Real gold too. They used to make a deposit of a few grand on it. NWA was the last genuine mainstream pro wrestling organization. After Vince it became the “sports entertainment” spectacle not really concerned about trying to portray a proper sport or wrestling talent. Just a soap opera variety show. Which was cool but today it’s lost it’s luster. Wish there were more mainstream alternatives.
@@blackflagsnroses6013 it’s not real gold, Gold is too soft. The original was solid sterling silver with gold plating, and had a two tone look. Belts before and after this were made of zinc or brass that was plated. Some of the belts today are made of aluminum and then plated.
What Ric said was 100% true. If you were NWA champ you had to put down a deposit on the belt ....$25,000. You got it back after you dropped it. In Ric”s case they just kept rolling the deposit over because the belt was always coming back to him. Want me gone and your belt back ? Give me my $25,000 plus the interest and I’ll hand it over. If not I’m keeping it and it’ll show up on NY TV. Flair was 100% right to do that
Tommy Rich Kerry Von Erich did not make a 25K Deposit ..on the NWA Belt Ric is Full of Shit he took the Belt to the WWF As a Real insult ..to the NWA Legends .... Ric is a kid that took his ball and went home ....
Some people don’t get that pro wrestling is as much about selling moves as it is about dishing them out. Ric Flair gave a masterclass in selling moves and putting people over in the 92 rumble. Also his promo skills were 2nd to none.
Yeah growing up watching both the WWF and Jim Crockett/NWA we always dreamed of a Hogan/Flair showdown and we thought we were finally going to get one.
I was 13 at the time and can still remember that closing segment of Superstars that aired with The Brain holding Flair's belt, acknowledging his name as the real World Champion. Sitting in my parents' living room watching it, my jaw just dropped, and I got a big smile on my face. After Herd mistreated Flair and fired his company's top attraction, it was good to see Ric Flair land on his feet and give a middle finger to his former boss.
Yeah. Looking back now, I can't believe Vince let it be known there was another company out there, let alone show their gold on his tv. It was incredible.
Ric Flair turning up in WWE with WCW’s belt is a very important wrestling moment. Not only was it a very slick thing of Vince to do, it was also legitimate seeing as how Naitch left the company without losing the title and it also may have shed some light on that infamous night in Montreal w/ HBK and Bret Hart. Vince didn’t want Eric to pull a Vince on Vince. A very important moment.
MaxwellD13 Not only that, but something like that had already happened to Vince in 1995. Alundra Blayze came on WCW while she was still WWF women’s champion and dropped the belt into a trash can on WCW television.
Cornette had a really great point about that in one of his shoot interviews, I think it was the Timeline WWE one. Anyway Jim said that Bret has gotten Eric to agree and promise to Vince that Eric would not say that Bret had already signed and committed to WCW, because Bret was going to stay off TV until December and then come back for a one off and drop the title. Well Vince trusted Bret at his word, but he didn't trust Eric. So that I think was one of many factors that lead to the Screwjob
Levi Bradley Vince couldn’t afford to trust Eric. Eric was doing things that you weren’t supposed to do as a promoter. I think if the opportunity presents itself, he was doing anything he could to get an upper hand. Vince couldn’t be too careful. Damn shame he had to screw Bret but it was hard times. That’s why Jim Cornette was right when he said that Vince messed up by allowing Bret to talk to WCW without dropping the belt first.
@@VickStarkiller That much I always agreed with. Anytime a champion is going to be leaving a promotion, take the belt off him before you let him negotiate
What an animal Ric is. So many people, when you mention the schedule, go "yeah, it was brutal". Ric is basically like "are you kidding? I was having fun every night."
Rice came from working every day for months at a time and driving himself everywhere in the beginning. The wrestlers that hated the schedule didn't come up in the 60's and early 70s like Ric where it was even harder than the 80s and 90s.
Heenan appearing with THE BELT for the first time was priceless. True professionals as Ric put it. I can only imagine how good of a time Ric had over there, with all those stars he called out just now, and he was a star himself. Heenan and Flair were absolute BOSSES. I've heard this story many times, but that was a good era in the WWF, when Ric was over there. I remember well.
I wish there were still larger than life wrestlers like Ric Flair on today's wrestling aside from Taker, Orton, HHH, & Lesnar. These guys dont wrestle all the time anymore though.
It had great potential but WWF bungled it. They should have built it up carefully over a year or more like the Hogan-Savage story stretching across WM4 and 5. Instead it was rushed, half-hearted, and then dropped too soon.
This was the first time I had ever seen the WWF back then LOST in an angle when Bobby Heenan had that belt from WCW, and I bet it was so hard for Gorilla Monsoon back then to not acknowledge the other wrestling organization.
The Big Gold NWA Championship... Like the Super Bowl trophy 🏆 should never have been changed... This belt is the very best ever made period. PS second 🥈 place to me is the old eagle winged WWF championship, Greats like Hogan, Savage, Hart, Flair, HBK, Undertaker and Stone Cold Steve Austin held this belt and when it was retired Austin keep it, and it's in great hands.
Rick Flair who stole his gimmick,name move and all from the Nature Boy Buddy Rogers, who wouldn’t put a lot of new talent over, besides the obvious choice Sting who was the real GOAT.
@@DMACAVILLION actually he didn't steal it he was the young upstart heel to Buddy's face turn and he was imitating Buddy mockingly calling him self the nature boy but surprisingly the people loved it. With Buddy Rogers blessing Ric ran with it and the rest is all natural history.
I remember seeing Flair on TV in the WWF and I thought wtf is Flair doing here?!? With the wcw belt and shooting a promo I was flabbergasted and befuddled
All the guys he mentioned with the exception of a few, he ran with them in the NWA/AWA which made it cool for him to come into WWF at the time. And then most of that roster came to WCW in the mid to late 90s lol
McMahon dropped the ball when he didn't have Hogan vs Flair at wrestlemania 8..It would of been a historic moment in pro wrestling if the 2 biggest stars of the 1980's that carried their respective organizations (NWA and WWF) to have faced each other for the first time...
@@HETFIELD Yeah but that was a dumb idea. Many WWF fans were clueless about Flair, NWA/WCW, and the belt, because of WWF's policy of pretending that WWF was the only thing around. But WWF didn't educate them and even undermined the situation by treating the belt like a vanity prop like the Million Dollar Belt. Having the match at a house show devalued the match to the fans there, and undermined the ability to hype a PPV. And there was no build up or story to make a Hogan vs Flair match meaningful. Think of the massive hype for WM6 ("champion vs. champion, title for title!"). Nothing like that here at all - no wonder it was a dud.
Flair just named all the great workers, and said it was easy, its like an average hockey play playing with Gretzky and Mcdavid on your line. They will make you look like a million bucks and it’s easy!
Saw him and Hogan at a house show in 91 at Rosemont Horizon. At the time we had no idea how historic that show was. It was that show and other house shows that were the trial balloon for wrestlemania 8 main event. It didnt get the reaction they hoped. Also ive read no one wanted to lose
Of course it didn't get the reaction they wanted. It was stupid to have the match in the first place, because it de-valued the match that should have been held back for a monster PPV, so it was clear to many if not most fans that this match they were at didn't matter. Second there was no story or buildup to the match so there was no heat. Third, they didn't properly introduce Flair to the WWF fans. The only person praising him, Heenan, had no credibility because his character was a desperate blatant liar. WWF presented Heenan and Flair's claims as bogus and the belt as an empty vanity prop like DiBiase's Million Dollar Belt. If WWF had instead finally gotten over its stubborn pretense to be the only wrestling organization and built up Flair, specifically talked about how this belt was the great rival to the WWF belt and had all this history, and Flair winning it had huge prestige and credibility, etc., THEN a Hogan v. Flair match would have been epic to the average WWF fan who only knew WWF. Think of how much they built up WM6 with "champion vs champion, title for title".
In my opinion, RF may have left on bad terms with WCW with Herd. And him saying that Vince and WWE was ran well and enjoyed working with the guys he named and traveling with them. Even though I don't care for Ric anymore, like I use to in the old days, I have my reasons and he knows it, cause I expressed it to him many times. But to me despite taking the belt to WWF, and complimenting WWF, enjoying working with the guys and traveling with them, and even now spending time with WWE, mainly because of his girl. I will say this, he will always be known as a NWA/WCW guy, he was made by them, became more well known by them, and always will be, despite how it ended in 91, and how it ended ten years later.
I believe this was the transition of THE world title from the NWA to the WWF. Not in the technical or legal sense, but in a more abstract way, as signifying a change of the imperial seat, so to speak. The real unification match was when Flair wrestled Savage at Wrestlemania. The NWA never recovered.
Interesting. From a fan's standpoint (at least mine), I enjoyed him in the NWA better than the WWF/WWE, but he sheds light on the fact that things were better working in the WWF/WWE. Many others, like Jim Cornette, make it seem as if working for Vince McMahon was horrible, and the company was soft, etc.
biggdogg35810 undoubtedly Ric's style is a better fit for the WCW than the WWE. He worked hard for Vince, and Vince took care of him, even giving an early release with the condition of putting over Henning. What's funny is it almost happened again in the 90's. When Bishoff was having a power trip and in a pissing contest with Ric, Ric almost showed up to a live taping of the WWE to watch a match, and possibly cut a promo on WCW and Bishoff. Unfortunately it didn't happen.
Flair.s the Man. 16 Times Would Heavyweight Champion. Very Smooth. And a Veteran Inside the Square Circle. Nobody gets Away from the Figure Four Legwork. Unless they want getting their Leg Snapped in Two
Mr. Cool, The Real World Champion, The Nature Boy, Space Mountain and my personal favorite the Black Scorpion all the names of the real Slick Rick. RIP daddy and thank you for surprising me when you took me to see The Nature Boy and Black Jack Mulligan vs Rufus R. FREIGHT TRAIN Jones and Paul Jones. Wooooooo
Not that I'm trying to pass judgment on anyone, but I always raise my eyebrows a little bit about how Vince never had a problem with parading the NWA or WCW title on WWF Television, but years later put the screws to Bret because he was so scared Bret was going to take his WWF championship to Atlanta....
Rick was one of the " FEW," BADDEST WRESTLERS, RING TECHS, PERIOD...HANDS DOWN...Im black & proud, regardless, we ALL got a PAST☝ But today, I assure u, Flairs views/thoughts, are VERY DIFF. I'M A FAN...HE HAD IT ALL...Hogan worked hard, but was handed more shyt...FLAIR was a Finesser, had it all & ALL da BIOTCHEZ...RESPECT GREATNESS.☝ STING, U WAS MY GUY THO....TAG TEAM, L.O.D 4EVA🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥☝
@@markdejonge937 yeah. Ric Flair was LONG gone when The Kliq formed in 1995. So the only politics that I could see was Hogan not wanting to lose to Flair at WrestleMania VIII
Scott Hall didn't arrive until May 1992. He wouldn't have been in position to tell Vince not to put the belt on Ric, unless it was putting it back on him in the fall of '92. Which would've been done.
The "10 Pound of Gold" Belt was The Best!! 😊...Dory Funk Jr,Harley Race,Jack Brisco,Dusty Rhodes,Ric Flair+Kerry Von Erich held that Belt!! That is what makes it The Absolute Best of all the want to be Belts!!
Thanks for vindicating what I've said for decades, which is that WWF totally mishandled this. Most of all, they didn't explain who Flair was and what the belt was. They acted like his claim to be the real champ was bogus and his belt was like the Million Dollar Belt, a meaningless vanity prop. That downplaying didn't hurt WCW, it hurt WWF by making this angle smaller than it should have been.
Vince wanted to push the newer generation of wrestlers instead so he wasn't going to be using Flair in big angles anymore, so Flair figured he'd be better of in WCW again
I wish Flair had one more run with the big gold belt during his last WWE run. Both WCW and WWE versions of the title look amazing. Stupid to replace it with that crappy Universal belt.
I believe it was talked and planned, but Hogan refused to lose to Flair. I think the initial plan was for Flair to pin Hogan, but Hogan at that time refused to lose to anyone, including Flair. Such a shame because that would have been an all time great match.
@@ShocknAwwe That doesn't make sense - Hogan had lost clean to Warrior two years before at WM6, plus had lost in screw job finishes many times beside that too, including to André on NBC, etc.
Him jumping ship to the WWF with the title belt, was probably actually a benefit to the WCW. They didn't belittle it, and he always carried it like it was a big deal. Anyone who wasn't all that familiar with the WCW at that time, would've been made more aware of it because of that angle.
Quite the contrary. The only talent who sold the belt was Heenan who was established as a liar, so that hugely undermined the credibility of Flair as a champ. Announcers, on-screen management etc basically treated the belt like a vanity prop like the Million Dollar Belt. Nobody educated the fans that Flair had WRESTLED outside WWF and won championships.
@@IrishCarney Yeah, I can see that angle. Naturally, it was seen as the _heel_ title belt. But, he didn't exactly job out to the WWF wrestlers. He was relatively successful. winning the _Royal Rumble,_ etc.. For someone who didn't follow wrestling outside of the WWE, it was a reminder that the wrestling world existed outside of it. They could've done much worse.
where do people get their information from? .... who was Scott Hall in 1991to have connections with Vince and have enough "pull" in the NWA/WCW to tell someone like Flair what to do and what not to do with the NWA/WCW World Heavyweight Championship Belt?
It amazes me how fans get information wrong, send a misleading question to a podcast, podcast host doesn’t do his research and regurgitates the fan question to the wrestler, and now wrestler believes something that never happened. Scott Hall said himself he thought about saying something to Vince but Kurt Henning advised him not to. End of story
Now think of that same game of "telephone" operating via the rumor mill just among the wrestlers, and how complicated the politics got with misunderstandings.
I don’t think Rick would have done that back in the days of NWA early WCW. They had more respect for the wrestlers too money makers. Yes Ted Turner left idiots that were selfish in charge after he sold the company.
chance goode you should probably try looking it up, back in the day the storyline was champion vs champion and ric would come at hogan saying that he was the real heavyweight champion with the real belt. It made everyone watch wwf in the early 90's.
Having the WCW Championship show up on WWF TV in 1991 is a rather ironic foreshadowing for Vince's reasonings behind the Montreal Screwjob. Interesting.
I think the difference is the WWF is a company compared to what the NWA/WCW was. They were used to being a territory, where Vince ran the WWF like a company and expanded it. So everything about it was organized in a way it never was with any of the territory brands. Once Turner bought it there was a corporate component to the WCW that hadn't been there before, with the exception of the fact it was a company that owned a wrestling brand, it wasn't a wrestling company like the WWF was, which is ultimately what did the WCW in. It's like what's going on with Disney. When Marvel or Lucasfilm were run by the original owners, they really well. Then when somebody buys them just to milk the property without caring about it, everything ends up going downhill.
I believe Ric mentioned in his book it was originally a $25,000 deposit that the champion had to put on the Belt.. Remember back in those days the interest rate was still around 20%. Generally you got the deposit back right away when you drop the belt. Because Ric kept dropping them and getting them back they never bothered taking the money out of the account so it's there collecting interest for those years.
Three championship belts that were recognized as World Heavyweight championships.the tag team belt. The reggie parks championship belt the Wcw Vegas big gold Belt shoud be recognized. 3 extra titles.
Three championship belts that were recognized as World Heavyweight championships.the tag team belt. The reggie parks championship belt the Wcw Vegas big gold Belt shoud be recognized. 3 extra titles............... .. .....
Flare is like you're not going to take my pride and joy away from me that pride enjoys belt down that belt is his pride and joy I bet he sleeps with it
He was brilliant, he made a move .and it was solid gold.thats why the fans have got so used too many belts. Vince ran with it and by default got two shows. So this is why Rick beats the crap out of Hogan. Hogan jumped every time a dollar was better and never wrestle on the TV shows rick always showed up and got over.
I always wondered what would’ve been the difference between the WCW belt being shown on WWF TV at that time and Bret Hart possibly showing up on WCW TV with the WWF world title? Of course the latter never happened.
The difference was that Bret agreed to drop the belt on air, but not in a fight, not to HBK, and sure as hell not in Montreal. His negotiated, didn’t get the money but still shook hands and said on camera that he would relinquish the belt in a press conference or speech before he left the WWF and let the other wrestlers fight for it in a tournament or rumble.
Lots of differences. First, when Flair came with the Belt, WWF never allowed NWA/WCW to be mentioned. The only people touting Flair as a champion were Flair and Heenan. Heenan having been established for years as a liar, that destroyed Flair's credibility. This undermined the significance of the situation. If the belt Flair was showing was a mere vanity prop like the Million Dollar Belt, then him having it was no big deal. You have to build up an adversary first, to make tearing him down meaningful. If anyone should have understood that it was Vince and the other creatives But if Bret Hart had shown up on WCW TV with the WWF belt, you can be sure that everyone there - announcers, on-screen management, etc. - would have treated it as a huge deal, like a legitimate champion had come over, not some poser. THEN, if they wanted to disrespect the belt or the WWF, they could have and it would have been a devastating thing.
That was part of the issue, at the time the WCW Belt was also the NWA Belt, and when Flair wanted his money back WCW Management (i.e. Jim Herd) said it was the NWA who owed him the money while the NWA said it was WCW that owed him the money. Both were passing the buck to each other and in the end both paid the price for it
@@biggdogg35810 yes but the original deposit was made on the Dome Globe NWA. The deposit has nothing to do with the belt whatsoever it's only for a mark of respect as a champion for the position of the championship. And don't lose the belt you going to lose your money symple!
Vincent, wow, I didn't know that. And also, as long as they champ stays the champ, he doesn't lose his deposit. So, how does that effect the fact that the board or committee or body of persons in a wrestling company deciding who will be the next champ?
@@biggdogg35810 in the beginning of Ric World Championship in the eyes of the Crockett Family Flair was viewed as a long-term champion and this is why they didn't give him back his deposit back in the days.
I really wish they would put out a DVD on that guy. It could just be constant interviews of Flair, Heyman, Kevin Sullivan, Cornette and others just ripping on the guy and all the stupid shit he did with WCW.
