Bob_Backlund

Bob Backlund

Robert Lee "Bob" Backlund (born August 14 1949), is an American professional wrestler and actor with an in ring career that spanned over 27 years. Over that time, he went on to become a two-time WWF Champion (his first being in the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation).

Backlund was also an accomplished amateur wrestler wrestling for the North Dakota State University Bison in the late 1960s to early 1970s. Backlund continues to work in the pro wrestling business in various capacities. In 2000, Backlund unsuccessfully ran for a Connecticut seat in Congress on a Republican ticket.

Career

Backlund was an amateur wrestler at North Dakota State University, winning the Division II NCAA Championship at 190 pounds in 1971.

Turning pro

Backlund was trained for a professional wrestling career by legendary wrestling trainer Eddie Sharkey and made his debut for the American Wrestling Association in 1973. Backlund's clean cut look and very technical approach made him a natural face and almost instantly popular with the fans. After working for the AWA for a while Backlund started to travel the United States working for the National Wrestling Alliance in its various territories. In 1974, Backlund worked in Texas for Dory Funk, Jr. and Terry Funk's Amarillo promotion. In March he defeated Jerry Brisco to win the "NWA Western States Championship", the promotion's main title. Backlund would only hold it less than three months before losing it again.

In mid 1975, Backlund started working for Georgia Championship Wrestling where he would team up with Jerry Brisco to win the NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (not to be mistaken with the Georgia Version of the NWA Tag Team Championship) from Toru Tanaka & Mr. Fuji in October 1975. The Brisco/Backlund team would only hold the Georgia gold for 2 months before being defeated by Les Thornton & Tony Charles. In 1976 Backlund moved on from the Georgia territory and worked in Florida for Championship Wrestling from Florida (NWA Florida) where he teamed up with Steve Keirn to defeat Bob Orton, Jr. and Bob Roop for the Championship Wrestling from Florida. Backlund and Keirn would lose the titles to “The Hollywood Blondes” (Buddy Roberts and Jerry Brown) in October of 1976. Backlund split his time between working in Florida and working in St. Louis, Missouri for Sam Muchnick’s St. Louis Wrestling Club where he defeated wrestling legend Harley Race to win the NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship on April 23. He held it until Jack Brisco defeated Backlund on November 26

WWF (1977-1984)

In early 1977, Backlund signed with Vincent J. McMahon’s World Wide Wrestling Federation. Backlund was given “the Golden Boy” Arnold Skaaland as his manager early on. Less than 4 months into his run with the WWWF, Backlund received his first shot at the WWWF Champion "Superstar" Billy Graham where he lost by count out. Over the course of 1977 Backlund received additional shots at the champion where his fortunes started to change; they first went to a double count out and later Backlund defeated Graham, but only by count out. On February 20, 1978 at the famous Madison Square Garden, Backlund finally got the elusive pinfall victory over Billy Graham that earned Backlund his WWWF Title. Backlund won the match despite Graham’s leg being on the rope during the pinfall.

Only days after winning the WWWF gold, Backlund clashed with the NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race in a rare “WWF Vs NWA” title match. Neither title changed hand as the two fought to a time limit draw. Defending against other champions became a recurring theme in Backlund’s run with the title as he faced both the AWA and the NWA World Champion in highly publicized matches. Backlund would also take on and defeat the Florida Champion Don Muraco and “International Champion” Billy Robinson.

On August 9, 1980, Backlund teamed up with Pedro Morales to capture the WWF World Tag Team Championship from The Wild Samoans at Showdown at Shea. Backlund and Morales were forced to vacate the titles due to a WWF rule stating that no one can hold two championships at the same time.

Title Controversy

While World Wrestling Entertainment officially recognizes Bob Backlund’s first WWWF/WWF Title reign to be from February 20, 1978 until December 26, 1983 there is at least one instance where Backlund was defeated in the ring for the title and one instance where the title was “held up” after a match.

The first instance saw NWF Champion Antonio Inoki pin Bob Backlund in a match in Tokusima, Japan on November 30, 1979 to win the title. Inoki was then billed as both NWF and WWF Champion in subsequent matches. On December 6 Inoki and Backlund fought over the WWF title once again; this time, Backlund pinned Inoki but had the result thrown out by WWF president Hisashi Shinma due to outside interference. After the match, Inoki refused to accept the WWF title back and Backlund appeared in the US days later as the WWF champion with no official announcement of the title change ever being acknowledged by the WWF.

It is also claimed by some sources that because Backlund’s WWF title was held up after a match against Greg Valentine on October 19 1981 when a dazed referee ”accidentally” gave the title belt to Greg Valentine (Storyline) that it constituted an “interruption” of Backlund’s title reign. Arguments against this constituting a break in the lineage is supported by the fact that Backlund was billed as the WWF Champion in other cities in the days following the ”controversy”. In the early part of the 1980s where no federation had national television deals, it was not an uncommon practice to “hold up” the title in one area to build interest in a rematch that the champion would win while ignoring this fact in other parts of the territory. On November 23, Backlund pinned Valentine for the "Vacant in New York only" WWF title.

End of an era

After having been popular with the fans from early on, by the final months of his title reign, many fans had grown weary of "Howdy Doody," as the Grand Wizard had dubbed Backlund; this was illustrated by the fact that he was picked as the Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Most Overrated Wrestler in 1983. Additionally, Vincent K. McMahon, who had taken over his father's wrestling promotion, wanted to put the title on the more charismatic and muscular Hulk Hogan. The younger McMahon approached Backlund and said that Hogan was the man that would take the WWF to the next level. McMahon initially wanted Backlund to turn heel and lose to Hogan outright, but when Backlund refused, they consequently needed a transitional champion to serve between Backlund and Hogan. On December 26, 1983 Backlund, recently "injured" in a TV angle where The Iron Sheik assaulted Backlund with his Persian Clubs, lost the title to the Sheik when Backlund's manager Arnold Skaaland threw in the towel while Backlund was locked in the Camel Clutch. It's worth noting that Backlund was not defeated via a pinfall or submission. Because Backlund was declared "injured," he was denied an automatic rematch with the Iron Sheik, and instead Hulk Hogan was given a match, which he won, making him the new Champion. Backlund continued to work for the WWF for a while after the title change but never saw a shot at the title he held for so many years. On August 4, 1984 Backlund defeated Salvatore Bellomo in what is his last WWF match for 8 years.

After the WWF and retirement

After leaving the WWF Backlund had a run in the short-lived Pro Wrestling USA, which was a joint promotion between the NWA and the AWA to combat the national expansion of the WWF. In Pro Wrestling USA, Backlund unsuccessfully challenged AWA Champion Rick Martel but soon dropped off the pro wrestling scene. Backlund was believed to have permanently retired from wrestling but made a surprise return in 1991 where he began to work for Herb Abrams' short-lived UWF. He made an appearance at "Beach Brawl", the promotion’s only pay-per-view event, where he defeated Ivan Koloff. Backlund would also appear for the short lived Japanese promotion UWF, engaging in a memorable series of matches with Nobuhiko Takada

WWF Return (1992-1997)

In 1992 Backlund returned to the WWF, a very different WWF from the one that he had left nearly a decade earlier. In his absence, the company had expanded to become an international wrestling promotion mainly because of the colorful wrestlers of the "Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection" era that Hulk Hogan ushered in 8 years prior. Backlund, whose persona remained the same as it was in his heyday, seemed to be out of step with the evolution of the WWF. Many fans did not even remember him, as he had left just prior to Vince McMahon's national expansion. His initial period in the WWF was largely uneventful with Backlund working mid-card matches; however, it was highlighted by his performance at the 1993 Royal Rumble, in which he lasted sixty-one minutes and ten seconds, a record that would not be broken until 2004 (by Chris Benoit). Backlund's first appearance at a WrestleMania event, at WrestleMania IX, consisted of a quick match, which he lost to Razor Ramon.

In the summer of 1994, Backlund took part in what was billed as an "old generation vs. new generation" match with Bret Hart, with Hart's WWF Championship on the line. Over a number of weeks, viewers of WWF Superstars were treated to vignettes of Backlund working out and training for his match with Hart. Hart won the match, after Backlund misconceived his own victory and helped Bret to his feet, but afterwards Backlund "snapped", slapping Hart in the face and placing him in the crossface chickenwing submission hold, laughing hysterically. When he finally released the hold, Backlund stared at his hands in shock. Soon afterwards Backlund would start to suddenly snap during a match, go into a blind rage, and would viciously attack his opponent with a crossface chickenwing. Afterward, Backlund would seemingly snap out of his trance and be horrified by what he had done (this of course was all kayfabe).

Shortly after his match with Hart, on an episode of Monday Night RAW, a changed Backlund explained that he should still be considered the legitimate WWF Champion, as the Iron Sheik had never pinned him, nor had he submitted to the Camel Clutch. Backlund continued wrestling under the new gimmick of an out of touch, yet highly dangerous, maniac out to teach the new generation a lesson. He often appeared in business suits, had a hyperactive personality, and used (or, often, misused) large words to sound important. He also demanded that he be addressed as "Mr. Backlund". He would only sign autographs for wrestling fans if they could recite the names of all of the US Presidents in chronological order. On several instances, he attacked wrestlers and other WWF employees and placed them in the crossface chickenwing. These victims included Duke "The Dumpster" Droese, WWF Magazine writer Lou "The Count" Gianfriddo, and his former manager Arnold Skaaland, whom he blamed for costing him the WWF Title eleven years earlier.

On November 23, 1994 at the 1994 Survivor Series PPV in San Antonio, Texas, Backlund faced Bret Hart in a "Throw in the Towel" submission match for the World Wrestling Federation Championship, with Bret's brother Owen Hart in Backlund's corner (carrying what Backlund claimed to be the same towel Skaaland threw into the ring in 1983) and The British Bulldog in Hart's. The object of the match was to place your opponent in a submission hold and make his cornerman throw in the towel. Late in the match, Backlund took advantage of a mistake by Hart and locked the crossface chickenwing in. Hart was locked in the hold for an unheard of eight-and-a-half minutes, but refused to give up. Finally, Owen went over to his mother Helen, who was at ringside, and pleaded (not meaning it) with her to throw Bret's towel in (Bulldog had become incapacitated during the course of the match). After several minutes, Helen Hart threw the towel in, giving the match and the championship to Backlund. The match is also notable due to its 35-minute length and display of outstanding mat wrestling from both men.

Backlund's second reign as WWF Champion was short-lived, however, as he lost the title on November 26 to Diesel at Madison Square Garden, home of many of Backlund's victories in the 1970s and 1980s. This match stands as the quickest World Title match as the towering Diesel simply kicked Backlund in the stomach and hit him with a Jackknife Powerbomb, pinning him a mere eight seconds after the bell rang. For weeks afterwards, fans jeered Backlund with chants of "Eight seconds! Eight seconds!" In a 2005 interview for the Pro Wrestling Torch, Nash fondly remembered how Backlund sold his Jackknife Powerbomb by crawling up the aisleway back to the dressing room area of the Garden. Nash said, "He couldn't have put me over any stronger." (This match, in addition to being the quickest WWF Championship match ever, was also the last time that the WWF Championship changed hands at a non-televised event.)

After the title loss Backlund started to work less and less, never again reaching main event status. His final noteworthy WWF match was an "I Quit" match against Bret Hart at WrestleMania XI on April 2, 1995. He lost, though many viewers have noted that Backlund never actually said, "I Quit." He screamed unintelligibly into the microphone, which special guest referee Roddy Piper seemed to interpret as "I Quit.

Following WrestleMania, the WWF ran an angle where Backlund declared his candidacy for President of the United States. Several vignettes were shown on television, including one depicting Backlund campaigning at a beach. However, this angle was dropped without fanfare, possibly due to lack of fan interest and because the U.S. presidential election would not be held for another year and a half.

For a brief time in 1996 and 1997, Backlund joined forces with his old nemesis the Iron Sheik to manage The Sultan in the WWF.

WWF Third Run (2000)

He later returned to wrestle in the 2000 Royal Rumble. After that, he briefly became manager for the then-Intercontinental and European Champion Kurt Angle. During his run, he taught his crossface chickenwing submission to Angle, but later on, Angle fired Backlund (and gave Backlund a crossface chickenwing after discovering that Backlund booked Angle in a Two Falls Match with Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho, with both of his titles on the line, at WrestleMania 2000.

Possibly inspired by his fake presidential candidacy in 1995, Backlund also unsuccessfully ran for a Connecticut seat in Congress as a Republican in 2000. He went on to operate a bail bond company in Connecticut.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (early 2007)

After many references to Backlund by Kevin Nash, Backlund debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in January 2007, at the Final Resolution pay-per-view, judging the finals of the Paparazzi Championship Series (PCS) between Alex Shelley and Austin Starr. Given the tie breaking vote, Backlund launched a long explanation before declaring his decision a draw, and the match was restarted by PCS director Kevin Nash. After the match was won by Shelley, Starr pie faced Backlund due to the former's belief that Backlund cost him the fight, to which Backlund responded by putting Starr in the cross face chicken wing.

It was reported on TNA Wrestling's home page that Backlund would begin to make regular appearances on TNA Impact!. During his appearances on Impact! he has been seen as crazy and weird by announcers Don West and Mike Tenay.

Backlund made his in ring return at Slammiversary and defeated Alex Shelley. He would go on to lose to the team of Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin (managed by Nash) with his partner Jerry Lynn at Victory Road and he has not been on TV since.

When TNA redesigned their website, Backlund's profile was quietly removed, which signaled the end of his run with the company.

WWE (late 2007)

On the 15th-anniversary WWE Raw special on December 10, 2007, Backlund participated in the 15th Anniversary Battle Royal, but was quickly eliminated by Skinner.

Acting career

Bob Backlund was also a guest on MTV's Singled Out where he acted in sketches with host Jenny McCarthy and Chris Hardwick. The work caught the eye of Director Keven Undergaro and Producer Maria Menounos. He was subsequently cast to play the role of "Friar Chuck", alongside Menounos and John Waters, in the comedy feature film "In the Land of Merry Misfits." The quirky, offbeat film has been compared by critics to the works of L. Frank Baum, John Waters, and Kevin Smith. The film played at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival where Bob Backlund appeared and signed autographs. The film, and the film's actors, including Bob Backlund are now touring festivals worldwide.