Jim Cornette on The WWF World Title During The Bob Backlund Years 

From the time he turned on Bret to the time he lost the title to Diesel the "Mr. Backlund" character was great. Watching him slap the chichenwing on just about anyone who came into arm reach while raving like a loon was very effective. However, after he lost the I Quit match to Bret an Wrestlemania they turned hi into a comedy act.

@@JohnnyHardCastle1 And I understand why they turned him into a comedy character. He had lost his steam. It's tough to be a scary, raving lunatic when everyone knows how to beat you now. Very fun and VERY underrated character. Glad someone else enjoyed him too!

@@al5306 at that time nash was so shitty at wrestling that was rhe only way for him to get him the belt it was a house show and diesel did 1 move...well 2 with the hairflip.backlund woulda hurt nash in a fight.

Plus the cross faced chicken wing was absolutely awesome! I remember putting it on my friend and he passed out and I dropped him and he hit his head and died. It was so cool!! Police thought it was a shoot but it was obviously a work that went wrong.

94 backlund was incredible

It is a reason (not to justify it). Bob was 105 years old 🤷🏿‍♂️

Uh yeah there was a reason! It was to push Diesel as the main star of the business! Look I didn't say it was a good reason

I legit believed he was crazy too. Was a really good angle looking back at it. “I’m still the champion!”

@@pimpchez actually he was like 45 or mid 40s just like Christian or Styles or Orton etc

That really sucked. I hated that too. Diesel went on to put us to sleep wearing the belt.

Work based in reality. Bob hated what wwf became

He never ate marijuana!

@@mereanochheart7050 Bob backlund was everything that they made hulk Hogan out to be in real life and that's what bothered him yeah he was borning on the microphone but he had some good matches and Bob could go the the distance like Ric flair And Bob was not a steroid user the guy 65 years old in 2019 doing reverse crunches standing on his head a true athlete compared to the pot smoking burnout steroid using hulk Hogan and Billy Graham would have that spot if there was a shortened bob backlund rain and gavethe title back to Billy Graham as an assist to turn good from Bob backlund

@@mereanochheart7050 that's why Backlund's and Hogan's heel turns worked so damn good. They were really projecting their real bitterness into the air... Hogan had just had it with the Hulkamaniacs betraying him to cheer for Big Sid at the Royal Rumble 92 and showering him with boos at every WCW arena and Backlund just couldn't digest that speedy high flyers were now the "it" wrestlers and that people would much rather throw insults and bad mouth everyone rather than help old ladies across the street

@@chadalpha7983 get this man a can of coke a winner is you

Is that a wrestling term cause I've never heard someone say that someone is black. I know what a green wrestler is.

@@codyfriesser8807 no it isn't. The character of Dusty Rhodes talked stereotypically "black" he was sorta like a one man minstrel show without the blackface. Think Akeem from the 80's and you'll get it.

Ridin' his motor scooter through Ethiopia.

And Akeem actually was a Rib on Dusty Rhodes

@@Filmation77 Akeem was one of his actual ribs 😂🍿🍻

Bob's title defences were some of the best of the era in any promotion.

And now we have Joey Ryan and Orange Cassidy.

@@lautheimpaler4686 An Orange Cassidy sounds really refreshing right about now.

yawn!

Bob was a great champion. I was there at the Spectrum on Saturday nights. Enough of revisionist history. Do your research. Bob was over. He had tremendous strength and skills His matches were awesome!

@@finch45lear He was a tremendous technical worker, and I think McMahon Sr. wanted to prove he could get that type over--in spite of the fact that was not typical for main events in the northeast. He just didn't have all that much charisma (also not typical for a main eventer...pretty much anywhere--MAYBE you could get away with that in the AWA? lol). Pushing the "Squeaky Clean" vibe was known to work against champs in the long run--see Ricky Steamboat's NWA world title run, and how his "Family Unit" image to run counter to Flair's "Stylin' and Profilin'" wound up grating on some fans. Bruno was able to do it because there was also a very hard-scrabble immigrant thing along with his "American Dream" image (and he also tended to UNDERSTATE both those elements--you didn't hear him bring up "When I was 7 years old, I almost starved to death during the war. Then I came to America...." even though he could have; the fact that he was enigmatic about some of that, however, made him MORE identifiable in northeast markets). Dusty did it, because it was inherent in his promos it wasn't all that squeaky clean (and he was a heel beforehand)! His American Dream thing was a John-Wayne-get-your-hands-dirty-go-kick-some-ass portrayal. The lines of succeeding as the "All-American" are very fine.

Loved Bruno , but did he ever have anything nice to say about anyone ?? Comes off as bitter at times...Bob always had nice things to say about Sammartino

My favorite baklund match was his boot camp match with sgt slaughter Muraco is very underrated

I very young. However I remember he did have some good matches some that I like were the msg matches with Jimmy "super fly" snuka, Ken patera, Greg Valentine and Don Muraco. He had a few other good matches but those are the ones that stick out in my mind. Also had a match with Harley Race at MSG.

Backlund earlier runs yes he was amazing, that last run geesh but I'd rather him keeping it than Diesel getting it

Backlund is by far the greatest wrestler of all time

@@justmythoughts2786 agree.. ask Stan Hansen, says one of the best that has ever been in wrestling

judas brute I have the Book and, YES, IT A MUST READ

Backlund's fanbase liked amateur wrestling and found him to be credible as a professional.

Yes and people saying graham should have been the Hogan before Hogan is ridiculous too. Billy's body and mind was shot by roids and other drugs within 2 yrs of his title loss. He never would have held up and was already missing shots in late 70's

I was there too!

Yes. He said Vince Sr called asking about Backlund and he said Keirn would be better. But Vince Sr wouldn't change his mind

I've heard the same things plus the NWA was thinking about putting their belt on Backlund. I'm thinking a part of it was Vince Sr. possibly thinking they were trying to use reverse psychology on him, even if on a subconscious level.

Imagine an alternate universe where Kiern wins the WWWF title and Backlund becomes a Fabulous One 😳

Skinner as WWWF champion?

He really wasn't, he was still popular and even after that he drew. When Hogan was champion, Backlund was still the nr. 2 babyface and main evented the other House Shows that Hogan didn't appear at and Bob still drew big crowds.

The WWF got real thin with heel talent in Bob's last year. It wasnt his fault. He was wrestling mr. Fuji and one of the samoans in title matches. They were preparing for the transition.

FritziSchnitzel BINGO👍 EXACTLY. YOU NAILED IT👍

FritziSchnitzel Vince jr wasn't a booking genius, he had pat patterson and others during the hulkamania era and latet on the idiotic asshole russo in the attitude era; however russo was a writer who thought and still does that wrestling is just for ratings.

I'm guessing you've read Backlund's bio.. Terry Funk and Race had nothing but the most positive comments to say about Bob's ability and talent. Bob was the correct champ at the time..Unfortunately times were changing come the mid-80's.

Does anyone actually prefer Vince Jr to Vince Sr? Even Cornette said in this video sample that Jr. had a part in devaluing Backlund.

I grew up during Bob's first title run, he was great, he was my wrestling hero, the guy who could really wrestle and did promos that made it seem like his title reign was in jeopardy every week right before tying these monster heels in a knot and then moving on to the next big threat. He was the right guy for the times, think of it like this: Bob was good guy President Jimmy Carter, the Iron Sheik was his iran hostage crisis and Hogan was Ronald Reagan "the great communicator" fit perfectly for the late 70s era and then its change to the 80s.

I love his unassuming, terrifying, natural, STRENGTH, he’s always had.👍

Tuco Benedicto Ramirez Good Point on Dusty. That is probably one of the reasons why Rhodes NWA reigns were so short.

Agree . Dusty was special ! The real people's champion ! He didn't need a belt . Sort of like Andre. He was a special attraction fans flocked to see. He needed to move around different territories at that time.

This. 100%

Bob could have stretched anyone. Or at least not gotten stretched himself.

This is the same thing I heard

Lame.

@@mydogslikeboiledeggs7094 and here you are.

@Solomon Kelsie McQueen it was just a goof

another underrated backlund line...so hilarious, so underrated

Kliq didn't have power when Nash got the belt. Nash himself has said why he got it. He didn't get it because of skill, he got it because of size. He was off the gas when he got to WWF, and he was still jacked up compared to people who were deflating due to the steroid ban. Then they shat all over what made him good and his reign was trash (They made him a babyface when he should have been a tweener at best. Or you know.. everything they did with Steve Austin, including using Nash's glass break entrance). If they had left him a heel, and let him battle with the myriad of good babyfaces they had for him to work with his reign probably doesn't suck as bad as it does.

@@AnsticePalo 100%. I've been rewatching those 94-95 raws and the minute Nash became the champ, he turned into a smiling babyface goof with cringy promos. Basically, Vince changed everything that made Diesel cool in the first place.

Or prime Bob vs prime brock

Yes! Backlund was a no brainer! How the hell did he not end up AWA champion? Talk about missed opportunities.

​@Michael Chandler Keaton Why did Verne Gagne do a lot of the things he did? Even Greg doesn't have an answer for some of it.

Backlund could put on very entertaining matches, that would have likely appealed to the core AWA audience, fighting off heels every month. Verne could have replicated what worked in the WWF for years, of bringing in a monster heel to face Backlund every few months. It would not have beaten Vince and Hogan, and would have appealed to a more traditional wrestling audience of the time, but the AWA might have kept going that way.

Funny that JR did something worse on Wednesday an not a damn thing was said about it.

@shaunyboy lol he keeps calling Asian people Oriental

What about Banksy

Skaaland?

@@tonyh1718 yes

Philip Defibaugh Yet as heel, Did he technically ever break a WRESTLING RULE?? He threw more Punches and Kicks to combat the heels as a fan favorite, then as the heel he played the Pure Wrestler with a Nasty edge. Backlunds Book is a Great read👍👍

@@FranFJB that is what made heel Backlund so cool. He got over because he could outwrestle anyone with the exception of Bret Hart.

Philip Defibaugh You are 100% Absolutely right and I did enjoy his Heel turn. He played a character different far more different and made it work. Your point is Well Taken!!

They were on channel 9 at midnight on Sat/Sun before '82. Because I remember watching Bruno vs Zbyszko play out on WOR and that was a few years before.

nockanoo62 Vinnie Jr probably would not let that happen. Jr would never let it be known of anything other than WWF.

After Backlund dropped the title to the Sheik in 1983, Vince Jr. wanted Backlund to turn heel and chase Hogan for the title after Hogan got it from the Sheik in 1984. Backlund refused because he didn't want to disappoint all of his fans. Would've been interesting to see for sure!

As Ms. Julia famously said, "Nobody needs to know what really goes on in the kitchen...."

Superstar leg was on the ropes

Back then a suplex was a finishing move. Now a DDT is just another move so to speak.

@@royce1041 that was superstar beating bruno i think

Now people kick out after 75 superkicks while idiots chant about how awesome it is.

Exactly and nobody would win with a leg drop except maybe Yokuzuna. Now that was a great leg drop lol