Welcome to the world of Bob Backlund, a legendary figure in the realm of professional wrestling whose impact resonates far beyond the squared circle. With a career spanning several decades, Bob Backlund’s contributions to the sport are as diverse as they are profound. From his remarkable athleticism to his unparalleled work ethic, Backlund has left an indelible mark on the wrestling industry, earning him a place among the all-time greats.
Born in Princeton, Minnesota, in 1949, Bob Backlund’s journey to wrestling stardom is a testament to dedication and determination. His rise to prominence came in the 1970s and 1980s when he captured the hearts of fans worldwide with his unparalleled skill inside the ring and his unwavering commitment to his craft. Backlund’s technical prowess and charismatic persona made him a household name, and his matches remain etched in the memories of wrestling enthusiasts to this day. As we delve into the world of Bob Backlund, we invite you to explore his inspiring journey, relive some of his most iconic moments, and gain insight into the mindset of a true wrestling legend. Stay tuned as we present a collection of memorable quotes from Bob Backlund that encapsulate his passion for the sport, his dedication to excellence, and his unwavering belief in the power of perseverance.
I never really wanted to be a bad guy. But I was more happy being a bad guy if I had to do what other people were doing to be good and be liked. Bob Backlund
I worked as hard as I could in the ring to make the matches enjoyable as much as I could. Bob Backlund
I didn’t move for two years when I was born. I didn’t play with the other kids. Bob Backlund
When you work out it makes you feel better. It became my life’s blood. It keeps me going every day. Bob Backlund
Billy Superstar Graham dropped the WWF title to me, and that had the biggest influence because it changed my life. Bob Backlund
My favorite part about the wrestling industry is the fan base. I really enjoy going out to see fans and conversing with them outside the ring. Bob Backlund
An All-American Boy does things right and works hard. Bob Backlund
People want to loaf, but they didn’t loaf when they were in the ring with me. Bob Backlund
Darren Young was looking for someone to train him and finally he came and asked me if I wouldn’t mind to be his life coach. I said, ‘I sure would, you’re a great man and good for the business.’ Bob Backlund
I loved wrestling. Bob Backlund
I used to sign autographs until sunrise at Madison Square Garden. Bob Backlund
I tell myself I have to work out to stay alive. I’m not just staying alive to stay alive, I mean stay alive and live a quality life. Bob Backlund
I hope I don’t sound like a typical politician. Bob Backlund
Exercise is the only real fountain of youth. Bob Backlund
My dad was a drinker. My mom was busy trying to keep the family together. My ability in school was poor. I started, wanted to do sports. I wanted to work hard and get stronger. Bob Backlund
I want to represent the people. Bob Backlund
To go and win a gold medal in the Olympics, not too many people get a chance to do that and it is such a great accomplishment. Bob Backlund
As Mr. Backlund, I truly believed in what I was saying. I believed in every word that I said. I believed that society had fallen off a cliff morally compared to the ’80s. Bob Backlund
It’s not strength that counts but experience and technique. Bob Backlund
I respect everybody. We’re all equal, we’re all human beings and we’re all here to do good things. Bob Backlund
I met Mr. Piper when he was a young person getting in the business in the Olympic theater in Los Angeles. He was just starting and I had the championship for a while. I was over in Japan and they had asked me to go over and have a match with Roddy for 59 minutes and 30 seconds. Bob Backlund
I enjoyed the time in the ring because I was trying to entertain people and give them a show for their hard earned money they spent to come to the show. Bob Backlund
I always really liked Allentown. The people were very down to earth. It reminded me a lot of my hometown in Minnesota. Bob Backlund
Your voice is stronger than you think it is, and your attendance is strong. Bob Backlund
Andre the Giant and I had beers together a few times. Bob Backlund
Some wrestlers believe that being elusive is the way to get the fans to love you, but I think just the opposite. You need to get out there and show the people that you appreciate their support. Bob Backlund
Most of the people in my business, they’re a lot different than I am. Bob Backlund
I was one of those people who didn’t care for the political arena. Bob Backlund
My relationship with Triple H has been fantastic. He has kept his word on everything that he has said to me and I respect him for that. Bob Backlund
I flunked third grade in Princeton, Minn. It was embarrassing. It was downing. Bob Backlund
We have to start doing a better job of being role models for our children. They are the future and we aren’t doing a very good job at all at showing them the proper way to conduct themselves. Bob Backlund
You can’t stay at home with your parents and just sit there, you have to get out there and do it. Bob Backlund
Who would you rather have represent you? A regular guy like me or a lifelong politician? Bob Backlund
I didn’t have any problem whether I won or lost as long as I had as good as a match as I could. Bob Backlund
When I think about ‘All American Boy’ I think of someone that lives by the Golden Rule: treat people how you wanted to be treated. That’s one of my rules in life. Bob Backlund
The people in the Republican Party and the Democrat Party, I don’t think they realized how many people out there that were good, basic Americans would support a wrestler getting into the political arena. Bob Backlund
When they have you in the short-arm scissor, they keep you in it for quite a while, and you’re fighting to get out. And the more enthusiasm you can do when you’re fighting to get out, the better. But if you’re not in shape, you’re not going to keep up with that rate. Bob Backlund
In ’85, I read a book that helped me forget about the past and work on the future as far as success goes, and it was Napoleon Hill. Bob Backlund
That’s how I got started in the wrestling business. I was broke, I was homeless, and I was sleeping in the trunk of my car. It made me very conscious to never try to live beyond my means or try to keep up with the Joneses. Bob Backlund
Don’t throw your garbage out the window of your car anymore because you’re defacing our country. Bob Backlund
Guys like Brock Lesnar that come from amateur wrestling love the business just as much as they loved the athletics in amateur wrestling. Bob Backlund
I used to lift weights, but not now. I do calisthenics and yoga, which is very good for flexibility and stretching ligaments and tendons. Bob Backlund
I’m a dad, I’m a family man, I believe family is the most important unit on the face of the earth. If anything is going to get fixed, family will do it. Bob Backlund
I was working out in a gym in Minneapolis and I met this guy named Eddie Sharkey. He had a school there where wrestlers like Red Bastien, Billy Red Lyons and Mad Dog Vachon were working out. Those were some very interesting characters, but they were all good athletes, so I joined. Bob Backlund
You can’t be lying to kids and expecting them not to do it and you’re going out and doing the same things you’re asking them not to do. Bob Backlund
If something hasn’t worked for 44 years, you have to try something different. Bob Backlund
When you have a set program in your match it gets old to do the same thing over and over and over again. Bob Backlund
I’m disciplined. Bob Backlund
Some wrestlers don’t know how to wrestle, they are just entertainers. Bob Backlund
When I got out of my hometown of Glastonbury, Connecticut, I became ‘Mr. Backlund’ and if someone did not call me Mr. Backlund I just kept walking. I demanded respect because I believe that in life that respect is so important, especially for kids to respect others. Bob Backlund
If you don’t like school, tell yourself you love school and you’ll learn something. Bob Backlund
Do your best, try to do your best at everything you do. Bob Backlund
I want America strong, and want to do things with people. Bob Backlund
I’m a lifelong American. Bob Backlund
I will be a role model, I wanna be a role model, and I will not cheat. Bob Backlund
When I got put into the Hall of Fame in 2013, I told Triple H I would like to get back in the business and put a little bit more W in it and I was serious about it. I don’t know if he is ever going to take me up on the offer. I do think about it every now and then. Bob Backlund
We live in the greatest country in the world and there are opportunities out there. You can’t stay at home with your parents and just sit there, you have to get out there and do it. Bob Backlund
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. Bob Backlund
I understand the saying ‘it’s lonely at the top.’ Bob Backlund
When I go to the signings like at WrestleMania and people have the options of what they want me to do with them, and more often than not they want me to put them in the cross-face chicken wing. Bob Backlund
I read a book in 2005 called ‘Think and Grow Rich’ that changed my life. Bob Backlund
I wanted to be bad because the good guys were lying, cheating and swearing. Let me be bad by being good and I became a bad guy by being a good person. Bob Backlund
One of my biggest things is I don’t want to have to lie around all day and take pills to stay alive. And I think working out is a better alternative to some doctor giving me pills all day. I don’t want that to happen. It’s a big reason I work out. Bob Backlund
Let me be bad by being good and I became a bad guy by being a good person. Bob Backlund
I have to sleep to stay alive. I have to eat to stay alive. Bob Backlund
I’d like to go to schools and give speeches to people about training, working hard and getting ahead in life. Bob Backlund
I believed that people should be held responsible for their own actions. And I believed that hard work and dedication paid off. Bob Backlund
You have to stand up and you have to walk to walk or you’re not the man. You don’t walk the walk, that’s the most important thing about being WWF champion or any champion at all. Bob Backlund
I was the last person anyone expected to become WWF champion. I didn’t get involved with characters. I didn’t have big muscles. But I had intuitiveness and stick-to- it-iveness, and the desire to rise to the top. Bob Backlund
When I was inducted into the Hall of Fame, Donald Trump was inducted on the same night. When I was done with my speech, he came over to me and said I could light up New York City if they could plug me into it. Bob Backlund
When I won the championship, my whole life changed. I was known all over the world. Bob Backlund
The Harvard Step Test really makes your heart rate go down. I do that a few times a day and a high number of squats with other stretching and weight routines. Bob Backlund
I built up a luminous vocabulary so I could educate the masses. Bob Backlund
I had a policy that you had to recite the presidents of the U.S.A. to me before you could get my signature. Bob Backlund
I’m ready to wrestle with anyone on the card. I’m not going to hide from anyone. Bob Backlund
I didn’t say one thing and go out and do another. When I said something, I meant it and lived it, and I still do. Bob Backlund
I go around and talk to a lot of kids at wrestling tournaments. I talk to the moms and dads. Bob Backlund
The wrestling business and politics are both full-contact sports. Bob Backlund
The chicken wing and the cross-face were in the business but I was the first one to clasp my hands when I had both of them on. So I was sort-of the inventor of it. Bob Backlund
I learned to love the oil business as much as I love the wrestling business. Bob Backlund
People know my name. Name recognition is very important in politics. Bob Backlund
I was able to slowly climb to the top of the wrestling business thanks to the principles I learned in junior high and high school. Bob Backlund
I got the title because I learned about the value of hard work. Bob Backlund
I have a policy before I get out of bed, I convince myself that I’m going to have a positive mental attitude all day, and I never capitulate on that rule. Bob Backlund
The average person that works every day for a living gets kind of tired of the political system. Nothing seems to change much. Bob Backlund
My wife is an individual and we want our daughter to be her own person in life. Bob Backlund
In amateur wrestling, you are always wanting to win matches and win matches and win matches. I changed my goal when I got into professional wrestling and I said I wanted to go out there and entertain at the highest level I could. Bob Backlund
I could exercise in the closet, if I have to. Bob Backlund
American society has fallen into the biggest cavity our civilization has ever faced and people are tired of the same old politicians getting elected year-in and year-out. Bob Backlund
My mission is to do good things and motivate people to be positive and do good things. Bob Backlund
You figure out what your opponent will do next and what your counter will be. Then you decide how he will react to your counter and what your response should be. Bob Backlund
I like all of the wrestlers, I don’t like the things some of them do. Bob Backlund
Bruno Sammartino is the greatest wrestling champion ever in the world. I wrestled more than he did but he was a strong man, he pushed a lot, threw people around and he was the greatest. I actually did more wrestling maneuvers then he did but that wasn’t his thing. Bob Backlund
There’s a lot of people that watch wrestling that don’t give a hoot about voting. Bob Backlund
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. Bob Backlund