Collection: Bob Backlund the All American Boy

Held the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship for over five years.

As American as apple pie, Bob Backlund experienced success as both an adored hero and a loathed villain in a WWE career that spanned across three decades. The kid from Princeton, Minn., quickly became a fan favorite and the seventh WWE Champion in the company’s history at Madison Square Garden in 1978. But when Backlund left WWE for good in the mid-1990s, he was a deranged madman despised by the fans for his outlandish behavior. It was a stunning transformation for the once beloved man who reigned atop sports-entertainment in the pre-Hogan era.

Backlund was a television staple after arriving in WWE thanks to his boyish demeanor and superior talent, and on Feb. 20, 1978, he achieved what few before him had ever done and won the WWE Championship by defeating the flamboyant “Superstar” Billy Graham. A former athletic standout at North Dakota State University – where he won the NCAA Division II heavyweight wrestling championship – Backlund had the rare combination of good looks, pure strength and technical skill.

The list of opponents’ that succumbed to Backlund during his reign reads like a who’s who of wrestling greats, including Sgt. Slaughter, Greg Valentine, Antonio Inoki, Don Muraco and Jimmy Snuka. He even defended the title against other promotions’ top dogs, including the NWA’s Harley Race and Ric Flair and the AWA’s Nick Bockwinkel.