|
Bob
Remus first got into wrestling when a reporter friend
told him about a story he was doing on Verne Gagne's wrestling
camp. After a grueling try-out, Remus was told that he
was welcome to come back. Remus had been bit by the
wrestling bug and he eventually ended working for Gagne in the
American Wrestling Association (AWA) initially as Bob Remus
and later on under a mask as Super Destroyer Mark II. Super
Destroyer II was managed by Lord Alfred Hayes until Bobby Heenan returned to the AWA and II
turned on Hayes to join Heenan.
In 1980, Remus entered the World Wrestling
Federation as Sgt. Slaughter, a brutal ex-Marine drill
instructor. He battled some of the WWF's top babyfaces
including Andre the Giant, Bob Backlund, and Pat
Patterson.
Sgt. Slaughter then appeared in Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling (MACW) where he won the United States
Heavyweight Championship in a tournament, defeating Ricky
Steamboat in the final. During his time in MACW,
Slaughter would challenge wrestlers to break out of his Cobra
Clutch, a feat accomplished by few competitiors. Slaughter
feuded with Wahoo McDaniels over the U.S. Title.
Slaughter escalated the feud by destroying McDaniel's prized
headdress and keeping several of the feathers as a trophy of
what he had done. Slaughter would drop the belt to Wahoo
but regained it when McDaniel was unable to defend the
belt in the mandatory 30 day period.
During his time in MACW, Slaughter took two
preliminary wrestlers under his wing and put them through an
intense training program transforming Don Kernodle and Jim Nelson into Private Kernodle and
Private Nelson. Nelson and Kernodle would go on to win
the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship two times under
Slaughter's leadership.
Shortly after losing the U.S. Heavyweight
Championship, Slaughter teamed with Don Kernodle to win the
National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) World Tag Team Championship
in a tournament in Japan after defeating Giant Baba and
Antonio Inoki in the finals (The tournament never
happened). Slaughter and Kernodle held the belts for
several months with Steamboat and Youngblood in hot
pursuit. During one match it seemed as if Steamboat and
Youngblood had finally defeated Slaughter and Kernodle but the
referee restarted the match after it was apparent that
Slaughter's foot was on the rope during the pin. After
the match started, Slaughter and Kernodle injured Youngblood
when Slaughter delivered his clothesline off the top
rope. The injury only encouraged Steamboat and
Youngblood to try harder though. No doubt sensing that
it was only a matter of time before the team scored a victory,
Slaughter agreed to a title match with the stipulation that if
Steamboat and Youngblood lost the match, they could never
wrestle as a team again. Steamboat and Youngblood agreed
and they faced off against Slaughter and Kernodle in a bloody
cage match which saw Steamboat and Youngblood finally defeat
Slaughter and Kernodle. Slaughter and Kernodle
challenged them to a rematch (in a cage) in Toronto, Ontario
but they were unsuccessful in regaining the belts.
Slaughter also wrestled in Maple Leaf
Wrestling where he won the NWA's Canadian Heavyweight
Championship from Angelo "King Kong" Mosca. Slaughter
held the belt for six months before losing it back to
Mosca.
After dropping the NWA Tag Team Championship,
Slaughter returned to the WWF where he challenged Bob Backlund
again for the WWF Heavyweight Championship. Slaughter
continued to brutalize WWF babyfaces until January 1984 when
he confronted the Iron Sheik
about his anti-American comments. The former Marine had
heard enough of the Iron Sheik bashing the United States and
he soon found himself in a brutal feud with the former WWF
Heavyweight Champion. The two battled in arenas
everywhere including a famous series of matches in Madison
Square Garden (MSG) that culminated in a Boot Camp
Match. Slaughter's went from hated heel to one of the
most popular babyfaces in the WWF.
 |
In the November 1984 issue of
Pro Wrestling Illustrated, Sgt. Slaughter affirmed his
belief in the American way of life and promised to make
the world of professional wrestling safe for
democracy. Over the next few years, Slaughter
would battle foreign wrestlers bent on destroying the
American way of life such as Nikolai Volkoff, Boris
Zhukov, and Colonel DeBeers.
|
Around the time of his feud with the Iron
Sheik , Slaughter took another preliminary wrestler under his
wing. Terry Daniels became Private Terry Daniels and
soon found himself being challenged by Nikolai Volkoff, a
fearsome heel from the Soviet Union. After Volkoff
brutalized Daniels, Slaughter fought Volkoff. Despite
his training, Daniels did not prove to be as successful as
Slaughter's previous trainees, Nelson and Kernodle.
Slaughter's career in the WWF ended
abruptly after a dispute with Vince McMahon. Slaughter
left the WWF for the AWA where he was promoted as one of their
top babyfaces. The AWA even created a title for
Slaughter, the Americas Championship. Slaughter's popularity
was also recognized by Hasbro Toys as Slaughter appeared in
the G.I. Joe cartoon and he had his own action figure!
Slaughter continued to wrestle as a super patriotic
wrestler, battling foreign menaces such as Boris Zhukov and Colonel DeBeers. Slaughter also
competed for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship but he was
unable to win the belt.
In 1990, Sgt. Slaughter shocked the wrestling
world when he came back to the WWF and allied himself with
General Adnan, an Iraqi heel. This happened while the
United States was contemplating military action against Iraq
after it invaded the nation of Kuwait. Slaughter became
an Iraqi sympathizer and smashed his way through the WWF's
babyface roster.
Finally, in 1991, Slaughter received a title
shot against the WWF Heavyweight Champion the Ultimate Warrior
at the Royal Rumble Before the match began, Randy "Macho King" Savage attacked the
champion to the point where the Ultimate Warrior had to crawl
to the ring for the match. Amazingly, the Ultimate
Warrior rallied back until the "Macho King" blasted a ruby
scepter over the Warrior's head giving Slaughter the opening
he needed to clinch his win.
 |
Sgt. Slaughter's dramatic
heel turn sent shock waves through the world of
professional wrestling. The on air depiction of
Sgt. Slaughter supporting the nation of Iraq during the
first Gulf War was widely criticized by fans.
Nonetheless, the angle continued through the summer of
1991months after coalition forced had repulsed Iraq from
Kuwait. The April 1991 issue of Pro Wrestling
Illustrated (left) examined Slaughter's betrayal and
fans' reaction to
it. |
As WWF Champion, Sgt. Slaughter taunted the
WWF's babyfaces and continued his anti-American
rhetoric. Fans and WWF officials began to worry that
Slaughter might take the title to Iraq and never return.
Tired of Slaughter's tirades and ready to liberate the
WWF Championship, Hulk Hogan
challenged Slaughter to a title match. By this point
in time, the United States had taken military action against
Iraq and Slaughter's anti-American rhetoric had earned him
numerous death threats. At one point, the WWF hired
armed guards to protect Slaughter's family after someone
threatened to blow up Slaughter's home. Slaughter then
declared war on Hulkamania, bringing in Colonel Mustafa
(the Iron Sheik), and burning the Hulkamania
flag (rumor has it that Slaughter was going to burn a U.S.
flag but Vince McMahon wisely backed off on that idea after
people began to complain about the tastelessness of running
the Iraqi sympathizer angle during combat operations)
When Wrestlemania rolled around, fans were eager to see
Slaughter lose the title. Slaughter brutalized the
Hulkster during the match but Hogan was determined to win the
WWF title back. After a brutal match, Hogan was
victorious and the WWF title had been liberated. However
the war with Slaughter was far from over. After the
match, Slaughter ambushed Hogan as he was returning to the
dressing room and threw a fireball in his face.
The war with Slaughter
continued into the summer of 1991. At SummerSlam, Hogan
teamed up with the Ultimate Warrior to battle the Triangle of
Terror: Slaughter, Mustafa, and Adnan. Slaughter had lost
the match and he began to realize that he had lost far more
than just the match. He had lost his fans and his
country.
WWF fans began to see
vignettes aired of Sgt. Slaughter appearing at famous U.S.
landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty. During the
vignettes, Slaughter reconnected with his patriotic side and
asked the fans' forgiveness, telling them, "I want my country
back". Always willing to forgive, the fans took
Slaughter back and he resumed wrestling as a
babyface.
Slaughter retired from
active duty but he remained active behind the scenes. At
one point, Slaughter acted as commissioner of the WWF, even
stepping into the ring with Hunter
Hearst Helmsley after the antics of Degeneration X got out
of control. Slaughter continues to work for World
Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as an agent. In 2004,
Slaughter's achievements were recognized with induction into
the WWE Hall of Fame. If the circumstances call for it,
Sgt. Slaughter will come out of retirement to step into
action. Recently, Slaughter challenged Chris Masters to escape from his Cobra
Clutch. As Masters found out, Slaughter's best days may
be behind him but he is still someone who should not be
underestimated.
| 
