Backlund was born in Princeton, Minnesota, in 1949. During his freshman year, Backlund was an All-American in both football and wrestling (191 lb [87 kg], finishing third) while at Waldorf Junior College in Forest City, Iowa. During his sophomore campaign, Backlund focused on wrestling and once again earned All American Honors (190 lb [86 kg] and national runner-up). Backlund was an amateur wrestler at North Dakota State University, winning the Division II NCAA Championship at 190 pounds in 1971.

On the 15th Anniversary episode of Raw on December 10, 2007, Backlund participated in the 15th Anniversary battle royal, along with 14 other wrestlers from Raw's 15-year history. Backlund was eliminated from the match by Skinner.  On the July 9, 2012 episode of Raw, after Heath Slater's match with Sin Cara, Slater issued a challenge to any "past champion" as part of a weekly series of Legend appearances. Backlund emerged from backstage to answer this challenge and, as Backlund entertained the crowd, Slater kicked him in the stomach and mocked him; Backlund responded by putting Slater in the crossface chickenwing, which he refused to break for 20 seconds after Slater had tapped out. He later appeared on Raw 1000 with all of the other Legends who had faced Slater over prior weeks, helping chase Slater back into the ring when he tried to run away from Lita and the APA.  Backlund was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 6, 2013 by his friend Maria Menounos, and was acknowledged onstage with the year's other inductees at WrestleMania 29.  Backlund made an appearance on the October 7, 2013 episode of Raw, unsuccessfully attempting to canvass votes in order to become the special guest referee for the WWE Championship match at Hell in a Cell; Shawn Michaels later won a public vote and was named as the special guest referee. However, Backlund did appear in a segment at Hell in a Cell together with The Prime Time Players, where they played WWE 2K14. Since April 2014, he has served as an ambassador for WWE.  On the May 5, 2016 episode of SmackDown, Backlund would be approached by Darren Young, who asked Backlund to be his life coach, at which Backlund agreed, vowing to "Make Darren Young Great Again". Over the next several months, various vignettes featuring Young and Backlund aired, with Backlund assuming the role of Young's life coach. In a "life lesson" segment on the July 4 episode of Raw, Backlund approved of Young adopting his famous Crossface chickenwing. On the July 11 episode of Raw, Young would win a battle royal to become the number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship. At Battleground, Young faced The Miz in a match that resulted in a double-countout after he applied the Crossface Chickenwing to Miz outside the ring to protect Backlund from Miz and Maryse. On July 19 at the 2016 WWE draft, Backlund and Young were drafted to Raw. In early 2017, after Young got injured, Backlund has ceased appearing on TV while his client recovers. On October 29, 2017, Young was released from WWE, ending the storyline. Backlund's profile on the Raw roster page on WWE.com was removed soon afterwards.

Did he win?
Backlund was eliminated from the match by Skinner.