Reggie Parks, the legendary craftsman behind some of professional wrestling's most recognizable championship belt designs, has tragically passed away at the age of 87.
Known as the "King of Belts," Parks hailed from a farm in Alberta, Canada, and began his career in the wrestling business at Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling promotion. Parks worked as a wrestler until the mid-1980s when he decided to retire from in-ring activities. The Canadian strongman made his first belt in 1962 and continued to make title belts throughout his career, but once he hung up his boots, he threw himself into the craft and became the most prolific belt artisans of his generation.
The wrestling world paid tribute to Parks in the immediate aftermath of his passing.
"The world lost a true icon today. If you grew up loving wrestling in the 80s or 90s, you grew up loving his work. RIP Reggie Parks," tweeted belt collecting podcast host Conrad Thompson.
"RIP Reggie Parks. A man who created art in the ring in different ways," AEW's Frankie Kazarian tweeted. "The man responsible for my favorite title belt design ever. The 86-98 IC Championship. Godspeed sir."
WWE producer Adam Pearce also took to social media to pay his respects to the man who designed the iconic winged eagle WWF Championship belt. "Godspeed, Reggie Parks. It’s easy to thank you for your incredible contributions to our wrestling world, but I am more grateful for how cool you always were to me. Rest well, sir," he wrote.
Throughout the course of his career, Parks designed belts for athletes from an array of sports, like MMA, boxing, and even football. In 2008 he designed the belt worn by Madonna on the cover of her Hard Candy album.
Reggie is gone but his exceptional body of work will live forever.