- Won the WWF World Heavyweight Championship on April 30, 1977 in Baltimore, Maryland by defeating Bruno Sammartino.
- WWE Hall of Famer.
- In 2002, had a succesful liver transplant. He filmed an episode of WWE Confidential and was certain it would be his last television appearance. Less then a month later, a woman named Katie Gillroy died in a car accident. Her liver was donated to Billy and his life was saved. When he was inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame, he shared the honour in her memory as he felt without her, he would not have been there to accept it.
- Was the inspiration for the characters portrayed by Hulk Hogan, Jesse "The Body" Ventura and Scott Steiner.
- Played pro football for nearly three years with the Houston Oilers and Oakland Raiders before entering wrestling.
- A devote Christian, he took on the name Billy Graham as a wrestler in dedication to the world renowned preacher.
- In 1977, he battled Harley Race in the first ever NWA vs. WWWF World Title Unification match. The two world champions wrestled to a bloody one-hour draw.
- Returned to wrestling in the late-80s as the manager of "The Rock" Don Muraco (not to be confused with the present version of The Rock, Dwayne Johnson), but retired shortly afterwards.
- Lost the WWF World Heavyweight Championship to Bob Backlund on February 20, 1978 in New York City, New York.
- Was trained by Stu Hart in Calgary's famous Hart Family Dungeon.
- Notable Title Wins: NWA Hawaiian Heavyweight title (1974); NWA Florida Heavyweight title (1976); NWA Florida Tag Team title (with Ox Baker); Southern Heavyweight championship (1977); World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWE) championship
- Published author.
- The godfather to his daughter is Arnold Schwarzenegger.
- Match of the Year (1977) vs. Bruno Sammartino on April 30.
- IWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time).
- NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Ox Baker.
- Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum - Class of 2009.
- NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida version) (1 time).
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version) (1 time) - with Pat Patterson.
- NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (2 times).
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter - Best Pro Wrestling Book (2006) with Keith Greenberg.
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter - Most Washed Up Wrestler (1982).
- Match of the Year (1978) vs. Bob Backlund on February 20.
- CWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time).
- Ranked No. 277 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003.
- Pro Wrestling This Week - Wrestler of the Week (June 1-6, 1987).
- NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship (1 time).
- NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Texas version) (4 times).
- WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2004).
- WWWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time).
- Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (1973).
- On May 16, 2023, it was announced that he was on life support and was having "very serious health issues".
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