Backlund Book Blurb (Titans fans rejoice)

[bkord123]

In case anyone was on the fence with this book, here's a blurb that I copied from the Kindle version. It's a really good book and I highly recommend it. I love details like this.

 

Basically, back in those early days at the Philadelphia Arena, the boys got there at around eleven in the morning with Vince McMahon Jr. to start taping three weeks of house show interviews. They typically spent the whole day laying those down, because each card would require three different sets of interviews (one for each week of TV) for at least two and sometimes three of the feature matches. Nothing was scripted, so it often took a few takes to get the interviews right and to make them sound different enough so the fans wouldn’t catch on that they were all recorded on the same day. Add in the hijinx and the ribbing and the guys standing just off camera goofing around and trying to make Vince Jr. or each other laugh while they were recording, and you had a recipe for a pretty long day.

That night, I met most of the wrestlers on the WWWF roster, all the managers, and a bunch of the office guys. Captain Lou Albano, Arnold Skaaland, Freddie Blassie, and Ernie Roth (the Grand Wizard of Wrestling) were all sitting there talking with Vince Sr. when I walked in. I also met Domienic DeNucci, Mikel Scicluna, Johnny Rodz, and Gorilla Monsoon. A bunch of them were playing cards. Scicluna was smoking a long, curled pipe and really had the look of a Maltese Nobleman. It was a strange new world— as I had never set eyes on any of these guys before in any of the other territories where I had previously wrestled.

The Captain was pretty well lubricated with alcohol by that time of the day, and he was yelling and laughing and carrying on with his big belly hanging out of his shirt, which was all the way unbuttoned. He was loud and I certainly wasn’t used to that kind of brashness. I hadn’t met anyone like him before that, and it caught me off guard. There were people in that dressing room, like Albano and DeNucci and Scicluna and Chief (Jay Strongbow) who had all been in the territory for a long time and knew each other well. I was an outsider— but I think everyone sensed, even on that first day, that I was there for a reason. I don’t know whether Vince Sr. had discussed it with anyone before I got there, or told some of the people that I was coming in, or what— but there was definitely a kind of stand-offish curiosity among the boys about who I was and what I was about.

There was a definite clique in that dressing room, comprised of Bruno, DeNucci, Rodz, Garea, Chief, and Scicluna. They were a strong and tight-knit group. Fortunately for me, Vince McMahon Sr. went out of his way to make me feel welcomed and at home.

Backlund, Bob; Miller, Robert H. (2015-09-15). Backlund: From All-American Boy to Professional Wrestling's World Champion (Kindle Locations 2508-2512). Sports Publishing. Kindle Edition.

 

[DGinnetty]

Own the book and finished it last week.

 

Tons of stories from other wrestlers thrown in, such as Patera, Slaughter, Iron Sheik, Patterson, Muraco, etc..

 

The thing that struck me was that Backlund seemed to put more thought into his matches than I recall the wrestling fans giving him credit for.

 

He was pretty young when he got the belt too.

 

He provides details about the title switch with Inoki in 1979, and ANY wrestling book with details about touring in Japan is a must buy for me :-)

 

Kindle it or buy the hardcover; you won't be disappointed.

 

Dan

[Ricky Jackson]

Looks awesome and plan on purchasing it soon. I truly love this period and territory, perhaps more than anyone on this board, and look forward to the insights. Thanks for sharing.

[JerryvonKramer]

bkord - you've just made this an instant purchase for me, I literally just bought it off amazon. How many times have we imagined those guys playing cards like that. Amazing! Expect a Titans review soon.

[shoe]

I ordered it too.

[dawho5]

Almost seems like the parentheses should have had "Titans rejoice" in it.

[bkord123]

Here's another blurb I was hoping we could talk about (I'll probably be arrested for copyright infringement). Doesn't Bob have a rep with some people of taking too much of his matches? Unless I'm misunderstanding it, this quote sort of says the opposite of that. It's from the night he won the title from Graham. Any thoughts?

 

As I sat there in the parking lot thinking about the business— I realized that just because something had always been done a certain way in the WWWF didn’t mean it had to continue to be done that way. I realized I was bringing to the table a whole new approach to the business of professional wrestling— and an approach that, once understood, ought to be popular both with the front office and with the boys in the locker room. By implementing more of the NWA’s model of leaving most heels with their heat so they could maintain their drawing power and longevity in the territory, we would have more options in booking feuds or interesting semi-final matches for the undercards, and, as a consequence, do better business because of it.

Backlund, Bob; Miller, Robert H. (2015-09-15). Backlund: From All-American Boy to Professional Wrestling's World Champion (Kindle Locations 3490-3494). Sports Publishing. Kindle Edition.

[Jingus]

I think he's talking more about the tendency of Bob's big-money matches to have indecisive finishes, or the number of times that Bob himself got left laying. Bruno might've taken less of the match, but he usually looked stronger in the end.