Conrad Thompson has revealed how he was almost scammed by The Ultimate Warrior over a championship belt purchase — and how legendary belt maker Dave Millican saved him from the deal.
Conrad Thompson (Credits: Fightful)
Before his passing in 2014, Warrior tried to sell multiple title belts to Thompson, claiming they were show-worn. But when Thompson had the belts checked, the story fell apart.
Conrad Thompson Caught Ultimate Warrior’s Fake SummerSlam 1990 Belt Claim
Thompson was introduced to Warrior through his website, where a photo was claimed to be the SummerSlam 1990 belt Warrior wore against Ravishing Rick Rude. Suspicious, Thompson sent the photos to belt maker Dave Millican for authentication.
“I said, ‘Hey, is this right?’ and he goes, ‘Absolutely not. That’s not the ring used belt,’” Thompson told Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp.
When Thompson raised the issue with Warrior by email, the wrestling legend pushed back, insisting Millican didn’t know what he was talking about — apparently unaware that Millican was the actual belt maker who had made the belts.
Ultimate Warrior Already Sold the WrestleMania 6 Titles, Thompson Says
Thompson then told Warrior what he was really after: the yellow Intercontinental title and the World title from WrestleMania 6, the night Hogan faced Warrior in a childhood dream match for Thompson.
The two agreed to a deal, with Warrior asking Thompson to bring cash and meet him at an airport. Thompson asked Millican to come along and authenticate the belts — and that’s when the deal collapsed completely.
Millican told Thompson that Warrior had already sold the Intercontinental title years earlier and that it sat on a private collector’s shelf. When Thompson confronted Warrior with that, Warrior sent him a photo of the collector’s collection — a major breach of etiquette in the belt-collecting world.
“It was a little disappointing to realize that one of your childhood favorites was trying to sell you something that he in fact had already sold,” Thompson said. The deal never went through, and Warrior “blew a gasket” when confronted.
Still, Thompson closed with a fond note: “When I was nine I still had an Ultimate Warrior birthday cake… Jim Hellwig may have been a turd, but the Ultimate Warrior ruled.”
Source: Fightful — read the full story there.
