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Sgt. Slaughter stars in TRP show Saturday, in Veteran's Day Parade this Sunday

Posted: Nov 9th 2012 By: CMBurnham

If one were to consider candidates for best feud in professional wrestling history, the star of Saturday?s Top Rope Promotions wrestling show at the PAL and grand marshal of this Sunday?s Veterans Day parade in Fall River would be a name on the short list.

Previously a longtime villain, Sgt. Slaughter (real name Bob Remus) saw his wrestling career skyrocket when he clashed with the U.S.-bashing Iron Sheik. It was 1984 and anti-Iranaian sentiment among Americans, born during the hosrtage crisis of 1979-81, still simmered. A former U.S. Marine drill instructor (six years in the Corps prior to his wrestling career), Slaughter in a matter of minutes became the biggest hero in pro wrestling after he and the hated Iron Sheik got into a jawing match as the pair met in a narrow walkway from the ring to the locker room during a World Wrestling Federation television taping in Allentown, Penn.

Within a week, Slaughter said during a phone interview on Tuesday, he was receiving loads of fan mail and military-related items fans were asking him to sign. On the week?s next TV telecast, Slaughter led the fans in the pledge of allegiance. The house shook.

He and the Sheik engaged in a serious of wildly popular matches in packed arenas across the country. Just like that, Slaughter had become, many still argue, more popular than Hulk Hogan, who that same year had returned to the then World Wrestling Federation to win its championship ? from the Iron Sheik.

?It was the right time, the right place,? Slaughter said. ?I was 305 pounds at the time. I was able to drop kick. And the Iron Sheik was as tough as they come.?

Slaughter said the idea for his change from heel (bad guy) to babyface (good guy) to teach the Sheik a lesson was his own. But he had to convince the WWF McMahons, father Vince and son Vince, who was taking control of the company.

?You had the Iron Sheik from Iran, the hostage situation, the Blackhawks (ill-fated helicopter hostage rescue attempt) going down, and no one guy going after the Iron Sheik,? Slaughter said. ?Hulk Hogan never fired a gun. I told them I?m the guy. Vince Jr., you could see the wheels turning.?

The elder McMahon, Slaughter said, preferred to keep the Sarge as a villain. But the younger Vince persuaded Dad to relent.

Slaughter said the McMahon?s didn?t tell anyone else about the plan and they left it to the ex-DI to pick the time, place and method to start the lucrative feud. When it happened the Iron Sheik, a seasoned pro in the ring, would be left to react. Surprise, Slaughter said, was a strategy the McMahon?s liked to use.

As the Slaughter-Sheik confrontation unfolded during that television show taping, the Iron Sheik?s manager Fred Blassie ? a real U.S. military veteran then going by the title Ayatollah Blassie ? knew something very special was being born. Slaughter said he could see it in Blassie?s eyes. ?He knew it was a money maker,? Slaughter said.

Slaughter said McMahon told him he had become even more popular than Hogan. ?He said, ?You don?t need to be champion. You have the United States of America on your side.?
Ironically, Slaughter?s extraordinary popularity soon led to his departure from the WWF. Hasbro approached him about becoming its first living GI Joe. The McMahons had a deal with a rival toy manufacturer. Knowing it would end his run with the WWF, Slaughter chose to go with Hasbro and began wrestling in the now defunct American Wrestling Alliance.

?He (McMahon) understood,? Slaughter said. ?I had to do what was best for me and my family. So I missed the first six Wrestlemanias.?

Slaughter had become a hero beyond the scope of the zany world of pro wrestling. He and his wife were invited to a Republican political event in Washington D.C. where President Ronald Reagan was speaking. During the evening, Slaughter was ushered to a room to meet a big fan, the president himself. Slaughter said Reagan offered both to do a push-up and then to have
the Sarge place him in his signature choke-sleeper move, the Cobra Clutch. The Secret Service, Slaughter said, convinced the president not to proceed with either plan. Slaughter said he did end up with a signed copy of Reagan?s speech from that night.

Slaughter did not return to the WWF until 1990, and his return came with a major character alteration. Iraq, with its invasion of Kuwait, had usurped Iran as America?s Middle East enemy and Operation Desert Shield was in effect. Vince McMahon went for the big shock by bringing back Slaughter as an Iraqi sympathizer.

Before he agreed to the role, Slaughter said he has serious discussions with his wife and children. He said his wife told him, ?You?re out of your mind. But we went for it. A lot of rough things happened. We went on full board.?

The cartoon world of pro wrestling started producing a frightening reality. GI Joe turning into Sadaam Hussein?s BFF, didn?t sit well with some, who apparently didn?t realize it was all a show, or thought it was a show in unacceptably poor taste.

Death threats, against Slaughter and his family came into WWF headquarters. Very serious security measures followed.

One night at Madison Square Garden, Slaughter met with two FBI agents and an armed services rep who convinced him to wear a lightweight bullet-proof vest in the ring, something he did for more than a month.

Slaughter said he had three or four rental cars destroyed, prompting the McMahon?s to restrict his auto transportation to limousines.

He stopped disembarking from his flights via the regular air terminal route, instead taking stairs off the plane and basically sneaking through the airport. Instead of arriving at an arena hours before his match, as most wrestlers do, Slaughter said he would stay at his hotel before taking a limousine to the arena, arriving just before his matches, generally held right before intermission. After his match, he was whisked away to the airport for his flight to the next town.

Slaughter?s commitment to his Iraqi sympathizer character had its limits. He said one writer suggested a promo where Slaughter would burn an American flag. ?The writer was dismissed,? Slaughter said. ?I would never burn the American flag.?

When the war with Iraq broke out, it was time to terminate the sympathizer character which had a brief run as the WWF champion. Slaughter pleaded for his country back and was welcomed back by the fans.

These days, Slaughter serves as an ambassador for McMahon?s WWE. He was recently at Bethesda Hospital where he met with 14 soldiers, all victims of land mines. One of them had lost three limbs.

?I cried when I left,? he said.

He will be in his ambassador/talent scout mode at the TRP show on Friday. He said he keeps his eyes open for new talent. TRP has no shortage on young ones willing to shoot for the stars.

Tickets for Saturday's show are priced at $13 general admission, $18 ringside, and $25 VIP front row (includes gift). Slaughter said folks in these parts know good wrestling when they see it and he?s excited about taking pictures, signing autographs and putting fans in the Cobra Clutch.

The doors open at 5 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m. For tickets or more information, call 508-525-1866 or visit www.facebook.com/topropepromotions.

Sunday?s Veterans Day parade, which runs on South Main Street from Kennedy
Park to Government Center, starts at 2 p.m.