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Post by cordless2016 on Oct 26, 2013 19:23:06 GMT -5
So I became a fan of wrestling in late '93 and since then have watch tons of stuff from the 80s (WWF and NWA) and as much of Bruno Sammartino's work as I could. But one guy I haven't seen as much of is Bob Backlund. Bob Backlund is recognized as a 2x Champion and held the title for a combined 2,138 days (not counting the controversial Antonio Inoki and Greg Valentine moments). This ranks him #3 on the list of most days holding the title. His first title reign lasted over 5 years. However because I haven't seen much of his work my question is was he promoted as the face of the company like Sammartino, Hogan, Austin, etc... were or was he one long transitional champion? Looking back at his return in 1992 they often mentioned that he was a former WWF Champ but by WM9 they seemed to drop it (never once mentioned during his match against Razor Ramon at WM9). He then had a very quickly transitional WWF Title reign and a forgettable match w/ Bret at WM11 before making sporadic appearances throughout the years. Recently it seems like when the WWE refers to the great of its past Backlund never seems to be mentioned. Especially w/ Sammartino finally returning to the company its seems odd that he would get all this praise yet Backlund is treated as an after thought. It didn't seem like the WWE made much out of the fact that he was being inducted into their HOF when Bruno was treated as a king. Like the title says was Backlund promoted as the face of the company like Bruno, Hogan, Austin, etc... or was he seen as one long transitional champion?
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Post by Nivro™ on Oct 26, 2013 19:26:47 GMT -5
His first run he was the face of the company. In the 70s and early 80s Backlund was HUGELY over, especially in the Northeast areas. However, in 1993 he was simply a transitional champion.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2013 0:38:28 GMT -5
A 6 year transitional champ? That's a very long transition.
He was the face of the company from 1978 to 1983.
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Post by slappy on Oct 27, 2013 5:48:15 GMT -5
I wish Bob would have gotten a longer run with it in 1994.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2013 6:02:09 GMT -5
I wish Bob would have gotten a longer run with it in 1994. His run is still one of the most baffling decisions ever. Why on earth Vince put the title on someone who was from before Hogan's time when he was promoting the new stars is beyond me. Especially when you consider that Savage was cut from WM9 because of his "age". That title reign from Survivor Series to the Diesel squash should have been Owen Hart's.
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Post by slappy on Oct 27, 2013 6:05:55 GMT -5
I wish Bob would have gotten a longer run with it in 1994. His run is still one of the most baffling decisions ever. Why on earth Vince put the title on someone who was from before Hogan's time when he was promoting the new stars is beyond me. Especially when you consider that Savage was cut from WM9 because of his "age". That title reign from Survivor Series to the Diesel squash should have been Owen Hart's. A reinvigorated Backlund, heel Backlund at that. It was great. Better for Owen to never have won it and people complain about that than him win it and them whine about how short it was.
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Post by Brad on Oct 27, 2013 6:24:18 GMT -5
I wish Bob would have gotten a longer run with it in 1994. His run is still one of the most baffling decisions ever. Why on earth Vince put the title on someone who was from before Hogan's time when he was promoting the new stars is beyond me. Especially when you consider that Savage was cut from WM9 because of his "age". That title reign from Survivor Series to the Diesel squash should have been Owen Hart's. Agreed
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2013 6:57:16 GMT -5
His run is still one of the most baffling decisions ever. Why on earth Vince put the title on someone who was from before Hogan's time when he was promoting the new stars is beyond me. Especially when you consider that Savage was cut from WM9 because of his "age". That title reign from Survivor Series to the Diesel squash should have been Owen Hart's. A reinvigorated Backlund, heel Backlund at that. It was great. Better for Owen to never have won it and people complain about that than him win it and them whine about how short it was. and that would be THE complaint.....no doubt about it.I can see it now....LOL. but as to the original point?no way Backlund was a "transchamp" he was the face.Vinnie Sr put his weight behind him.if its worth anything though.......Vinnie Jr was NOT a supporter of Backlund as champ.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2013 8:18:41 GMT -5
I think it would have worked well for the time, Owen's gimmick was of a whiny brat, what better way to end that sort of characters reign?
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Post by cordless2016 on Oct 27, 2013 10:14:57 GMT -5
A 6 year transitional champ? That's a very long transition. He was the face of the company from 1978 to 1983. The reason I asked is because Backlund has never been given the red carpet treatment like Hogan, Austin, and more recently Sammartino. Yeah he held it for almost 6 years but it is never really mentioned by the WWE. Like Joker said Vinnie Jr. was never a fan of Backlund as the champ (I never knew that) so that probably the reason he doesn't get the recognition he deserves. Perdo Morales seems to get the same treatment. He held the title for almost 3 years yet is never mentioned by the WWE when they talk about the past.
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Post by BrIaNMeRcY on Oct 27, 2013 14:07:41 GMT -5
A 6 year transitional champ? That's a very long transition. He was the face of the company from 1978 to 1983. The reason I asked is because Backlund has never been given the red carpet treatment like Hogan, Austin, and more recently Sammartino. Yeah he held it for almost 6 years but it is never really mentioned by the WWE. Like Joker said Vinnie Jr. was never a fan of Backlund as the champ (I never knew that) so that probably the reason he doesn't get the recognition he deserves. Perdo Morales seems to get the same treatment. He held the title for almost 3 years yet is never mentioned by the WWE when they talk about the past. The difference between Vince Sr. and Vince Jr. is night and day. Vince Sr. was more of a traditionalist whereas Vince Jr. was more fond of that bodybuilder type. I wouldn't consider Bob Backlund's first reign as transitional. His short reign in 1994 would constitute as a transitional reign. Another reign that comes to mind is Sgt. Slaughter's reign in 1991. When Backlund won the title, Vince Sr. wanted a Jack Brisco-type guy as champion. The fact Backlund was in his late-20's added to the appeal for Vince Sr.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2013 14:12:48 GMT -5
The reason I asked is because Backlund has never been given the red carpet treatment like Hogan, Austin, and more recently Sammartino. Yeah he held it for almost 6 years but it is never really mentioned by the WWE. Like Joker said Vinnie Jr. was never a fan of Backlund as the champ (I never knew that) so that probably the reason he doesn't get the recognition he deserves. Perdo Morales seems to get the same treatment. He held the title for almost 3 years yet is never mentioned by the WWE when they talk about the past. The difference between Vince Sr. and Vince Jr. is night and day. Vince Sr. was more of a traditionalist whereas Vince Jr. was more fond of that bodybuilder type. I wouldn't consider Bob Backlund's first reign as transitional. His short reign in 1994 would constitute as a transitional reign. Another reign that comes to mind is Sgt. Slaughter's reign in 1991. When Backlund won the title, Vince Sr. wanted a Jack Brisco-type guy as champion. The fact Backlund was in his late-20's added to the appeal for Vince Sr. Yeah, In Bret's book he talks about how Andre didn't trust Vince Jr to keep the promises that his father made.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2013 12:22:20 GMT -5
Sgt Slaughter was really the first transitional champ of Vinnie Jrs era wasn't he?but of course you had the Iron Sheik too I suppose.but that's a long time between the two
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Post by Punk on Oct 31, 2013 12:23:42 GMT -5
It's a shame we will never have a title reign longer then 5 years.
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Post by cordless2016 on Oct 31, 2013 15:57:15 GMT -5
Sgt Slaughter was really the first transitional champ of Vinnie Jrs era wasn't he?but of course you had the Iron Sheik too I suppose.but that's a long time between the two That Slaughter reign was BS, even for a transitional reign. The guy was essentially a midcarder his whole career and out of no where was pushed as this dominant heel to capitalize off a legit war. He was gassed moments into every match he was in and didn't deserve the spot he was in IMO. Now I'm not sure who could have taken his place. Savage would be the obvious first pick but he had the Warrior thing and Vince wanted the title back on Hogan. Perhaps Dibiase to make up for not putting the title on him a few years earlier. I think a good question would be was Savage's first title reign a tranisional one? Yeah he held it for a year but he had a similar reign to CM Punk in that they both were simply placeholders until the top guys took it back. Hogan was constantly overshadowing Savage just like Cena and Rock did to Punk. Savage never really got to shine on his own during his year long title reign as Hogan was always there taking up his spotlight.
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Post by sean™ on Oct 31, 2013 15:59:59 GMT -5
His feud with Bret Hart in the 90's is actually what got me started in looking at old footage.
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Post by JC Motors on Oct 31, 2013 17:06:43 GMT -5
It's a shame we will never have a title reign longer then 5 years. That would get boring real fast
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Post by BrIaNMeRcY on Oct 31, 2013 21:58:36 GMT -5
Sgt Slaughter was really the first transitional champ of Vinnie Jrs era wasn't he?but of course you had the Iron Sheik too I suppose.but that's a long time between the two That Slaughter reign was BS, even for a transitional reign. The guy was essentially a midcarder his whole career and out of no where was pushed as this dominant heel to capitalize off a legit war. He was gassed moments into every match he was in and didn't deserve the spot he was in IMO. Now I'm not sure who could have taken his place. Savage would be the obvious first pick but he had the Warrior thing and Vince wanted the title back on Hogan. Perhaps Dibiase to make up for not putting the title on him a few years earlier. I think a good question would be was Savage's first title reign a tranisional one? Yeah he held it for a year but he had a similar reign to CM Punk in that they both were simply placeholders until the top guys took it back. Hogan was constantly overshadowing Savage just like Cena and Rock did to Punk. Savage never really got to shine on his own during his year long title reign as Hogan was always there taking up his spotlight. "Macho Man" Randy Savage's first WWF Championship reign was more of a placeholder than a transitional. A transitional reign usually lasts a few weeks to three months max. A few transitional reigns that come to mind are The Iron Sheik (1983-1984), Sgt. Slaughter (1991), Ric Flair 2nd reign (1992), and Bob Backlund's 2nd reign (1994). A placeholder champion is Edge's first WWE Championship reign as was The Undertakers' first WWF Championship reign. Keep in mind on one thing, if you win and lose the same title from the same opponent, its considered a placeholder reign than a transitional reign. The first transitional WWE championship reign under Vince Jr. was The Iron Sheik, not Sgt. Slaughter.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2013 0:20:25 GMT -5
Sgt Slaughter was really the first transitional champ of Vinnie Jrs era wasn't he?but of course you had the Iron Sheik too I suppose.but that's a long time between the two That Slaughter reign was BS, even for a transitional reign. The guy was essentially a midcarder his whole career and out of no where was pushed as this dominant heel to capitalize off a legit war. He was gassed moments into every match he was in and didn't deserve the spot he was in IMO. Now I'm not sure who could have taken his place. Savage would be the obvious first pick but he had the Warrior thing and Vince wanted the title back on Hogan. Perhaps Dibiase to make up for not putting the title on him a few years earlier. I think a good question would be was Savage's first title reign a tranisional one? Yeah he held it for a year but he had a similar reign to CM Punk in that they both were simply placeholders until the top guys took it back. Hogan was constantly overshadowing Savage just like Cena and Rock did to Punk. Savage never really got to shine on his own during his year long title reign as Hogan was always there taking up his spotlight. unfortunately for Savage Hogan was still THE undisputed guy at this time.no debating it.....The fans wanted Hogan,Hogan,Hogan.I should know I was one of them. I have also never really bought into the theory(not saying you are either)that Hogan overshadowed Savages reign.Savage (IMO)was totally unsuitable to be a face champ at this time.I never found anything likeable about him or his schtick. I was delighted to see Hogan drill & pin him at WM5.plus Hogan made him look like $1,000,000 in that match.if anything I think Savages association with Hogan as a face gained him acceptance as a legit face ME guy.
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Post by Falconsinclair on Nov 1, 2013 4:53:12 GMT -5
The end of Backlunds first reign brought about the first Transitional Champion of the Vince Jr. era. On of Vinnie Mac's first decisions was to take the belt off Backlund in favor of Hogan. If Vince Sr. still owned the company in late '83 early '84 Backlund would have remained Champion. The fact that match with the Iron Sheik saw a screw finish was probably a result of Backlund and Vinnie Mac not coming to an agreement on how he would lose the title. Having Backlund's manager throw in the towel was probably a compromise. I also don't think Backlund ever got a rematch against either the Iron Sheik or Hogan. Further proving his disagreements with Vince Jr.
Savage's WWF reign was that of a placeholder. He was literally handed the belt by Hogan at WM4 only to drop it too him at the same event a year later. Then you add in Savage's WCW reigns, where he was nothing more than a placeholder or transitional champion.
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