10 Times Wrestlers Had Their Title Belts STOLEN
7. Bruno Sammartino Gets Dinner, Loses WWWF Championship
Who could possibly want to steal from a man like Bruno Sammartino?
A manifestation of the American Dream, the longest-reigning WWE/WWF/WWWF Champion ever is not only one of the most important figures in wrestling history, but a universally adored Mount Rushmore dweller who drew huge crowds in and around the company's old New York base. A hard-working Italian immigrant who fled fascism in his homeland and grafted his way from nothing to something, Bruno was everybody in that building. The truest man of the people the McMahon territory had ever seen.
But like Chris Jericho 54 years later, Sammartino had his WWWF Championship belt stolen from his car while eating dinner after a big victory.
Bruno had successfully defended against Tarzan Tyler inside Madison Square Garden. Returning from his meal, he discovered that some rascal had broken into the car, taken in the belt, and fled. The belt was never recovered.
Sammartino was just over two years into a title reign that ended up stretching all the way from May 1963 to January 1971. Another strap was forged and the world kept spinning, but if it's still around, the stolen title is probably worth a small island nation's GDP in 2021.