1. Billy Graham Was The First Modern WWE Champion...
In some respects, there is a major division between what made a star in the old days of pro wrestling and what makes a star today. Therefore, in a very real sense, Superstar Billy Graham was the prototype for the modern WWE main eventer. By his own admission, Graham was very limited in the ring, at least in terms of technical ability. You arent going to see a lot of amateur style takedowns and perfectly executed arm drags, hammerlocks or dropkicks in a Billy Graham match. Instead, you will be treated to a wonderful display of posing, preening and masterful heat seeking. Billy Graham was on top in wrestling not because of his in ring ability, in fact, he succeeded in spite of it. Graham, with the chiselled abs, enormous biceps and incandescent personality, was the sort of guy that people will always pay to watch. Whether he was an arrogant heel or a colourful babyface, the fans just wanted to see him. Even before he was famous, when he was scraping a living as a bouncer, patrons would regularly travel from neighbouring cities just to catch a glimpse of this truly larger than life figure. Besides, technical whiz or not, Graham was the one wrestler that could follow Bruno Sammartinos legendary run in the WWWF - and he has the highest percentage of Madison Square Garden sellouts in history to prove it. In todays WWE, the best wrestler on the card is not usually the champion. The top guy in the company no longer needs the skills to stretch an overzealous adversary. Can you honestly say that John Cena is a great technical wrestler? Could you say it about The Rock? Hulk Hogan? Even post-surgery Steve Austin? No, but you cant say that those guys havent drawn a buck or two in their time. The WWE of the 21st century is about style, panache and drawing power. It is this approach which, love it or hate it, has led to wrestlings biggest boom periods since the early 20th century and it was, in large part, pioneered by the man they called Superstar. This makes him arguably the second most important architect of modern pro wrestling (after Vince McMahon Jr), be that for better or worse. Without Billy Grahams influence on the business, there is a very strong chance that you (yes, YOU) would not be a wrestling fan. Take that kindly or dont, but it is probably the truth. I dont know about you, but my thoughts will be with The Superstar over the next few months. Ill be hoping that this icon of pro wrestling gets a new liver and keeps going from strength to strength. Not only is he the most influential wrestler of the 1970s AND the most imitated wrestler of all time, he is also a fascinating and insightful Human being who still has a lot to offer the wrestling business, as well as the world in general. He is, unequivocally, one of the brightest and most fascinating icons of popular culture, then, now and indeed forever. If youd like to drop Superstar a line wishing him a speedy recovery, or just to say thank you for his contributions to the business we all love, his HYPERLINK "https://www.facebook.com/billy.graham.790256" official Facebook page can be found here. Its just too sweet to be sour.
I am a professional author and lifelong comic books/pro wrestling fan. I also work as a journalist as well as writing comic books (I also draw), screenplays, stage plays, songs and prose fiction.
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Oh yeah - I'm about to become a Dad for the first time, so if my stuff seems more sentimental than usual - blame it on that!
Finally, I sincerely appreciate every single read I get. So if you're reading this, thank you, you've made me feel like Shakespeare for a day! (see what I mean?)
Latcho Drom,
- CQ
