Superstar Billy Graham

Eldridge Wayne Coleman Jr. (June 7, 1943 – May 17, 2023), better known by his ring name "Superstar" Billy Graham, was an American professional wrestler.

Coleman was born into a working-class family in Phoenix, Arizona, on June 7, 1943.

His father Eldridge was from Mississippi and drove phone poles into the ground for a power company but developed multiple sclerosis and was reassigned to light office work.

His mother Juanita, who claimed Cherokee ancestry, was from Arkansas.

Coleman was attracted to weight lifting in the fifth grade.

As a teenager, he was an avid reader of bodybuilding magazines, his idols being Steve Reeves and John Grimek.

As a teenager, he became a devout Christian and traveled to religious revivals where he incorporated feats of strength into his sermons.

Wayne was often beaten by his father due to his jealousy of Wayne's physique, but one day, he was able to yank the leather strap from his father's fingers; his mother also hit him with a brick on his head “because he was too big to hit with anything else.”

Coleman attended North High School, where he was a track and field star and a shot put champion.

He also dabbled in amateur and professional boxing, participating in the 1959 Golden Gloves.

At age 26, Coleman tried out for the Canadian Football League's Calgary Stampeders, but he was traded to the Montreal Alouettes and only played a couple of games while there.

He also worked as a debt collector.

In between football engagements, he worked as a bouncer

In 1961, Coleman was the winner of the West Coast division of the Mr. Teenage America bodybuilding contest (Frank Zane won the East Coast division), and his photo appeared soon after in Bob Hoffman's Strength and Fitness magazine.

Coleman began to train intensively in 1968 at Gold's Gym in Santa Monica, where he worked out with Dave Draper, Franco Columbu and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

At this time he was able to bench press 605 lbs (the world record, held by his friend Pat Casey, was 616 lbs).

One of Coleman's photo shoots with Schwarzenegger was featured that year in Joe Weider's Muscle Fitness magazine.

When Coleman decided to become a professional wrestler two years later, he had the inspiration of marrying wrestling to bodybuilding.

In 1969, Coleman was encouraged by professional wrestler Bob Lueck to train with Stu Hart for the latter's Stampede Wrestling promotion.

He trained under Hart in Calgary before debuting on January 16, 1970, in a match with Dan Kroffat.

After wrestling briefly under his real name, Coleman traveled back to the United States in May, wrestling for a few months with Dr. Jerry Graham, Brick Darrow, Rick Cahill and Ron Pritchard in Arizona before he and Jerry joined the National Wrestling Alliance's Los Angeles promotion (run by Mike LeBell) as a tag team the following August.

He changed his ring name to Billy Graham, as a tribute to the famous evangelist of the same name.

Jerry also told him to dye his hair blonde with a bottle of Clairol.

While wrestling in Championship Wrestling from Florida, the name served both as his ring name and to make him the (kayfabe) youngest brother of Jerry and the other Graham Brothers (Eddie and Luke).

In late December, Graham went north to join Roy Shire's NWA San Francisco promotion, working with Pat Patterson (his tag-team partner), Ray Stevens, Cyclone Negro, and Peter Maivia.

Graham's nearly two-year run in central California included a stint wrestling in Hawaii in February and March 1972.

It was during his Californian period that Graham developed a new aspect of his character; before a match he would stage an arm wrestling contest, encouraging public challenges to his title of "Arm Wrestling Champion of the World".

During his time with the AWA, Graham feuded with Gagne, The Crusher, The Bruiser, Wahoo McDaniel, Billy Robinson, Ken Patera and Ivan Koloff, the latter becoming his tag-team partner.

By this time, Graham was integrating into his performances not only arm wrestling contests but also weightlifting challenges (mainly involving ex-Olympian Ken Patera) and posing routines.

One of his most memorable and violent feuds was against McDaniel, with whom he wrestled numerous bouts between 1973 and 1974.

In September and October 1974, Graham took leave from the AWA to join the International Wrestling Alliance's "Super Wide Series" tour of Japan, where he fought such local stars as Mighty Inoue, Animal Hamaguchi and Rusher Kimura.

As a wrestler, he weight-trained continually, and in 1975 prepared for the World Bodybuilding Guild's Pro Mr. America contest in New York City, where his 22-inch biceps won first place in the Best Developed Arms division.

He gained recognition for his tenure as the WWF Heavyweight Champion from 1977 to 1978.

He was a three-time world champion in major professional wrestling promotions.

As an award-winning bodybuilder, he was a training partner and close friend of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

He was most remembered for revolutionizing the interview, which resembled the interviewing style of boxer Muhammad Ali, and physique aspects of the professional wrestling industry, and for his charismatic performance style.

At the peak of his wrestling career in 1977, Coleman weighed 275 lbs.

From 1978, he gained more weight and in 1980, at 325 lbs, he took part in the World's Strongest Man competition in Great Gorge, New Jersey.

He finished seventh in this contest in spite of injuring himself in one of the events.

On December 6 of the same year, Coleman hosted the U.S. Invitational Powerlifting Championship in Phoenix, Arizona.