Billy Graham as head of Rock & Wrestling

[mrjl]

a lot of people talk about who could have replaced Hogan at the head of the Rock & Wrestling era. Unfortunately many of the biggest names of that era were unreliable due to drug use.

But as far as I know the Superstar just used steroids and he had about three or four years left in his career.

If he had turned face could he have been the man until people were familiar enough with Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior showed up?

[Kash Flagg]

He was far too broken down by that point. Hell Bruno was in better shape than him then.

[mrjl]

Jun 30, 2013 8:21:24 GMT -5 Kash Flagg said:

He was far too broken down by that point. Hell Bruno was in better shape than him then.

so I guess his matches before his return in AWA and NWA were mostly special attraction things with less action than Hogan matches?

[molson5]

Even if he was in better shape - he just looked like an old man by that point. The WWF expansion needed a younger, more vibrant looking guy to build everything around.

[The OP]

Yeah I think if Superstar was gonna be the focal point of the Rock 'n' Wrestling push they would have to have started earlier. A face turn shortly before or during his reign as Champion probably would have been the catalyst. If you similarly push everything else back in time a few years the main event of the first Wrestlemania could have been Graham against Andre the Giant, Iron Sheik, or Jimmy Snuka among other possible opponents.

[________ has left the building]

Superstar was too old and beaten up by the time Vince was taking WWF national. Bob Backlund lost the title because he didn't have the dynamic personality that McMahon felt was needed for the excursion. Hogan got the role because he had all the traits necessary (larger than life look, master showman, youth).

[Deleted]

Hadn't Billy's Superman physique changed a lot by then also? No longer did he look like the Greek Adonis of his peak instead he looked like a puffy roid user.

[Smiley Smile]

Graham was in a bad way by the mid 1980s; he had mounting injuries, he was aging and had a hip replacement in 1986, so he wasn't a long-term prospect.

It's worth remembering that while he was one of the pioneers of that style of wrestling, Billy Graham was still very much an old hand who was associated with the 1970s. Hogan on the other hand was relatively fresh and could be molded into the face of the newly-expanded WWF. Simply put, he fit - his all-American superhero look and character fit in with the era in a way that nobody else could have; Savage lacked the imposing superhero look, and Warrior's character was too out-there and obscure. Basically, nobody other than Hogan could've been the figurehead of Rock & Wrestling, he defined the style and the era in a way that nobody else could have.

[bitteroldman]

Graham as a face? Doesn't work for me. Hogan was the perfect storm at the time and really noone else would have worked.

[TGM]

I love Graham and dislike Hogan, but Graham wasn't half the wrestler Hogan was.

[Deleted]

Hadn't Graham shaved his head by then?

Either way I don't think he could have pulled it off with him in the shape that he was in. The years of steroids had taken their toll on his body.

[mrjl]

Jul 4, 2013 11:00:38 GMT -5 @jeffx said:

Hadn't Graham shaved his head by then?

Either way I don't think he could have pulled it off with him in the shape that he was in. The years of steroids had taken their toll on his body.

yeah, he'd shaved his head and grown the goatee.

I just figured he had three+ years left in his career, he might have been able to start things off. It's not like he retired in 85

[Deleted]

WrestleMania, Live At The Filmore West

[Deleted]

He had pretty much "disappeared" from wrestling after dropping the WWWF title.

He came back a few years later (to Florida, I believe) as an alleged master of the martial arts, a shaved head (back when guys with shaved heads were mostly ruthless foreign heels) a decent look...and a feud with Billy Jack Haynes on the horizon. Most of his exhibitions were mostly based on his martial arts, arm-wrestling or full-nelson challenges.

To show what a big deal this (kinda) was, one of the wrestling magazines brought up how they thought he had passed away.

[Wolf Hawkfield no1 NZ poster]

Wasn't his body broken down by the time he returned in the early 80s so not really.

Not to mention the way I see it is Hogan pretty could everything he could but better.

[Deleted]

No he was that old guy from the 70's...just like Bruno.

The only guy who could have reasonably stepped into Hogans boot's was Junk Yard Dog. And he would need a better name than that. Tito Santana and Jimmy Snuka didn't have the personality really.

I still say Koko Be Ware could have pulled it off too.

[mrjl]

Jul 5, 2013 5:49:50 GMT -5 @sandman said:

He had pretty much "disappeared" from wrestling after dropping the WWWF title.

He came back a few years later (to Florida, I believe) as an alleged master of the martial arts, a shaved head (back when guys with shaved heads were mostly ruthless foreign heels) a decent look...and a feud with Billy Jack Haynes on the horizon. Most of his exhibitions were mostly based on his martial arts, arm-wrestling or full-nelson challenges.

To show what a big deal this (kinda) was, one of the wrestling magazines brought up how they thought he had passed away.

actually he came back to the WWF in 1982 and destroyed Backlund's title belt.