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The International Pizza Expo and Conference, attended by over 11,000 industry enthusiasts and professionals, recently featured some of the best pizza in the world — and then some. Pizza competitions took place across a show floor that was larger than eight football fields.
"It's like the Super Bowl of pizza. All the big players" were in attendance, world-renowned restaurateur and pizza chef Tony Gemignani told Fox News Digital at the event.
"The championships are here, whoever makes the best pizza in the world, from the acrobats to the best bakers — it's everything in one, the biggest show of the year."
A fan favorite was the "Freestyle Acrobatic Dough-Tossing" finals, in which six expert "pizzaiolos" performed pizza dough-tossing tricks.
Contestants slung pizza dough behind their backs and between their legs on the floor, among many other jaw-dropping stunts.
Emcee of the final event was Glenn Cybulski, winner of 112 national and international culinary awards. He told Fox News Digital that judges evaluate each contestant's routine in five areas: creativity, dexterity, transitions, drops and difficulty.
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"Anywhere there's a pizzeria, you've got some kid, spinning dough," said Cybulski. "They're practicing year-round every time they have downtime in the pizzeria."
The chef added, "As I get older, the music gets younger [at the convention], but it's really fun … If you can take that dough and spin it, we want you on stage."
"Out of all the culinary events that happen around the world, I think the pizza industry is the event that really brings people together."
The Freestyle Acrobatic Dough-Tossing event was among other cash-prize competitions hosted by the World Pizza Games at the expo, including Largest Dough Stretch, Pizza Triathlon, Fastest Dough, Fastest Pizza Box Folding and the Tandem Team contest.
Also at the expo: The International Pizza Challenge, where the world's best pizzaiolos competed in the Traditional, Non-Traditional, Pan, and Neapolitan divisions; scores were based on crust, sauce, cheese, toppings, creativity and taste.
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"While we're competitive, we're also brothers and sisters together helping each other," said Cybulski. "Out of all the culinary events that happen around the world, I think the pizza industry is the event that really brings people together."
Gemignani, a 13-time World Champion Pizza Acrobat, told Fox News Digital that the "future of pizza" was on display at the International Pizza Expo. The restaurateur believes the consumer is "smarter" and wants diverse styles such as New York, Detroit, Neapolitan, cast iron, or tavern-style pizzas.
Although Gemignani said "pepperoni is always going to be number one," he also said that "when it comes to the evolution and the renaissance of pizza, it's a healthy eater out there." Notably, the convention featured a significant number of vegan and plant-based pizza exhibits.
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The expo also featured a zero-emissions robot from Coco that, while making pizza deliveries for Los Angeles and Austin restaurants, is remotely operated by people in other countries such as Mexico.
Another delivery vehicle shown was the all-electric, one-seater "SOLO" from ElectraMeccanica, which can hit 80 miles per hour and has a range of 100 miles. The automated Picnic Pizza Station lets users input their desired toppings in a keypad, place pizza dough in a conveyor belt and watch as their pizza is made entirely hands-free.
Among attendees of the event was WWE Hall of Famer "The Godfather," who was promoting "Powerbomb Pizza," his virtual restaurant program.
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Brick-and-mortar restaurants around the country have partnered with Virtual Dining Concepts to generate extra revenue by using their existing kitchens to make delivery-only meals for celebrity restaurant brands like "Powerbomb Pizza" that companies like Doordash and Uber Eats then fulfill.
Gemignani said he was "super excited to see everyone come out, especially after the pandemic. I mean, it's still going on, we know this, but to see the camaraderie and all these pizzaiolos here and manufacturers — it's just an awesome sight to see as a restaurant owner."
Jack Greenberg contributed reporting to this article.
