Original WWWF Title Belt Held By Buddy Rogers Found In New York Attic

The Post Game is reporting that an original WWWF Championship belt was found in the attic of the home of Annie Barend, the widow of Johnny Barend, a tag team partner of Buddy Rodgers, who was crowned the very first WWWF Champion. The following is an excerpt from the report:

How Johnny Barend ended up with the belt is still unclear, although there are some clues. Known as "Handsome Johnny Barend," he was a tag-team partner of [Buddy] Rogers. In fact, the two even defeated Sammartino in a tag-team match two months after the original title bout.

Barend verified the belt's authenticity with Dave Millican, a belt maker for the WWE. Millican recognized the belt immediately and was so enamored that he bought it from Barend.

"It makes you wonder what else is stashed away in people's attics. It really does," Millican told SLAM! Wrestling. "It makes you wonder what other historical belts, and not just belts, but pieces of wrestling history, are stashed away in attics that people don't even realize they have. Annie didn't even realize what she had — and why would she?"

You can read more, and view photos of the belt, by clicking on the above link.

TRENDING


X