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My Visit To
Suplex Vintage Wrestling
It was about a week and a half before WrestleMania 40; I wasn't able to attend the Show of Shows itself, but I'd made the road trip down to Philadelphia (in part) to check out a store known as Suplex Vintage Wrestling in South Philly. So you can imagine my shock when at 11:30 a.m. on a Tuesday, the store was closed.
It turned out the store would open in about half an hour, so I killed some time at a local Starbucks before heading back. And from that point on, Suplex didn't disappoint in the least.
From the moment I walked in, I was in wrestling heaven. Ring ropes decorated the entrance and from there, you could see a full wall of championship belts. Walk a little further, and there was a collection of what had to be four to five hundred loose wrestling figures from every era for purchase.
While I spent most of my time at Suplex perusing the loose figures, there was, of course, much more to take in. Wrestling buddies from WWE, WCW and elsewhere; packaged wrestling figures that went back as far as The Attitude Era; T-shirts from different promotions; VHS tapes that brought me back to a different point in time; and tons of wrestling 8 x 10s on the wall.
While the upstairs level didn't have anything for purchase, it was an amazing sight to take in. Tons of old ECW shirts and signs, plus ringside seats from different pay-per-views and even more rare wrestling figures on display. Above a Hell In A Cell-type structure that went up to the second floor, a large screen was playing an ECW event - which was perfect for the vibe the store was trying to set.
Unlike some other wrestling merch stores I've visited in my years, I have to admit that the prices here were quite reasonable. I ended up with a bunch of loose figures I needed for my collection plus a WWE Superstars figure that I hadn't even seen in stores yet.
Suplex Vintage Wrestling is by far the best wrestling merchandise store I've been to in all my travels. The selection was great; the staff seemed to be true wrestling fans; and the experience was fantastic. I'll definitely be back... although (sniff) not for the week of WrestleMania.
