WWE Hall of Famer Bob Backlund recently appeared on Ring Rust Radio, which you can listen to in full below or at this link. The following are some interview highlights:
Ring Rust Radio: Obviously Darren Young getting injured throws a wrench into things for you guys right now unfortunately, but having worked with him for several months, what are your feelings about him as a performer and what type of potential do you think he has in WWE?
Bob Backlund: He’s got potential, but you have got to have the writers behind you. He is a great person outside of the ring, he does a lot of good things, and it’s a shame he dislocated his elbow on Monday Night Raw a couple of weeks ago. He is coming along real well and going to rehab every day. He is starting to feel better already and I think he will be back pretty soon. He loves the business just like we all do and he misses it a lot.
Ring Rust Radio: You are attempting to work with President Donald Trump. Please talk to us about that?
Bob Backlund: I’m on a mission right now. I was at the White House last Wednesday and then I was at Trump Tower the next day. When I was inducted into the Hall of Fame, Donald Trump was inducted on the same night. When I was done with my speech, he came over to me and said I could light up New York City if they could plug me into it. I’m trying to meet him and tell him that I would like to be plugged into the United States and light the United States up and help him make this country great again. I’d like to go to schools and give speeches to people about training, working hard and getting ahead in life. We live in the greatest country in the world and there are opportunities out there. You can’t stay at home with your parents and just sit there, you have to get out there and do it. I’m going down to Trump Tower and see what I can get done.
Ring Rust Radio: As someone with a storied history in amateur wrestling, what are your thoughts on Kurt Angle and the news that he will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year?
Bob Backlund: That would be fine with me. He was an Olympic champion. He did some great things in the wrestling business, and I think that would be very appropriate for him. I would love to be there for him being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. I haven’t seen him for a long, long time though. I was sort of a manager for him back when he came on and I got to know him for a bit. He is a great wrestler. We actually did a promo and he put the crossface chicken wing on me and he was going to run with that for a while as his move.
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
