Superstar Billy Graham

"Someone who i just do not get why he iis rated this highly [ not mainly Judge based in ring work and influence on modern day/ how innovative he was and how well his work style has aged ] and he fails hard in both of these i can watch Lou Thez match from 20 years before he debuted that aged better than his work and yes the work of the person he lost the belt to[ WWF title] has aged better than him and his retrograde views on wrestling based on interviews i seen make me have lesser viewer of him."

[5.0] "Basing this from the one Superstar Billy Graham match I've watched and wasn't a fan of - just seemed to be so muddling and slow in the ring I didn't really enjoy his style. I'm absolutely sure that he's going to have more matches, however i'm in no rush"

[9.0] "He may not have been the best in ring performer but he had everything else you could possibly want in a wrestler. The number of wrestlers who stole something from him automatically makes him one of the greatest ever."

[9.0] "The man of the hour, the man with the power, too sweet to be sour! Superstar was the most influential wrestler of all time everyone from Paul Ellering, to Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, and even the Big Poppa Pump era of Scott Steiner Graham suffered from a narrow-minded promoter only seeing him as a heel. Had he had a better promoter he would've become an even bigger star than he was, but Vince Sr. wanted Backlund as his champion, and he destroyed his territory due to how boring Opie was as champ."

[9.0] "Hogan before Hogan. Dream before Dream. Steiner before Steiner. Ventura before Ventura. Ellering before Ellering. Idol before Idol. Valiant before Valiant. All of these legends, by their own admission, borrowed heavily from the persona and presentation Graham innovated. A decade, if not more, ahead of his time. A shockingly competent worker in his prime (I'd certainly put him above Hogan, at any rate), but demoralization (Vince K. McMahon refusing to let him turn face or extend his championship run despite crowds going nuts for him) and injuries -- most notably, a major hip surgery -- took their toll. Most people remember his post-hip surgery, mid-late 80's run (where he could hardly move) or his early 80's "Karate Master" run where (he had given up and stopped caring), but his run in the 70's proved him to be one of the most charismatic, entertaining, and innovative (from a character work/persona perspective) performers to ever step in the ring. He literally changed the way everyone who came after him looked, talked, cut promos, dressed, you name it. He could've been the drizzling shits in the ring and still warrant a 7 just based on that alone, but during his prime, he could also work. No, he wasn't a Ric Flair-tier worker, but I'd certainly put him somewhere in the same ballpark as a Lex Luger as a worker, and infinitely more charismatic and entertaining. Overall, I want to give an 8.5, but can't, so I'm rounding up to 9."

[6.0] "Billy Graham revolutionized the heel wrestler and the cocky arrogant heel showmanship style. I would rate him higher but I feel like his career was cut too short and the era in which he wrestled held him back. Not being allowed to be a baby face and being forced to drop the world title to Backlund when he was still popular was a blunder by the old timer territory promoter thinking. He tried making a return in 87 but his era had past him by and the roids had already trashed his body to the point where he couldn't wrestle again."

[10.0] "Graham really was the first SUPERSTAR that wrestling ever had all pun intended. He had the total package of what a Superstar should be long before anyone else ever thought about it. I guess the cliché phrase to use is that Superstar was ahead of his time in wrestling..He had a body like Arnold and Franco Columbo which was a big deal in his era. A lot of his gift of gab on the microphone and confidence in his abilities mirrored that of a young Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali). He had that incredible tan going on. The 22 inch arms/biceps. He wore all of those tye dye & colorful outfits to the ring that made him stand out from the rest of the crowd when he was on television (and he was a karate master at one point...but I try to forget those dark years). He was just someone you HAD to tune in to see, not so much for his wrestling ability because he didn't need that, but for what he was going to say or do while on screen. Also, Superstar had all kinds of heat. You talk about someone who could rile up a crowd, he was IT."

[8.0] "I have a lotta love for The Superstar! THE trailblazer of trail blazers in a post Buddy Rodgers/pre Rey Mysterio Jr wrestling world. His commentary is a guilty pleasure (with all of the "my man"'s and "brotha"'s). One of those guys that changed the landscape forever and was a joy to watch. EXCEPT that whole "Karate" era which was exceptionally awful to the point where it drags him down to a 8.25 rounded down. AVOID Kung Fu Billy Graham!"

[8.0] "A conservative, with not all of whose words I can agree, but a memorable wrestler who became the first villain who did not become a transit champion, but received a full-fledged title-reign as world champion. Billy was forced to end his career due to very serious health problems, and therefore his career was regarding not very long, but was definitely memorable, if don't take into account the strange karate gimmick."

[6.0] "in the golden era, this wrestler met the standards, however, after years, the realization comes that he stood out against the background of no longer developed colleagues"

[8.0] "The pro wrestling business would be NOTHING like it is without Superstar. He was widely copied by people like Hulk Hogan (his entire gimmick was a play on the Superstar gimmick, he essentially stole all of it when he returned to WWE in 2002), Scott Steiner, and many others. He was an average worker but turned a 1-year run with the WWWF title into a lifetime of accolades. An excellent talker, his promos still hold up, even if his matches don't. Could've been even better but on influence alone, he is one of the most important wrestlers of the last 50 years."

[7.0] "Extremely charismatic, especially as a heel, very skilled at promos and was one fo the first to sport a certain kind of physique when previously pro-wrestlers had "merely" looked like very fit men. On the other side in the ring he was below average and was notoriously difficult to work with, to the point he sabotaged his own career just of spite when he was literally on fire. Not one of my favorites but an amazing draw in his rime."

[10.0] "I love this guy. One of my all time favorites. His gimmick was excellent with the tie-dye. One of the first pioneers of using steroids in wrestling cultural. Before there was Hulk Hogan, Jesse Ventura and Scott Steiner He could wrestle naturally and perform excellent as a heel. His promos were superb! He could draw crowds and sold out MSG many times. Unfortunately he paid his prices for steroids use and had to retire early. His in ring psychology is great!"

[9.0] "Superstar laid down the blueprint that the likes of Jess Ventura and Hulk Hogan would follow, to great success. By his own admission he wasn't a great wrestler, but Billy Graham didn't need to be as he had incredible charisma and was a great talker. Graham was also, in percentage terms, the best drawing WWWF/WWF Champion in Madison Square Garden history."

[9.0] "A great career. Tremendous charisma. Fantastic on the mic and in the ring. Great as an AWA heel prior to his fantastic run as a long term WWWF Champion heel. Ahead of his time in many ways, but he went dormant at a time when he should have been cementing his legacy. That costs him a point."

[10.0] "Superstar basically had a 4-5 year career because of his politics. His legacy is a fraction of what it should be because he really self destructed every opportunity he should have had to become a wrestling god. When he was WWE champ, he became so upset that he had to give the title to Backlund, that he basically took 3 years off from the sport right in his prime. When he returned to the ring he was so bitter that he threw away his gimmick and adapted a very strange karate thing that went over like a lead balloon. As far as charisma goes Superstar ranks as one of the top 10 of all time... his mic/promo work established the standard that guys like dusty Rhodes and hulk Hogan copied from. I love listening to his shoot interviews for insight into this guy, but its so clear he was his worst enemy then... and probably still is to this day. its a real testimony to just how amazing this guy was in the ring that he had any sort of career at all given how he was to work with for promoters."

[9.0] "Trail blazer, fantastic promo, super charismatic champion. Best remembered (other than his amazing mic work) for being the first heel to hold the WWWF title for more than a few weeks. He has always said that he should have turned babyface in 1978 and had a big run with the title and that's true, but as the next few years showed his body and health deteriorated and he is still feeling the effects of heavy steroid use today. At his peak he was enthralling, and that's how he should be remembered."

[10.0] "Anything less than a 10 is an injustice. This man paved the way for the "look" of professional wrestlers (specifically, WWE's "Superstars"). Without him, there wouldn't be guys like Hulk Hogan or Ric Flair. Any enormous, muscular, charismatic wrestler that's ever stepped into the ring owes a debt to Billy Graham."