6. The Iron Sheik Defeats Bob Backlund December 26th, 1983
WWE Hall of Famer Bob Backlund was the last remnant of the original World Wide Wrestling Federation era. In fact, the WWE Championship was literally changed from the WWWF Championship to the WWF Championship during his 2,135-day reign. Thats right. I said 2,135 days. While Backlund did lose to Antonio Inoki during a non-televised tour of Japan in 1979, the loss is not recognized by WWE. Therefore, it wont be recognized here. Heck, even if it was recognized, Backlund regained the title after Inoki vacated it and didnt relinquish it for 1,470 days. Thats like taking CM Punks historic reign, adding a month to it, and then tacking on 1,000 days. So yeah. That all came to an end in 1983 when Vince McMahon was set to usher in a new era called HulkaMania. In order to get the title to Hulk Hogan, the good guy champion had to drop it to a bad guy. The perfect bad guy was the controversial Iron Sheik. The former Iranian amateur wrestling champion and coach of the US Olympic wrestling squad was drawing a ton of heat from the crowds with his anti-American antics. When he earned his shot at Backlunds WWF Championship, Sheik softened up his opponents neck a few weeks before the match with an underhanded attack. That injury came into play when they met at Madison Square Garden, creating an opportunity for Sheik to slap on his Camel Clutch. Backlund never gave up, but his manager Arnold Skaaland threw in the towel on the champions behalf, ending his reign under heartbreaking circumstances.
Eric Delgado has been writing about professional wrestling for five years and has been involved in the professional wrestling business as a performer for ten. He is also the former host of Steel Cage Radio and has an irrational love for The Ryback.
