10 Times Wrestlers Had Their Title Belts STOLEN

9. A Mystery Thief Swoops Into The ThunderDome

WWE title stolen
USFPD Tampa

Wrestling's most recent example of real-life belt theft allegedly went down on 22 May, hours after a WWE SmackDown taping at the ThunderDome in Tampa, Florida.

The local police department filed a report seeking information that would help identify an individual caught on camera, and was complete with several CCTV stills of the offender, who removed "several items belonging to the WWE" from the 'Dome's Yuengling Center home. Grand theft was the case, and the police were on it.

While the crime alert was issued on 5 June, there was no word on whether or not the items had been recovered at the time of writing. Presumably, the moustachioed 25-30-year-old male wasn't there to retrieve a released wrestler's black bag of belongings. Lord knows what you'd find in Drake Wuertz's.

It's hard to tell for sure, but zooming in on the first four stills makes it look like the thief is carrying a championship belt in his left hand. The dark red strap and gold plating suggest the NXT North American Championship. Here's hoping it was just a replica. What did poor old Bronson Reed do to deserve grand theft?

 
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Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.