What do you think?
Big Gold: A Close Look at Pro Wrestling's Most Celebrated Championship Belt
FULL COLOR!
"The definitive history of the most famous championship wrestling belt in the world."
- Bruce Mitchell, Pro Wrestling Torch
"Dick Bourne is the Indiana Jones of title belt archeology."
- Mike Johnson, PWInsider.com
"Like the famous belts Bourne writes about, this book shines with a luster worthy of its own championship crown."
- Mike Mooneyham, Charleston Post & Courier
Wrestling’s most celebrated championship belt is examined as never its origins, its secrets, its amazing story. All presented with beautiful color photographs.
It is commonly known as the "Big Gold belt" and it has been photographed up-close in amazing detail, on both the original 1986 brown leather and the black leather that replaced it. Plus, for the first time since 1991, the original 1986 "Ric Flair" nameplate is back on the belt.
The book includes a special interview with Ric Flair about the earliest days of the Big Gold belt. Plus, special photographs with the "Nature Boy" taken earlier this year as he was reunited with the belt for the first time in over 14 years.
From 1986-2000, the Big Gold belt represented the NWA, WCW, and WCW International world titles. And don't forget the "Real World Championship" in the WWF in 1991! Twenty-six different champions held the belt throughout those years.
Complete, detailed background on the companies and craftsmen that were involved in making the belt, both the plates and the leather. Plus the real story of who had the belt made, why it was made, and how it was delivered. Dozens of details, large and small, never known or published before.
The book includes a complete title history of the belt including all three different championships it represented over 14 years. Plus rare archival documents and concept art from Crumrine Jewelers, amazingly detailed photographs, related memorabilia, and much more. From North Carolina to Nevada to the sunshine state of Florida, follow along the amazing journey of the creation of the Big Gold belt.
Also included is a brief foreword by the voice of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling for four decades, broadcaster Bob Caudle and a special introduction by legendary wrestler and manager James J. Dillon. Dillon managed Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen when Flair defended the Big Gold belt around the world.
Over 200 pages of Big Gold history, over 120 color photographs, and dozens of rare documents and illustrations. It’s the Big Gold belt as you’ve never seen it before.
"...expecting nothing but top-notch research and insight into one of wrestling's most notable belts. I wasn't disappointed. This is a great book."
- Tim Hornbaker on WrestlingClassics.com, author of "National Wrestling Alliance"
"The Big Gold is a diamond among wrestling belts. And as "Nature Boy" Ric Flair has often proclaimed, "Diamonds are forever!"- James J. Dillon, from the foreword to the book "Big Gold"
"The definitive history of the most famous championship wrestling belt in the world."
- Bruce Mitchell, Pro Wrestling Torch
"Dick Bourne is the Indiana Jones of title belt archeology."
- Mike Johnson, PWInsider.com
"Like the famous belts Bourne writes about, this book shines with a luster worthy of its own championship crown."
- Mike Mooneyham, Charleston Post & Courier
Wrestling’s most celebrated championship belt is examined as never its origins, its secrets, its amazing story. All presented with beautiful color photographs.
It is commonly known as the "Big Gold belt" and it has been photographed up-close in amazing detail, on both the original 1986 brown leather and the black leather that replaced it. Plus, for the first time since 1991, the original 1986 "Ric Flair" nameplate is back on the belt.
The book includes a special interview with Ric Flair about the earliest days of the Big Gold belt. Plus, special photographs with the "Nature Boy" taken earlier this year as he was reunited with the belt for the first time in over 14 years.
From 1986-2000, the Big Gold belt represented the NWA, WCW, and WCW International world titles. And don't forget the "Real World Championship" in the WWF in 1991! Twenty-six different champions held the belt throughout those years.
Complete, detailed background on the companies and craftsmen that were involved in making the belt, both the plates and the leather. Plus the real story of who had the belt made, why it was made, and how it was delivered. Dozens of details, large and small, never known or published before.
The book includes a complete title history of the belt including all three different championships it represented over 14 years. Plus rare archival documents and concept art from Crumrine Jewelers, amazingly detailed photographs, related memorabilia, and much more. From North Carolina to Nevada to the sunshine state of Florida, follow along the amazing journey of the creation of the Big Gold belt.
Also included is a brief foreword by the voice of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling for four decades, broadcaster Bob Caudle and a special introduction by legendary wrestler and manager James J. Dillon. Dillon managed Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen when Flair defended the Big Gold belt around the world.
Over 200 pages of Big Gold history, over 120 color photographs, and dozens of rare documents and illustrations. It’s the Big Gold belt as you’ve never seen it before.
"...expecting nothing but top-notch research and insight into one of wrestling's most notable belts. I wasn't disappointed. This is a great book."
- Tim Hornbaker on WrestlingClassics.com, author of "National Wrestling Alliance"
"The Big Gold is a diamond among wrestling belts. And as "Nature Boy" Ric Flair has often proclaimed, "Diamonds are forever!"- James J. Dillon, from the foreword to the book "Big Gold"
- GenresSports
202 pages, Paperback
First published May 27, 2014
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
April 1, 2026
"I thrive on being the greatest. And to be the greatest, you have to wear something like this." - Ric Flair, debuting the Big Gold
The Big Gold is arguably the most famous belt in wrestling history. it has been around the waist of some of the greatest wrestlers of all time, like Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Sting and Tatsumi Fujinami. It has also been around the waists of Vince Russo and David Arquette. Dick Bourne's Big Gold is the chronicling of the attempt to physically and figuratively restore the belt to its former glory.
The belt is a good metaphor for WCW over the years. Once a silver-gold treasure covered in gems and on a beautiful leather strap, it started breaking down with its constant use. Repairs were shoddily done with glue and misfitting screws, there were flecks of paint from the various nWo spray paint jobs, and most disrespectfully of all two holes were poked in the replacement black leather strap to hang the title over the triple cage War Games match on a 2000 Nitro episode (a match considered to be one of the worst in the company's history). Just like WCW itself, the people in charge didn't know and didn't care about traditions, and didn't put the effort in to upkeep it.
Bourne takes us through the repair journey, with some beautiful pics of the finished belt backdropped by various Flair robes (including the famous lion robe from Battle of the Belts II). It is truly one of the most stunningly and intricately designed wrestling belts of all time. Just look at the details in the globe, the swirls, the crown. Even the wrestlers' boot laces were intricately plated. it is gorgeous.
In between restoration efforts we get brief snippets of history relating to the belts, including its predecessors, its inception, the split from the NWA and various legal battles, and its brief appearance in the WWF. The belt truly had a respect and reverance in its prime that has not been matched since.
it makes me sad to see the state of wrestling belts today. The WWE's main belt is literally just a logo on a strap. There's no glitz, no glamour, no showmanship. Just a corporate reminder of who a wrestler works for, rather than a message that they're the best in the world. Nothing will ever match the Big Gold again, but at least we have a great document of its history.
The Big Gold is arguably the most famous belt in wrestling history. it has been around the waist of some of the greatest wrestlers of all time, like Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Sting and Tatsumi Fujinami. It has also been around the waists of Vince Russo and David Arquette. Dick Bourne's Big Gold is the chronicling of the attempt to physically and figuratively restore the belt to its former glory.
The belt is a good metaphor for WCW over the years. Once a silver-gold treasure covered in gems and on a beautiful leather strap, it started breaking down with its constant use. Repairs were shoddily done with glue and misfitting screws, there were flecks of paint from the various nWo spray paint jobs, and most disrespectfully of all two holes were poked in the replacement black leather strap to hang the title over the triple cage War Games match on a 2000 Nitro episode (a match considered to be one of the worst in the company's history). Just like WCW itself, the people in charge didn't know and didn't care about traditions, and didn't put the effort in to upkeep it.
Bourne takes us through the repair journey, with some beautiful pics of the finished belt backdropped by various Flair robes (including the famous lion robe from Battle of the Belts II). It is truly one of the most stunningly and intricately designed wrestling belts of all time. Just look at the details in the globe, the swirls, the crown. Even the wrestlers' boot laces were intricately plated. it is gorgeous.
In between restoration efforts we get brief snippets of history relating to the belts, including its predecessors, its inception, the split from the NWA and various legal battles, and its brief appearance in the WWF. The belt truly had a respect and reverance in its prime that has not been matched since.
it makes me sad to see the state of wrestling belts today. The WWE's main belt is literally just a logo on a strap. There's no glitz, no glamour, no showmanship. Just a corporate reminder of who a wrestler works for, rather than a message that they're the best in the world. Nothing will ever match the Big Gold again, but at least we have a great document of its history.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review