COURTESY OF TOMMY FIERRO
AHA MOMENT
Fierro was scrolling on Facebook during the shutdown when he saw an ad posted by alocal bookstore for a virtual book-signing . The proverbial lightbulb went off , he says , when he realized that pro wrestlers could do signings online , too . He had been half-heartedly attending real estate school , but when his wife — a pro wrestling fan as a child — gave him the green light , he went “ full force into wrestling ,” he says .
The way it works is this : Fans send him action figures , T-shirts and photos , shipping costs pre-paid , to be signed . On the day of his scheduled Facebook Live Stream , Fierro sets up with the pro wrestler ( s ) in a rented hotel conference room and for a fee of $ 20- $ 30 per item , the celebrities autograph the fans ’ memorabilia ( just watching the event is free ). “ I wish I ’ d thought of it sooner ,” says Fierro , who ’ s heard from fans in Singapore , Germany , Mexico , the UKand Canada .
‘ MORE THAN A STORE ’
“ A big part of my business is virtual signing ,” says Fierro — a good thing , because during the pandemic , Los Angeles-based California Pizza Kitchen went bankrupt and permanently shut down many locations , including the bar and restaurant at the local mall . Fierro was initially furloughed , then formally let go in August 2020 . But he says he now considers last year ’ s turn of events to be a blessing , because it caused him to fall back on his true calling . And that includes opening The Wrestling Collector .
The 1,100-square-foot store sells DVDs , magazines , posters , T-shirts and other signed wrestling memorabilia . To price them , he says , he looks at what they fetch on eBay ; if there are 10 pieces of the same item available there , he ’ ll choose a middle ground . He also consults Amazon to get ahandle on the value of the memorabilia .
Visitors can pick three used action
THE CHAMPS ARE HERE Tommy Fierro ( center ) poses with former WWF World Tag Team Champions Demolition , two of the many wrestlers who have signed autographs at The Wrestling Collector .
figures out of a plastic tub for $ 20 , or pay up tofour times that sum for each one in its original packaging . Fierro buys the merchandise from other collectors at online auctions , or through his following on social media . “ To them , it may be an old basket of figures lying in their attic ,” says Fierro . “ To me , it ’ s a treasure .”
Many of his customers feel the same way . Andrew Khellah , 39 , a longtime collector of wrestling memorabilia from Jersey City , says Fierro may be the only person capable of tracking down a keepsake from the first show he ever attended with his late father . He has hunted for several years , but to no avail , for any relic he can find from that 1987 event at Asbury Park Convention Hall . It would be satisfying just to turn up a ticket stub , he says . “ He has his eyes peeled ,” says Khellah . “ I ’ m willing to pay alot of money .”
Erik Viking , of Clementon , has browsed the shop to furnish his “ man cave .” He says he ’ s never seen a store quite like Fierro ’ s , dedicated exclusively to retro wrestling collectibles . “ For some reason , our age group is very nostalgic ,” says Viking , 37 , who owns an indie promotion company called Pro Wrestling Explosion . “ My room kind of looked like this in , like , ’ 95 and ’ 96 .”
Now that pandemic restrictions have eased , Fierro has brought back his live in-person events , too – for nonprofits . A Labor Day weekend event in Butler featured Independent Superstars of Pro Wrestling , the nonprofit arm of his business , and raised money for the Bloomingdale and Butler Youth Club . Another ISPW promotion will be held live on the evening of Friday , Nov . 19 , at the Totowa PAL . For more information , go to 80swrestlingcon . com . ■
@ waynemagazine WAYNE MAGAZINE FALL 2021
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