hogan didnt deserve that title match bob backlund should never had this match until he recovered i think wwf wanted a vew transition they did want a real champ they wanted a icon
Keep in mind that at the time none of us knew Hogan was waiting in the wings! He had yet to make his t.v. return so that made this outcome even more surprising.
its crazy how i see him in real life. i get trained by him for wrestling. he is so strong for his age. I want to ask his to do the crossface chicken wing on me.
wow no matter how old the footage is you still get out of the blue comments from the commentary like they just said "man look at the surface of that head. yeah it looks like the moon"
It's a shame that 'Skeiky's" reign couldn't have lasted longer. He was a great combination of shooting ability as well as being a showman. There was never a dull moment with him. Backlund had great ring skills but little in the showmanship. Hogan had no rung skill whatsoever and past the outrageous personality, did not have anywhere near the showmanship that Sheik had. Mcmahon could have stretched out his reign and made a lot more money.
@bumblebeemoi1 The IronSheik's reign was always destined to be brusque. Rumour, and history, has it that Hulk Hogan was already primed to be the new star of the WWE. Bob Backlund, ever the traditionalist, and an excellent technical wrestler at that, refused to lose the championship to anyone who wasn't a legitimate wrestler. That obviously included Hogan who was a bodybuilder. He therefore put over the iron shiek, who would in turn put over Hogan. WWE was moving away from 'wrestling' by now.
the true story that WWF wants to have HOGAN after being a movie star (ROCKY3) , and to have anew blood and Challenger , but the problem that Hogan was No1 hated wrestler in WWF , and the only way to change that (BUSINESS wise) is to involve Hussein especially at that time the IRAN has Khomeini as new leader and their was POLITICAL problems with US ,
@neighborhoodgasman u do know wrestling is fixed right idiot? Iron Sheik was a transition champion as he knew. He WAS meant to beat Backlund and flip the belt to Hogan. I feel like I'm talking to morons,,,,,
its impossible now with all the live events and ppvs, thats true. but i would go the bret hart/stone cold route of 5-7 for a 10year run on the top. some of orton's, specially edge's and even cena's reigns have been back and forth atrocious, just devalues the prestige associated with the strap.
even in a modern day, give me a eddie, benoit or kane reign over any of those...makes the title mean something
@sayanroy36 IMO The least amount of time a WWE Title reign should be is 5 months, anything less is nothing. The fact that recently we've been given reigns that lasted 2 weeks, a month, and a few hours is disturbing. Del Rio doesn't add a huge amout of credibility to the title with this only being his 2nd year in WWE, but i'm hoping he keeps the title until February/March/April.
if Bob hadn't had that injury would he have beaten The iron Sheik and kept the belt,Would we have gotten "The Backlund Era" instead of Hulk Hogan in 1984?
@howardtheman The Injury was a fix but Patterson and Monsoon gave Backlund the respect he deserved by "selling" it as they knew the belt was being flipped here. but they owed Bob the respect he deserved after a 5 plus yr reign. The Hogan era was a done deal before this match even took place.
@aitraining I liked Backlund as champ. IMO they let him keep the belt about 2 years to long. Fans got bored seeing him beat guys like Koloff, Patera, Steele, Valentine, etc. over and over again. Toward the end of his reign he was starting to get booed.
@LT9856 Oh it was definetly time for him to go and 5 1/2 yrs was too long. He was no Bruno during his early run anyway - fan wise. The great heels of the day helped put Bob over. He was strong as hell physically though. I was just happy to see Patterson and Gorilla give bob some respect here by "selling" the shoulder injury prior to the match and vince letting the finish being the towell get thrown in without making Backlund give up or get pinned. It was the least they could do out of respect.
@LT9856 I'll also add that I thought Backlund was better in-ring than Bruno. Nowhere near the charisma of course, but Bruno prretty punch stomped and punched in his title bouts but the fans loved it and him. Vince sr wanted wrestling to be "serious" which is why he kept Bob all those years. He was also very reliable. I don't remember the guy evver missing a defense or getting hurt. I wish there were more Bruno promos on here from the 70's with the belt. I can't find any!
@aitraining You're right on the money. Ability wise, Backlund was an "A" performer. And yes, Bruno was a slow, plodding, stomp and punch kind of guy. But if Bob had half of Bruno's ability to "get over" with the fans, he might have been champ for 10 years.
Fans just got bored with him. It might have helped in Vince had been able to bring in fresh talent after the 2nd year of his reign instead of rehashing the Koloffs, Valentines & Steeles. Guys like Brody, Abdullah, Funk, etc.
@LT9856 If u want to read a great book on all this, read Billy Grahams book. It was great. According to him, Bruno wanted out of his title and loved Billy Graham. Bruno did not like Backlund and even offered to bust up Grahams knee (fake of course) night before the match with Bob. When Vince SR saw Graham limping the day of the change to Backlund, Vince knew something was up and told Bob to go right for the leg at the start. Still, they let Graham put his leg on the rope on the pin to taint it.
@aitraining I read it. Some great inside stories in there. I wish they had let Graham turn face like he wanted. But as well all know, Backlund was Vince Sr's boy.
Sorry Bob, the days of non-Russian wrestlers wearing singlets was just about over and Hulkamania was less than a month away from taking the globe by storm! It was always amazing to me that Backlund's Boy Scout gimmick worked for so many years. It wasn't exciting but it was All-American and wholesome.
Lmao, so true. Backlund's manager arnold skaaland served no purpose. He doesn't even have personality. Capt. Lou Albano had charisma, but Arnold Skaakland??? Wtf?
Don't let the goody goody persona fool u. Bob Backlund was a stong SOB and in a shoot would fuck up 90% of pro wrestlers. He was a tough and trained killer amateur mat wrestler.
Backlund got injured working out for the rematch and the last minute replacement for Backlund was Terry Bolder because Arnold Skaalund was his manager thus the beginning of the Hulk Hogan era
I have always wondered what the point of Arnold Skaaland.. he wasnt a heel manager, and he never interfered, he just sat there... no other face had a manager, really, so i just never got why he was ever there...
that belt looked spectacular I'll bet that the WWE spent a whole lot of money just creating it they always said that the NWA world title was about $10,000 I'll bet that the WWE title at the time was just much more thatn the NWA's
i remeber when Backlund would do feats of fitness during wrestling challenge. I remember him once stepping up and down on steps for like 5 straight hours
Despite the howdy doody comments etc. Bob Backlund WAS a strong SOB and a VERY good mat wrestler. Trully trained thru college. So in a shoot, this guy could kick most guys asses straight. He sold well for the heels and did his run proud. I was not a fan of his personally. He was lousy on the mic but a 5 1/2 year WWF championship run is nothing to sneeze at. The Garden still sold out.
@DeDona1 No he did not. This was Backlund's "thanks but see ya match" Vince was not interested in a feud here. He was anxious to put the belt on Hulk Hogan, which was the point of this match.
8:50 gotta feel bad for the guy after that long run as an admirable champion. I was never a big Backlund fan. (Superstar Graham was my guy), but I did feel bad for him here. He disappeared for a few years after this.
My dad's friends friend was yelling in the WWF hallway with my dad's friend "MR. FUJI'S AN A-HOLE!" And The Iron Shiek came over to my dad's friends friend and picked him up my the neck and shoved him against the wall. No joke serious story.
@LawnboyBaker agreed 100 percent... well said... dam.. i remember wen wrestliing really arrived in the 80s... i was a kid, all the colors and customs and cool ass face paint. wow i miss those days soo much.. i was enchanted
A real watershed moment in sports history. One of those events where you remember where you were - like when Mike Tyson lost to Buster Douglas, when the ball went thru Bill Buckner's legs, or when Brett Favre's penis showed up on some cheerleader's cell phone.
i was watching ultimate classic wrestling and "the peoples champ" bob backlund carring around a cardboard championship along with the real title that he had. the announcer was saying that backlund should still be champion. anyways many years later like they got the towel thrown in when backlund was in the submission hold, at least they threw the towel in when bret hart was ina submission hold. good for wwf to turn this match in the early 80's into a mid 90's storyline.
this was a transition match for hulk hogan championship bob backlund wouldn't turn dirty so this match was set up for hogan to win it from the iron shiek
8:05 it looks Backlund is trying to tell shiek its time end it now..but shiek does not understand then blassie goes the neck,the neck...I think sheik needed some english translation help lol
Whoever said that Backlund "refused" to do the job for the Sheik is full of BS. He refused to turn heel and drop the belt to Hogan. He actually said he WANTED to drop the belt to Sheik b/c he was a legit wrester.
@y2flu Correct. I beleive turning heel in 1983 for Bob Backlund was not something he could do. I think he was right and for those who watched Backlund then, a heel turn would have been totally unbelievable. 1:30 props to Pat Patterson and Gorilla Monsoon for selling Backlund's shoulder "injury" to give him some respect when Shiek clutches him. Also Backlund never submits. Arnold S. throws a towell. At least Vince gave Bob a good exit there. Least u can do for a 5 1/2 yr champion.
@Mynxlover99 While the rest of the world switched to WWF and your NWA and AWA would go under in five years. People were bored with Howdy Doody Backlund. They wanted an intense, cool hero and in the AWA there was a talented man that was so over that when he would be victimized by yet another Dusty finish robbing him of the title, the crowd would riot and he would have to get in the microphone to settle the crowd down.
@mongoose704 and I don't want to take anything away from Backlund whose more wholesome character and scientific style was good contrastr to Sammartino and Superstar Billy Graham. The WWF also needed someone that was legit tough that could protect themselves in case someone from another territory decided to get cute and shoot on the champ and try to steal a pinfall and the title. Backlund was kind of an enforcer in that respect "talked" to guys like Brisco when they came to New York.
@107luke Kurt Angle won an Olympic gold medal. Brock Lesnar MMA champ. Even though wrestling is staged there are some tough mfers in wrestling and most would kick your face in
I had the privilege of meeting Mr.Khosrow Vaiziri a couple years back and got his autograph.I couldn't believe how short he was,he looked like someones Grandfather.I asked him to sign his pic with"Iran #1!!!". . . he wrote "USA #1"instead.
You could tell that in these pre 1985 days, WWF really missed great commentating. Not to take away a thing from Monsoon, but those were Ventura and McMahon, those later established WWF into new level.
i was living in suburban Phila at the time, and a few days after this i was pouring a drink in the kitchen. the tv was on. a news tease with Howard Eskin came on. he was a local sportscaster and one of the few who covered wrestling. he talked about Flyers or Sixers, and then "also, who beat Bob Backlund". i almost got whiplash from turning my head so fast to the tv. i kept pouring absent mindedly. made a big mess. my mom thought i was nuts. still does, but that is another story.
@eatpigsnot Was eskin kissing iron shieks ass like he does andy rieds? was he like im the burger king and while i may be uneducated this microphone makes me right! he actually thought carter should be traded from the flyers.................geezus! stick to the furs and wanna be pimpin!
HE WAS GREAT LITTLE TOO HOLESOME THOUGH THE HEAL TURN CAME WAY TOO LATE FOR HIM THOUGH REALLY THINK THEY SHOULD OF PUSHED HIM TOWARDS THE IC TITLE & MAYBE TURN HIM HEAL AFTER HE LOST
@FartingMan100 I am Iranian and I don't know any REAL Persian that would make an ignorant comment like that. What does war have to do with wrestling fuck face?
@FartingMan100 You make no sense in your reply. Plus, if you're not Iranian, you have even less reason to make such comments. Real Iranians have enough sense to not try to put other people down to make themselves look good
@titan8300 I had heard that Bob didn't even know he'd be dropping the title that night. Vince wanted him to job the belt to Sheik, but didn't trust him to do it. So he planned the whole towel throwing thing with Skoaland.
This was a great match back in the day. I remember as a kid watching wrestling every Saturday. Now there is too much change when it comes to the titles, years ago the champs held on to the titles for a long time.
Bob Backlund was the first wrestler I met when I was a teenager. He beat George the animal Steele and was leaving MSG. Everyone crowd him so he went back in the garden took a seat and signed autographs. This was a wrestler that I respect for being that humble to the fans.
Is there any footage of Iron Sheik as champion defending the title? I've never seen it if so. It's like when Ronnie Garvin was NWA champ; you never saw him in the ring wearing the belt.
Apparently, according to The Iron Sheik, Mr. Bob Backlund was ordered to lose the belt to Hogan, and he refused...absolutely refused.
He said he would graciously drop the belt to The Iron Sheik, because yeah, Sheiky Baby was a legitimate wrestler, & not an "insult" to the integrity of the sport.
It's a shame, a fucking shame, that The Iron Sheik didn't get a "push" after he dropped the title to Hogan, it could've been one of the best feuds ever. Easily.
@asmorgan88 Shortly after dropping the title Sheik did get a program with Sgt Slaughter and helped the Sgt turn face. The fued was a huge draw and culminated in the infamous Boot Camp Match they had in MSG.
I really hated Backlund after this. I had relatives in the business and learned that Backlund refuse to drop the belt to the Iron Sheik. That's why we got the 'towel throw'-not a clean pinfall. Look at how fast Arnold Skaaland threw the towel in-he didn't wait too long to heave it didn't he? Backlund should have turned heel and met Hogan and passed the torch properly. Bruno did the job for Koloff;was Bob to good to do so for the Iron Sheik? He must of thought so and was wrong!!
@suliyimanmagnus You have friends in the business like I have friends in the White house.
Regardless Backlund did not refuse to lose, he just refused to turn heel. Vince wanted him to turn hell and adopt a punk gimmick which he refused. Vince then decided to have the title go to a hell transitional champion, (a common practice of the era) and then to Hulk Hogan. Also originally Backlund was supposed to lose to the Masked Superstar, (Ax of Demolition) however Backlund hand picked the Iron Sheik.
Sheik fucked up. he was suppose to kick him in the neck before the "clutch"- Blassie said:"kick the neck" and he didnt, It made no sence why Backland was clutching his neck after the rollup.
By the way.."Eight" years, nobody beats "Signor' Bruno".
@blackslavecock It did make sense in a way- Backlund had a bad neck going into the match and you can imagine that a roll-up style pin where you roll backwards onto your neck might aggravate it. Anyways, Backlund was favouring his neck way before Blassie told Sheik to kick him, so it was too late at that point regardless.
I was at the Garden for this match. We always rooted for the bad guy, so we almost got mugged! This was actually the passing of the torch to enable Hogan (a charismatic figure to be sure, but a horrible wrestler) to get the title. It also ushered in the era of Backlund as heel, which was hilarious!
@oldtony100 they wanted backlund to do a heel turn and he refused to do so because of his daughter so sheiky baby was used as a two week transition champ
@RayGordon3a Sorry to be a jerk like lots of people here, the '100 ft' comment caught me off guard. If anyone would stop to talk like that it would be Backlund. I always thought he was kind of boring but liked the interviews he gave on the shows where he would be on the verge of tears were great.
I've rarely seen a champion being completely dominated by a challenger in the way Backlund got dominated. The other time I've seen a domination like that was when Backlund got beat in 8 seconds by Diesel.
Racist red neck crackers, firstly he was an iranian that was called sheik, makes no sense, neither does the camel.
Red necks can't tell the difference between a persian and a sand niggar.
In America anything in that region is a terrorist, no wonder they attacked afghanistan and iraq and are now aiming for iran, when the cause of 9-11 and all major terrorism is Saudi Arabia and it's wahabi drones.
@kwelboss lol, Shieks HOF speech was classic. "My boss Mr Vern Gagne say, Shiek - don't lose your title to that hollywood Jabrony Hulk Hogan!......break his legs and bring the belt back to Minnesota!"
hogan didnt deserve that title match bob backlund should never had this match until he recovered i think wwf wanted a vew transition they did want a real champ they wanted a icon
vtluvformusic70 2 weeks ago
Keep in mind that at the time none of us knew Hogan was waiting in the wings! He had yet to make his t.v. return so that made this outcome even more surprising.
Chrisdrumz 2 weeks ago
its crazy how i see him in real life. i get trained by him for wrestling. he is so strong for his age. I want to ask his to do the crossface chicken wing on me.
kidmastafly 1 month ago
28 years ago tonight! Wow! I remember watching this as an 11 year old kid.
steveskin1 1 month ago
@steveskin1 are you happy to be an 80's kid? im a 90's kid i dont know about this
jflemingification 2 weeks ago
@jflemingification I sure am glad I got to enjoy this firsthand!
steveskin1 2 weeks ago
@steveskin1 oh i see
jflemingification 2 weeks ago
wow no matter how old the footage is you still get out of the blue comments from the commentary like they just said "man look at the surface of that head. yeah it looks like the moon"
???? roflmao
davoiceguy 1 month ago
Fak the Bob Backlund
killajay26 2 months ago 2
facebook.com/groups/321293457880889/
ihatevinniemac 2 months ago
It's a shame that 'Skeiky's" reign couldn't have lasted longer. He was a great combination of shooting ability as well as being a showman. There was never a dull moment with him. Backlund had great ring skills but little in the showmanship. Hogan had no rung skill whatsoever and past the outrageous personality, did not have anywhere near the showmanship that Sheik had. Mcmahon could have stretched out his reign and made a lot more money.
bumblebeemoi1 2 months ago
@bumblebeemoi1 The IronSheik's reign was always destined to be brusque. Rumour, and history, has it that Hulk Hogan was already primed to be the new star of the WWE. Bob Backlund, ever the traditionalist, and an excellent technical wrestler at that, refused to lose the championship to anyone who wasn't a legitimate wrestler. That obviously included Hogan who was a bodybuilder. He therefore put over the iron shiek, who would in turn put over Hogan. WWE was moving away from 'wrestling' by now.
bpatrice49 1 month ago
the true story that WWF wants to have HOGAN after being a movie star (ROCKY3) , and to have anew blood and Challenger , but the problem that Hogan was No1 hated wrestler in WWF , and the only way to change that (BUSINESS wise) is to involve Hussein especially at that time the IRAN has Khomeini as new leader and their was POLITICAL problems with US ,
MrF999sa 2 months ago
@neighborhoodgasman u do know wrestling is fixed right idiot? Iron Sheik was a transition champion as he knew. He WAS meant to beat Backlund and flip the belt to Hogan. I feel like I'm talking to morons,,,,,
aitraining 3 months ago in playlist Wrestling
when did neighbourhoodgasman say anything to the contrary?
AbrasionUK 2 months ago
I'd like to see Mark Henry keep the belt for 5 years,Let's see him accomplish that.
howardtheman 4 months ago
@howardtheman
why henry bro? henry got his title the old fashioned way after working his ass of for 16 years and being an amazing heel
what about the heroes of these generation? each having 10-20 title reigns?
sayanroy36 3 months ago
@sayanroy36 Would a 5 year title reign even work in today's wrestling business?
AJ36sXe 3 months ago
@AJ36sXe
its impossible now with all the live events and ppvs, thats true. but i would go the bret hart/stone cold route of 5-7 for a 10year run on the top. some of orton's, specially edge's and even cena's reigns have been back and forth atrocious, just devalues the prestige associated with the strap.
even in a modern day, give me a eddie, benoit or kane reign over any of those...makes the title mean something
sayanroy36 3 months ago
@sayanroy36 IMO The least amount of time a WWE Title reign should be is 5 months, anything less is nothing. The fact that recently we've been given reigns that lasted 2 weeks, a month, and a few hours is disturbing. Del Rio doesn't add a huge amout of credibility to the title with this only being his 2nd year in WWE, but i'm hoping he keeps the title until February/March/April.
AJ36sXe 3 months ago
if Bob hadn't had that injury would he have beaten The iron Sheik and kept the belt,Would we have gotten "The Backlund Era" instead of Hulk Hogan in 1984?
howardtheman 4 months ago
@howardtheman The Injury was a fix but Patterson and Monsoon gave Backlund the respect he deserved by "selling" it as they knew the belt was being flipped here. but they owed Bob the respect he deserved after a 5 plus yr reign. The Hogan era was a done deal before this match even took place.
aitraining 2 months ago
@aitraining I liked Backlund as champ. IMO they let him keep the belt about 2 years to long. Fans got bored seeing him beat guys like Koloff, Patera, Steele, Valentine, etc. over and over again. Toward the end of his reign he was starting to get booed.
LT9856 2 months ago
@LT9856 Oh it was definetly time for him to go and 5 1/2 yrs was too long. He was no Bruno during his early run anyway - fan wise. The great heels of the day helped put Bob over. He was strong as hell physically though. I was just happy to see Patterson and Gorilla give bob some respect here by "selling" the shoulder injury prior to the match and vince letting the finish being the towell get thrown in without making Backlund give up or get pinned. It was the least they could do out of respect.
aitraining 2 months ago
@LT9856 I'll also add that I thought Backlund was better in-ring than Bruno. Nowhere near the charisma of course, but Bruno prretty punch stomped and punched in his title bouts but the fans loved it and him. Vince sr wanted wrestling to be "serious" which is why he kept Bob all those years. He was also very reliable. I don't remember the guy evver missing a defense or getting hurt. I wish there were more Bruno promos on here from the 70's with the belt. I can't find any!
aitraining 2 months ago
@aitraining You're right on the money. Ability wise, Backlund was an "A" performer. And yes, Bruno was a slow, plodding, stomp and punch kind of guy. But if Bob had half of Bruno's ability to "get over" with the fans, he might have been champ for 10 years.
Fans just got bored with him. It might have helped in Vince had been able to bring in fresh talent after the 2nd year of his reign instead of rehashing the Koloffs, Valentines & Steeles. Guys like Brody, Abdullah, Funk, etc.
LT9856 2 months ago
@LT9856 If u want to read a great book on all this, read Billy Grahams book. It was great. According to him, Bruno wanted out of his title and loved Billy Graham. Bruno did not like Backlund and even offered to bust up Grahams knee (fake of course) night before the match with Bob. When Vince SR saw Graham limping the day of the change to Backlund, Vince knew something was up and told Bob to go right for the leg at the start. Still, they let Graham put his leg on the rope on the pin to taint it.
aitraining 2 months ago
@aitraining I read it. Some great inside stories in there. I wish they had let Graham turn face like he wanted. But as well all know, Backlund was Vince Sr's boy.
LT9856 1 month ago
1:29 kudos to Pat Patterson by saying Bob looks hurt. He knew the outcome but owed Bob that respect by "selling" a shoulder injury.
aitraining 4 months ago
FFFFFFFFAAAAAAAAKKKKKK!!!!!! YOU BOB BACKLUND!!! I humble you with my 10 inch cock.
burlone718 4 months ago
IRAN NUMBER 1 !!
tellotoc1 4 months ago
@mnk8ful Cause he was an Arabic heel. Play the foreigner heel card and you'll always get heat
jhall024 4 months ago
@jhall024 lol he was a persian heel, wearing an arabic turban
sayanroy36 4 months ago
I was 5yrs old when this match aired! I miss the early 80's!!
euphorichuman 4 months ago
Daniel Bryan reminds me of Bob Backlund.
soultheinterrogator 4 months ago
lol the shiek put the belt on upside down lol
MrSickofstupidity 5 months ago
i was 4 months old when this match happened
TheDaniel83baez 5 months ago
@TheDaniel83baez i was 10
southplnk 5 months ago
@TheDaniel83baez i was born 9 years after this match happened lmao
cardude1992 5 months ago
Back when titles MEANT something
maxpower789z 5 months ago
IRAN IRAN NUMBER ONE !
amirsoffice 5 months ago
I never get tired of the Iron Sheik jokes.
tefisher84 6 months ago 2
Sorry Bob, the days of non-Russian wrestlers wearing singlets was just about over and Hulkamania was less than a month away from taking the globe by storm! It was always amazing to me that Backlund's Boy Scout gimmick worked for so many years. It wasn't exciting but it was All-American and wholesome.
RAV52 6 months ago
Lmao, so true. Backlund's manager arnold skaaland served no purpose. He doesn't even have personality. Capt. Lou Albano had charisma, but Arnold Skaakland??? Wtf?
hondaciviccoupe10 6 months ago
brilliant, great wrestling from sheiky baby and backlund. Sheik could really go back in his day. Awesome.
spanglehoff 6 months ago
7:58 prob the funniest moment in the video
fahadqureshi 7 months ago
4:30 wtf massaging sheiky baby's chest he is another jabroni faggot who need to b fucked in the ass put him in the camel crotch and made humble
joshuadiesel 7 months ago
Don't let the goody goody persona fool u. Bob Backlund was a stong SOB and in a shoot would fuck up 90% of pro wrestlers. He was a tough and trained killer amateur mat wrestler.
aitraining 7 months ago
IRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN BABYYYYY
AmirArProductions 7 months ago
Backlund got injured working out for the rematch and the last minute replacement for Backlund was Terry Bolder because Arnold Skaalund was his manager thus the beginning of the Hulk Hogan era
scayr917 7 months ago
I have always wondered what the point of Arnold Skaaland.. he wasnt a heel manager, and he never interfered, he just sat there... no other face had a manager, really, so i just never got why he was ever there...
dmb912002 7 months ago
that was a fucking screwjob....
KuhFladenWilli 8 months ago
that belt looked spectacular I'll bet that the WWE spent a whole lot of money just creating it they always said that the NWA world title was about $10,000 I'll bet that the WWE title at the time was just much more thatn the NWA's
cooksta4prez08 8 months ago
i remeber when Backlund would do feats of fitness during wrestling challenge. I remember him once stepping up and down on steps for like 5 straight hours
DeDona1 8 months ago
Despite the howdy doody comments etc. Bob Backlund WAS a strong SOB and a VERY good mat wrestler. Trully trained thru college. So in a shoot, this guy could kick most guys asses straight. He sold well for the heels and did his run proud. I was not a fan of his personally. He was lousy on the mic but a 5 1/2 year WWF championship run is nothing to sneeze at. The Garden still sold out.
aitraining 8 months ago
sad. At :28 you can see Bob was dropping the belt. It's all over his face and Skalaand's too.....
aitraining 8 months ago in playlist Wrestling
Go Iron Sheik!
SuperStrik9 8 months ago
Look how prestigious that belt looks.
TheAjayKRai 8 months ago
@TheAjayKRai That one and The one Bret Hart wore were awsome!
TBDV1 8 months ago
Man, the good old days! It must have been shocking to see the babyface WWF champs drop the belts. Backlund had the belt what, like 5+ years?
peterp21 8 months ago
He took the belt back to Minnesota.
Oldshirt 8 months ago
The Iron Shiek was a strong
KANE15151H 9 months ago
Did Backlund ever get a rematch
DeDona1 9 months ago
@DeDona1 No he did not. This was Backlund's "thanks but see ya match" Vince was not interested in a feud here. He was anxious to put the belt on Hulk Hogan, which was the point of this match.
aitraining 8 months ago in playlist Wrestling
8:50 gotta feel bad for the guy after that long run as an admirable champion. I was never a big Backlund fan. (Superstar Graham was my guy), but I did feel bad for him here. He disappeared for a few years after this.
aitraining 9 months ago
My dad's friends friend was yelling in the WWF hallway with my dad's friend "MR. FUJI'S AN A-HOLE!" And The Iron Shiek came over to my dad's friends friend and picked him up my the neck and shoved him against the wall. No joke serious story.
BrownDog12311 9 months ago
@LawnboyBaker agreed 100 percent... well said... dam.. i remember wen wrestliing really arrived in the 80s... i was a kid, all the colors and customs and cool ass face paint. wow i miss those days soo much.. i was enchanted
23jordanAIRwalker 9 months ago
"FARKIN' BOB BACKLUND!!! I KEEL YOU!!!"
SnakeMan227 9 months ago
A real watershed moment in sports history. One of those events where you remember where you were - like when Mike Tyson lost to Buster Douglas, when the ball went thru Bill Buckner's legs, or when Brett Favre's penis showed up on some cheerleader's cell phone.
zman1974 9 months ago
I vanna lechoo know, I beat zee fawk outta you.
gymdog45 9 months ago
i was watching ultimate classic wrestling and "the peoples champ" bob backlund carring around a cardboard championship along with the real title that he had. the announcer was saying that backlund should still be champion. anyways many years later like they got the towel thrown in when backlund was in the submission hold, at least they threw the towel in when bret hart was ina submission hold. good for wwf to turn this match in the early 80's into a mid 90's storyline.
wrestlingjoey 9 months ago
why does everyone hate The Iron Sheik?
Persoon56 9 months ago
this was a transition match for hulk hogan championship bob backlund wouldn't turn dirty so this match was set up for hogan to win it from the iron shiek
jaggarjaggarjaggar 10 months ago
@jaggarjaggarjaggar Not only because Bob Backlund refused to turn heel,but he didn't want to lose the title to a non-athlete,
landrykkb 9 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@landrykkb Break his back..Make Him Humble And Fuck him in the ass.
conradojavier 9 months ago
This match isn't very good.
Moredread25 10 months ago
@Moredread25 It wasn't supposed to be. This is Vince rushing things to get the belt on Hogan.....which happened a month later at MSG - as planned.
aitraining 8 months ago
God Bless You Classy Freddie Blassie and Arnold Skaaland. R.I.P. :'(
StanKingston420 10 months ago
8:05 it looks Backlund is trying to tell shiek its time end it now..but shiek does not understand then blassie goes the neck,the neck...I think sheik needed some english translation help lol
scotters201 10 months ago
make him humble. legend. shame he fucked up his kife with drugs and alcohol.
hughgreer99 11 months ago
Whoever said that Backlund "refused" to do the job for the Sheik is full of BS. He refused to turn heel and drop the belt to Hogan. He actually said he WANTED to drop the belt to Sheik b/c he was a legit wrester.
y2flu 11 months ago
@y2flu Correct. I beleive turning heel in 1983 for Bob Backlund was not something he could do. I think he was right and for those who watched Backlund then, a heel turn would have been totally unbelievable. 1:30 props to Pat Patterson and Gorilla Monsoon for selling Backlund's shoulder "injury" to give him some respect when Shiek clutches him. Also Backlund never submits. Arnold S. throws a towell. At least Vince gave Bob a good exit there. Least u can do for a 5 1/2 yr champion.
aitraining 9 months ago
I always thought Backlund should have dropped the title to Snuka.
y2flu 11 months ago 2
2 weeks later Hogan came in the garden pinned the sheik and. Everyone knows what happened next.
Paul8820 11 months ago
@Paul8820 Actually it was 4 weeks later but yea the beginning of the Chump Hogan era. Made me switch to NWA and WCW
Mynxlover99 11 months ago
@Mynxlover99 While the rest of the world switched to WWF and your NWA and AWA would go under in five years. People were bored with Howdy Doody Backlund. They wanted an intense, cool hero and in the AWA there was a talented man that was so over that when he would be victimized by yet another Dusty finish robbing him of the title, the crowd would riot and he would have to get in the microphone to settle the crowd down.
of course that was Hulk Hogan
mongoose704 11 months ago
@mongoose704 and I don't want to take anything away from Backlund whose more wholesome character and scientific style was good contrastr to Sammartino and Superstar Billy Graham. The WWF also needed someone that was legit tough that could protect themselves in case someone from another territory decided to get cute and shoot on the champ and try to steal a pinfall and the title. Backlund was kind of an enforcer in that respect "talked" to guys like Brisco when they came to New York.
mongoose704 11 months ago
lets not forget he never won or any wrestler ever won a championship in real life you got to be a real athlete to do that
107luke 11 months ago
@107luke Kurt Angle won an Olympic gold medal. Brock Lesnar MMA champ. Even though wrestling is staged there are some tough mfers in wrestling and most would kick your face in
Y2Jin99 11 months ago
good match
kevinhardy 11 months ago
fredy blasi the couse of win
alfares20111 11 months ago
Ayatola Blassie was a great manager
BrandonJay619 1 year ago
add my mate TheMysterio1995
TheJoshJericho 1 year ago
gotta love blassie!
j0nboy12397 1 year ago
I had the privilege of meeting Mr.Khosrow Vaiziri a couple years back and got his autograph.I couldn't believe how short he was,he looked like someones Grandfather.I asked him to sign his pic with"Iran #1!!!". . . he wrote "USA #1"instead.
Pancerni 1 year ago
This was when wrestling was great entertainment, I miss those days. I will always remember as a kid watching wrestling on Saturdays.
Freddie Blassie, Grand Wizard, Lou Albano, Bobby Heenan all great entertainers in their day.
SenhorTaveira 1 year ago
You could tell that in these pre 1985 days, WWF really missed great commentating. Not to take away a thing from Monsoon, but those were Ventura and McMahon, those later established WWF into new level.
Artas1984 1 year ago
iran is the best at wresteling specialy iron sheik
aakian1999 1 year ago
notice how the camera pulls out just a bit just before the towel comes in. whether Backlund knew or not, seems the technical director did
eatpigsnot 1 year ago
i was living in suburban Phila at the time, and a few days after this i was pouring a drink in the kitchen. the tv was on. a news tease with Howard Eskin came on. he was a local sportscaster and one of the few who covered wrestling. he talked about Flyers or Sixers, and then "also, who beat Bob Backlund". i almost got whiplash from turning my head so fast to the tv. i kept pouring absent mindedly. made a big mess. my mom thought i was nuts. still does, but that is another story.
eatpigsnot 1 year ago
@eatpigsnot Was eskin kissing iron shieks ass like he does andy rieds? was he like im the burger king and while i may be uneducated this microphone makes me right! he actually thought carter should be traded from the flyers.................geezus! stick to the furs and wanna be pimpin!
BIGRED224FOREVER 1 year ago
i lovewwe
TheDevandavis 1 year ago
@RayGordon3a the action wasn't fake guys get hurt severely they sacrifice their bodies.
oldschool6804 1 year ago
@RayGordon3a have a nice night, young man!!
Fanik8 1 year ago
Cool-looking belt
jasperman515 1 year ago
time was 11:50 according to the announcer ..... but its a 10 minute clip lol
ddr110285 1 year ago
Comment removed
theviper170 1 year ago
HE WAS GREAT LITTLE TOO HOLESOME THOUGH THE HEAL TURN CAME WAY TOO LATE FOR HIM THOUGH REALLY THINK THEY SHOULD OF PUSHED HIM TOWARDS THE IC TITLE & MAYBE TURN HIM HEAL AFTER HE LOST
STEELBEAST72 1 year ago
Iran ownes you in wwe and in war
FartingMan100 1 year ago
@FartingMan100 I am Iranian and I don't know any REAL Persian that would make an ignorant comment like that. What does war have to do with wrestling fuck face?
Behnoud236 1 year ago
@Behnoud236 Im not irani btw<<<and you say im a fuck face? says the bald dickhead ..! and another thing... it's not your fucking business =)
FartingMan100 1 year ago
@FartingMan100 You make no sense in your reply. Plus, if you're not Iranian, you have even less reason to make such comments. Real Iranians have enough sense to not try to put other people down to make themselves look good
Behnoud236 1 year ago
The Iron Sheik will be on Raw next week...! Yooohoooooo!!!
iliad1992 1 year ago
does anyone have the club challenge where Sheik injured Backlund???
JoeMejia5 1 year ago
Bob Backlund is the real champion.
seka1986 1 year ago
11 years later at Madison Square Garden Backlund lost the title again to Kevin Nash in 6 seconds
willisapril 1 year ago
lmao! "look at that cranium. looks like the surface of the moon" 5:30
liltd87 1 year ago
I know....I know......its staged....but lets say it......HE NEVER SUBMITTED!!
titan8300 1 year ago
@titan8300 I had heard that Bob didn't even know he'd be dropping the title that night. Vince wanted him to job the belt to Sheik, but didn't trust him to do it. So he planned the whole towel throwing thing with Skoaland.
LT9856 1 year ago
This was a great match back in the day. I remember as a kid watching wrestling every Saturday. Now there is too much change when it comes to the titles, years ago the champs held on to the titles for a long time.
The good old days !!!!!
SenhorTaveira 1 year ago 20
@SenhorTaveira absolutely agree
DeDona1 9 months ago
Cockmongler.
Andokool12 1 year ago
For over 20 years people thought that the ending to this match was a "shoot", and that Backlund didn't know he would be losing the title here.
joepod 1 year ago
Great wreslters Sheik and Backlund. It's not less than aawesome that Iron Sheik was 41 Years here, and kicking ass.
zooropah82 1 year ago
Bob Backlund was the first wrestler I met when I was a teenager. He beat George the animal Steele and was leaving MSG. Everyone crowd him so he went back in the garden took a seat and signed autographs. This was a wrestler that I respect for being that humble to the fans.
bookert01 1 year ago
Is there any footage of Iron Sheik as champion defending the title? I've never seen it if so. It's like when Ronnie Garvin was NWA champ; you never saw him in the ring wearing the belt.
JasonBassn 1 year ago
@JasonBassn
I have an Iron Sheik & Andre the Giant DVD, that has a match with The Iron Sheik as Champion taking on Tito Santana...Philadelphia.
It's probably on here somewhere too...
asmorgan88 1 year ago
@JasonBassn A Sheik title defense against Tito Santana was shown on WWE 24/7 a while back, but I haven't seen it show up on YouTube.
joepod 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
You is gay, fag, jabronie. You is worsh than Bren Blair.
You is worsh than that hollywood blonde jabronie, Hoke Hogen. You is
worsh than that stinky Bubba Love Joy or whatever the fak is name is
May the Iron Sheik draw much strength from Allah so he came suplex
you. Put you in Camel Clut...ch, break you back an fak you ass , make you
humble.
ikkf1976 1 year ago
Apparently, according to The Iron Sheik, Mr. Bob Backlund was ordered to lose the belt to Hogan, and he refused...absolutely refused.
He said he would graciously drop the belt to The Iron Sheik, because yeah, Sheiky Baby was a legitimate wrestler, & not an "insult" to the integrity of the sport.
It's a shame, a fucking shame, that The Iron Sheik didn't get a "push" after he dropped the title to Hogan, it could've been one of the best feuds ever. Easily.
asmorgan88 1 year ago
@asmorgan88 Shortly after dropping the title Sheik did get a program with Sgt Slaughter and helped the Sgt turn face. The fued was a huge draw and culminated in the infamous Boot Camp Match they had in MSG.
mongoose704 1 year ago
@mongoose704
Definitely true - I'm just quoting The Iron Sheik.
asmorgan88 1 year ago
Sheiky Baby!
johnymo96 1 year ago
ahhhhhhhhhhhhh bob is cool but that iron sheik is a pussy wipe
CemCena123456789 1 year ago
YAY SHEIKY BABY!
Serabo 1 year ago
i was yoyng at that time, i cried so much when bob lost the match
bob was my best man at that time
he could win the giant man andre and hugen also
zekzakkk 1 year ago
I dunno why I like Iron Sheik so much. I guess im a sucker for good heels.
angrynostolgiamann12 1 year ago 10
I was there at MGG in winter of 1983.
MrTwinCities 1 year ago
Comment removed
MrTwinCities 1 year ago
I really hated Backlund after this. I had relatives in the business and learned that Backlund refuse to drop the belt to the Iron Sheik. That's why we got the 'towel throw'-not a clean pinfall. Look at how fast Arnold Skaaland threw the towel in-he didn't wait too long to heave it didn't he? Backlund should have turned heel and met Hogan and passed the torch properly. Bruno did the job for Koloff;was Bob to good to do so for the Iron Sheik? He must of thought so and was wrong!!
suliyimanmagnus 1 year ago
@suliyimanmagnus You have friends in the business like I have friends in the White house.
Regardless Backlund did not refuse to lose, he just refused to turn heel. Vince wanted him to turn hell and adopt a punk gimmick which he refused. Vince then decided to have the title go to a hell transitional champion, (a common practice of the era) and then to Hulk Hogan. Also originally Backlund was supposed to lose to the Masked Superstar, (Ax of Demolition) however Backlund hand picked the Iron Sheik.
Foamhead 1 year ago
Does ANYONE have a clip of the Persian Clubs challenge where Sheiky Baby attacks Backlund and makes him humble before this match took place?
cbaldwinjr 1 year ago
Go back to Russia and Iran. I miss casual racism.
hipelephant 1 year ago
@RayGordon3a 100 feet? You must have yelled, "How about a handshake."
EternallyRecurring 1 year ago
This was back in the day when the Champion actually stayed champion for more than a week.
4JayeP 1 year ago
@4JayeP
Sheik stayed Champion for about 3 and a half weeks after this...
asmorgan88 1 year ago
@asmorgan88 Did he defend it against anyone except Hogan?
brnleague99 1 year ago
@brnleague99
Tito Santana.
asmorgan88 1 year ago
I don't know why the WWE doesn't recognize the title change in Japan when Antonio Inoki beat Backlund for the title. Backlund did win it back though.
gvader 1 year ago
I remember watching this on TV when this first happened.
zadellgj 1 year ago
Sheik fucked up. he was suppose to kick him in the neck before the "clutch"- Blassie said:"kick the neck" and he didnt, It made no sence why Backland was clutching his neck after the rollup.
By the way.."Eight" years, nobody beats "Signor' Bruno".
blackslavecock 1 year ago
@blackslavecock lol, f*ck Cena and Batista. The best champs came from this era.
angrynostolgiamann12 1 year ago
@blackslavecock It did make sense in a way- Backlund had a bad neck going into the match and you can imagine that a roll-up style pin where you roll backwards onto your neck might aggravate it. Anyways, Backlund was favouring his neck way before Blassie told Sheik to kick him, so it was too late at that point regardless.
bink 1 year ago
I was at the Garden for this match. We always rooted for the bad guy, so we almost got mugged! This was actually the passing of the torch to enable Hogan (a charismatic figure to be sure, but a horrible wrestler) to get the title. It also ushered in the era of Backlund as heel, which was hilarious!
oldtony100 1 year ago
@oldtony100 they wanted backlund to do a heel turn and he refused to do so because of his daughter so sheiky baby was used as a two week transition champ
lockenjr 1 year ago
@RayGordon3a Sorry to be a jerk like lots of people here, the '100 ft' comment caught me off guard. If anyone would stop to talk like that it would be Backlund. I always thought he was kind of boring but liked the interviews he gave on the shows where he would be on the verge of tears were great.
mustbenice96 1 year ago
@RayGordon3a If BB was *at least* 100 feet from you, you'd need to shout with a megaphone...why don't you smell what 'choo shovelin'!
mustbenice96 1 year ago
@RayGordon3a
AWESOME!!
misterio2K 1 year ago
I've rarely seen a champion being completely dominated by a challenger in the way Backlund got dominated. The other time I've seen a domination like that was when Backlund got beat in 8 seconds by Diesel.
tool26 1 year ago
What a showman Iron Sheik is. Love the way he starts the match.
What does "Bally bally bally" by Classy Blassie supposed to mean? It means "we're making a shit lot of money!"
bumblebeemoi 1 year ago
The Iron Sheik is the best bad guy ever.
jokebooks 1 year ago
this is much better than WWE
arrafatter 1 year ago 3
I love how the Sheik puts the belt on upside down.
Polishjazzman 1 year ago 2
Racist red neck crackers, firstly he was an iranian that was called sheik, makes no sense, neither does the camel.
Red necks can't tell the difference between a persian and a sand niggar.
In America anything in that region is a terrorist, no wonder they attacked afghanistan and iraq and are now aiming for iran, when the cause of 9-11 and all major terrorism is Saudi Arabia and it's wahabi drones.
IVARichards 1 year ago
@IVARichards The irony is strong here...
TheBrainMachine78 4 months ago
BACKLUND GAVE UP...
HollywoodKendrick 2 years ago 2
Sheik is a true champ
Spiritualseeker2007 2 years ago 5
really realistic match
bassartillery 2 years ago 2
"Six years, nobuddy beat Mister Bob Backlund."
kwelboss 2 years ago 24
@kwelboss "Madison Square Garden. I put him in, Camel Clutch!"
angrynostolgiamann12 1 year ago
@kwelboss LMAO
george2648 1 year ago
Comment removed
ishawnm 1 year ago
@kwelboss Antonio Inoki beat him for the title in Japan in 1979.
ishawnm 1 year ago
@ishawnm long count.
seka1986 11 months ago
@kwelboss Yeah can you imagine someone holding the belt for 5-6 years in this era? Never gonna happen again.
Mynxlover99 1 year ago
@Mynxlover99 no one ever really wins a championship in wrestling anyway so yes
107luke 11 months ago
@kwelboss lol, Shieks HOF speech was classic. "My boss Mr Vern Gagne say, Shiek - don't lose your title to that hollywood Jabrony Hulk Hogan!......break his legs and bring the belt back to Minnesota!"
aitraining 9 months ago
Sheik put backlund in Camel Clutch..made him humble...
SATANSCHILD954 2 years ago 4