Bob Backlund Explains Why He And Bruno Sammartino Were Wary Of Hulk Hogan, Still Wanting To Wrestle

Former WWE Champion and current manager Bob Backlund spoke to Ring Rust Radio recently. You can check out highlights below, and the full interview above.

You were an amateur wrestling star at North Dakota State University. As someone who made the successful jump from the amateur ranks to pro wrestling, what are your thoughts on a Superstar like Brock Lesnar who made a similar jump?

“It’s not a hard thing to do more as it’s a mental thing to do. 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. I didn’t have any problem whether I won or lost as long as I had as good as a match as I could. Guys like Brock Lesnar that come from amateur wrestling love the business just as much as they loved the athletics in amateur wrestling.”

In much the same vein as Brock, Kurt Angle is a guy who was an Olympic gold medalist as an amateur wrestler before going on to become one of the all-time greats in professional wrestling. I always really enjoyed the work you did with him in 2000. How do you regard your time with Kurt looking back and what are your overall impressions of him and what he ultimately became in the wrestling business?

“I have a lot of respect for his in-ring skills. 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. He really is such a fantastic amateur wrestler. When we worked together, I was using the cross-face chicken wing and we were wanting to pass it on to him. He got it on me one time but then I am not sure if he used it much after that. I still use it and think it’s pretty good. I was with Heath Slater and put him in the chicken wing and …

continue reading in source www.WrestlingInc.com