Author Recalls Vince McMahon Saying Billy Graham Could Have Been His Hulk Hogan

Superstar Billy Graham passed away on Wednesday, and the co-author of his memoir revealed that Vince McMahon believed Graham would have been his Hulk Hogan if not for timing. Keith Elliot Greenberg was on Busted Open Radio and talked about how Vince McMahon believed Graham could have filled the role that Hogan played in WWE’s expansion to a nationwide level, though that notion died due to Graham’s mental health issues after he lost the WWWF Championship in 1978.

Graham, appealed to Vince McMahon Sr. for a babyface turn and to not lose the title to Bob Backlund, which Vince Sr. rejected for a few reasons. Vince Sr. didn’t want to go back on his word to Backlund that he would become the new babyface champion, and he didn’t believe that a counter-culture character like the one Graham played would work as a babyface because they would be a negative role model. Graham would later say that was a contributor to his depression, and he left WWE in December of 1978.

Greenberg noted (per Wrestling Inc), “Vince McMahon Jr. had told me that had he been in charge and not his father in 1978, he would have acquiesced to Superstar Billy Graham’s demand,” Greenberg said, “And in Vince McMahon Jr.’s words, ‘He would’ve been my Hulk Hogan.’ So it was that close.”

Graham would eventually return to WWF in 1982, and Greenberg said that his new look and martial arts-style character was a result of Graham’s issues at the time, saying, “I believe, and I think [Graham] would have concurred with me on this, that the kung-fu character was an extension of that breakdown he had.”