5 times Championship belts were stolen or went missing in real life

Modified Jul 08, 2020 14:59 GMT

#2 Bruno Sammartino's car gets broken into

When one talks about the greatest WWE Champions of all time, Bruno Sammartino's name is bound to come up. The WWE Hall of Famer held the title for more than 11 years over two title reigns. On September 27, 1965, Sammartino bested Tarzan Tyler at Madison Square Garden.

Later that night, Sammartino went to have dinner in Manhattan, as he had done several times in the past. Bruno left the title belt in his car, and was dumbfounded when he returned after having his dinner. Someone had broken into the vehicle and stolen the belt. Much like Lawler, Bruno never recovered his title.

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#1 The Rock's Brahma Bull belt goes missing

Today, whenever a Superstar bags the gold, they get custom plates for their newly won title belts. This practice of giving custom title belts to Superstars has been going on for a long time.

Back in the mid-2000s, John Cena shocked the world by debuting the spinning WWE title. If we go back even further into the past, Stone Cold Steve Austin possessed a Smoking Skull title belt.

The Rock was also going to have a customized title belt, featuring a raging bull on it. The belt reportedly got lost in the mail. WWE decided to drop the idea and the belt never made it to TV. Joe Marshall, the maker of the belt, stated that the title belt was stolen in the mail by FedEx, but was eventually delivered. Fightful was told that Marshall's assistant at the time, Brian Kennedy, could confirm the story.

Joe Marshall (the maker) claimed the first was lost in the mail by FedEx for a few days and eventually delivered. His assistant at the time Brian Kennedy can confirm.
— BeltFanDan (@BeltFanDan) October 15, 2018

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Thanks to Pro Wrestling Stories for the information.

About the author

Abhilash Mendhe is a pro wrestling journalist at Sportskeeda with nearly five years of experience. He completed his MBA from the Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management in 2016 and worked with multiple banking institutions, including Tech Mahindra. While he started writing WWE articles for Sportskeeda in 2019 as a hobby, it eventually became a significant part of his professional journey.

Abhilash checks his articles thrice before sending them to the editing team, ensuring his work is highly accurate and reliable.

He has interviewed prominent pro wrestling personalities like Noam Dar, Angry Miz Girl, Brendan Cobbina, and Jesse Lambert. Abhilash is a big fan of AEW star Orange Cassidy, as he believes the former International Champion’s on-screen gimmick of an extremely lazy guy resonates with him.

Given the opportunity to script WWE’s next big storyline, Abhilash would treat fans to the second installment of The Bloodline Civil War. He would book Roman Reigns to re-form The Bloodline with The Usos and Sami Zayn upon his comeback. The angle would see The Tribal Chief-led group go head-to-head with The Rock, Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, and Jacob Fatu in a blockbuster family feud.

When not reporting on pro wrestling, Abhilash likes to work out, go on walks, read, and explore new eateries.

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Edited by Umid Kumar Dey