by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway
February 14, Valentine's Day, is the 30th anniversary of the debut of what many consider the greatest world championship belt in the history of the sport. it is without question the most beautiful.
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| Photograph by Dick Bourne |
At the Battle of the Belts II event in Orlando, FL, on 2/14/1986, Ric Flair debuted the belt that would become known as "Big Gold" before his NWA world title defense against Barry Windham.
The first glimpse we got of the belt was when Flair interviewed with Buddy Colt in the dressing room only moments before his match with Windham. Below is the transcript of Flair's words to Colt as he showed the world the new belt for the first time.
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| Page 161 from the book "Big Gold" by Dick Bourne |
There is an entire chapter in the book "Big Gold" devoted to that special night in Orlando, including a special section of beautiful color photographs of the belt with the robe Ric Flair wore to the ring. Lots of memorabilia, too, including the event program, event line-up sheet, newspaper and TV Guide ads, a special interview with Flair, and a detailed account of what went down that night.
The FULL COLOR, 250 page book is available on Amazon.com. For more information, visit this page.