 | |
| Formation | September 15, 1990 |
|---|---|
| Dissolved | July 1992 |
| Purpose | Professional bodybuilding |
Parent organization | Titan Sports |
TheWorld Bodybuilding Federation (WBF) was abodybuilding organization founded in 1991 byVince McMahon. It operated as a subsidiary of his company Titan Sports, the owners of theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE).Tom Platz announced the WBF during the closing ceremonies of theInternational Federation of BodyBuilding (IFBB)Mr. Olympia competition in September 1990, which he and McMahon had attended as representatives of an accompanying magazine.
The WBF aimed to bring bigger prize money and more "dramatic" events to the sport of bodybuilding; its events would incorporate presentation elements inspired byprofessional wrestling, such as competitors being givenring names andkayfabe personas that were showcased in entertainment-based segments and rounds. WWF television programming featuredcross-promotion for the WBF, while the organization would later launch its own weekly television program,WBF BodyStars. The organization signed long-term contracts with a number of IFBB regulars to join its roster, with annual salaries as high as$400,000.
The WBF held its inaugural championship on June 15, 1991, as apay-per-view (PPV) event in Atlantic City, receiving mixed reviews for its attempts to mix bodybuilding with WWF-stylesports entertainment gimmicks. The second WBF championship was held in Long Beach on June 13, 1992. Amid asteroid scandal impacting the WWF, the WBF introduceddrug testing in March 1992—which resulted in many of the competitors being relatively out-of-shape during the ensuing competition. Attempts to have bodybuilderLou Ferrigno (who left the organization shortly after the drug testing policy was implemented) and formerWCW wrestlerLex Luger (who was injured in a motorcycling accident) participate in the event also did not come to fruition.
The 1992 WBF Championship PPV was a commercial failure, with only around 3,000 buys. A month later on July 15, 1992, McMahon personally phonedBen andJoe Weider—the co-founders of the IFBB—to inform them that the WBF would be dissolved. The IFBB—which had prohibited those who joined the WBF from participating in its events—agreed to allow WBF members to rejoin the organization after paying a fine.
South African bodybuilderGary Strydom would be the first and only WBF champion, winning the 1991 event and successfully defending his title in 1992.
In 1990, as part of an effort to diversify beyond his flagshipprofessional wrestling business, theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF),Vince McMahon's Titan Sports began to make investments in the sport ofbodybuilding.[1] Several WWF performers of the era—includingJimmy Snuka andThe Ultimate Warrior—had a background in bodybuilding. During theRoyal Rumblepay-per-view (PPV) in 1989, The Ultimate Warrior competed in a "SuperPosedown" againstRick Rude, which was judged by the audience. After inevitably losing every round to Warrior, Rude attacked him with a metal exercise bar—setting up a feud that would culminate with him defeating Warrior atWrestleMania V for theWWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship.[2][3][4]
Titan hired bodybuilderTom Platz to oversee a new magazine known asBodybuilding Lifestyles, and McMahon invested in a new line ofbodybuilding supplements known as ICOPRO (Integrated Conditioning Program).[5] While rumors emerged that McMahon was also planning to establish a competitor to the long-establishedInternational Federation of BodyBuilding (IFBB), the WWF initially denied the reports.[5][1][2]Bodybuilding Lifestyles purchased a booth at the IFBB'sMr. Olympia competition on September 15, 1990, inChicago, where Platz and McMahon made appearances and signed autographs.[6][2]
During the closing ceremonies, Platz took to the stage to represent the magazine as one of the event's sponsors. Unbeknownst to those in attendance, Platz used that platform to announce that Titan Sports would be forming the World Bodybuilding Federation as a direct competitor to the IFBB, and proclaimed that they planned to "kick the IFBB's ass".[6][2] A group of models withBodybuilding Lifestylessashes entered the auditorium to distribute a WBFpamphlet to the stunned audience,[5][2] while contract offers were slipped under the doors of the competitors' hotel rooms.[6]
A press release issued by the WBF stated that it would "revamp professional bodybuilding with dramatic new events and the richest prize money in the history of the sport." It also announced that Tom Platz would be Director of Talent Development for the organization.[1] In a press conference the next day, McMahon explained that the WBF planned to feature "bodybuilding the way it was meant to be". The comment was interpreted by some as a thinly veiled reference to a lack oftesting foranabolic steroids; the 1990 Mr. Olympia competition was the first to employ drug testing of participants, but poor reception to the resulting quality of the competition by attendees led the IFBB to reverse course the following year.[7][5]
In the wake of the announcement, IFBB co-founderBen Weider commented that Platz and McMahon'sambush marketing "wasn't a sophisticated or very honorable thing to do", but that he wasn't angry, and that "if we'd wanted to, we could have turned off Platz's microphone or stopped his people from distributing their literature. But what the heck, we let them have their fun."[6] The IFBB warned that it wouldblacklist bodybuilders who joined the WBF, and ban them from their competitions.[1][6]
The WBF offered multi-year contracts of at least $100,000 per year, in addition to the prize money that would be offered at its events.[1][2] During a press event on January 30, 1991, at New York City'sPlaza Hotel, McMahon announced the WBF's inaugural roster of 13 bodybuilders, and that the organization's inaugural championship would be held as a PPV on June 15, 1991, inAtlantic City.[1][2] The roster included a number of IBFF regulars, includingDanny Padilla andTony Pearson,[1] whileFlex reported that the WBF's three-year contract with South African bodybuilderGary Strydom was valued at $400,000 per year.[1][2]
In an effort to compete with the WBF, the IFBB increased the top prize ofMr. Olympia 1991 to $100,000. Its 1991 Night of Champions event featured an opening skit mocking the WBF, with its competitors destroyingtombstones engraved with the names of the WBF's roster.[5]
Despite assurances by Platz that the WBF would not attempt to mix traditional bodybuilding competitions with professional wrestling,[5] the WBF would ultimately featuresports entertainment elements. Members of its roster were promoted as "WBF BodyStars" (in a similar fashion to the WWF marketing its performers as "Superstars"), givenring names such as Tony "The Jet Man" Pearson, and had entrance videos during competitions which showcased theirkayfabe persona.[5][8]
WWF television programming was used tocross-promote the inaugural WBF Championship, with segments that featured the WBF roster and wrestlers such as"Macho Man" Randy Savage cuttingpromos for the event.[5][2] In turn, both the WBF and WWF would be used as a marketing platform for the ICOPRO supplement system.[5]
The 1991 WBF Championship would be held at theTrump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. It was co-hosted byRegis Philbin and WWF managerBobby "The Brain" Heenan, with guest appearances byMiss Elizabeth and Randy Savage. The competition would consist of two mandatory pose rounds, followed by an "entertainment" round, which consisted of pre-recorded skits in kayfabe that concluded live on-stage.[5] Gary Strydom would win the competition, receiving the WBF Championship title and a prize of $275,000.[5]
The PPV was met with mixed reviews: some critics praised its high production values and emphasis on the competitors' personalities, but felt that its use of sports entertainment gimmicks drew too many comparisons to wrestling.[5][1]
In June 1991, shortly after the WBF Championship, former WWF ringside doctorGeorge Zahorian wasconvicted of illegally supplying anabolic steroids to multiple WWF wrestlers. The WWF would introduce a drug testing policy shortly afterward.[9][10][11]
In a bid to boost mainstream interest in its competitions, the WBF announced in August 1991 that it would sign bodybuilder andThe Incredible Hulk starLou Ferrigno. The contract was reported to be valued at $900,000 per-year.[12][2] In an interview onThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Ferrigno stated that he was attracted to the WBF for his return to competitive bodybuilding because it had the "strictest drug testing in all of professional sports."[9] Despite claiming prior to its 1991 championship that steroid testing would be used, the WBF did not actually perform any tests during the competition.[9]
WrestlerLex Luger departed the WWF's main rival,World Championship Wrestling (WCW), to co-hostWBF BodyStars—a weekly WBF television series that aired onUSA Network.[13] Luger was interviewed duringWrestleMania VIII to promote the WBF, and was scheduled to make a guest appearance posing at the 1992 WBF Championship on June 13 inLong Beach.[14][5] Promotional material for the event initially billed Ferrigno as a top contender for Strydom's WBF Championship title.[2]
In March 1992, McMahon announced that the WBF would begin conducting drug testing; Titan Sports hiredMauro Di Pasquale to oversee the drug testing programs for both the WWF and WBF.[5][15] TheWrestling Observer Newsletter wrote that in a company meeting discussing the changes, "most of the guys freaked out about being told to give up all their drugs just three months before a contest, despite many willingly spouting the drug-free company line." Ferrigno quit the WBF shortly afterward, without ever competing in its events; although he legitimately cited an upcomingcarpal tunnel surgery as reasoning, it was observed that "the idea of competing without drugs, as he was so proudly talking of onCarson months earlier, apparently wasn't even considered as an option". Ferrigno would later compete atMr. Olympia 1992.[9]
Promotion of the 1992 WBF Championship onWBF BodyStars subsequently and repeatedly emphasized the "drug-free" nature of the event. This was despite the fact that many of the participants would fail drug tests in the weeks leading up to the event, resulting in fines and six-week suspensions that reduced morale.[9][5] In their bookSex, Lies, and Headlocks,Shaun Assael and Mike Mooneyham wrote that in betweenBodyStars' monthly tapings, the competitors "stayed home, taking copious amounts of drugs to stay in shape while Vince was running around telling America his company was drug-free."[13] Some of the competitors relied on Di Pasquale'sketogenic "Anabolic Diet" as an alternative to steroids.[5]
The 1992 WBF Championship was co-hosted by Platz, McMahon, and Heenan, with WWFring announcer"Mean" Gene Okerlund joining them as theemcee.[8] Luger was injured in a motorcycle accident prior to the event, resulting in him being interviewed from a hospital bed during the PPV rather than making an on-stage appearance.[16][5] The event would see Gary Strydom win his second consecutive WBF Championship.[16][5] Most of the competitors were relatively out-of-shape due to their drug-free regimens, a fact which was frequently acknowledged by McMahon in his commentary;[5][8] theWrestling Observer Newsletter noted that "while the idea of promoting a show where the majority of participants had recently failed a steroid test as drug-free on the surface was both ludicrous and fraudulent, the funny thing is, when show time came, it appeared that in the preparatory period for the show among the crew, there was less steroid use than at any contest of that level in recent years."[9]
The 1992 WBF Championship received only around 3,000 pay-per-view buys.[5] Just over a month later on July 15, 1992, McMahon phoned the IFBB's co-founders Ben andJoe Weider to tell them that the WBF would be disbanded, and asked them to allow the WBF members to rejoin the IFBB.[5] The IFBB would allow WBF members to re-join after paying a $25,000 fine; at its 1993 Night of Champions event, an opening skit referencing the 1991 event featuredDorian Yates "resurrecting" the WBF bodybuilders, who emerged fromcoffins and destroyed their own tombstones.[5]
After the dissolution of the WBF, Lex Luger made his first official WWF appearance atRoyal Rumble in 1993.[17] The same year,McMahon would also be indicted by theFBI for his role in the WWF steroid scandal.[18][10][11] In 2018, Strydom commented that despite the dissolution of the WBF, McMahon still paid him in full for the last year of his contract.[19]
In an induction of the 1992 WBF Championship,WrestleCrap commented that the show was "two of the silliest hours in the history of live sports",[8] and that "watching a WBF event was like watching a WWF event, if a WWF event consisted only of the wrestlers’entrances and the participants got paid substantially more per year."[8]
In 2019,Bruce Prichard remarked that ICOPRO's strong association with the WBF, and the complexity of the system, were likely factors in its market failure. He explained that "the ICOPRO system was where people would often times get confused, as it wasn't just like a protein powder, it was a system. It was you take that supplement here, you take that supplement here, you take that supplement while you're working out at peak time, put this horrible tasting shit under your tongue. It was complicated." However, he did admit that theprotein bars were "excellent".[20]
For a period after the WBF's dissolution, WWF programming continued to regularly feature advertising for the ICOPRO system. This included segments sponsored by the brand, ICOPRO banners displayed in venues, wrestlers being seen wearing ICOPRO shirts, and commercials featuring WWF performers such asBret Hart,Razor Ramon, andThe Steiner Brothers.[21] WWE has occasionally referenced ICOPRO during events paying homage tothe 1990s, such as the ICOPRO banner being displayed insideManhattan Center during theRaw25th anniversary special in 2018,[22]Adam Cole starring in an ICOPROparody commercial duringNXT TakeOver: In Your House in 2020, and an ICOPRO sponsorshipbumper airing during a "throwback"SmackDown in May 2021.[23][24]
