Bob Backlund’s face run in 92-94

[Clint Bobski]

Dec 18, 2018 8:33:12 GMT -5 @knapp said:

Some years back I recall Backlund's return being explained somewhat. He had left wrestling for several years, but his return was......for moreorless financial reasons, and I guess by that point Vince didn't think it'd hurt to bring him back in some capacity (even though IIRC Vince was not a fan of him when he first took over the company).

Dec 18, 2018 3:34:43 GMT -5 G✇JI☈A said:

and a picture in WWF magazine featuring him using a food processor and grinning at Virgil eating a carrot.

When you say something like that you immediately find and post the picture too! It's proper fan forum etiquette, dang it! ;p

[willywonka666]

I do recall in an interview Vince was asked something along the likes of who he’d like to represent the federation and he said Backlund, but he was too old

[dirtyoldman]

It was strange seeing him in the Rumble in 1993. It was 10 years since he was champ and was in his early 40s and looked like from another era. Nowadays, somebody in there early 40s, hasnt been champ in 10 years wouldnt look out of place at all.

[Aceorton]

All versions of Backlund during this run were fine by me. I got the feeling during the face part that he was there mainly to be the contrast to the "New Generation"-type guys -- and that contrast was usually pretty entertaining. Plain as hell, no music, handshakes for the opponents, old-school roll-up finisher. The lower-card guys he faced like Damian Demento and the Berzerker looked cooler because he was such a dweeb. That shuffle-dance thing he did when he got excited was just the lamest thing ever. And then when he went heel, of course that cool/dork contrast was the whole point: Younger stars vs. a crazy old man.

[Ronny Rayguns Is All Elite]

Dec 18, 2018 19:07:53 GMT -5 thecrusherwi said:

Dec 18, 2018 13:06:02 GMT -5 Ronny Rayguns Is All Elite said:

He was there TWO years before turning heel?!?!!

For some reason I remember him showing up and almost immediately turning into Mr. Backlund

I will say that as a kid, I was terrified of heel Bob Backlund. I thought the Crossface Chickenwing was going to cripple people.

For some reason it was just more unsettling because he didn't really LOOK like a heel Wrestler, he looked like someone's high school driver's Education teacher


I vaguely remember a segment with him choking out his old manager for throwing in the towel being the scariest wrestling related thing I had seen up to that point

[thecrusherwi]

Dec 19, 2018 10:00:52 GMT -5 Ronny Rayguns Is All Elite said:

Dec 18, 2018 19:07:53 GMT -5 thecrusherwi said:

I will say that as a kid, I was terrified of heel Bob Backlund. I thought the Crossface Chickenwing was going to cripple people.

For some reason it was just more unsettling because he didn't really LOOK like a heel Wrestler, he looked like someone's high school driver's Education teacher


I vaguely remember a segment with him choking out his old manager for throwing in the towel being the scariest wrestling related thing I had seen up to that point

That and when he demonstrated the Crossface Chicken Wing on the magazine writer and then wouldn’t release it were traumatic.

[Ben Wyatt]

Dec 18, 2018 14:04:02 GMT -5 auph10imitated said:

But yeah after Mania 9 he just did the odd jobs up until the 1994 heel turn.

Not that it adds a lot, but I remember he and HBK having a terrific match for the IC title at a house show I was at. 

[Deleted]

Dec 19, 2018 10:24:08 GMT -5 thecrusherwi said:

Dec 19, 2018 10:00:52 GMT -5 Ronny Rayguns Is All Elite said:

For some reason it was just more unsettling because he didn't really LOOK like a heel Wrestler, he looked like someone's high school driver's Education teacher

I vaguely remember a segment with him choking out his old manager for throwing in the towel being the scariest wrestling related thing I had seen up to that point

That and when he demonstrated the Crossface Chicken Wing on the magazine writer and then wouldn’t release it were traumatic.

I remember watching those and realizing "Oh, this guy's not really just some plain jane normal wrestler guy; he's kinda screwed up huh?"

.........I'd realize every wrestler is pretty screwed up. But these were simpler times....

[Deleted]

Dec 17, 2018 19:41:46 GMT -5 Cranjis McBasketball said:

He seemed to me to be about 100 million years old, he was younger than AJ Styles is now.

It was always seemed to me like an old guy getting one last shot.

That's the way they sold it... "OMG he's 42 years old".  A few years later they were making fun of WCW for pushing guys in their late 30's and a decade or two after that, most of their main eventers are at least as old as Backlund was in '93.

[Mozenrath]

I'm reminded of Foley in "Foley is Good" talking about how Bob was a nice guy, but also really, really weird and intensely sincere. I feel like he was able to really channel that strangeness into his 90s run perfectly.

[horsemen4ever]

So did Backlund leave in 1993. I recall just before the heel turn, he returned to the WWF again.

[fw91]

even if he was out of place, he probably still should have been treated like a bigger deal due to his past. great 93 rumble performance though.

[jason1980s]

The heel turn was so amazing and it gave over 20 years extra life to his character. He probably draws many more people at autograph conventions than he would with the 1993 face character. He truly comes off as over the top insane and it has to draw people in.
Doesn't he sell oil door to door? I wonder how he comes off in his neighborhood to non-wrestling fans.

[hassanchop]

I also like his character in TNA/Impact, seemed like an extension of his 92-94 character:

[SirLucas]

Backlund 92-93 was in that Tito, KoKo, Virgil jobber to the stars role.

[Zen411]

God I hated it. Growing up on the 80s hulkamania era and essentially wrestlemania 3 or 4 onward made me expect something from my superstars backline didn't deliver. Bland, weird, archaic from a different era that wrestlemania era had moved on from. He seemed like a waste of time and nothing anyone could get behind. As wwf tried to forge an identity post Hogan, backlund was the complete wrong direction imo.

[bogussting]

His heel run was awesome.

[J. Hova]

I loved it when he came back and I wasn't even born until 2 years after he lost the title to Sheik. When he came back, they did put him over as this great former champion going for one last run. His Royal Rumble performance I think put him on everyone's radar as someone who could still go.

When he snapped, I thought it was brilliant the way they booked it and continued with it for a while. As it went on, I think it went a little too far, but he has made more money off his crazy gimmick then he ever dreamed of.

As people have pointed out, a big part of it I think was the George Foreman comeback. The WWF wanted a parallel. Foreman's comeback was huge and if memory serves, Foreman beat Michael Moore for the heavyweight title a week or two before Backlund beat Bret (sorry, boxing was like part of the holy trinity in my family growing up).

[MrElijah]

Dec 20, 2018 15:11:20 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

I'm reminded of Foley in "Foley is Good" talking about how Bob was a nice guy, but also really, really weird and intensely sincere. I feel like he was able to really channel that strangeness into his 90s run perfectly.

The way he ragdolled Lou was f***ed up.

[Joe Neglia]

Dec 24, 2018 4:31:06 GMT -5 J. Hova said:

but he has made more money off his crazy gimmick then he ever dreamed of.

I guarantee he made more off his original title run than he did his 90s return.