Robert Lee "Bob" Backlund (August 14, 1949) is an American professional wrestler and actor with an in ring career that spanned over 30 years. Over that time, he went on to become a two-time WWWF/WWF Champion. His two reigns combined give make him the third longest reigning WWE Champion of all time (behind Bruno Sammartino and Hulk Hogan).
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[]
In 1969 during his freshman year, Backlund was an All American in both football and wrestling (191 lbs finishing 3rd) while at Waldorf Junior College in Forest City, IA. During his sophomore campaign, Backlund focused on wrestling and once again earned All American Honors (190 lbs and National Runner Up). Backlund was an amateur wrestler at North Dakota State University, winning the Division II NCAA Championship at 190 pounds in 1971. In 1972 Backlund moved up to the Heavyweight class and finished 5th at the NCAA DII Nationals. Graduate of Princeton, MN High School where he was a state finalist in wrestling. He graduated from North Dakota State University with a degree in physical education. He also made part of the lyrics for the hit song Leeches and Scream, making him two million dollars in permission charges.
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 (AWA) in 1973. Backlund's clean cut look and very technical approach made him a natural face and almost instantly got over with the fans. After working for the AWA for a while, Backlund started to travel the United States working for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in its various territories. In 1974, Backlund worked in Texas for Dory Funk, Jr. and Terry Funk's Amarillo promotion. In March he defeated Terry Funk to win the NWA Western States Heavyweight Championship, the promotion's main title. Backlund would only hold it for two months before losing it to Karl Von Steiger in May.
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 and 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 NWA Florida Tag Team Championship. Backlund and Keirn would lose the title to The Hollywood Blonds (Buddy Roberts and Jerry Brown) in October 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 he was defeated by Jack Brisco on November 26.
World Wide Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Federation (1977–1984)[]
In early 1977, Backlund signed with Vincent J. McMahon’s World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). Backlund was managed by “the Golden Boy” Arnold Skaaland early on. Less than 4 months into his run with the WWWF, Backlund received his first shot at the WWWF Champion against "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 Championship. Backlund won the match despite Graham's leg being on the rope during the pinfall. He also went after the WWWF Tag Team Championship with Peter Maivia but Maivia turned on him and attacked Backlund and Skaaland, which led the usually even tempered Backlund to go berserk in the post match interview, screaming to interviewer Vince McMahon that he was going to "kill that son of a bitch!"
Three days after winning the WWWF Championship, Backlund clashed with the NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race in a rare “WWWF vs. NWA” title match. Neither title changed hands as the two fought to a 60-minute time limit draw. Defending against other champions became a recurring theme in Backlund's run with the title as he faced both the AWA (Nick Bockwinkel) in highly publicized matches and also engaged in a legendary series of scientific matches against NWF World Champion and Japanese legend Antonio Inoki. Backlund would also take on and defeat the NWA Florida Champion Don Muraco and in 1982 battled "International Champion" Billy Robinson to a classic 63-minute curfew draw in Montreal. Backlund defended the title against a who's who of professional wrestling legends, including Pat Patterson, Ray Stevens, Greg Valentine, Don Muraco, Superstar Billy Graham, Hulk Hogan, Jesse Ventura, Adrian Adonis, Sgt. Slaughter, Dusty Rhodes, The Iron Shiek, Nikolai Volkoff, Victor Rivera, Spiros Arion, Larry Zbyszko, Jimmy Snuka, Mr. Fuji, Mr. Saito, Professor Toru Tanaka, The Masked Superstar, Swede Hanson, Ivan Koloff, Stan Stasiak, Ken Patera, Antonio Inoki, Bobby Duncam, John Studd, Johnny Rodz, Blackjack Mulligan, Charlie Fulton, Iron Mike Sharpe, Killer Khan, Afa, Sika, Johnny Valiant, Jimmy Valiant, Jerry Valiant, The Moondogs, Ric Flair, Harley Race, Nick Bockwinkel, Stan Hansen, Rick Martel, Rene Goulet, Crusher Blackwell, Gorilla Monsoon, Lou Albano, Lord Alfred Hayes, Bob Orton Jr., "Playboy" Buddy Rose, Baron Mikel Scicluna, Baron Von Raschke, Jimmy Garvin, Ron Bass, Tony Atlas, Kevin Sullivan, Dick Murdoch, Peter Maivia, Ernie Ladd, Bulldog Bob Brower, Raymond Rougeau, King Curtis, Killer Kowalski, George Steele, The Original Sheik, and many more.
On August 9, 1980, Backlund teamed with Pedro Morales to capture the WWF Tag Team Championship from The Wild Samoans at Showdown at Shea. Backlund and Morales were forced to vacate the title due to a then-extant WWF rule stating that no one can hold two championships at the same time. Backlund met with more tag team success at year's end when he (along with Antonio Inoki) captured the 1980 MSG Tag Team League Tournament with a win over Hulk Hogan and Stan Hansen on December 10, 1980, in Osaka, Japan. Backlund and Inoki finished the tournament with seven wins and two double-count out decisions en route to victory.
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 Tokushima, 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 United States 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 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. Pro Wrestling Illustrated and its sister magazines also reduced the WWF Title from World Title status to a regional title. This was due to Backlund's not putting the title on the line against baby face wrestlers such as Tony Atlas and Tito Santana. He was further criticized for wrestling Sika Samoan in Texas as opposed to one of the better wrestlers in the host territiory such as Kerry Von Erich. 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. Backlund was not defeated via pinfall or submission, as Skaaland's actions caused the title change. Because Backlund was declared "injured", he was denied an automatic rematch with the Iron Sheik, and instead Hulk Hogan was given a match, and became 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 his last WWF match for 8 years.
After the WWF and semi-retirement (1984-1992)[]
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 American Wrestling Association (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 Newborn UWF and UWF International in Japan, engaging in a memorable series of matches with Nobuhiko Takada.
Return to the WWF (1992–1997)[]
In 1992, Backlund returned to the WWF, which was very different from what 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.
On the July 30, 1994 edition of Superstars, 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 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 soon afterwards a new storyline developed in which Backlund "snapped" after Hart repeatedly tried to console a dejected Backlund with a handshake. He slapped Hart in the face and placed him in the crossface chickenwing submission hold, screaming 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.
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 U.S. 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 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 Survivor Series pay-per-view in San Antonio, Texas, Backlund faced Bret Hart in a "Throw in the Towel" submission match for the WWF 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 the Bulldog ran after Owen, who had interfered behind the referee's back to break a submission, but missed and hit the ringside stairs head first. While Bret got up to argue with his brother, Backlund took advantage and locked the crossface chickenwing on the defending champion. Hart was locked in the hold for an unheard of eight-and-a-half minutes, but refused to give up. With Bulldog incapacitated and Owen pretending to be shocked at what was going on, he decided to go over to his parents Stu and Helen, who were seated at ringside. Owen, who was faking his concern, pleaded with his parents to throw the towel in to save Bret and handed the towel to his mother. After several minutes, which involved Stu Hart ripping the towel from his wife's hands, Helen Hart threw in the towel, 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 a house show in 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 with Backlund preaching socially conservative values, including one depicting him 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.
Return to the WWF (2000)[]
He later returned to wrestling 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 hold to Angle, but later on, Angle fired Backlund and gave Backlund a crossface chickenwing after discovering that Backlund booked Angle in a two-fall Triple Threat 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 and feud with The Motor City Machine Guns (2007)[]
After many references to Backlund by Kevin Nash, Backlund officially 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 was seen as crazy and weird by announcers Don West and Mike Tenay, in reference to his Mr. Backlund gimmick from his second WWF tenure.
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. When TNA redesigned their website, Backlund's profile was removed, signaling the end of his run with the company.
World Wrestling Entertainment (2007, 2012)[]
On the 15th Anniversary of Raw on December 10, 2007, Backlund participated in the 15th Anniversary battle royal that involved 15 wrestlers from Raw's 15-year history. Backlund was quickly eliminated from the match by Skinner.
On the July 9, 2012 episode of Raw, Backlund attacked Heath Slater after Heath's match with Sin Cara as part of a weekly series of legend appearances. He later appeared at Raw 1000 with all the other legends who faced Slater over the weeks, helping chase Slater back into the ring when he tried to run away from Lita and the APA. He was announced as an inductee into the WWE Hall Of Fame on January 21, 2013.
In May 2016, he became the manager and "life coach" of Darren Young, vowing to "Make Darren Young Great Again." Over the next several months, several vignettes would air where Backlund would give Young life and wrestling advice, and Backlund would be at ringside when Young was participating in matches. This angle would be short lived, as an injury to Young in early 2017, then later his release from the WWE, would put an end to Backlund appearing on WWE Television.
Acting career[]
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, are now touring festivals worldwide.
Personal life[]
Backlund and his wife, Corki (a high school physical education teacher) have a daughter named Carrie. They live in Glastonbury, Connecticut.
In wrestling[]
- Finishing moves
- Atomic Knee Drop (Diving knee drop) – 1973–1978
- Atomic Spinecrusher (Running atomic drop) - 1970s and 1980s, used rarely as a finisher thereafter
- Crossface chickenwing
- Half nelson bridging cradle
- Signature moves
- Multiple suplex variations
- Wrestlers managed
Championships and accomplishments[]
- NWA Western States Sports
- NWA Western States Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI Match of the Year (1978) vs. Billy Graham on February 20
- PWI Match of the Year (1982) vs. Jimmy Snuka in a cage match on June 28
- PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (1994)
- PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (1977)
- PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (1981)
- PWI Rookie of the Year (1976)
- PWI Wrestler of the Year (1980)
- PWI Wrestler of the Year (1982)
- PWI ranked him # 7 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003.
- World Wide Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment
- WWWF/WWF Championship (2 times)
- WWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Pedro Morales
- WWE Hall Of Fame (Class of 2013)
- Wrestle Association R
- WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Scott Putski and The Warlord
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
- Best Technical Wrestler (1980)
- Match of the Year (1980) vs. Ken Patera in a Texas Death match on May 19 in New York City, New York
- Most Overrated Wrestler (1983)
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2004)
