Just a couple short months after the release of its nostalgia fueled 2022 Upper Deck AEW Skybox Metal Universe, Upper Deck has released possibly the surprise hit of the year, 2022 Upper Deck AEW Wrestling Allure. Allure hit the streets on November 15, 2023, so I was excited to receive a hobby box, compliments of Upper Deck, after hearing and seeing so many great things about this beautiful new wrestling card set.
Not unlike some of the other recent Upper Deck AEW sets, like Spectrum and Metal Universe, Upper Deck has created trading card sets of Allure for hockey, but this marks the first go around for wrestling Allure, and I hope it becomes an annual tradition.
2022 Upper Deck AEW Wrestling Allure is the first chromium style card set for AEW, something wrestling card collectors have been hungry for, and this card set gives chrome addicts exactly what they’ve been hoping for. Granted, these are relatively small boxes, with just eight packs of eight cards per box, equaling 64 cards total, on average, but this is a fun, quick rip for under $100 per box that will leave you wanting more.
Here’s what I got in my box of 2022 Upper Deck AEW Wrestling Allure.
It’s always extra exciting to open that first pack out of the box, and I was happy to see my first card was Sexy Chucky T, aka Chuck Taylor. This is an absolutely gorgeous set of cards, and you’ve got to love that intoxicating chrome smell. I also pulled a Star Futures Colten Gunn, which is a slightly short printed subset of cards, numbered 126 through 150, out of the 150 card set. I also pulled a Riho Black Rainbow parallel card and a Jamie Hayter AEW Logo parallel card numbered out of 299, which are both just great looking, high quality wrestling cards.
My second pack started with a Takeshita base card, which is his first pack pulled AEW trading card. After this I pulled a Star Futures of the other Gunn brother, Austin Gunn, then a Hikaru Shida Black Rainbow, and a Samoa Joe Orange/Yellow Color Flow insert. There’s a plethora of parallels and colors in 2022 Upper Deck AEW Wrestling Allure, so I’m grateful that it says what it is on the back of each card.
While opening my third pack of Allure, I noted how easily the packs open. It’s a minor detail, but it counts. Anyway, in this pack, I received base cards of Serena Deeb, Jay Lethal, and Penelope Ford. I then received a Lee Moriarty Star Futures and a Rey Fenix Orange Slice die cut, which is another beautiful card. I also pulled a Sammy Guevara I Scream For die cut card. If you’re not familiar, these are cards in the style and shape of an ice cream bar, a reference that was a little more relevant a year or so ago. While I appreciate the whimsy of this and other Allure inserts, like the extra rare Bus cards (literally an AEW talent showcased on a tour bus), the result here is a little muddy, and it’s probably my least favorite card of the box, so far. Still, I appreciate them taking a swing.
Next, I pulled a base card of rookie of the year, Jeff Jarrett, a Julia Hart Star Futures, a Toni Storm Red/Orange Color Flow, and a CM Punk Title Fights die cut insert. There’s still quite a lot of CM Punk in this set, despite his recent return to WWE, but this set was technically released before that occurred, and was obviously planned out well ahead of the roster changes that occurred. Ironically enough, I finished the pack pulling an MJF base card, which features him rocking a T-shirt that shows a young MJF meeting CM Punk, so he’s even featured on another wrestler’s cards.
Halfway through my box, in pack number five, I pulled base cards of Claudio, Kenny Omega, and Eddie Kingston, then I pulled a Dante Martin Star Futures, and an Orange Cassidy Red Rainbow parallel. This is also a horizontal variation, which is another short printed subset of cards numbered 101-125, so it’s a little more rare. I also pulled a Daniel Garcia Title Ambitions insert.
In pack six, I pulled a great looking Penta El Zero M base card, a Takeshita Star Futures, and an MJF Red Rainbow parallel. As far as collectability is concerned, MJF is still consistently the most valuable wrestler on the AEW roster, so any parallel or variation of MJF is extra special. I also pulled a Penelope Ford Title Ambitions die cut, and a base card of the most anticipated rookie of this set, Skye Blue. I then finished the pack with Abadon, looking intentionally horrifying as ever.
In pack seven, I pulled an Anna Jay Star Futures, Thunder Rosa Red/Orange Color Flow insert, and a My Squad die cut insert card of The Elite.
And in my eighth and final pack of 2022 Upper Deck AEW Wrestling Allure, I pulled a base card of Julia Hart, technically a rookie card, and then a Jade Cargill Star Futures. I’ll admit, I was a little surprised to still get a Cargill card, but that goes to show how long these products take to develop and release, although I assume that this will be the final AEW set including cards of Cargill and Punk, but I guess we’ll see soon enough. To finish up my last pack, I pulled a Keith Lee Black Rainbow horizontal card, a horizontal Red Velvet AEW Logo parallel out of 299 (my favorite parallel of the box), and base cards of Adam Cole, Cash Wheeler, and “Big Stoke” Stokely Hathaway.
In summary, 2022 Upper Deck AEW Wrestling Allure features a smaller hobby box than other releases, but it results in a quick, fun open, full of gorgeous, shiny cards with some very cool parallels and creative, playful inserts. Hobby boxes are readily available for under $100 per box, so I recommend you grab one while you still can.
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