Sgt. Slaughter On Why He Started Feuding With Ultimate Warrior, Vince Turning Him Heel, NXT, More
The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling interviewed 2004 WWE Hall of Fame Inductee and former WWE Heavyweight Champion Sgt. Slaughter this week. During the interview, Sarge talked about his controversial departure from the WWE amidst the launch of the Rock N' Wrestling Era, how the crowds of the Mid-Atlantic area compared to those of Madison Square Garden and more. You can download and listen to the full interview by clicking here, they sent us the following highlights:
Reaction to the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event and sitting first row:
"It was pretty incredible. I was kind of set-back myself a little bit because there was so much energy in the audience and the performers. A lot of them I didn't know as well as I do the WWE Superstars and I've gotten to know more of The Divas because there are so many of them. Getting out there and seeing not many of the WWE Superstars there, some were wandering around but it was like NXT's own little private show to the public and I was just incredibly entertained. To be asked to go out at ringside and watch one of the matches was a great honor to be a part of that, that first inaugural Brooklyn, New York type style of match. It brought me back to when I first went into the ring in Allentown, Pennsylvania or Madison Square Garden and Baltimore, Philadelphia all the fans appreciation of knowing how hard they work in there and really enjoy being entertained. When you give them something that they really enjoy they make you go harder and harder and put out more then you thought you could."
Crowd reactions to stories being told in ring:
"Fans are mostly the same wherever you go. They are going to get behind you whether you are the hero or the villains. It's the way you come across, your character it's just really nice to see that the fans are getting back into it and that they can be told a story. It makes it so much easier and so much fun for the villains and the heroes to tell the stories and have people that want to watch those stories and continue to watch them."
Memories of the Mid-Atlantic Territory:
"Well, there was so many of them. Ricky Steamboat, Jay Youngblood, my partner at the time Don Kernodle probably had some of the greatest matches ever witnessed in tag team action. The match we had in Greensboro, North Carolina, a cage match for the titles, they still claim that it is one of the greatest matches of all time because they never had tag matches in a cage before. Back then, we didn't have pay per views we had closed circuit and I kept trying to get Crocket Promotions to rent the building next door and do closed circuit. Sixteen – twenty thousand people were turned away and that's a lot of people who want to see a match so it meant a lot and it's still very close to Don and I. I see Steamboat once in a while and he always mentions that match."
His infamous Boot-Camp match with Pat Patterson being a precursor to the Hardcore style:
"It was hardcore before there was hardcore and we didn't know what we were getting into. I just talked to Pat Patterson about it at SummerSlam. It was one of those matches that he says is the greatest of his career and the whole magic about the match was that there is no referee. When you go in and try to have a match without a referee it's pretty difficult, especially to hold the fans and keep them on their feet and interested in the match. How do you stop a match like that? We just kind of went out and battled from the time I stepped onto the apron and we started fighting and the blood, the sweat and the tears I was battling for everything I had and all of a sudden I see this towel go flying into the ring and was so upset because I wasn't done. They finally had sent officials out there to stop the match and I really didn't lose, but it really propelled Sgt. Slaughter to be the bad-ass guy that he is today and that he never quit even though he was bleeding half to death. It really propelled me to the next step which was facing the Iron Sheik and defending America."
Returning to WWE and being pitched the "Iraqi Sympathizer":
"I am in the business of entertaining. As I said earlier I couldn't do the first six WrestleMania's because I was with Hasbro and G.I. Joe and I was kind of setback that I wasn't with the WWE and had kind of hurt feelings and I didn't really watch much of the shows. But, I did watch WrestleMania 6 from Toronto, Hogan vs. Warrior. The next day I sent a handwritten note to Vince McMahon saying I watched the pay per view and it wasn't so much the match that I thought was good but his production. I thought his production could not be topped by anybody that I had ever seen. About two weeks later I get a call from Vince and he said "seeing if you are done with G.I. Joe because I've got an idea for you". I thought he was going to take G.I. Joe: "The Real American Hero" Sgt. Slaughter and make him "The Real Real Real American Hero" with all of his ways of doing it but he had other ideas. So he laid out this huge piece of cardboard that was painted up and it was the LA Coliseum and it could hold 104,000 fans and he said I want to fill this up at WrestleMania 7 and I want you to help me do it."
How he ended up facing The Ultimate Warrior and winning the world title:
"Vince started laying out this idea of me coming back as an Iraqi Sympathizer and eventually working to Hogan and I to be the main event. I was gung-ho and I wanted to do it immediately. We started on our way and it did get pretty rough out there with the death threats and the bomb threats. When I first started out they brought me back nice and slow and let people digest it that I just came off G.I. Joe and now he's anti-American and he's going for Iraq, what was going on? So we worked hard at it and Macho Man Savage and The Ultimate Warrior were in a rivalry and The Macho Man broke his hand and Vince came to me and said we are going to switch gears, I'm going to put you with the Warrior and Sherri will be your manager and get you through until Randy heals. So Hogan kind of disappeared and we went on with the Warrior and at that time Randy and Warrior were almost to the Steel-Cage match part of their story-line so I had to get in shape pretty quick for The Warrior and we battled and battled and finally in Miami I took the title from him and started on our way to Hogan and the LA Coliseum and 104,000 fans. The night after I took the title from Warrior the acid was really poured on the fire and there was no looking back at that point. It really started getting rough out there."
Sgt. Slaughter also goes into great detail over the health and well-being of his family being threatened during the build to WrestleMania 7, the massive efforts it took to pull off his hatred of the USA, the origins of his patriotic attire, and more. You can download and listen to the full interview by clicking here.