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While younger fans or even those who only started watching wrestling within the last decade may not be familiar with him, Superstar Billy Graham has left quite the legacy upon the wrestling world. Going from former bodybuilder and close friend of WWE Hall of Famer, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to revolutionizing the wrestling industry with his unique promo style, Graham would serve as a major influence on future generations with megastars like Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair learning from Superstar. An extremely decorated wrestler on his own, Billy Graham dominated the industry, winning major titles across numerous NWA territories as well as winning the WWWF Heavyweight Championship, now the WWE Championship. One interesting aspect of his wrestling career was the career constant of his returns to the WWE, regardless of time spent away or his own age.
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Superstar Billy Graham Returned To Beat Bruno Sammartino For The Championship
Returning to WWWF in 1977, Billy Graham would become quite the star during his second stint in the company as he would be given the honor of defeating Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship. Not only that, but Billy Graham would go onto hold said championship for nine and a half months. During his reign on top of the company, Graham defended his belt against some of the biggest names in the history of wrestling, including Dusty Rhodes, Mil Mascaras, Don Muraco, Bruno Sammartino, and Riki Choshu.
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In the beginning of 1978, Superstar Billy Graham wrestled against then-NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race in a marquee title vs title match at the Orange Bowl in Miami Florida. It would see a historic WWWF World Heavyweight Championship vs. NWA World Heavyweight Championship unification match take place as a major match, though it would end in a 60-minute time-limit draw, with the championships remaining separated. Graham would be scheduled to be dethroned by Bob Backlund, a strong white-meat, American babyface, though Graham brought up the idea of another outcome to Vince McMahon Sr, suggesting that fellow heel, Ivan Koloff, should turn on him, in order to make Graham a major babyface player in the company. This was shot down, with Graham dropping the belt to Backlund and remaining a heel character in the company, something that would remain a sticking point for him for years as he apparently always wanted to become a fan-favorite babyface.
Superstar Billy Graham Changed His Look When He Returned In 1982
For his second return to the company, Graham would come back to the renamed World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1982. Upon his second debut, the Superstar would rock an entirely updated look, now with a lean body mass, a bald head and mustache, and for some reason, he would be sporting black karate pants. Most notably during this run, Graham stated that he wanted to abandon his former gimmick and start fresh with a new character.
Feuding with Bob Backlund for the WWF Championship, Graham would fail to capture the belt and would leave the copany in 1983. Following this run in the company, Superstar Billy Graham would move onto the AWA, and his third return to NWA, where he would join Kevin Sullivan's Army of Darkness faction before eventually turning babyface and becoming a rival of the group.
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Billy Graham Became A WWE Hall Of Famer In 2004
Making his final in-ring return for WWE, Billy Graham would return to the company from 1986 to 1989, wrestling regularly for the company. During this period, Graham's wrestling career would catch up to him, as he would require a number of surgeries. Following this stint in the company, Graham would sue the company as he would state that he was forced to use steroids. During this time, he would also make claims that he witnessed sexual abuse towards minors, though he would later admit that he made the accusations up.
Following a somewhat surprising induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004, Graham rejoined WWE for a number of television appearances where he would be interviewed by Jonathan Coachman before the legendary wrestler would knock Coach out. The following year, Graham would appear on Raw in 2005 where he encouraged Randy Orton to do something to "make himself notable". Sticking around sporadically, Graham would be out of his WWE contract in 2009, before once again signing a Legends Deal in 2015.
