I've been watching what footage is out there and reading about this guy, and it's easily the biggest what if in the history of wrestling. Basically a combination of what would become Hogan, Jesse Ventura and Psycho Sid that is for some reason existing in the mid 1970s in shithole New York. Vince Sr. has an autistic obsession with Backlund, Vince Jr is begging his dad to turn Billy face, Eddie Graham from Florida is saying the same thing to him. Billy never recovers from dropping the belt to some midwestern dimeless shitter, and Vince Sr dies without seeing the peak of 80s Hulkamania happen a half decade earlier, with probably more kino results, as Billy was less of a cartoon character. In retrospect, was not turning Billy face one of the worst decisions in wrestling history?
>>16746994Who is this hulk hogan knock off?
>misses out on all 80s movie money>fans are bringing their own merch with his name on it as a HEEL>he tells Vince Sr that they should sell their own shirts and he looks at Billy like he's from 2093>is in such a shitty era he has to take the coat off of his back for a prominent midcarder to stay warm in 70s NYC winter>negotiating money deals in broom closets with dangling light bulbs >has to sit back and watch Ventura, Hogan, Austin idol, Scott Steiner etc make great money LARPing as SuperstarI highly recommend his book even though it's basically lost history now. One of the most frustrating lives ever.
>>16746994Yes. He had the gift of gab before Ali did and was bigger than Arnold. He would have revolutionized wrestling if he was just allowed to talk and flex. He wouldn't have been as big as Hogan, his kind of talk didn't appeal as much to children, but he would have been huge
>>16746994>>16747006Sup Billy, how's hell treating you?
>>16747013I know the match itself would be shit but imagine if instead of that Inoki clusterfuck, they did a Billy Graham/Ali "match" in MSG? The promos itself probably would've led to terraforming Mars by 1997.
He had some good runs. The comeback as a bald karate guy looked weird.
>>16747048The match would've been better then the Inoki snooze fest