Bob Backlund's 2nd championship win

[berlinbrawler]

Reading The Brain's thread on Diesel's reign as WWF champion ( http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=264145 ) I was reminded of one of the things that have always bothered me in the mid-90s WWF:

Bob Backlund winning the WWF title from Bret Hart.

What exactly was the deal there anyway? That was something that was just baffling to me. Still is to this day, actually.

Backlung returning in the 90s was weird enough in and of itself. His glory days and 6 year run as champion had been way before my time. All due respect - that was then. All I saw in 93 was this older, small, pale guy with simple trunks and no ring music who supposedly used to be this big deal in ancient times, but didn't fit in at all with Vincent Kennedy McMahons colorful, bombastic WWF. Then, when he returned he pretty much lost all matches except against the jobbers, of course. Not a serious contender by any means.

Then he turns heel, goes nuts, startes using the chicken wing crossface and beats guys like Lex Luger all of a sudden. Weird.

And before you know it he is meeting the WWF champion Bret "The Hitman" Hart at Survivor Series for the title.

Did anyone really want to see that? I sure didn't. I was still thinking the pale, flabby, tiny old guy should have stayed retired. I couldn't get myself to care about this guy, let alone take him seriously.

And then he wins the title. Bob Backlund the WWF champion. Was I the only one who groaned when that happened? I was NOT looking forward to that championship reign. Of course it only lasted 3 days, but at the time I didn't know that.

Why did it have to happen in the first place? Does anyone know?
I'm guessing they figured they could kill two flies with one swat:
Honor an old veteran who in the past had been invaluable to the company by having him declared champion one last time. At the same time transition the title to the guy they want to have the belt, without having Bret actually lose to that guy, thereby keeping the door open for that feud.

But still.

As far as I was concerned this loss was pretty much an insult to Hart. As if they had just played a cruel joke on him. No matter the controversy with the towel, the record books state that he just lost the WWF title to a joke. I'm sorry, but that's what Bob was at the time. Bret had overcome the mighty Yokozuna at Wrestlemania and then lost to tiny Bob? He was a joke and the WWF brass knew it.
Just look at the way he lost the title: 3 days later, in an untelevised match he got beat in 8 seconds. There was no rematch that I ever knew of. Would they have done that with someone they didn't consider a joke?
And his push ended then and there. It felt like "Phew, we got that one over with at last. back to reality."

And they certainly didn't do Diesel any favors, kick-starting his championship reign like that. He didn't defeat a credible champion. In fact they never showed him beating ANYBODY. What a mess. But that belong's in the thread mentioned above.

I know I'm being pretty hard here on Bob. After all, this guy was very athletic (once) and the WWWF champion for 6 years straight. .... However that could have been possible. Clearly Vince Sr. had a different vision from his son.

But I've always been wondering if there was more to Bob beating Bret for the title. Was it really just about honoring a veteran, if only for a day? Was it about transitioning the belt without Diesel beating Bret? If so, why? Does anyone know something?

 

[fenderjapan]

This was puzzling to me as well, so I'd be interested to hear opinions on it.

Its funny you mention the fact that it didn't really put over Diesel. Because while its correct that he didn't beat Backlund on TV, Diesel (according to Wikipedia) quipped that Backlund couldn't have put him over any better than he did, crawling backstage after receiving the Jackknife.

Nevertheless, it was odd.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

I can't begin to explain why Backlund was pushed in the mid-90s the way he was. Backlund in the 70s / early 80s was a great technical wrestler and exceptionally clean cut. At the time, fans ate this up, apparently. The push with Hart was to be supposedly between two uber-technical wrestlers who would "legit" try to apply pseudo Greco-roman wrestling holds, takedowns, and the like. Backlund didn't totally come out of nowhere. He got a good push in the Royal Rumble, lasting nearly an hour in the ring and being one of the very last guys in the ring.

Again, I can't imagine that this drew in any way, shape or form. Bret Vs. Owen was a far more engaging feud at the time.

 

[matman8540]

The dynamics of that whole title change were in several layers.
1. They wanted to put Diesel in the driver's seat as "the face of the WWF", without having Bret lose.
2. They gave Bob Backlund their version of a "Lifetime Achievement Award".
3. They wanted to jumpstart the feud between Owen & Bret. If you remember, Bret lost to Backlund due to Owen throwing in the towel because there was no way Bret would have tapped.
4. The towel throwing was a direct reference to Backlund's end of his title reign where manager Arnold Skoaland threw in the towel when Backlund was in the Camel Clutch courtesy of the Iron Sheik.
5. Although it wasn't nationally televised, I'm almost certain the Backlund-Diesel match was on the MSG network, since the title change was at Madison Square Garden. I can only surmise this part since I had already moved from New York by then.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The dynamics of that whole title change were in several layers.
1. They wanted to put Diesel in the driver's seat as "the face of the WWF", without having Bret lose.
2. They gave Bob Backlund their version of a "Lifetime Achievement Award".
3. They wanted to jumpstart the feud between Owen & Bret. If you remember, Bret lost to Backlund due to Owen throwing in the towel because there was no way Bret would have tapped.
4. The towel throwing was a direct reference to Backlund's end of his title reign where manager Arnold Skoaland threw in the towel when Backlund was in the Camel Clutch courtesy of the Iron Sheik.
5. Although it wasn't nationally televised, I'm almost certain the Backlund-Diesel match was on the MSG network, since the title change was at Madison Square Garden. I can only surmise this part since I had already moved from New York by then.

The irony was a year later they instituted the Hall of Fame as a regular thing, Backlund would have been better going in there.

First off, I'm not sad Bob won the belt back - it wasn't "horrible" or even embarrasing - just pointless. When he came back at the Rumble 93 for his first PPV appearance I remember my dad (who hates wrestling) saying he looked ******ed with his bizarre dance and Heenan's "opie" jibes seemed appropriate. By then I was into tapes and had seen some earlier stuff with him and knew better but most fans would have thought the same as my dad... he put on a great performance, breaking the record but it just didn't translate as it was. Then the match with Razor at Mania 9... Davey famously was supposed to fight Doink originally - but he should have been matched with Razor instead of Bob...

Then the Mr. Backlund character happened and it was even more bizarre than the dancing fool he had appeared months earlier especialy as it was clear this was not an act... he really was that character. His heel turn on Bret worked for me and he delivered perhaps the best promo/skit (or at least most memorable) of the mid 90's other than 3:16 with his "Philadelphia Presidential Campaign Visit" for KOTR. My dad saw that one too and actually said he was "mentally ill" or brain damaged". It was more than bizzare but showed that he could do comedy (or at least not mind that people were legit laughing at him) and that he did have some mic skills after all.

http://www.wwe.com/videos/bob-backl...n-philadelphia-king-of-the-ring-1995-26038785

So he had turned it into an overish character but one getting critical acclaim if not fan and Vince perhaps felt he owed Bob something for his previous good work (or perhaps cos of his dad) but once Survivor Series came around the right match was booked but the wrong way round.

I get they wanted Helen to throw the towel... but Owen should have been the guy winning and Backlund convincing her or even ranting... "How can you allow this to continue Mrs Hart? Your son is the champion either way!" brow beating Helen into making Owen the champion just to save Bret. The feud with Bret would have continued as it did but if the plan was always to give Diesel the belt then him beating Owen was a far better option than Bob. Sure 8 second might have turned into 2 minutes... but Diesel would have exploded as the fans wanted to see Owen get his comeuppance and simply thought Backlund was nuts...

Sure he crawled to the back... but Owen doing the same, whimpering, crying even would have been a far bigger kickstart to Diesel televised or not.

I must admit I was stunned when Bob came back for the Heath Slater angle...he was not only still as sharp in the ring as ever but literally hadn't aged! for a mid 60's guy he looked incredible and when Shawn looks shocking before 50 proves that maybe he was never "nuts" - just a freak of nature. I actually had hoped they'd give him the Mania US title shot against Cesaro as it would have been an excellent way to showcase AC's talents.

In all it's one of those decisions that only Vince really knows why... Something made him give Bob that 2nd title and while it's not the decision anyone else would have made it's one that I'll never be sad about, however little I agree or understand it but make my cheeseteak with a gigantic carrot in it...

 

[FlairFan2003]

Diesel's win wasn't televised ??? I watched that on TV in Pittsburgh, I remember the shock seeing Diesel win in less than a minute after Backlund, one of the greatest champions in company history, had just won the belt from Hart.

I thought it was a great way to move Kevin Nash into the top spot. Backlund was probably the most credible name on the roster he could have beaten and the fact that it was so un-expected (and in such dominating fashion) made it a real attention getter.

As for moving to Nash WWE revenue across the board was declining under Brett Hart and Nash seemed to be more charismatic and entertaining, plus with his size he posed a great physical threat, very imposing.

 

[Slash-LN]

Diesel's win wasn't televised ??? I watched that on TV in Pittsburgh, I remember the shock seeing Diesel win in less than a minute after Backlund, one of the greatest champions in company history, had just won the belt from Hart.

The change was at a house show and then they showed the footage of it later. The actual match wasn't part of a televised show though.

The Backlund stuff didn't bother me at all. I thought it was a good part of the Bret and Owen feud. It brought the family into the feud on a personal level with Owen pleading for Helen to throw in the towel and showing fake sympathy for Bret. It was a good element.

As someone mentioned above it allowed Diesel to win the title without him winning it from Bret.

For a boring old timer Bob was pretty entertaining in his role in the '90s.

 

[The Brain]

Backlund was of course used as a transitional champion to get the belt from Hart to Diesel. As for why he was chosen, I say why not. It was a good storyline. In 1994 the WWF was all about the New Generation. That was their whole marketing campaign. Backlund became the bitter old man stuck in the past. Finally after years of repressing his bitterness about the way he lost the title in 1983 and that the WWF took off in popularity after he was pushed aside Backlund snapped. There was good irony in Bob Backlund being champion during the New Generation campaign. Of course the WWF wouldn’t want the old timer on top for long so it was just a quick reign to get the belt to Diesel.

Backlund did a great job with that angle and made himself relevant again. He gave us a pretty good match with Hart too. I know a lot of people would have liked Owen to get a title reign but he wasn’t the right choice for an opponent for Bret at Survivor Series. We already saw Bret vs. Owen at WrestleMania and SummerSlam that year. Both matches were great but we didn’t need a third ppv match between the two, especially since the SummerSlam match was in a cage. The old vs. new storyline was a good one and that’s why Backlund got that spot.

 

[harrythem]

If you look at the little things that WWE has done through its history the whole thing makes sense. WWE wasn't doing the best with Bret as "the guy" and Vince believed he could make Nash his new Hogan. Having Nash run through Backlund, the guy that'd taken Bret to the limits and won the title, in 8 seconds underscored how much greater Nash was than everyone else....plus it avoided that awkward moment where Brets fans didn't give Nash the support to start with because he beat "their guy" for the title.

Bear in mind that, back in that era, the title meant something and, for someone like Owen (or even Sid) having Nash beat them for the title, in their first defence, in 8 seconds, would've done untold damage to wrestlers that could potentially headline for years to come. That was never going to be an issue with Backlund.

 

[dWs]

"Over 40 Guy Making a Comeback" was kind of a big deal in American spots in the early 90's. Mostly spurred on by George Foreman's boxing comeback. Jimmy Connors (tennis), Lyle Alzado (football) and Jim Palmer (baseball), among others, made (or at least attempted) well-publicized comebacks over the age of 40. So bringing back Backlund was the WWF getting in on the trend.

Foreman, by the way, won the IBF and WBA boxing world championships on November 5, 1994. I always thought Backlund's world title win that same month was at least somewhat inspired by Foreman's win.

 

[cmiller4642]

At that time Backlund was absolutely no threat to Diesel. Remember this is back when Vince polished off 7 foot guys like they were unbeatable. In 1994 Kane would have destroyed Stone Cold Steve Austin.

 

[Goldie]

I thought Backlunds heel turn was a hoot in 1994... though it was 'crazy old man' gimmick, it was interesting to see his largely untested heel skills as a guy who could flip out at any moment, like Michael Douglas' character in the film Falling Down.

Backlunds age didn't fit in with the new generation thing the WWE were pushing (yet Hart, Nash, Hall were all in their late 30s anyway!)... but a title run of only a couple of days didn't matter so much. Backlund in fact, was younger than the WCW champ Ric Flair.

It may be seen as a slap in the face for Bret to lose the belt to Backlund, considering the ease Diesel would put him away.... but having Diesel beat Bret wouldn't have worked.
When they squared off at the 1995 Royal Rumble in a face vs face match, the fans seemed to be more behind Bret.... and though Diesels title run is often remembered as being disasterous, ... having him beat the top WWF babyface for the belt could have turned the fans against him before his reign even got going.

Backlund was funny as a heel... sure not a long term addition to the main event mix, but given the lack of depth the roster had at the time, there weren't many heels over enough to work as this transitional champion.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

"Over 40 Guy Making a Comeback" was kind of a big deal in American spots in the early 90's. Mostly spurred on by George Foreman's boxing comeback. Jimmy Connors (tennis), Lyle Alzado (football) and Jim Palmer (baseball), among others, made (or at least attempted) well-publicized comebacks over the age of 40. So bringing back Backlund was the WWF getting in on the trend.

Foreman, by the way, won the IBF and WBA boxing world championships on November 5, 1994. I always thought Backlund's world title win that same month was at least somewhat inspired by Foreman's win.

Never thought of that... it could have been another Buster Douglas moment...

Backlund might never have had the match in favour of Owen storyline wise until Foreman won and it gave creedence to the idea of Backlund winning.

Dammit George... you cost Owen his title lol

 

[The Boss]

Personally I was thrilled when Backlund won the championship. It was a long time coming and seemed even longer do to the fact that he had previously been jobbing to anyone and everyone since his return.

From the moment Backlund returned I had high hopes that this was a sign that the WWF was finally going to go back to serious wrestling I began watching more closely and things did indeed get better. The Steiner Brothers became tag team champions, HOLLYWOOD HULK HOGAN returned and once again became the WWF champion, the WWF initiated a new single elimination tournament PPV reminiscent of the original PPV (The Wrestling Classic) know as " King of the Ring"" and all seemed well. But it was to be short lived...

HOLLYWOOD HULK HOGAN would soon lose the title at vote and leave the promotion, the Steiner Brothers' title reign was short lived, and Backlund began a year long losing streak that started in WrestleMania IX and seemed like it would never end. Then one day he challenged Bret to a title match and while I knew it as a long shot but I watched with high hopes that Backlund would win the title. In any case I knew it would be a good match. Which it was. But then Backlund got cheated out of his dream of regaining the title that he never lost and redeeming himself and years of sell doubt by a poor ref count that lead Backlund to believe he had won giving Beet Hart to sneak up behind and roll up Backlund for the pin.

It was easy to see that Backlund was angry and felt cheated, but being the honorable man he is raised Bret's hand in the ring and Beet went on to celebrate. Then a strange thing happened, Hart, the egomaniac that he is puts his arm out and demands that Backlund raise it AGAIN (what a jerk) so Backlund finally had enough, slapped Hart and then slapped on the cross face chicken wing.

His heel turn rejuvinated his career as many were shocked (myself included) that Backlund would - or COULD - pull off such a great heel character. So by the time the Survivor Series match took place I was primed and ready for Backlund to win. I marked out big time for his wish. I loved the look in his eyes and the way he motioned for the referee to strap the belt around his waist. Classic. I had so many matches I had hoped to see led to Backlund droning the title to Davey Boy Smith at WrestleMania, but instead he lost the title In less than a week in 8 seconds. After that it took HOLLYWOOD HULK HOGAN and the formation of the nWo before I ever cheered for Nash again.