The Rise and Fall of Superstar Billy Graham in the WWF

This video covers Billy Graham in the WWWF / WWF from 1977 - 1983, and the story behind The Superstar changing his gimmick to become a Karate master.

While there is much to say about how Superstar Billy Graham conducted himself as a human being over the years, there is no doubt that "The Superstar" was a pioneer and trend setter in professional wrestling. So much of what we saw in the 80s, 90s, 2000s, even right up until this very day, is all thanks to Billy Graham and his "Superstar" gimmick. Whatever you may think of him outside of the ring, wrestling today (particularly the WWE) would likely be a very different landscape if it wasnt for the Billy Graham and his innovative promos and breakthrough. The Superstar was an innovator in many ways, from introducing the word Brother to wrestling which would become most famously used by Hulk Hogan, to bringing the body builder phsyique to the wwf, to becoming the first heel in the company to have a lengthy title run. If you look at the history of the WWE championship, you will notice that in the early years of the title, the only performers who held the title for any length of time were babyfaces. That all changed with the arrival of “Superstar” Billy Graham, who won the title from Bruno Sammartino.

While Billy Graham would have great success as the WWWF champion, he was reluctant to drop the title. When he was told he would be dropping the title to Bob Backlund, he decided to quit the company later that year. When Billy Graham returned to the WWF, he refused to come back as "The Superstar" character. Instead, Superstar Billy Graham returned as a Karate Master.

This mini documentary from Wrestling Bios looks at Billy Graham from 1977 to 1983 in the WWF. Topics covered included:

Billy Graham creating the Superstar character before coming to the WWF and how it inspired others including Hulk Hogan and Jesse Ventura
Billy Graham vs Bruno Sammartino WWWF Title Match on April 30th 1977
Superstar Billy Graham wrestling Harley Race in a WWF vs NWA match at The Superbowl of Wrestling in Miami
Billy Graham reluctantly dropping the title to Bob Backlund in February 1978
Billy Graham Karate Master
The reasons why Billy Graham decided to return to the WWF with a new gimmick and whit it did not work
Much More!

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