Backlunds stubbornness really hurt his legacy

[willyjakes]

Just got to thinking about this the other day...sure backlund is considered a legend. He was the WWF standard bearer for a long time (and no it wasn't quite the "dark ages" during his reign, but the WWF was nowhere near the heights it would reach in coming years)

But to this day it seems Backlund is just a cut below the Macho Man, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels of the world...and I think some of the reason behind that was his reluctance to put Hogan over for the belt in 1984 and stick around during the WWF's enormous ascent during the mid to later part of that decade.

Think about it, Backlund had a long successful run...but his time was passing. Instead of being a man and truly passing the torch to Hulk Hogan in what would've been an epic event...he decides he doesn't want to do that because Hogan had no amateur background?? I mean who cares, Hogan had paid his dues by 1984 and had already established himself as a terrific, charismatic performer and wrestler. But this wasn't good enough for Backlund...so the belt had to be filtered through the Iron Sheik. To me Backlund looks petty and small here.

Vince also offered him the punk gimmick, which I'm positive he would've played perfectly (just like psycho bob a decade later) It would've been amazing to see the former opie champion coming to the ring as a badass punk rocker heel...I think that would've really resonated with the fans...he would've been despised. Heel Backlund + Heel Piper at that time would've been incredible...instead he decided to fade away into oblivion. And by the time he re-debuted in 1992...he was all but forgotten. In fact the WWF had to run promos to REMIND fans that this Backlund guy was a former world champion!

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

I think Backlund as a punk rocker would be a terrible, absolutely terrible idea.

Aside from that I'd heard the story was that Vince didn't want a face to beat a face for a belt.

[willyjakes]

Jun 28, 2012 15:16:00 GMT -5 "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay said:

I think Backlund as a punk rocker would be a terrible, absolutely terrible idea.

Aside from that I'd heard the story was that Vince didn't want a face to beat a face for a belt.

absolutely not, it would've been an amazing, unpredictable 180 character turn. The guy played a psycho, he can pull off punk.

[Chardee MacDennis]

Bob Backlund in the mid 90s is one of the most underrated things in wrestling history.

["Playboy" Don Douglas]

Jun 28, 2012 15:17:50 GMT -5 willyjakes said:

Jun 28, 2012 15:16:00 GMT -5 "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay said:

I think Backlund as a punk rocker would be a terrible, absolutely terrible idea.

Aside from that I'd heard the story was that Vince didn't want a face to beat a face for a belt.

absolutely not, it would've been an amazing, unpredictable 180 character turn. The guy played a psycho, he can pull off punk.

To be fair, the guy played a psycho 10 years later. Who knows what he would have been able to do at that point. I can't really see Bob Backlund - punk rocker in 1984.

[thecrusherwi]

Is this documented that he was supposed to put over Hogan? That seems insane. Hogan was just returning to the territory and the last time he was there he was a heel. Then he's gonna come in and squash the beloved Backlund in the Garden and get over as a Superman babyface? That doesn't seem likely.

Outside of Hogan/Warrior Vince almost always filtered the belt through a heel well into the 90s.

[chazraps]

Also, Macho Man is top tier, with Michaels/Hart on the level below him. Hart/Michaels didn't transcend "popular wrestler" status in the pop culture world.

[joebob27]

I can't see Bob Backlund being a punk rocker, ever. How exactly would this come about, it makes less sense that One Man Gang turning into Akeem.

[Ultimo Chocula]

Backlund as a punk rocker is a horrifically stupid idea. The reason why the nutty Backlund character in the 90's worked is because he was the type of guy who was completely straight laced and out of step with the times, just like Backlund, and when he opened his mouth he tried to sound intelligent but got all of his facts screwed up. "Eating marijuana" for example.

If anything hurt Backlund's legacy in the 80's it was complete and utter lack of charisma as a face champ. If you want proof of go to youtube and type in "Harley Race Bob Backlund promo" and watch Backlund ramble aimlessly for two minutes followed by Race owning him in less than 30 seconds.

[Citizen Snips Has Left]

The transitional heel champion was the standard in WWWF/WWF. Ivan Koloff and Stan Stasiak got the same type of reign as Sheik did. There was always going to be a heel holding the title for a bit between Backlund and whomever the next face champion was.

[molson5]

The story wasn't that Backlund refused to lose to Hogan, it was that he refused to drop it to the Masked Superstar (Bill Eadie), who would have dropped it to Hogan a few weeks later. At least, that's Eadie's story. Hogan/Sheik seemed so epic and natural, it's kind of hard to believe that wasn't the plan.

["Playboy" Don Douglas]

Jun 28, 2012 21:43:29 GMT -5 molson5 said:

The story wasn't that Backlund refused to lose to Hogan, it was that he refused to drop it to the Masked Superstar (Bill Eadie), who would have dropped it to Hogan a few weeks later. At least, that's Eadie's story. Hogan/Sheik seemed so epic and natural, it's kind of hard to believe that wasn't the plan.

Hmm. As a fan of Bill Eadie, I love the thought of Masked Superstar as champ, even for a transitional run, but Hogan over Sheik really does feel so right that I can't picture much else.

Of course, there was that whole thing about masked wrestlers in the Garden that only seemed to be waived for Mil Mascaras. Is it possible that Backlund thought the mask was too much of a gimmick? Some of the old school guys were that way. I know it goes back several more years, but Lou Thesz didn't work shows that involved women or midgets. It was near the end of his career before he even started really being okay with managers getting involved.

(Percy "Paul Bearer" Pringle talked about being in the business about 6 months when he ended up working a match involving Thesz, and Lou actually told him he could get involved by tripping him. Only problem was, Percy missed his leg. He said Lou took a few steps, turned and looked at him, and said, "You stupid son of a bitch." Percy claimed he thought his career was over before it really got started but everything ended up being cool.)

More on topic, the "Mr. Backlund" of the mid-'90s was vastly different than some random punk rock gimmick. As mentioned, part of it was that he was so out of touch and behind the times, as well as being genuinely nuts.

As far as looking bad in promos against Race...I'm not saying it shouldn't count, but I'm saying maybe he shouldn't be judged too harshly. For my money, Harley is one of the best promo guys in the history of wrestling.

[Manute Bol]

Jun 28, 2012 17:31:37 GMT -5 thecrusherwi said:

Then he's gonna come in and squash the beloved Backlund in the Garden and get over as a Superman babyface?

Backlund was FAR from beloved at this point. The crowds had turned on him pretty bad toward the end of his run.

And Backlund doing a punk gimmick? Good God. People actually think that would have been a good idea?

[Jimmy]

I agree that Backlund's stubbornness had hurt his legacy, but not in the way you believe. I think his half-cocked political dreams and refusal to be admitted into the WWE Hall of Fame are tarnishing his legacy. Really though every WWF Champion pre-Hogan in 84 doesn't get a whole lot of notable recognition from WWE.

[mizerable]

Why would a guy in his mid-30's, who had already been known as a goody goody babyface, all the sudden embrace the punker scene, which was predominately made up of 16 to 20 year old kids? Maybe if Backlund was English, I could possibly see that...but the way it stands, no way. Besides, the punk scene by the early 80's was already starting to wane. Who is Vince getting his ideas from? Jim Herd?

[Deleted]

Is this a fanfic thread?

[Paco]

Never heard any of the stories on the first post (Title from Backlund to Hogan, Backlund: punk rocker).

Not saying they're not legit but...source?

[Metalheadbanger Man]

As a fan of early 80s punk, seeing Backlund in such a gimmick would've been hilarious.

I can see him slamdancing to the Dead Kennedys and Fear as we speak.

[whitecrxsses]

Jun 29, 2012 6:28:54 GMT -5 Metalheadbanger Man said:

As a fan of early 80s punk, seeing Backlund in such a gimmick would've been hilarious.

I can see him slamdancing to the Dead Kennedys and Fear as we speak.

That...is a beautiful image.

[mrjl]

Jun 29, 2012 3:40:15 GMT -5 mizerable said:

Why would a guy in his mid-30's, who had already been known as a goody goody babyface, all the sudden embrace the punker scene, which was predominately made up of 16 to 20 year old kids? Maybe if Backlund was English, I could possibly see that...but the way it stands, no way. Besides, the punk scene by the early 80's was already starting to wane. Who is Vince getting his ideas from? Jim Herd?

I think the idea had something to do with Adrian Street.