been righted, because TNT Extreme Wrestling has released a new set of EFFY’s Big Gay Brunch wrestling cards. This isn’t the first collaboration between TNT and GCW. Back in March 2023, I wrote about a limited set of GCW vs TNT trading cards that were heating up the secondary market, and now TNT is back at it again.
TNT Extreme Wrestling announced the pre-sale of its set of Big Gay Brunch cards back in April 2023, ahead of the event that took place on May 12, 2023, and while the pre-sale has ended, and this wrestling card set is now sold out, I thankfully received a set of these limited cards in my mailbox this past week, and my hunger for a new Big Gay Brunch card set is satisfied (for the time being).
🏳️🌈 EFFY’S BIG GAY BRUNCH – Presented by TNT EXTREME WRESTLING
📺 Available to watch NOW on Demand PROGRESS!
👇 Click the link below to sign up and get a two week FREE trial!https://t.co/S5xwWch4NZ#PROGRESSWrestling#Wrestlingpic.twitter.com/JYcIDctTsm
— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) June 11, 2023
In previous GCW The Collective card sets, Big Gay Brunch was just one of multiple wrestling shows included, so while it was often my favorite subset of cards, it was always a relatively small subset of cards, but with this new TNT set, EFFY’s Big Gay Brunch was the whole show, so TNT dedicated a full set of cards to it. The set is packaged in the standard, independent wrestling card box, like a deck of playing cards, with 35 cards to the set, but the box is bright and colorful, featuring the colors of the Pride flag.
The cards themselves are also colorful, with an almost tie-dye rainbow theme to the background. The photos of the wrestlers are big, clear portraits of each wrestler, with their name in a big, bold, white font, and along the bottom border of each card, it gives the date and location of the event: May 12, 2023, EFFY’S Big Gay Brunch, Liverpool.
The back of the card has the same tie-dye rainbow background, with the Big Gay Brunch logo filled in with the colors of the Union Jack, and that’s all. There’s no wrestler measurements or bio or anything else about the event or who made the card. This could be seen as a shortcoming of the set, but I appreciate the simplicity. These are glossy, colorful cards, and I think the card backs have a less-is-more appeal to them, especially since there’s so much to see on the front.
The checklist should satisfy fans of both the UK’s TNT Extreme Wrestling and previous Big Gay Brunch events. Of course there’s familiar GCW names like EFFY, Allie Katch, Dark Sheik, and Parrow, but there’s also cards of Big Damo, Che Monet, Kendo Nagasaki, Session Moth Martina, and Shay Purcer. There’s a number of cards of wrestlers I’m not yet familiar with, but that’s always part of the fun of these independent card sets. Just a few years ago, Big Gay Brunch card sets were where Gigi Dolan (fka Priscilla Kelly) and Sonny Kiss received their very first wrestling cards, so who knows who might be the next to break out.
Unless TNT prints more sets of these cards, the only way to get them now is for someone who already has a set to sell (or trade) them to you. As of this writing, there’s no sets on eBay (yet), but if the GCW vs TNT cards were any indication, this could become a very sought out set of wrestling cards, and the international nature of the set will only contribute to the rarity. I’m glad I ordered mine when I did, because now that I have them in my hands, I would have been bummed to miss out, and while this set may not be part of the official GCW canon, it’s a must-have for fans of EFFY and the Big Gay Brunch.
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