Bob Backlund

[Ricky Jackson]

I think that was in 1983, Bob's last year as champ, where he became one of Dave and his readers favorite whipping boys. Many things contributed to it, but basically Bob and WWF in general were looked at as stale and "lame" compared to the more exciting territories of the time, like Mid Atlantic and World Class and wrestlers like Flair, the Japanese stars, etc. 83 was also when Bob became noticeably smaller due to a change in workout routine and adopted the buzz cut and later singlet, making him look pretty uncool, especially compared to someone like Flair. Also, the booking of Bob in 83 was uninspired, with several repeat challengers, like Ivan Koloff, Slaughter, the Samoans, George Steele, Muraco, etc., which did him no favors, and I think Dave also started to push the whole "the crowds turned on Bob and he stopped drawing" talking point at this time. I think a lot of hardcore fans were also clamoring for Snuka as champ, or at least someone different, as Bob had been on top for 5 years.

 

Someone with access to the 83 Observers would be able to explain it better.

[BillThompson]

Meltz in general seems to really dislike Backlund. I just watched Backlund/Hart from Survivor Series '94 and it's totally the Backlund show as he's great and makes everything about that match great. Meltz, however, greatly disliked the match, and I'm not sure if he ever gave a specific reason.

[Ricky Jackson]

I remember this coming up before. Basically Meltzer gave the match a low rating because he thought the crowd didn't buy the whole Owen trying to convince his parents to throw in the towel aspect, or something like that.

[dexstar]

Interesting. I knew Meltzer wasn't a fan but didn't realize the extent. I was hoping that with the "Disgusting" name and subsequent winners that there was some obscure sleaze story about Bob selling dope outside the arenas or beating up homeless people for amusement.

[Ricky Jackson]

That's the story I'm going to start pushing on Titans!

 

I now have an image of Bob pushing dope outside the arena in Allentown between matches. Hilarious.

[Lee Casebolt]

No one would ever buy dope from Backlund. Can you think of a more obvious narc?

[Ricky Jackson]

I see it more like Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects. Backlund exits the arena after beating Moondog Rex, starts walking more confidently, lights up a cigarette, peddles some dope to the marks, and then leaves in a car driven by Freddie Blassie.

[bradhindsight]

I remember this coming up before. Basically Meltzer gave the match a low rating because he thought the crowd didn't buy the whole Owen trying to convince his parents to throw in the towel aspect, or something like that.

 

Or the fact that Bret was literally in the hold for 9 minutes before the towel was finally thrown in.

[BillThompson]

 

I remember this coming up before. Basically Meltzer gave the match a low rating because he thought the crowd didn't buy the whole Owen trying to convince his parents to throw in the towel aspect, or something like that.

 

Or the fact that Bret was literally in the hold for 9 minutes before the towel was finally thrown in.

 

 

That worked on every level though. It gave Owen the time to convince his parents, it showed how insane Backlund was, and how insane Bret was for not just tapping. There wasn't a thing wrong with how long Backlund held Bret in that hold, it fit the match and the storyline perfectly and made for compellingly great wrestling.

[jdw]

For the record, people need to remember the year Bob won the award:

 

Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic

1982 Bob Backlund as WWF Champion

 

What's kind of funny is that Bob had a pretty good 1982 as champ. A pretty decent number of good matches that year that were available on tape. Here are the MSG and Spectrum cards in the standard "WON Voting Period" of December the prior year to November of the current year. Not all of them are in circulation, but the majority of them that are happen to be pretty decent. I know Will loved the Adonis matches. The Rose ones are a good deal of fun.

 

WWF @ Philadelphia, PA - Spectrum - December 12, 1981
Greg Valentine defeated WWF World Champion Bob Backlund via count-out at 19:48 when Valentine got back in the ring following a brawl on the floor

 

WWF @ Philadelphia, PA - Spectrum - January 16, 1982
WWF World Champion Bob Backlund defeated Greg Valentine in a steel cage match by escaping out the door after hitting a piledriver

 

WWF @ New York City, NY - Madison Square Garden - January 18, 1982 (18,301)
Adrian Adonis defeated WWF World Champion Bob Backlund when the referee stopped the match at 30:54 due to excessive blood loss

 

WWF @ New York City, NY - Madison Square Garden - February 15, 1982 (22,034)
WWF World Champion Bob Backlund pinned Adrian Adonis in a Texas Death Match via a backflip pin at 16:33; Ivan Putski was the special referee for the bout

 

WWF @ Philadelphia, PA - Spectrum - February 20, 1982 (10,972)
WWF World Champion Bob Backlund pinned Jesse Ventura at 17:43

 

WWF @ New York City, NY - Madison Square Garden - March 14, 1982 (matinee)
WWF World Champion Bob Backlund pinned Jesse Ventura at 9:21 with a roll up into a bridge and a fast count from guest referee Ivan Putski; after the bout, an enraged Ventura attacked Putski until Backlund and Putski together sent him out of the ring

 

WWF @ Philadelphia, PA - Spectrum - March 20, 1982 (9,438)
WWF World Champion Bob Backlund pinned Adrian Adonis at 21:50 with a pin reversal into a bridge

 

WWF @ Philadelphia, PA - Spectrum - April 17, 1982 (9,230)
WWF World Champion Bob Backlund defeated Blackjack Mulligan via disqualification when the challenger hit the referee at 11:15

 

WWF @ New York City, NY - Madison Square Garden - April 26, 1982
Jimmy Snuka defeated WWF World Champion Bob Backlund via disqualification at 10:42 when Backlund refused to break a choke; after the match, Snuka hit the splash off the top and the champion had to be taken from the ring on a stretcher

 

WWF @ Philadelphia, PA - Spectrum - May 22, 1982 (11,513)
Bob Orton Jr. defeated WWF World Champion Bob Backlund via count-out at 16:12 when, as both men fought outside the ring, Orton wrapped a foreign object around Backlund's neck to hold him back and then got back in the ring himself to win

WWF @ New York City, NY - Madison Square Garden - June 5, 1982
Jimmy Snuka defeated WWF World Champion Bob Backlund via count-out at 20:53

 

WWF @ Philadelphia, PA - Spectrum - June 26, 1982
WWF World Champion Bob Backlund defeated Bob Orton Jr. in a lumberjack match at 12:12 with a roll over after the challenger was tripped by Ivan Putski at ringside; prior to the bout, lumberjacks for the match included: Putski, Blackjack Mulligan, SD Jones, Tony Atlas, Mr. Fuji, Adrian Adonis, WWF IC Champion Pedro Morales, Steve Travis, Johnny Rodz, Swede Hanson, Laurent Soucie, and Mr. Saito

 

WWF @ New York City, NY - Madison Square Garden - June 28, 1982
WWF World Champion Bob Backlund defeated Jimmy Snuka in a steel cage match at 15:10 by avoiding a lunge from the challenger and escaping through the door after Snuka missed a splash off the top of the cage

 

WWF @ Philadelphia, PA - Spectrum - July 31, 1982
WWF World Champion Bob Backlund (w/ Arnold Skaaland) fought Jimmy Snuka to a double disqualification at 21:06 when Capt. Lou Albano, who Snuka brought ringside early in the contest, interfered as Backlund had the Crossface Chicken Wing applied, with a brawl ensuing between Backlund & Skaaland against Snuka & Albano, and several other wrestlers, including Salvatore Bellomo and the Demons, having to come out to pull Backlund and Snuka apart

 

WWF @ New York City, NY - Madison Square Garden - August 2, 1982 (22,000; sell out)
WWF World Champion Bob Backlund defeated Bob Orton Jr. at 23:38

 

WWF @ New York City, NY - Madison Square Garden - August 30, 1982 (19,908)
WWF World Champion Bob Backlund defeated Buddy Rose via submission with the Crossface Chicken Wing at 20:24 after reversing an attempt at a back suplex

 

WWF @ Philadelphia, PA - Spectrum - September 18, 1982 (9,464)
WWF World Champion Bob Backlund (w/ Arnold Skaaland) pinned Jimmy Snuka at 21:33 by reversing a piledriver attempt into a backdrop and falling backwards for the pin, even though Snuka's foot was outside the ring during the cover; after the bout, Backlund offered his hand to Snuka to shake, which Snuka did; moments later, Snuka also shook the hands of Skaaland and the referee before Backlund gave him his personal towel, which read "WWF Champion"; SD Jones was the guest referee for the bout

 

WWF @ New York City, NY - Madison Square Garden - October 4, 1982 (22,101)
Superstar Billy Graham defeated WWF World Champion Bob Backlund via disqualification at 15:10

 

WWF @ Philadelphia, PA - Spectrum - October 16, 1982 (7,075)
Buddy Rose defeated WWF World Champion Bob Backlund via count-out

 

WWF @ New York City, NY - Madison Square Garden - November 22, 1982
WWF World Champion Bob Backlund fought Superstar Billy Graham to a double disqualification at 10:14 when referee Danny Davis threw the match out after being knocked down by the participants, with both men brawling their way backstage moments thereafter

 

WWF @ Philadelphia, PA - Spectrum - November 25, 1982 (15,644)
WWF World Champion Bob Backlund defeated Buddy Rose via submission to the Crossface Chicken Wing at 13:02 in a lumberjack match; SD Jones was the guest referee for the bout; after the match, Kal Rudman conducted an interview with Backlund and Skaaland

 

Everyone hated the Superstar angle, and "Bob crying over the belt being destroyed." But there was just one match in the period, and it was quickly followed by a Bob-Buddy to wash the taste out of the mouth.

 

It really was a silly award.

[C.S.]

Isn't Meltzer's bias the reason it took so long for Bob to get into the WON HOF? Meltz is certainly entitled to his likes and dislikes, but his lack of objectivity in this instance is pretty glaring - out of character, almost. But maybe it's a case of him being more passionate - both positively and negatively - about wrestlers and wrestling in his younger years. For example, I don't think he'd call a wrestler something like "Anabolic Warrior" today.