10 Weirdest Patriotic Moments In WWE
7. Bob Backlund For President!
In 1992, Bob Backlund returned to the WWF after an eight-year hiatus. The man with the second-longest reign as champion in WWF history (according to the company, anyway) was portrayed as a bit of a throwback goofball, and when he turned heel, he ratcheted up the craziness significantly.
The Howdy Doody-esque lunatic demanded to be addressed as Mr. Backlund, and often refused to sign autographs for fans unless they could prove themselves to him with mental feats like reciting the names of every U.S. president in order.
The unhinged former two-time champion then turned his maniacal gaze toward the White House himself, a decade before trying to make Darren Young great again. Declaring his candidacy for president, Backlund appeared in several vignettes, spouting conservative values and generally annoying potential voters. He even confronted a Bill Clinton impersonator ringside at the 1995 Survivor Series.
Unfortunately, this angle was abandoned before Backlund had the opportunity to debate his fellow candidates or put the real Bill Clinton in the crossface chickenwing. A missed opportunity, to be sure.
Backlund actually ran for a congressional seat in 2000, but was unsuccessful. Perhaps they'd seen his earlier ads for president.