"The man of the hour, too sweet to be sour" clocks in at number 10 with a title reign that lasted an impressive 296 days and featured victories over the likes of Bob Backlund and "Living Legends" Bruno Sammartino and Larry Zbyszko. The tie-dye wearing, jive-talking villain captivated audiences with his promos and thrilled them with his ability to take tremendous punishments. A great bumper who effectively put over the offense of his challengers, Graham was the first really cool bad guy to star in Madison Square Garden. The classic example of a performer that every man wanted to be and every woman wanted to be with, he was the first champion to really play up the entertainment aspect of professional wrestling. Graham's legendary series of matches against the "American Dream" Dustry Rhodes was the highlight of his title reign. The two all-time great promos did a phenomenal job of talking fans into the historic MSG and the action more-than made those same fans want to come back later and watch the subsequent rematches. Their Texas Bullrope Match was the culmination of a very heated, very bloody feud and again featured Graham bumping around the ring for the energized and aggressive Rhodes. Graham lost the championship to Bob Backlund in controversial fashion on February 20, 1978. Backlund had delivered an atomic drop to Graham and pinned his shoulders to the mat but it was clear that the villainous champion had gotten his foot on the rope prior to the referee slapping the mat for the third time. They would meet in rematches but Graham would never again taste the glory that came with being heavyweight champion of the world.
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
