WWE Hall of Famer and former WWF Champion Bob Backlund has never been one to mince words. We’ll set this up for you by saying Backlund recently spoke on two relevant topics: The ‘Superfly’ Jimmy Snuka murder case, and the ongoing sex tape and racial rant circus surrounding Hulk Hogan. Imagine Mr. Backlund as the Iron Sheik, but domestic and without any handlers.
For Snuka, Backlund gave him props as a performer, and whatever the opposite of props is for being a human being. Via the Two Man Power Trip:
“In the ring, he was a genius. But out of the ring, he was an embarrassment to society. I didn’t know him outside of the ring at all, I just knew him in the ring. I didn’t hang around and wasn’t out there with him, but I know he was very good in the ring and as good as it gets. If he would have been a decent person then he would have been the WWF Champion but he didn’t have the qualifications and didn’t meet the standards or else he would have been. Vince McMahon Sr. would have made him the WWF Champion if he would have been an honorable person.
I didn’t hang around the guys and I didn’t ride in the cars with him. I had an instance riding in a car with him in Georgia and I never rode with him again. I don’t know what was going on at all and I didn’t want to know. My business was wrestling and I wanted to be ready to go in the ring and do my best, and I didn’t have time to worry about what was going on behind the scenes, and I didn’t want to know.”
As it turns out, not knowing was a pretty good plan.
In regard to Hogan, Backlund says he had him figured out three decades ago, and wouldn’t cut ties with him immediately.
“I thought that he didn’t meet the standards, and I know Bruno would have thought if I had been doing all that goofy stuff he was doing, he wouldn’t have liked me being champion, and I’m sure that Bruno feels the same way. He didn’t meet the standards outside the ring to be able to represent the WWF. Did the WWE fire him recently? Because, I would have fired him 30 years ago. He was saying one thing and doing another.”
Maybe we should’ve elected Backlund as President after all. We need an uptight straight-shooter who isn’t afraid to sometimes go off the deep end and crossface chicken-wing our enemies.
