Backlund’s First Title Reign

By Scott Keith on October 31, 2018

Good day to you, sir! With baseball season officially over, some of us are now free to concentrate on footbaLOLOLOLOL, I can't even type that with a straight face. I'll replace baseball with wrestling. More specifically, the WWE Network vault, which in my opinion, pays for that $9.99/month a million times over. I've been going through All Star Wrestling and I'm currently in 1981 or as some would call it: the horrible Angelo Mosca squash era.

Anyway, in regards to Bob Backlund and his first title reign that went from February 20, 1978 all the way to December 26, 1983. Almost six years! Did Vince Sr not have an other babyface he could rely on? Ivan Putski? Andre the Giant? Pat Patterson? He had a number of heels that would have been a great transitional champion, most notably a red hot Sgt. Slaughter. So why did we get almost six years of Backlund on top in an era where that felt like two lifetimes? I understand the direction that Vince Jr was looking toward, but was his dad just unwaveringly loyal to Backlund for some reason?

Hey, Backlund was a legit wrestler in an era where that still meant something, and he drew just fine on top until the world moved past him in 1983. I mean, sure, we all know now that Superstar Graham should have been champion until he exploded from steroids and died, but hindsight and all that.

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