Posted on by bdamage1
Professional wrestling can be a very cyclical business. Many times you could be watching a match, a gimmick or a storyline and think to yourself…”I have seen this before.” Sometimes, you may be right, as many things in wrestling do get recycled over the years. Other times, it just may be something similar to something you saw years ago. In any case, Deja View looks at stuff that may or may not have been re-used in wrestling or something that was simply similar in nature that made you go…”Oh yeah, that’s where I remember that from.”
In 1989, on an episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event, Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig stole Hulk Hogan’s WWF title while he was wrestling a match with ‘The Genius’ Lanny Poffo. Mr. Perfect proceeded to destroy the belt backstage with a timekeeper’s hammer. The angle was shocking and seemed to be something very unique.
Seven years prior, in 1982, a new look Superstar Billy Graham stole the WWF title which belonged to Bob Backlund and started ripping it apart. Not only did Graham rip the plates off the leather strap, but also whipped the belt on the concrete floor…further shattering it. Backlund crawled to his destroyed title and was virtually in tears. He had to be consoled by his manager Arnold Skaaland.
In both angles, the destroying of the WWF title led to a feud between the champion and the vandalizer of the belt.