Wing Bowl has left a void, and these events are trying to fill it

As we approach the final Friday before the Super Bowl, Eagles fans across the region are slowly remembering this will be the first time in 26 years they won’t need to wake up early to attend Wing Bowl.

In October, 94.1 WIP surprised many listeners by announcing the death of its often-depraved, never-dull wing-eating contest. Morning show hosts Angelo Cataldi and Al Morganti — who started the gluttonous event in 1993 — said the annual gathering of wing eaters and wingettes was intended to fill the void left by the Eagles' inability to make it to the Super Bowl, and seemed unnecessary in the wake of the team’s championship last season.

“It’s like that Greek god who put the rock up the hill. It went over,” Morganati said during the announcement of the event’s demise. “They won the Super Bowl.”

But the move to kill a free event that drew upwards of 20,000 people annually to the Wells Fargo Center had repercussions for two strip clubs who benefited from the flow of foot traffic — Cheerleaders and Club Risque.

So the clubs have teamed up to create a new event — dubbed Wing Pole — that will attempt to fill the gap left behind by the death of the annual wing-eating competition. Both clubs will open at 7 a.m. Friday, and each will feature 10 amateur contestants from the tri-state area competing in a wing-eating contest for a $2,000 prize. Two Wing Bowl veterans — Notorious B.O.B. and Heavy Kevy — are acting as commissioners.

“[Wing Bowl] was one of our busiest days... and for our entertainers, it was their biggest money-making day of the year,” said Ryann O’Donnell, the director of marketing and promotions for Cheerleaders. “We met with WIP, and they were very apologetic it was ending … so we talked to them about if they would mind if we continued on, and they were very supportive."

But unlike Wing Bowl, all the Wingettes are entertainers who dance at the clubs, and attending Wing Pole will set morning thrill seekers back at least $20. O’Donnell is hoping to get 1,200 people through the door throughout the day.

The clubs are also turning to WIP for two guest judges — longtime overnight host Big Daddy Graham at Club Risque, and his daughter Ava (who currently works with Cataldi on the station’s morning show) at Cheerleaders.

“We’ll see how this works. I think it’s a great idea,” Graham said. “As someone who’s been in this business a long time, I recognize a good PR stunt when I see one.”

With WIP vacating the Friday before the Super Bowl, 97.5 The Fanatic has decided to dive in with an event of its own — a corn hole tournament hosted by new morning show hosts Marc Farzetta and William “Tre” Thomas.

The free tailgate party — dubbed “Super Hole Weekend” — will take place at the Metropolitan Opera House (yes, you read that correctly) beginning at 6 a.m. Friday. Farzetta and Thomas will anchor their normal show on location, joined by co-hosts Bob Cooney and Jamie Lynch.

The corn hole tournament, held in partnership with the Philadelphia Cornhole League, will be whittled down through the morning from a starting field of 64, with the final matchup for the championship expected around 9:15 a.m.

At Donkey’s Place in Camden, third-generation owner Rob Lucas is replacing his famed cheesesteaks (served on a seeded Kaiser roll) with hefty plates of wings.

“They canceled Wing Bowl, and people around here still want somewhere to go,” said Lucas. “So we’re having a wing eating competition on both days. The top three winners on Friday will move on to Saturday.”

Lucas said the whole event would be pretty informal, and could happen anytime between 7 a.m. and noon on either day, depending on the crowd. There won’t be a cash prize, but Lucas said winners would receive gift certificates to the restaurant, as well as hoodies and t-shirts. And on Saturday, famed Wing Bowl champion Bill “El Wingador” Simmons is expended to appear.

» READ MORE: My first time at Wing Bowl: A true story