NWA World Champion Tommy "Wildfire" Rich (1981)

NWA World Champion Tommy "Wildfire" Rich, 1981 (WWE.com)

Scott Bowden made us aware of a photo on WWE.com featuring Tommy Rich with the NWA world championship belt over his left shoulder.

"I had never seen it before," Scott wrote me, "but from the look on Rich's face, it appears as if he was just told he'd be dropping the belt back to Race on Friday."

I love that line.

Rich won the NWA title on a Monday 4/27 in Augusta, GA, and dropped back to Race on Friday 5/1 in Gainesville, GA. He is part of a short list of guys in the 1970s and 1980s who were "cup of coffee" champions, as in - - they hardly held it long enough to have a cup of coffee.

Other WWE.com content regarding Tommy Rich -

The match that inspired Hell in a Cell: 
Tommy Rich, Buzz Sawyer and The Last Battle of Atlanta
(includes some video)

Rich was one of the biggest stars in pro-wrestling at the time he won the NWA title. He was huge box office in George Championship Wrestling and the Memphis, TN territory.

Scott Bowden actually managed Rich in Memphis in the 1990s, and has written about him occasionally on his excellent blog "Kentucky Fried Wrestling" site ( "A Wrestling Perspective That's Both Original and Extra Crispy" - - I love that line, too.)

Somebody Say Something 'bout Hollywood?
by Scott Bowden

* * * * * 

Tommy Rich winning the NWA title from Harley Race
Poor video quality, but historically worth seeing.
Commentary by Gordon Solie, Jim Crockett, Jr., and Tommy Rich.

The Domed Globe at Titan Towers

The Original 1973-1986 NWA World Championship Belt (Pinterest Photo)

This photo shows the original domed-globe NWA world title belt in a frame especially designed for the belt. The frame now hangs on the office wall of Paul Levesque (aka, Triple H) at Titan Towers, the corporate HQ for World Wrestling Entertainment in Stamford, CT.

The case was custom made for Ric Flair in the early 1990s by Linda Ostrow at her frame shop and art gallery in Charlotte, NC. Flair displayed the belt at various locations over the years he maintained possession of the belt, most notably at one of his "Ric Flair's World's Gym" locations in Charlotte. It also hung on the wall at his home for a period years in the 1990s.

The belt suddenly showed up in the case at a WWE fan event in the days leading up to Wrestlemania in 2012 in Miami, which fueled rumors that the belt was now in the possession of the WWE. That was confirmed in 2013 when Conrad Thompson and Dave Millican toured Titan Towers and spotted the famous belt still in the Ostrow custom-frame in the office of Paul Levesque.

The only change that had been made was the replacement of the engraved plate in the case. The original plate in the case (seen in the photo below) read "Ric Flair, National Wrestling Alliance Worlds Heavyweight Champion 1981-1991."

Photograph by Dick Bourne / Mid-Atlantic Gateway

The new plate in the case reads "The National Wrestling Alliance Champions, 1973-1986" and then lists each of the eight men who wore the Ten Pounds of Gold: Jack Brisco, Terry Funk, Harley Race, Giant Baba, Dusty Rhodes, Tommy Rich, Ric Flair, and Kerry Von Erich. But everything else about the case appears to be just as Linda Ostrow made it in the early 1990s.

Edit from Pinterest Photo

The WWE continues loose plans to eventually build a brick-and-mortar Hall of Fame facility and it is hoped that the Ten Pounds of Gold might eventually wind up on permanent display there. It deserves to be seen by wrestling fans so that fathers can tell their sons that this belt was the belt worn by true world champions of that era, champions that defended the championship for dozens of promoters, offices, and territories around the world.

(The photo of the belt in the case at the top of the page is from the Pinterest page of Al Kennon, although it is not known who actually took this photo or where it was taken. )

Check out Ten Pounds of Gold, the book that takes a close look at the 1973-1986 NWA title belt:

www.TenPoundsOfGold.com

Hall of Famer Jack Brisco

Nobody did it better than the Briscos!

Behind the Scenes with Mr. McMahon

Photo by Dave Millican. Genius by Scott Bowden.

We have a confirmed report from a source inside the company that the WWE is indeed now in possession of the 1973-1986 NWA world title belt (the "ten pounds of gold.") I reported in the final chapter of the book that they were rumored to have it, that it was on display during Wrestlemania weekend in 2012. No details available on the arrangement, whether it was purchased from Ric Flair or it is just on loan to them, but regardless I am pleased they have it. I was worried that some collector or fan would wind up with the thing at some point and the belt would not be treated with the respect it deserves. The plans are, apparently, for the belt to be on display under glass in the WWE Hall of Fame Museum when it is built in Orlando, FL. Updates as we get them.

www.TenPoundsOfGold.com