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Sgt. Slaughter Interview

Posted: Aug 25th 2006 By: CMBurnham

Sergeant Slaughter is one of the most fondly remembered wrestlers of all time. Known for his patriotic persona and drill-sergeant attire, as well as his battles with the hated Iron Sheik, Slaughter won the WWF world title, the NWA United States heavyweight title and the NWA tag team title, with Don Kernoodle. Also, any boy born sometime before 1984 probably remembers that he was immortalized as a GI Joe action figure. The 6-foot, 3-inch native of Parris Island, S.C., will be in Buffalo on Sunday for an event that has become a local end-of-summer tradition: the Ballpark Brawl at Dunn Tire Park. Gates open at 2 p.m., and the bell will ring at 4 p.m. for the wrestling event, now in its seventh year. Wrestlers at the charity battle will include Samoa Joe, Low Ki, Teddy Hart, Colt Cabana, Delirious and former Buffalo Bill Monty Brown.

While the Sergeant is not scheduled to wrestle, he will be appearing and signing autographs. It will be a special day for the legend - it's his birthday, and organizers are planning a special celebration, along with some surprises. Slaughter chatted with us about his fans, his action figure, his persona and his many accomplishments, in and out of the wrestling ring.

Chris Schoubert: Is it exciting for you to see young fans at events such as the Ballpark Brawl?

Sgt. Slaughter: It's fun to see. The younger fans, their parents were fans of mine. "This was my hero when I was growing up." It's just kind of cool to see that people who were my fans when I was young are mothers and fathers now. It's kind of a generation thing. It says a lot about your character, and the way you presented yourself. I've never been afraid of being a role model. It's been a good career for me; I've been doing it for 32 years.

CS: Many fans remember your GI Joe action figure. How did that come about?

SS: It's really cool, I was the only GI Joe who was a live-action person. Hasbro came to me and said, "You're the guy we want as our spokesperson," which means you must be doing something right. They did some research on me and saw I'm not a bad guy; I don't smoke, don't drink. That's part of my character.

CS: How did you come by the nickname Sergeant Slaughter?

SS: I always thought I'd be a professional football player. But my parents couldn't afford to send me to school, so I thought I'd join the Marine Corps. I got the nickname in the Marines from a Parris Island buddy, who came to me one morning and said, "Hey, Slaughter!" I said, "What?" He said, "You're Sergeant Slaughter. I saw you on TV last night." He said Jackie Gleason was playing a character named Sergeant Slaughter [in the film "Soldier in the Rain"], and it stuck.

CS: Besides appearing at wrestling events, what are you up to today?

SS: I still work for WWE. One of my jobs is finding new talent. That's one of the nice accomplishments. I've discovered quite a few stars of today: the Undertaker, Yokozuna, the 1-2-3 Kid. There are guys who were already wrestling, but didn't have any way of getting into the major leagues. The rest is history. ... I just wish I was 20 years younger! Although I still put the tights on. I stay in pretty good shape. I feel like there are 70 percent of them I could still whip.