Magnum TA Thinks He Knows The Whereabouts Of His Missing Title Belt

"Dark Side of the Ring" is now five episodes into its fourth season, and one of the more memorable aired so far focused on Magnum TA. The former NWA/Jim Crockett Promotions star has long been considered one of the biggest what-ifs in wrestling history, as his promising career was derailed by a car accident, right as Magnum was being groomed for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The accident and its aftermath were a focus of "Dark Side of the Ring," including a story of how then-champion Ric Flair brought the title and laid it on Magnum's chest while he was in the hospital. Sitting in for Jake Roberts on "The Snake Pit," Magnum revealed what eventually became of the physical belt.

"I had it for many years," Magnum said. "One night, Ric's ex-wife, Beth, came over to my house while I was out of town, and obscured it from my home, and said Ric had young kids of his own, and she wanted to pass it on to Reid. It caused a little hiccup in my world because ... I had gone out of my way to ask for that, and it was given and it meant a lot."

"And I'm sure, at the time, that he did all of that, they didn't know if I was going to live or not. I mean, they just didn't really know, the first thirty days were really touch and go. It was an emotional thing. I'm sure had he been able to play the tape all the way through, you might've said 'Well, that could bite me somewhere.' I think it's sitting up in Connecticut somewhere, in a WWE office somewhere. I had a shadow box on my wall for years."

To quote this article, please credit "The Snake Pit" and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription