"He eats T-bone steaks. He lifts barbell plates. He's sweeter than German chocolate cake. He's the reflection of perfection. The number one selection. The woman's pet, the man's regret. What you see is what you get. And what you don't see is better yet. He's the man of the hour, the man with the power. He's too sweet to be sour. And believe me, baby, he is bad to the bone. He is Superstar Billy Graham!"

This was how pro wrestler Triple H introduced Superstar Billy Graham when he inducted him into the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Hall of Fame in 2004. Actually Triple H was using a vintage rap and rhyme that Superstar was famous for over 30 years ago when he was the top drawing attraction in what was then called the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). The life of Superstar Billy Graham (Wayne Coleman in reality) is a true roller coaster ride in both his wrestling career and personal life.

With his new autobiography "Tangled Ropes", the Superstar takes us along for a ride in the roller coaster car behind him as we experience the high highs and low lows of this colorful, controversial, and creative individual.

Superstar Billy Graham's tag team partner in this book writing project was co-writer Keith Elliot Greenberg, who along with Superstar has created a well written, no punches pulled account of a guy who comes clean about his life in and out of the ring. Superstar is quite candid and in a humbled way admits his mistakes and asks forgiveness from those who he treated poorly. He's a man who was given a new lease on life in 2002, when with little time left on this earth, Superstar received a life sustaining liver transplant. Billy feels he was given a second chance at life for a reason and he is determined not to blow it.

Wayne Coleman was born in Phoenix, Arizona on June 7, 1943, the youngest in a working class family with four children. Wayne's father, Eldridge John Coleman, was afflicted with Multiple Sclerosis but he was a creative guy who passed this talent on to Wayne who from the time he was in grammar school to the present day expressed his artistic talent by drawing and painting.

Wayne was introduced to bodybuilding by his older brother Vance who took him to a gym when Wayne was only in the fifth grade. He was immediately bitten by the muscle bug and covered his room with magazine photos of Steve Reeves, John Grimek, and other stars of the era.

While Vance was serving in the Korean War, Wayne decided to make his own weights by cleverly forming various size barbell plates out of cement. When Wayne was fifteen his father bought him a membership to a real gym. This early training paid off for Wayne as he became an outstanding high school athlete specializing in the shot put. At 6' 4" and 210 pounds Wayne was big for his age and started hanging around with older kids who were always looking for a fight. It was during this time that one of his buddies encouraged Wayne to enter the 1959 Golden Gloves. He made it to the finals but lost on a split decision.

Unfortunately Wayne dropped out of North High in his Junior year to the disappointment of his coaches and others who saw his potential being wasted. Yet Wayne remained very serious about bodybuilding and won the 1961 West Coast Mr. Teenage America. It is interesting to note that Frank Zane won the East Coast version of this title the same year.

Around this time Wayne was about to embark down a road that would have a profound influence on his life. He was approached by born again Christians who saw his photo in a muscle magazine and felt that he needed saving. At first Wayne and his family didn't know what to think, but he went along with it and after a while developed a real interest in evangelism. With his natural-born gift of gab, "Brother Coleman" began preaching in the Pentecostal churches of the South and Southwest. He was as full of the Holy Ghost as you can get and worked hard to perfect his new craft.

After a few years on the preaching circuit Wayne said he could no longer control his carnal desires and he began to move away from the Lord. A quick translation of this would be that he dug the chicks and it would not be cool to not practice what he preached. So Wayne decided to do something new and moved to the Big Apple, New York City, where he got a job as a bouncer at the Metropole Café. It was then that he decided to give professional boxing a try and enlisted the help of trainer Gil Clancy who also coached Emile Griffith. Clancy got Wayne a three-round fight on Oct. 21, 1966 at Madison Square Garden with a fellow named Willis Miles. During the first two rounds Wayne knocked Miles down three times and was ahead on points, but in the third round Miles caught Wayne with a giant straight right that knocked him silly. Wayne lost in a TKO. After this experience Wayne became disenchanted and left New York City on a Greyhound bound for Phoenix. Wayne wasn't ready for the Big Apple quite yet, however this would all change in a few years down the road.

Back on familiar ground in Phoenix, Wayne was now twenty six and hitting the gym seriously. Steroids were legal in those days and most of the top guys were using them. It didn't take Wayne long to follow their lead and soon his compulsion for anabolic steroids began. At this time Wayne got a job bouncing at a Phoenix club called J.D.'s and...oh yeah, I almost forgot...he got married for the third time. Like the first two marriages, his third didn't last long either.

Wayne was getting stronger and stronger and earned quite a reputation as an arm-wrestler at J.D.'s. He would often make a few bucks on the side every time a mark would challenge him. One of the other bouncers, a guy by the name of Bob Lueck who was also a starter for the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL, suggested to Wayne to try out for the 1967 season. He made the team but was quickly traded to the Montreal Alouettes. Wayne claimed that he was a mediocre player and toward the end of the year was let go. Then another friend encouraged Wayne to try out for the NFL Oakland Raiders. He made the 1968 preseason squad but before the season began, he tore his Achilles tendon and was released from the team. Wayne also tried out for the Houston Oilers but didn't make the team either. It seems that pro football was just not Wayne's bag. He then got a job working as debt collector for some Las Vegas casinos with his territory being mainly Arizona.

In late 1968 Wayne was getting bored with Phoenix and headed to Los Angeles and Gold's Gym where he met the "Blond Bomber" Dave Draper, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Colombu and others. He said that Arnold and Franco spotted him when he bench pressed 605 pounds. Wayne also said that Arnold was different from him in that he had definite goals, while Wayne was still searching to find his niche.

Around Christmas 1969 Wayne received a phone call that would change his life and send him in a totally new direction. Bob Lueck, the same guy who persuaded him to try his hand at pro football, called Wayne to see if he would be interested in giving pro wrestling a shot. Bob was wrestling during the football off-season in Calgary, Canada mainly to make some extra cash and to have some fun. Wayne figured that he had already been a bouncer, evangelist, boxer, pro football player, and debt collector, so why not add pro wrestler to the list. Although Wayne hadn't watched wrestling since he was a kid and had no wrestling experience, he was off to Canada just after New Year's Day in 1970. Bob set Wayne up with Stu Hart who was the patriarch of Canadian wrestling and known as the "Mentor of Mayhem". After only five days of training Stu figured Wayne was ready for the Squared Circle and he could learn the rest on the job. To familiarize him with the fans Stu came up with the idea of Wayne offering an arm-wrestling challenge to the crowd. Anybody who could beat him would get $500. Well, no one did. And that was on the real side.

Wayne was befriended by wrestling veteran Abdullah the Butcher (Larry Shreeve) who taught Wayne a lot about the business while he was honing his craft in the Canadian Territory. In short time Wayne grew tired of the cold Canadian winters and lack of gyms for a good workout. He also knew that to go further in the business he needed some kind of gimmick. After paying his dues in Canada, Wayne headed for home base in warm Phoenix.

Back at his bouncing gig at J.D.'s, Wayne's life would take another twist when he bumped into wrestling legend Dr. Jerry Graham at the club. "The Good Doctor" along with his ring "brother" Eddie Graham (the real life Eddie Gossett) were huge bleached blond heel headliners in the late 1950s and early 1960s for northeast promoters Vince McMahon, Sr. and Toots Mondt. Wayne mentioned to Dr. Jerry that he was now in the business and just got back from Calgary working for Stu Hart. Upon hearing this the gears started turning in "the Good Doctor's" head and he concocted a plan to run wrestling shows on Indian reservations in Arizona. Wayne knew that Dr. Jerry was prone to alcoholic binges and bouts of mental illness but he went along with his bizarre plan nonetheless, which by the way, turned out to be hugely unsuccessful.

It was at this point that Wayne came up with the gimmick that would transform his life. Wayne and Dr. Jerry would resurrect the bleach-blond heel Graham brothers and would wrestle as a tag team like the Golden Graham Brothers of years past. Because of his evangelical background, Wayne decided to name himself Billy Graham after the famous reverend. Wayne Coleman had now transformed himself into Billy Graham, a name that would stick with him throughout his career.

The Graham "brothers" began working for Los Angeles promoter Mike LeBell in August 1970 at the famous Olympic Auditorium. LaBell begrudgingly let the guys work on the condition that Billy take full responsibility for the Good Doctor's actions. The partnership had been successful for several months but Dr. Jerry was fired for bad behavior and Billy continued for a few months on his own. With his run in the L.A. area being pretty much over, Billy headed north to the San Francisco area in January 1972. Roy Shire was the promoter in the territory and some of the big names were Ray Stevens, Pat Patterson and High Chief Peter Maivia (the Rock's grandfather). Pat Patterson and Billy were even the NWA Tag Team Champions for eight months. Billy was also dressing like a hippie with tie-dyed shirts, fringed leather vests, head bands and beads. He learned a lot during his year long San Francisco stay, but following that he was off to Hawaii for seven weeks working for promoter Ed Francis.

In 1972 Billy returned to the Los Angeles area and started working for promoter Mike LeBell again. At this point Billy was taking large quantities of steroids and painkillers. It must be remembered that steroids were not illegal at this time and no one really knew about their long term health damage. However, this would all catch up with Billy later on down the road.

Billy also renewed his friendship with Arnold Schwarzenegger while he was back in the L.A. area. Arnold was preparing for his third Mr. Olympia and Billy offered his services as training partner. After the workouts the two would hang out with each other going to lunch and to the beach for tanning. Billy said that Arnold consistently maintained a cheerful demeanor and would always be laughing and joking. Once when Billy's car had been vandalized by fans, Arnold offered his services by driving Billy's fourth wife, Madelyn, and their newborn child Capella home from the hospital. Billy said that the only other man he's ever met with the same focus and drive was WWE wrestling promoter Vince McMahon, Jr.

Let's fast forward several years for some career and personal highlights. Billy works for Verne Gagne in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) out of Minnesota and also is wrestling in Texas. He does this for about three years before he gets a call from Vince McMahon, Sr. to come to work for the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) out of New York. By this time Billy had perfected his jive talking rhymes and ring persona. His ring attire was a combo of punk rock and pop art. He once wore a t-shirt with Marilyn Monroe's picture on it and told Vince McMahon, Jr. during an interview that, "Marilyn Monroe looks her best when she is sitting on the Superstar's chest." Oh yeah, I almost forgot...Billy was now using the name "Superstar". He was inspired by the song "Jesus Christ Superstar" from the rock opera and movie. Billy officially would be known as Superstar Billy Graham from now on.

Superstar decided to enter the 1975 WBBG Pro Mr. America, which was a legit contest sponsored by bodybuilding promoter Dan Lurie. Billy didn't win but took first place in the "Best Developed Arms" category.

Probably one of the most important events of Billy's life was when he met and married his fifth wife Valerie. They were married on July 1, 1978 and Valerie turned out to be Billy's true soul mate. Believe me, if the Pope decides to canonize anyone into the sainthood any time soon, Valerie should be at the top of the list because of all that she put up with. Valerie is the real Superstar of Billy's life.

Definitely the most important event of Superstar's career was when he won the WWWF title on April 30, 1977. As preordained he would lose to Bob Backlund on February 20, 1978. The high highs of being the champ turned into low lows and a state of depression after his loss of the title. This went on for many years and Billy seemed to lose himself and lacked a sense of purpose. He continued to wrestle on and off for about 11 years but things were never the same as the Superstar Billy Graham era of the 1970s. His drug problems became worse and after a while his health deteriorated and Billy was no longer able to wrestle. In fact, his health became so bad that he received a life saving liver transplant on October 18, 2002. His donor was twenty-six year old Katie Gillroy who was killed in a car accident. Billy and Valerie have become close with Katie's family and he thanks her every day for saving his life.

Billy feels that he has been given a second chance at life for a reason. He says that he used to look at life in terms of squandered probabilities. But now he sees life as boundless opportunities and the writing of this book tells his story of struggle, disappointment, perseverance, and redemption. Billy says that his story shows the power of the human spirit to triumph and is a testament to the mysteries of life.

In conclusion, I think that "Tangled Ropes" is a great read with many anecdotes and stories not only from Billy, but from personalities such as Vince McMahon, Jesse Ventura, Ivan Koloff, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, Ric Flair, Harley Race, Dusty Rhodes, Steve Strong, Arnold Schwarzenegger and many others.

Also, check out www.superstarbillygraham.com which has been created by a talented webmaster by the name of Steve Slagle. This is a terrific website that contains many photos and features that immortalize the career of Superstar Billy Graham.