Early career (1973−1976) Backlund was trained for professional wrestling by renowned trainer
Eddie Sharkey and made his debut for the
American Wrestling Association (AWA) in 1973. Backlund's clean-cut look and technical approach made him a natural
face, and he quickly
got over with the fans. In mid-1975, Backlund started working for
Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW). He teamed with
Jerry Brisco to win the
NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship from
Toru Tanaka and
Mr. Fuji in October 1975. They held the
championship belts for two months before losing to
Les Thornton and Tony Charles. In 1976, Backlund left Georgia for
Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF, NWA Florida). Here he teamed with
Steve Keirn to defeat
Bob Orton Jr. and
Bob Roop for the
NWA Florida Tag Team Championship. Backlund and Keirn lost the title to
The Hollywood Blonds (
Buddy Roberts and Jerry Brown) in October 1976. He was
managed by
"The Golden Boy" Arnold Skaaland. Less than four months into his WWWF run, Backlund received his first shot at the
WWWF Heavyweight Championship against
Superstar Billy Graham, but he lost by
countout. Through 1977, Backlund received additional title shots at the champion, and his fortunes started to change; the two went to a double
countout in one match, then Backlund defeated Graham, but by countout (the title can only change hands via pinfall or submission). On February 20, 1978, at
Madison Square Garden, Backlund finally scored a
pinfall victory over Graham and won the title, Backlund's early challengers for the title included
Spiros Arion, Mr. Fuji,
Ivan Koloff,
George "the Animal" Steele, and
Ken Patera, and had his first high-profile title match in Japan, defending against
Antonio Inoki. He also won a series of rematches against Graham, including an April 1978
steel cage match at
Madison Square Garden. Three days after winning the WWWF Heavyweight Championship, Backlund clashed with the
NWA World Heavyweight champion Harley Race in a rare "WWWF vs. NWA" title match. Both titles were on the line, but neither changed hands as the two fought to a 60-minute time limit
draw. Defending against other champions became a recurring theme in Backlund's run with the title. He faced the
AWA World Heavyweight champion (
Nick Bockwinkel) and two NWA World Heavyweight champions (Harley Race four times and
Ric Flair once) He defeated the
NWA Florida Heavyweight champion Don Muraco. In August 1982, he battled
Canadian International Heavyweight Champion Billy Robinson to a 63-minute curfew draw in Montreal. Early in his run, Backlund and
Peter Maivia formed a successful
tag team and challenged for the
WWWF World Tag Team Championship, held by
the Yukon Lumberjacks. During a television taping that aired on
WWF Championship Wrestling in October 1978, Maivia
turned on Backlund and attacked him and Skaaland. In the immediate aftermath, fans for the first time got to see another side of Backlund's personality: that of a raving, ranting maniac when angered or pushed hard enough; in the post-match interview, Backlund screamed to interviewer
Vince McMahon that he was going to "kill that son of a bitch!" Backlund eventually won a series of matches against Maivia, including a steel cage match in January 1979 at Madison Square Garden, although he was not able to fulfill his threat to end the life of Maivia. In 1979, the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) became the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). On November 30, 1979,
NWF Heavyweight champion Antonio Inoki defeated Backlund in Tokushima, Japan to win the WWF title. Backlund then won a rematch on December 6. However, WWF president
Hisashi Shinma declared the re-match a no contest due to interference from
Tiger Jeet Singh, and Inoki remained champion. Inoki refused the title on the same day, and it was declared vacant. Backlund later defeated
Bobby Duncum in a Texas death match to regain the title on December 17. Inoki's reign is not recognized by WWE in its WWF/WWE title history. Backlund had more tag team success when he (along with Antonio Inoki) won the "1980 MSG Tag Team League Tournament", last defeating
Hulk Hogan and
Stan Hansen on December 10 in Osaka, Japan. Backlund and Inoki finished the tournament with seven wins and two double-countout decisions. Also during 1980, Backlund and Hogan met in a series of highly publicized matches; although he scored several countout victories over Hogan, Backlund never was able to score a decisive victory over his charismatic young challenger, and Hogan – showing flashes of his future superstardom – proved to be one of Backlund's toughest opponents. Backlund was also able to overcome a challenge from Ken Patera, with whom he feuded on-and-off from 1978 until early 1981, including during Patera's reign as
WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight champion.
Continued success (1981–1983) in a
headlock during a 1981 match Backlund's WWF Heavyweight Championship was held up after a match in
New York City against
Greg "the Hammer" Valentine on October 19, 1981, after a dazed referee "accidentally" gave the championship belt to Valentine as part of the storyline, it constituted an interruption of Backlund's title reign. However, Backlund was billed as the WWF Heavyweight champion in other cities in the days following the controversy. In the early part of the 1980s, when no promotion held nationally televised events, it was not uncommon practice to "hold up" the title in one area (to build interest in a rematch the "former" champion would win) while ignoring the situation in other parts of the territory. On November 23, Backlund pinned Valentine for the "vacant in New York only" WWF Heavyweight Championship. A rematch for the title, held inside a steel cage at the
Philadelphia Spectrum in January 1982, also saw Backlund emerge the winner, securing the victory when he hit a
piledriver on Valentine onto the mat. Even with the title being held up against Inoki and Valentine, Backlund is recognized by WWE as having one continuous title reign from 1978 to 1983 as WWE champion. Backlund continued to be successful into 1982 and 1983, successfully defending against a variety of contenders, ranging from
Adrian Adonis,
"Cowboy" Bob Orton,
Big John Studd, Ivan Koloff,
Magnificent Muraco and
Sgt. Slaughter. One of his most memorable encounters came in mid-1982, when he won a steel cage match against
"Superfly" Jimmy Snuka; in that match, at
Madison Square Garden, Snuka scaled the top of the cage, intending to perform his
"Superfly" splash onto a prone Backlund to incapacitate him, but Backlund moved after Snuka began to fly through the air and went on to escape the cage. He also turned back a challenge from Superstar Billy Graham, who returned to the WWF in late 1982 wanting to reclaim the championship.
End of an era (1983–1984) After having been popular with the fans from early on, in the final months of his title reign, Backlund changed his image, cutting his mop hair into a crew cut, wearing amateur wrestling singlets and losing muscle mass and definition. Fans seemingly grew weary of this "
Howdy Doody" character (as
the Grand Wizard had dubbed him). In 1983, he was voted the
Wrestling Observer Newsletter's
Most Overrated Wrestler.
Vince McMahon, who had bought the WWF from his father, wanted to put the title on the more charismatic and muscular Hulk Hogan. McMahon initially suggested Backlund to turn
heel and lose to Hogan, but when Backlund refused, a
transitional champion became necessary between Backlund and Hogan. Backlund sustained a (
kayfabe) arm injury when
the Iron Sheik assaulted him with his Persian clubs and on December 26, 1983, Backlund lost the title to the Sheik when Backlund's manager,
Arnold Skaaland, threw in the towel while Backlund was locked in the
camel clutch. The injury was a television story only; Backlund wrestled the Iron Sheik at least three times for the title at
house shows (including once at the
Boston Garden, winning by
disqualification), and also wrestled the Magnificent Muraco for the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship, also at a non-televised house show. Backlund continued to work for the WWF for a while after the title change, but did not receive another title shot for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship after Hogan's victory. On August 4, 1984, Backlund defeated
Salvatore Bellomo in his last WWF match for eight years.
After the WWF and semi-retirement (1984–1992) After leaving the WWF, Backlund had a run in the short-lived
Pro Wrestling USA, a joint promotion of the NWA and the AWA, meant to combat the national expansion of the WWF. In Pro Wrestling USA, Backlund unsuccessfully challenged
AWA World Heavyweight champion Rick Martel. He soon dropped out of the pro wrestling scene in 1985, but he made a surprise return in 1991 for
Herb Abrams' short-lived
Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF). At
Beach Brawl, he defeated Ivan Koloff. Backlund also wrestled for
Newborn UWF and
UWF International in Japan, in a series of matches with
Nobuhiko Takada in 1988 and 1991. During his time away from the ring, he coached amateur wrestling at
Bacon Academy and Rocky Hill High School in Connecticut.
Return to WWF (1992–1997, 2000) In 1992 with the World Wrestling Federation struggling to find a new direction, Backlund made a surprise return to the company on July 1, 1992, in White Plains, New York and defeated
Skinner. After defeating Skinner in a rematch the following day and
Steve Lombardi in July, Backlund went into hiatus while the company prepared to introduce him to a new generation of fans. On the September 27, 1992 episode of
Wrestling Challenge a vignette aired promoting the return of Backlund to the World Wrestling Federation. During his absence, the WWF had expanded into an international wrestling promotion, due in part to the colorful characters of the "Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection Era", which Hulk Hogan helped to kickstart eight years prior. Backlund, whose persona remained the same as it was in his heyday, seemed to be out of step with the evolution of the WWF. Many fans did not remember him, as he had left just prior to Vince McMahon's national expansion. Backlund made his official return on the November 28, 1992 episode of
WWF Superstars of Wrestling and defeated
Tom Stone. On the November 29 episode of
Prime Time Wrestling he secured his first significant victory by defeating
Repo Man. Backlund began to tour full time on house shows at the end of November, defeating
Papa Shango on multiple occasions. On November 19, 1992, he got his first opportunity for a championship, facing and then defeating
Shawn Michaels by countout in Cadillac, Michigan. On November 28, he made his return to Madison Square Garden for the first time in over eight years, defeating
Rick Martel. He closed out the year remaining undefeated in competition and being announced as a participant in the upcoming Royal Rumble. At the
1993 Royal Rumble, Backlund, the number two entrant lasted sixty-one minutes and ten seconds, a duration record that stood until 2004, when
Chris Benoit broke it. On January 29, 1993, he faced Shawn Michaels at Madison Square Garden, again defeating the Intercontinental Champion by countout. The following day Backlund finally sustained his first defeat in his comeback, losing by pinfall to Michaels at a house show in New Haven, Connecticut. This would be his only loss for some time as he continued to beat Michaels by countout in subsequent rematches. Backlund's first
WrestleMania appearance was at
WrestleMania IX, where he was quickly pinned by
Razor Ramon. On April 8, he faced Shawn Michaels at a
WWF Superstars taping in Paris, France and was pinned. This began the first sustained losing streak of his WWF comeback, as Michaels defeated Backlund in subsequent rematches. On the May 2, 1993 episode of
Wrestling Challenge . Backlund faced
Lex Luger in a qualifying match for the upcoming
King of the Ring tournament but was defeated by countout. In May 1993 he rebounded to defeat
Blake Beverly in several house show encounters. On the May 30, 1993 episode of
All American Wrestling he battled
Bam Bam Bigelow to a time limit draw. On the June 19, episode of
WWF Mania he teamed with fellow veteran
Tito Santana to defeat
The Headshrinkers. On the June 20, episode of
Wrestling Challenge Backlund was defeated by
Doink the Clown. Entering the summer, Backlund found himself programmed into a house show series against fellow
babyface Bret Hart. Hart defeated Backlund in their first encounter in Baltimore, Maryland on June 11, and the two faced off again the following day at Madison Square Garden. After a match that lasted over 32 minutes, Hart again defeated Backlund. The two wrestlers shook hands after the match. Afterwards Backlund found himself sliding further down the card, losing to newcomers
Mr. Hughes and
Bastion Booger in numerous house show encounters in the summer of 1993. At "The SummerSlam Spectacular" on August 29, 1993, he again faced Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels and once more was defeated. Backlund entered the fall of 1993 now in the lower card, and he rebounded to defeat
Damien Demento and Papa Shango in numerous house show encounters. On November 6, 1993, in Shamokin, Pennsylvania, Backlund faced yet another newcomer in
Diesel, pinning him in their first match. Diesel would return the favor, pinning Backlund on November 12 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. This was followed by several additional losses to Diesel, and Backlund ended the second year of his comeback still mired in the midcard. Backlund competed in the
1994 Royal Rumble, this time only lasting a little over twelve seconds. As the winter continued victories were seldom as Diesel continued to dominate their house show series. Backlund also faced newcomer
Jeff Jarrett at numerous events and was winless. He took a sabbatical and did not compete for several months before returning in May 1994. On the WWF's tour of Japan that month he was defeated by
Masashi Aoyagi in Nagoya on May 7, 1994. Backlund rebounded to pin Rick Martel in Sapporo, Japan four days later. The former WWF Champion was now nearly two years into his comeback as the summer of 1994 began and he now found himself slotted as an opening card performer. In that role he defeated
The Brooklyn Brawler in multiple house show matches. However, on the July 16, 1994 episode of WWF Superstars he unexpectedly made a challenge to
WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart. It was accepted, and on the July 30, 1994, episode of
Superstars, Backlund wrestled what was billed as an "Old Generation vs. New Generation" match against
Bret Hart, with Hart's WWF Championship on the line. Over the preceding weeks, the WWF aired vignettes of Backlund training for this match. Hart won the match, capitalizing after Backlund mistakenly believed he had won and helped Hart to his feet. Backlund "snapped" after Hart repeatedly tried to offer a sportsmanlike handshake following the match. He slapped Hart in the face and locked him in the
crossface chickenwing submission hold, while screaming hysterically. After finally releasing the hold, Backlund stared at his hands in apparent shock. Backlund then started to regularly "snap" in similar fashion during his matches, viciously attacking his opponent with the crossface chickenwing and refusing to release it after the opponent submitted. He would then seemingly snap back to normal and appear horrified by what he had done. Backlund continued wrestling under the new
gimmick of an out of touch and highly volatile eccentric, out to teach "The New Generation" a lesson. at a non-televised show in Madison Square Garden, After the title loss, Backlund wrestled progressively less often, never again reaching main event status. On January 22, 1995, he competed in the
1995 Royal Rumble in Tampa, Florida. This time Backlund was quickly eliminated, being tossed over the top rope in just 16 seconds. On February 19 on the
WWF Action Zone he defeated
Davey Boy Smith via disqualification when Bret Hart attacked him. On the March 13, episode of
Monday Night Raw Backlund battled Intercontinental Champion
Jeff Jarrett in a rare heel vs heel match; Backlund won via disqualification after Razor Ramon attacked Jarrett to prevent the title from chaning hands and preserving Ramon's scheduled title opportunity at the upcoming WrestleMania. On April 2, 1995, Backlund faced Bret Hart in a
"I Quit" match at
WrestleMania XI, which Backlund lost, even though he never actually said "I quit", instead screaming unintelligibly into the microphone, which
special guest referee Roddy Piper seemed to interpret as "I quit". Following WrestleMania, the WWF ran an
angle in which Backlund declared his candidacy for President of the United States. Several vignettes aired, featuring Backlund preaching
socially conservative values, and one showed him campaigning at a beach. On the May 5, 1995 episode of
Monday Night Raw he announced his candidacy. In subsequent weeks Backlund provided numerous policy objectives if becoming president, including the prohibition of rock music. The latter led to a feud with newcomer and musician
Man Mountain Rock. Their first match took place on June 10, 1995, in Madison Square Garden; Rock defeated Backlund. On the June 12 episode of
Raw he found the guitar of Rock in the backstage area and destroyed it, furthering the feud. Backlund ultimately gained the upper hand in the feud and dominated Man Mountain in matches as the summer of 1995 progressed. Meanwhile, Backlund continued to make television appearances as the year progressed, "campaigning" for the Presidency of the United States. On September 24, 1995, at
In Your House 3 he introduced
Dean Douglas for his match with
Razor Ramon and proceeded to berate the audience. After a two-month absence from competition he returned to action on October 6, 1995, in Madison Square Garden and was defeated by
1-2-3 Kid. This began a house show series that saw the Kid gain numerous victories over the former WWF Champion, before Backlund finally gain a win at a show in Utica, New York on October 15, 1995. On October 28, 1995, he wrestled his first televised match since WrestleMania XI, defeating Bob Clancy on an episode of
WWF Superstars. In November he began another house show program, this time with
Bob Holly and was undefeated. Still campaigning for the Presidency, Backlund confronted a
Bill Clinton impersonator who was seated at ringside at the
1995 Survivor Series. On the November 27, 1995 episode of Raw, he would again attack Bret Hart. On the December 2, 1995 episode of
WWF Superstars he was interviewed by
Jim Ross. Backlund attacked Ross and placed him in the cross-faced chicken wing.
Savio Vega made the save, and the two battled to a double countout a week later on Superstars. On the December 11, 1995 episode of
Monday Night Raw he faced WWF World Champion Bret Hart in a non-title match. Hart defeated Backlund via disqualification after the latter applied the cross face chicken wing and refused to release it, with Davey Boy Smith also attacking Hart. Backlund would afterwards mainly compete in
house shows. Backlund began a house show feud with Savio Vega but was winless, including a dark match on December 17 at the
In Your House V PPV. He concluded the year teaming with BodyDonna
Skip in a series of matches against Savio Vega &
Fatu. This transitioned Backlund to a house show series with Fatu, and Backlund began 1996 with multiple defeats to the former Headshrinker. He competed in the
Royal Rumble but this time was eliminated by
Yokozuna. Shortly after he took another sabbatical before returning on May 18, 1996, to defeat Roy Raymond on
WWF Superstars. On May 9, he was defeated by Vega in the first round of the
Kuwait Cup in Kuwait City. The two wrestled again at Madison Square Garden on May 19, 1996; Backlund was again defeated. This would be Backlund's final wrestling match of his comeback. Backlund's appearances began to become sporadic as the year wore on. He returned on July 12, 1996, at the
In Your House: International Incident PPV, still campaigning for the Presidency. On the July 22 episode of
Monday Night Raw he continued to campaign in the crowd, and on the August 12 episode he joined the commentary team and said that he was bringing someone to the WWF that would be superior to WWF World Champion Shawn Michaels. The angle of Backlund's campaign was quietly dropped before it reached a conclusion, and on September 9, 1996, on
Raw Championship Friday he announced a partnership with his old nemesis, The Iron Sheik to co-manage his new mystery charge. On the September 9 edition of RAW the wrestler was revealed as
The Sultan in the WWF. In February 1999, Backlund appeared on an episode of
Sunday Night Heat in a skit in which himself, The Iron Sheik, and
Dominic Denucci gave comedic advice to
Mankind before his WWF Championship match with
The Rock at
St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Backlund returned to the WWF in the
2000 Royal Rumble. After that, he briefly managed
Intercontinental and
European Champion
Kurt Angle, and he taught his crossface chickenwing submission hold to Angle. Later on, Angle fired Backlund and locked him in that move, after discovering Backlund had booked him in a two-fall
triple threat match against
Chris Benoit and
Chris Jericho (with both of his titles on the line) at
WrestleMania 2000, where he ultimately lost both titles.
Japan and Independent circuit (1994–2001) In 1994, Backlund while under contract with WWF worked for
Genichiro Tenryu's
Wrestle Association R in Japan. He won the
WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship with
Scott Putski and former WWF wrestler
The Warlord defeating
Fuyuki-Gun members
Hiromichi Fuyuki,
Gedo and
Jado on August 26. They dropped the titles back to Fuyuki, Gedo, and Jado a few days later. In 1995, while still working for the WWF, Backlund started wrestling on the
independent circuit. He mainly wrestled for Windy City Wrestling from 1995 to 1998. He lost to
Jimmy Snuka on February 27, 1996, at Trans World Wrestling Federation event. After leaving WWF in 1997, Backlund continued in the indies. On November 11, 1998, he lost to
Lance Diamond at NWA New Jersey event. From 1998 to 1999, he wrestled for
Battlarts in Japan. In October 2001 he returned to
New Japan Pro-Wrestling teaming with
Tatsumi Fujinami for a few matches. He once again retired from wrestling.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2007) After many references to Bob Backlund were made by
Kevin Nash, he officially debuted in
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in January 2007, at the
Final Resolution pay-per-view, judging the finals of the Paparazzi Championship Series (PCS) between
Alex Shelley and
Austin Starr. Given the tie breaking vote, Backlund launched a long explanation before declaring his decision a draw, and the match was restarted by PCS director Kevin Nash. After Shelley won the match, Starr pie-faced Backlund because he believed Backlund had cost him the match, at which Backlund responded by putting Starr in the crossface chickenwing. At
Against All Odds after
Senshi defeated
Austin Starr, Backlund came out and put his own chickenwing on Starr before dragging him to the back. Backlund then began to make regular appearances on
Impact!. During this time, he was described as crazy and weird by commentators
Don West and
Mike Tenay, somewhat similar to the "Mr. Backlund" gimmick of his second WWF tenure. At
Destination X, Backlund was in the corner of
Austin Starr who lost to
Senshi in a
Crossface Chickenwing match. At
Lockdown, Backlund was the special guest referee in a Six Sides of Steel match where Senshi defeated Austin Starr. Backlund made his in-ring return at
Slammiversary, where he defeated Alex Shelley. He then teamed with
Jerry Lynn to lose to
Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin (managed by Kevin Nash) at
Victory Road. When TNA redesigned their website, Backlund's profile was removed, signaling the end of his run with the company.
Third return to WWE (2007–2017) On the
15th Anniversary episode of Raw on December 10, 2007, Backlund participated in the 15th Anniversary
battle royal, along with 14 other wrestlers from
Raw's 15-year history. Backlund was eliminated from the match by
Skinner. On the July 9, 2012, episode of
Raw, after
Heath Slater's match with
Sin Cara, Slater issued a challenge to any "past champion" as part of a weekly series of
Legend appearances. Backlund emerged from backstage to answer this challenge and, as Backlund entertained the crowd, Slater kicked him in the stomach and mocked him; Backlund responded by putting Slater in the crossface chickenwing, which he refused to break for 20 seconds after Slater had
tapped out. He later appeared on
Raw 1000 with all of the other Legends who had faced Slater over prior weeks, helping Lita chase Slater back into the ring when he tried to run away from
Lita and the
APA. Backlund was inducted into the
WWE Hall of Fame on April 6, 2013, by his friend
Maria Menounos, and was acknowledged onstage with the year's other inductees at
WrestleMania 29. Backlund made an appearance on the October 7, 2013, episode of
Raw, unsuccessfully attempting to canvass votes in order to become the special guest referee for the WWE Championship match at
Hell in a Cell;
Shawn Michaels later won a public vote and was named as the special guest referee. However, Backlund did appear in a segment at Hell in a Cell together with
The Prime Time Players, where they played
WWE 2K14. Since April 2014, he has served as an ambassador for WWE. On the May 5, 2016, episode of
SmackDown, Backlund was asked by
Darren Young to be his
life coach, and Backlund agreed, vowing to "
Make Darren Young Great Again". Over the next several months, various vignettes featuring Young and Backlund aired, with Backlund assuming the role of Young's life coach. On the July 11 episode of
Raw, Young won a battle royal to become the number one contender for the
Intercontinental Championship. At
Battleground, Young faced
The Miz in a match that resulted in a
double-countout after he applied the Crossface Chickenwing to Miz outside the ring to protect Backlund from Miz and
Maryse. On July 19 at the
2016 WWE draft, Backlund and Young were drafted to
Raw. In early 2017, after Young got injured, Backlund ceased appearing on television. On October 29, 2017, Young was released from WWE, ending the storyline. Backlund's profile on WWE.com was then moved to the
Hall of Fame page shortly afterwards.
Return to Independent Circuit (2009, 2011) On September 21, 2009, Backlund defeated Jason Rumble at NWA On Fire in Springvale, Maine. He would wrestle for
Juggalo Championship Wrestling Legends & Icons event defeating
Ken Patera on August 12, 2011.
Dradition Pro Wrestling (2018) At 68 years old, Backlund returned to Japan and joined for
Dradition Pro Wrestling for two events in 2018. On April 20 he teamed with
Riki Choshu and
Tatsumi Fujinami to defeat
Jinsei Shinzaki,
Kazma Sakamoto and
Tajiri. The next day he teamed with
Hiro Saito and
Yoshiaki Fujiwara as they lost to Fujinami, Choshu, and
Masakatsu Funaki. == Legacy ==