Q&A (Part I): Bob Backlund Talks The Dark Years

I reached out to Bob Backlund as soon as I finished the last page of his new autobiography.

Here is his response to my interview request:

“Mr. Corrigan,

Thank you for the email and thank you for the review.

After looking up the definition of capitulate, I decided to sweeten my offer and try again with the second longest-reigning WWE Champion.

He acquiesced.

Backlund: From All-American Boy to Professional Wrestling’s World Champion is available at BacklundEnergy.com and . You can read my review here or save time and simply buy the book right now because it’s mandatory reading for wrasslin’ fans.

Mr. Backlund is also selling his fully restored 1967 Chevrolet Corvette convertible. He bought the car from Mike Graham in 1974 and as you’ll later read in the interview, he’s had some legendary names ride shotgun.

Call Bob with an offer at 860-652-0075.

John Corrigan: You say that you’ve had offers in the past, but that those authors didn’t get you quite like Rob Miller did. What did he understand about you that they didn’t?

Bob Backlund: “Rob Miller sent me a FedEx, saying I was his childhood hero. He had written two other books and wanted to write one about me. So I called him and we set up a meeting at a library in Glastonbury, Connecticut. I was worried he wouldn’t like me because I wasn’t a character. His goal was to find out if I was really that person who was his hero back then. He brought a book with him that was four inches thick listing every single match I had. It was like he knew more about me then I did. It took us five years. We met in libraries and in his home a few times. It was like a wrestling match. Every single time that we met, it got better than the last time.”

JC: What was going through your mind as you poured through those matches?

BB: “We looked through them all one at a time. I actually had a book pretty much written back in 1985, but there hadn’t been any wrestling books so the publishing company wouldn’t publish it. I was thinking, I want to get a book out there in my own words before I died. I was getting to be 60 years old and thought, gee whiz, I don’t know if this is going to happen. So Rob Miller writing a FedEx in ’09 was a little miracle. You can almost make something happen if you think about it long enough and believe in it enough.”

JC: That sounds like your mantra: having a Positive Mental Attitude. My only gripe with the book was the lack of information regarding the years after you lost the WWE Title. You mentioned going through depression during that time—how did your PMA affect that?

BB: “Not necessarily that because if you had been around me during those years, you wouldn’t have sensed anything. The big thing that was bothering me was what am I going to do with my life after being WWE Champion for six years? What could I do to top that? I was concentrating on the past rather than the future. I found a book called ‘Think and Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill, you’ll see it quoted different times in the book, and I read that over and over for two years.

It changed the way I think. Right now my future is better than my past ever was. ‘Think and Grow Rich’ had a big effect on my life, and I’m hoping my book will also affect people in a real positive way, if they want to apply it to themselves.”

JC: Well, your book has already had a positive effect on my life, especially those 18 principles listed in the back.

BB: “Yeah, but John, you have to study it a little bit, too. There were 17 summaries in Hill’s book and I read them every night before bed for two years. I wanted to indoctrinate myself into his thinking. You learn that if you put something in your mind often enough, you can achieve it. Like, I hated spinach, now I eat it like popcorn after telling myself that I love it. If a young man doesn’t like going to school, he needs to tell himself that he loves it, and pretty soon, he’ll be having fun in school.”

JC: Let me ask you more about those 1985-1992 years. Is that when you started your oil business?

BB: “When I was in high school, I worked with a plaster. He started doing drywall because plaster was dying out. Then I learned how to do sheetrock and hung sheetrock for a few years. And I was a bail bondsman for a little while.

I was 59 years old when I started the oil business. I had a friend who was real big in the oil business and we were going to merge our companies together, but he passed away. Every day I said to myself, I love this business, I love this business, and after a year, I started to love it more than wrestling.”

JC: Because you held the WWE Championship for so long, people don’t associate you with the NWA so it was interesting to learn that you cut your teeth there.

BB: “I was trained by the Funks, Terry and Dory Jr. Terry, man, what a guy. I was also trained by Harley Race. What better three people could you ask for? They were patient with me, told me everything I would be doing, where I would be going. My wife and I moved around a lot in those early days, but it paid off.”

JC: Why didn’t you go back to the NWA after your title reign?

BB: “Well, I’ll tell you why. Vince McMahon Sr. was looking for an all-American boy, and I should have stopped right away when he passed away.”

JC: Stop wrestling?

BB: “Yes. It was a waste of time for me to stay in.”

JC: Why?

BB: “Vince McMahon Sr. was the man who was behind me so much. I wasn’t in a clique. I didn’t schmooze with other promoters when I was coming up.”

For Part II in which Backlund discusses Dave Meltzer, Andre the Giant, Roddy Piper, and more…click here.

For Part III in which Backlund discusses the Hall of Fame, Bruno, politics, and the Mr. Backlund character…click here.