Dave Millican has been crafting championships all of his life. Long before he became the man responsible for many of the WWE titles you see today, the ?Ace of Belts? was dreaming up his own designs in the front of the family television.
?When I became a fan as a kid in the ?70s, we didn?t have everything kids have today like video games and replica titles,? Millican told WWEClassics.com. ?So I had to make my own.?
Starting out with makeshift titles built out of cardboard and aluminum, the young Tennessee native later graduated to heavier metal and better materials. When Millican wanted the real deal, he looked up Reggie Parks, the man who was making the championships used on television. Parks was a Canadian grappler who had a brief stint as a WWE referee before settling in Tuscon, Ariz., to establish his title manufacturing business in the 1980s. Over the following decades, Parks created the titles well-known to many wrestling fans and influenced Millican, who was eager to learn.
See photos of Dave inside his championship workshop
?He once said to me, ?I?m not going to be around forever. There needs to be somebody that?s honest and going to put out quality work,? ? Millican said. ?He held my hand through the process. I?m where I?m at thanks to Reggie.?
Today, Parks and Millican have a business partnership, but Reggie?s last titles for WWE were created during WWE?s New Generation heyday of 1996. More than a decade later, Millican became WWE?s go-to craftsman after asserting himself in the business by creating titles for organizations like Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling.
?I?ve made championships for companies all over the world, and when WWE came to me a few years ago, that?s when it all came full circle,? Millican said.
Since 2008, the ?Ace of Belts? has been responsible for the redesigned copper WWE Tag Team Championships, the World Heavyweight Championship, the relaunched ?classic? Intercontinental Title and the dynamic NXT Championship. In addition, his workshop collaborated with Orange County Choppers to create the brand spanking new WWE Championship.
Millican is a walking encyclopedia of wrestling title knowledge, and his expertise as a craftsman makes him the current foremost authority on championships. WWEClassics.com recently asked him to select the 10 most beautiful championship belts in the history of wrestling ? in no particular order, of course.
Photos of the 10 most beautiful championship belts
As Millican said, ?It?s like asking me to choose my favorite child.?
Visit the website of Dave Millican Belts?| Follow @davemillican on Twitter
Source: http://www.wwe.com/classics/classic-lists/10-greatest-championship-belts
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