Everyone loves pizza. The sizzling melted cheese. The steam coming off of the pizza when you open the box. The smell of tomato sauce, oregano, garlic and fresh dough filling the air. The burning sensation in your mouth that hurts but feels so good at the same time. The hot grease dripping as you bite into it. The 1,000 calories that are so worth it.
Pizza is amazing.
People love pizza so much, in fact, that there is actually an International Pizza Expo with its own World Pizza Games.
"An awesome atmosphere. Over 1000 booths for people to visit. Guys and girls that are really into pizza come together," says Tony Gemignani, 12 times World Pizza Games' Champion, said about the event.
The expo is held every year in Las Vegas. People from every part of the pizza business attend this event. Managers, bakers, pizza box folders, owners; Gemignani says everyone comes.
"Seeing people come together. That's my favorite part. There isn’t another industry where you see independent pizza industries come together. You see a lot of people you haven’t seen in about a year. I’ve had people go to other conventions and say ‘this one is the craziest’".
The World Pizza Games consists of competitions that the pizza makers engage in.
The energy is intense and the competition is focused. The games see some of the best pizza tossers in the world.
"Fierce competition. You are going against people from all over. Italy, Finland, Mexico, China. The biggest pizza event of the year," Gemignani said.
There are five (six with the Masters' Division) competitive events for the games. These categories are:
- Freestyle Acrobatic Dough Tossing
- Fastest Dough
- Largest Dough Stretch
- Fastest Pizza Box Folding
- Pizza Triathlon
- Freestyle Acrobatic Dough Tossing – Masters' Division
The pizza tossers have three minutes to come up with a routine with their music. They flip, toss and rotate the dough in the air.
Gemignani even has a move named after him. The "Gemignani" is a move where you have dough in each hand, and you toss them across your shoulders, catching them in the opposite hand at the same time.
Gemignani now has a group called World Pizza Champions that consists of six pizza acrobats. Gemignani is known as the pioneer of pizza tossing, teaching others his technique for years. Here, the World Pizza Champions talk about the Pizza Games, below.
"I was 17 going on 18 years old. I remember seeing my brother and friends tossing the pizza and doing tricks at his restaurant," Gemignani said. "People would crowd around the window to watch. I thought it was pretty cool and interesting to see the customers be attracted to what I do every day."
Gemignani started pizza tossing in 1991 and entered his first competition in 1995. When he competed in pizza tossing he would train for weeks at a time. Since 2006, Gemignani has turned to pizza making competitions.
He says he loves both tossing and cooking the pizza and loves competing.
The prizes for the pizza tossing is $1,000 and a medal. The cooking competition prize is $5,000. (Of course, bragging rights are also included.)
Want to see some more crazy moves? Check out World Pizza Champion, and this year's champion of the Freestyle Acrobatic Dough Tossing – Masters Division category, Justin Wadstein.
