Insofar as performers who have served as gateway champions to ideas that have pre-dated eras where the WWF made significant sums of money, Bob Backlund is important. In both 1984 and 1993, the WWF was on the cusp of eventually entering major business eras. In 1984, Bob Backlund's six-year championship run was ended by the Iron Sheik, who lost the title to Hulk Hogan. Similarly, in 1995, Backlund's run was ended by Diesel, who lost the title to Bret Hart, who famously lost the belt to Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania XII.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
