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UKFF Questions Thread V2


neil

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When Ric Flair showed up in the WWF in the early 90s and proclaimed himself the "real world champion", what belt did he bring with him? It looks like the NWA one, but surely he didn't have permission to wear it on WWF TV, did he?

 

It was the big gold belt.

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Your best bet is to look up on places like wikipedia for a more detailed answer to this, im sure someone with more time will fill in the gaps as well.

 

But basically, Ric Flair got into a bust up with Jim Herd and left WCW/NWA in 91. At the time the champion had to put down a 25K deposit against the belt when they won it. Ric Flair had actually never reclaimed his as he was holding onto the belt most of the time so just left it there when he didnt have the title.

 

As he was NWA champion when he joined the WWF in 91 he asked for his 25K back to no avail and decided instead rumour has it to fedex the belt to Vince, who started the story with bobby heenan proclaming the Real Worlds Champion was coming.

 

When flair did arrive he had the Big Gold Belt around his waist during entrances etc, without any permision of course from WCW/NWA. Eventually they won a legal battle and the belt was returned. however the WWF then made there own almost identical version of the belt which was then banned and then used a blurred tag title on TV. The whole angle was dropped pre flair winning the rumble in 1992

 

On the WCW side, they had to use an ancient North American title belt temporarily during the Luger Vs Windham title match, then created the recently more famous due to SVR games - WCW title belt this raigned as the main belt till 1994. Even when returned the big gold belt was only briefly used for the sometimes seperated/ sometimes not NWA title for a very short time as WCW left the NWA in 92/93 i believe. It was then called the Big Gold Belt and then the WCW International title until it was merged back with the WCW Title in early 94 for the arrival of Hogan and the Big Gold Belt was kept and the title belt.

 

 

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so I didn't feel it'd need a whole topic, however I'm usually wrong about that sort of stuff so maybe it does.

 

More of a question towards the UK fans here but how big would you say the merchandise scene in the UK is in terms of promotions and workers?

 

I know with the US, Japan etc people will have their own shirts and other stuff to shill, but I don't see much of it at UK shows, generally I've caught some LDRS t-shirts being sold before, maybe the occasional company one but not much else.

 

Would they sell well if there was some form of company selling them? Kinda like a UK version of Top Rope T-Shirts I guess? Surely there must be some UK mainstay fans that would wear a Mastiff t-shirt or a Sabre Jr one?

 

Much in the same vain, are DVD sales in the UK any good or are they below average as well? I remember I use to see 1PW dvd's in shops many years ago but are they just again something rare to find on a company website occasionally?

 

No real reason I'm asking this, just kinda curious as to how and if any real money is made?

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Me and Patdfb just had a quick convo on Facebook, and we came to the conclusion that Jimmy Snuka and Sapphire are the two oldest competitors male and female to wrestle in a proper match at Wrestlemania. This means not as a manager or backstage/in ring skit.

 

We got Snuka at around 64 years old and Sapphire at about 55. Are we right?

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Me and Patdfb just had a quick convo on Facebook, and we came to the conclusion that Jimmy Snuka and Sapphire are the two oldest competitors male and female to wrestle in a proper match at Wrestlemania. This means not as a manager or backstage/in ring skit.

 

We got Snuka at around 64 years old and Sapphire at about 55. Are we right?

 

Vince McMahon was 64 when he "wrestled" Bret at Mania 26 but I don't know if that should technically count because "proper match" doesn't really describe what happened between those two.

Edited by cobra_gordo
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When Ric Flair showed up in the WWF in the early 90s and proclaimed himself the "real world champion", what belt did he bring with him? It looks like the NWA one, but surely he didn't have permission to wear it on WWF TV, did he?

 

It was the original Big Gold belt.

 

Your best bet is to look up on places like wikipedia for a more detailed answer to this, im sure someone with more time will fill in the gaps as well.

 

But basically, Ric Flair got into a bust up with Jim Herd and left WCW/NWA in 91. At the time the champion had to put down a 25K deposit against the belt when they won it. Ric Flair had actually never reclaimed his as he was holding onto the belt most of the time so just left it there when he didnt have the title.

 

As he was NWA champion when he joined the WWF in 91 he asked for his 25K back to no avail and decided instead rumour has it to fedex the belt to Vince, who started the story with bobby heenan proclaming the Real Worlds Champion was coming.

 

When flair did arrive he had the Big Gold Belt around his waist during entrances etc, without any permision of course from WCW/NWA. Eventually they won a legal battle and the belt was returned. however the WWF then made there own almost identical version of the belt which was then banned and then used a blurred tag title on TV. The whole angle was dropped pre flair winning the rumble in 1992

 

On the WCW side, they had to use an ancient North American title belt temporarily during the Luger Vs Windham title match, then created the recently more famous due to SVR games - WCW title belt this raigned as the main belt till 1994. Even when returned the big gold belt was only briefly used for the sometimes seperated/ sometimes not NWA title for a very short time as WCW left the NWA in 92/93 i believe. It was then called the Big Gold Belt and then the WCW International title until it was merged back with the WCW Title in early 94 for the arrival of Hogan and the Big Gold Belt was kept and the title belt.

 

Here's what I posted in the Best Looking Belts thread from July:

 

Ric Flair actually owned the Big Gold in principle, Crockett gave him the belt during the transition with Ted Turner. This is what led him to bring it to the WWF in 1991. WCW filed court action and Ric Flair gave the belt back to WCW after they refunded his $25,000 deposit (As per NWA tradition.) plus extra. (The figure was never disclosed.) That's just the general jist of it to be honest. it's a lot more complicated than made out. Due to that happening WCW had Dusty Rhodes PWF belt trophy shop plated over and was used as the companies World title at the GAB 1991 which Lex Luger won. Unless a belt is being replaced, the champion usually has to pay out of their own pocket if they want a copy of the belt.

 

IIRC the Vegas Big Gold was made after the WCW filed action against Flair using the Big Gold on WWF tv. It was made to play out the 'real worlds champion' angle Flair had entered the comapny with. The shape of the plate and general design were kept but obviously had to be altered so that WCW could not file anymore cases.

 

Shot of the Vegas Big Gold:

5xsom0.png

 

If you want to learn more about belts go to Belt Talk and sign up. There is so much knowledge on that site by people in the know and some of them are far better on the subjects then Wikipedia.

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The Vegas gold was used in WCW in 1994 after the Masked Man Hits Hulk's Knee angle too.

 

I've never seen clear footage to verify it to be honest though it would not surprise me considering Ric Flair owned it until he gave it to Triple H a few years back. Good job he did otherwise he probably would have pawned it by now.

 

EDIT: I'm fucking stupid. I have seen that footage but thank-you for posting it. I'll be straight with you, I'm not a WCW fan so no wonder it flew over my head.

Edited by Rule One
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