6. “Superstar” Billy Graham
In his autobiography Tangled Ropes, “Superstar” Billy Graham reveals a number of shocking truths about professional wrestling and the lifestyle which comes along with it. There is no shortage of shocking tales in the book, but few can compare to the stories Graham shares about his father in the opening chapters.
Like many fathers of the 1950s, Billy Graham’s dad was a strict authoritarian who used beatings to keep his kids in line. Whenever Billy did something to upset his father, he would find himself being spanked or whipped with a force way beyond what anyone would consider acceptable.
As Graham’s dad got older, he began to favor using a belt rather than his fists as it required less effort and caused as much, if not more, damage. The violence persisted until Superstar, beginning to develop the strength which would make him famous, grabbed the belt from his father mid-beating and let him know he would no longer stand for such treatment.
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