Billy Graham was a fairly limited performer in the ring, but he was the prototype for a completely different kind of wrestling star. Loudmouthed, conceited and yet somehow thoroughly compelling, the Superstar (a moniker he borrowed from the popular musical Jesus Christ Superstar) was a real sight to behold in his prime. A larger than life character, (in more ways than one) Graham had audiences eating out of the palm of his hand by doing little more than smirking, flexing his muscles and wearing a tie-dye t-shirt. In addition to being the WWWFs first long-term heel champion (he defeated Bruno Sammartino in 1977 and held the belt for almost a year thereafter), Graham is noted for his massive, bullish frame and a physique that looked as if it had been sculpted from granite. Yes, Superstar Billy Graham was the wrestler who popularized the steroid look, an image that wrestling fans had, until very recently, come to see as normal for a professional wrestler. He wasnt the first wrestler to take steroids, but he was the first wrestler to make a lot of money from taking steroids. As a result, Billy Graham unwittingly begat an era of impossibly muscle-bound, chemically enhanced bodies that pretty much forced any aspiring wrestler to use such drugs, if he wanted to compete. The million dollar physiques sported by later stars such as Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior, Scott Steiner, Triple H, Chris Benoit, Jesse The Body Ventura and The Road Warriors (together with countless others) began with the success of The Superstar. In effect, Graham was the prototype for so many wrestling stars in the 1980s/1990s that its impossible to keep count. To some extent, this prototype is still being used in todays WWE, where a marketable look, lots of muscles and a strong charismatic presence are often far more valuable to the company than in-ring talent is. Of course, in the time Im writing about, the dangers of steroids were not widely known and Graham, sadly, ended up as one of the first high profile casualties from misuse of the drugs, as well as a number of other unfortunate ailments (although I should point out that he is still alive today). Ultimately, the drugs had helped make him a superstar, but they also turned out to be something of a poisoned chalice... However, rather than dwell on all that, it is better that we remember Graham at his best, as an infuriating heel with the body of an adonis, who ended the reign of the great Sammartino and remains a high water-mark of charisma, heat seeking and badass style. He was, if you like, the first rogue of wrestling.
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
