In a historical sense, a wrestling championship belt was often used and re-used. First worn by Austin Idol, that title eventually had an ignominious end as the Texas title for the USWA in the early 1990s. I also spy a copy of the International championship belt on a shelf. He also has one of the Southern tag team championship belts, which were held by teams like the Fabulous Ones (Stan Lane and Steve Keirn, as well as the ‘new’ Fabs, Eddie Gilbert and Tommy Rich) and the Midnight Rockers ( Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty in their pre-WWE days), and a host of other great tag teams. While Lawler was, of course, the most notable name to hold the title, many others did as well.
He doesn’t have to tell me about everyone who wore that belt. There’s a Reggie Parks-made Southern heavyweight title. Stars like Blackjack Mulligan, Barry Windham, Kevin Sullivan, and Big John Studd held this title. "I collect Reggie’s work or belts from the old Memphis territory." This Southern championship belt was used in a promotion out of Knoxville, Tennessee. "I don’t collect much of my own work," he tells me. Indeed, the Memphis-era straps are special to Millican. I was glued to the Armstrongs, the Fullers, Idol, and Jerry Stubbs. He watched Jerry Lawler, Bill Dundee, Austin Idol, and Dutch Mantell. We’ve got more in common than our age: we both grew up on Southern wrestling. He has more hair than I do, but I’ve got a few more pounds. Millican is just a few years older than me, not 50 years old yet. There’s so much to see that it’s almost overwhelming.
The high walls of his den are decorated with championship belts, robes, crowns, and ring-worn boots. Lawler coming back for his bag and finding the belt missing is one of at least a dozen good stories Millican tells me, and I listen attentively. There’s a copy of Jerry Lawler’s Southern Junior Heavyweight championship belt–the original was stolen one afternoon after a match–displayed behind glass. The surroundings seem to command reverence. The house around us is quiet, and I feel like I’m standing in a church. The den is a large room with a sunken, stained concrete floor. I put the championship belt back down gingerly. "You’re not gonna hurt it if you drop it." William Moody rescued this World Class tag team championship belt–you’ll know him better as Paul Bearer–and restored by Dave Millican. I’m nervous handling the titles, and it shows. Gino Hernandez and Chris Adams spring to mind, part of a long line of dead wrestlers to hold a Millican championship belt. the Freebirds and the white-hot feud that defined Texas wrestling in the 1980s. Five thousand fans packed the place every week to get a glimpse of their heroes. The dirty, sweltering Dallas Sportatorium springs to mind.
Of course, it’s small compared to the copies of the Big Gold belt and the Mid-South North American championship poised next to it.
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The belt looks in good enough shape that it could be on TV next week. I pick up one of the old World Class tag team championships, its nickel plating still lustrous more than 30 years after the territory closed. On another wall? The first WCW TV title–again, the real deal–worn by wrestlers like Scott Steiner, Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat, and Steve Austin, back when he was simply "Stunning." The first WCW TV title holds a place of honor in Dave Millican’s den. It’s the real thing worn by Ron Simmons, Vader, Lex Luger, and retired by Ric Flair. On one wall is the 1991 WCW world championship belt. We’re surrounded by championship belts that span half a century in the wrestling business, and the sense of history and reverence for wrestling’s past is a nearly tangible thing. Everywhere I turn, there’s an unexpected treasure. I’m standing in the den of Dave Millican, experiencing sensory overload. It was worth it! Close detail of a Mulkavitch-style cast Photo/Bobby Mathews for A Walk Through the Treasure-filled Den of Championship Belt Maker Dave Millican He graciously opened his home to me for an interview, and I fought Birmingham traffic and slow-moving 18-wheelers on I-65 for two hours to find his home here in rural Tennessee, a hard baseball throw from the Alabama state line.
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Name a famous professional wrestler, and the odds are that premier championship belt maker Dave Millican - or his mentor, Reggie Parks - has made one of the titles you’ve seen that wrestler wear on TV.
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