and Steve Keirn, as well as the ‘new’ Fabs, Eddie Gilbert and Tommy Rich) and the Midnight Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty in their pre-WWE days), and a host of other great tag teams. I also spy a copy of the International championship belt on a shelf. First worn by Austin Idol, that title eventually had an ignominious end as the Texas title for the USWA in the early 1990s.

In a historical sense, a wrestling championship belt was often used and re-used.

The Historical Big Gold Championship Belt

Take, for instance, the Big Gold championship belt worn by Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, and Ron Garvin as NWA or WCW champions until Flair left the company and signed with WWE. When WCW Vice President Jim Herd refused to return the$25,000 deposit (plus interest) that Flair had put down, the Nature Boy took the title to New York with him. Soon after appearing with the Big Gold, Flair and WCW worked out a return of the belt. Flair instead used a spare WWE tag belt for some appearances, and the producers digitized it so that it appeared Flair still had the NWA world title. Eventually, Flair wore one of the rarest championship belts seen, the Vegas Gold, which Parks made for WWE. It was still digitized on television, and when Flair won the 1991 Royal Rumble to claim the WWE championship, the Vegas Gold was quietly retired. The Big Gold Belt is probably the most iconic championship wrestling belt, so much so that when WCW closed, the WWE