In a business built upon patterns and easily-recognizable story tropes, wrestlers who are truly innovative go down in history. It was true in the 1950s when "Gorgeous" George Wagner captivated America's TV viewers, and it was just as true in the late '70s when "Superstar" Billy Graham became WWE's first non-transitional heel champion. WWE had always had a reputation as a babyface territory, and it was especially well-founded in the early days - prior to Graham's victory, the company's title had been so dominated by Bruno Sammartino and Pedro Morales that, from 1963 to 1977, heel champions had reigned for a total of 52 days. Then came Graham - with his bleached-blond hair, enormous muscles, and bombastic promo style, he wasn't simply a placeholder between babyface champions, he was the main attraction. He ended Bruno Sammartino's final WWE Title reign and went on to hold the belt for 296 days - not much compared to Bruno, but nearly 40 years later, still the longest heel world title reign in company history. During his time on top, Graham turned back a host of babyface challengers and sold out Madison Square Garden regularly.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
