| Sgt. Slaughter | |
|---|---|
| Ring name(s) | Sgt. Slaughter[1] Super Destroyer Mark II[1] Bob Remus[1] Bob Slaughter[1] The Executioner[1] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 305 lb (138 kg)[2] |
| Born | August 27, 1948 [1] Parris Island, South Carolina[1] |
| Resides | Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Billed from | Parris Island, South Carolina[2] |
| Trained by | Verne Gagne[1] |
| Debut | 1972[1] |
Robert Remus[3] (born August 27, 1948), better known by his ring name Sgt. Slaughter, is an American former WWE personality and semi-retired professional wrestler. From the late 1970s to the early 1990s, Slaughter had success in the National Wrestling Alliance, American Wrestling Association, and World Wrestling Federation.
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Sgt. Slaughter held numerous regional titles early in his career and experienced his first major success in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) capturing the NWA World Tag Team Championship with Don Kernodle. During the late 1970s, Remus worked the American Wrestling Association (AWA) territory under a mask as Super Destroyer Mark II with managers Lord Alfred Hayes and Bobby Heenan.
He then signed with the WWF and was pushed as a heel. Between 1980 and 1981, Slaughter wrestled in the WWF under the guidance of the Grand Wizard. He quickly rose to the status of number one contender on the strength of his "cobra clutch" challenges where he would seat wrestlers in a chair in the ring, and apply the hold, offering $5000 to anyone who could break it. He would eventually face Bob Backlund for the World Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Championship across the WWF territory in 1980, earning two-or-three main event matches in most markets. Slaughter was the only WWF-based challenger not to do the honors for Backlund at MSG (Backlund defeated him at the Meadowlands, but never in the Garden). Slaughter then engaged in a feud with Pat Patterson, which stemmed from Slaughter calling Patterson "yellow" and offering him $10,000 (double the usual amount) to try to break the cobra clutch. Patterson accepted on television and was escaping from the hold when Slaughter released it and put a beat-down on Patterson, starting a hot feud which culminated in an "Alley Fight" in New York City's Madison Square Garden between the two that is widely regarded as the best "hardcore" match of the Kayfabe era. In late 1981, Slaughter joined Mid Atlantic Wrestling and won the NWA United States Heavyweight Title and the NWA World Tag Team Titles with Don Kernodle. Upon returning to the WWF-again with the Grand Wizard as his manager- in 1983, Slaughter was a top contender to Bob Backlund's WWF Championship. However, his career took off after he turned face and defended America's honor against the hated Iron Sheik in 1984. Slaughter and the Iron Sheik engaged in many matches throughout 1984, culminating in a boot camp match which took place before a sold out Madison Square Garden that summer. However, with the emergence of Hulk Hogan as the WWF Champion and lead face within the company, Slaughter left for the AWA. On Vince McMahon's McMahon DVD, Slaughter said he was fired by McMahon in Toronto after no-showing an event in protest of McMahon's refusal to give him six weeks of paid vacation. Other interviews with Slaughter and McMahon have revealed that Slaughter left the company more over a dispute that emerged due to the WWF not allowing Slaughter's role in the G.I. Joe toy line. At the time of his departure Slaughter was easily the second biggest "face" in the company, surpassing "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka, and even André The Giant, with his popularity rivaling that of Hulk Hogan's.
He received a considerable push in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) throughout 1985 and 1986, becoming the AWA America's Heavyweight Champion, defeating Larry Zbyszko shortly after his arrival. He defended the title against wrestlers like Zbyszko, Kamala, Boris Zukhov, and Nick Bockwinkel (before the belt was retired) and feud with Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissey and his stable of wrestlers, the Road Warriors, and Col. DeBeers. He even challenged Stan Hansen for the AWA title. He was also involved in the short lived Pro Wrestling USA Promotion. This was a brief attempt at pulling together the remaining wrestling talent to go up against the rising WWF. Slaughter in this company won a large 25 man battle royal by eliminating Kamala, winning the right to challenge Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
In 1988, Slaughter returned to wrestling in the AWA, resuming some of his past feuds with the likes of Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissey, the Iron Sheik, and Col. DeBeers. He also became a top contender to the AWA World title during Larry Zbyszko's reign in 1989 and was a team captain for the AWA's ill-fated Team Challenge Series during the first half of 1990. The AWA even teased fans with Slaughter appearing to win the World title from Zbyszko live on ESPN, only to have the decision reversed on a technicality (a booking practice the AWA had been employing for years).
In the summer of 1990 Slaughter returned to the WWF, but shortly after making his televised return, Slaughter's gimmick as that of a patriotic American soldier was turned upside down, when his character temporarily turned against America to become an Iraqi sympathizer.[4] Slaughter announced he was disgusted with his country, claiming America had "gone soft" for accepting the Soviet Union's Nikolai Volkoff, (Volkoff, in Slaughter's absence, had recently split from his tag partner Boris Zhukov, then turned face and embraced America, due in part to the fall of the wall). Slaughter aligned himself with a kayfabe Iraqi military general, General Adnan, and entered a feud with Volkoff (which saw Slaughter win the majority of their encounters at house shows), leading to a match at that year's Survivor Series which saw The Alliance (Volkoff, Tito Santana, and The Bushwhackers) defeat The Mercenaries (Slaughter, Boris Zhukov, and The Orient Express).
It was reported that while Slaughter was portraying a turncoat, he had received numerous death threats and could not go anywhere in public without wearing a bullet-proof vest and had to be surrounded with security personnel at all times.
Slaughter captured his only WWF Championship at the 1991 Royal Rumble, defeating The Ultimate Warrior following a run-in by "Macho King" Randy Savage. He thus became the thirteenth WWF Champion, but lost the belt in a match against Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VII. Slaughter soon introduced his newest ally, Colonel Mustafa (The Iron Sheik, Slaughter's old nemesis). Slaughter and company went on to feud with Hogan for months, including having a three-on-two handicap match at SummerSlam 1991, which saw the team of Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior prevail over Slaughter, Adnan, and Mustafa.
After finishing the Hogan feud, Slaughter became a face again, appearing in vignettes next to American landmarks, saying "I want my country back."[2] During an episode of Superstars, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan was under attack from The Nasty Boys, and Slaughter made the save. Duggan and Slaughter teamed up to defeat the Nastys and continued to team over the next several months. Slaughter quietly disappeared from WWF TV following a loss to Nailz in October 1992.
After a hiatus, he returned to WWF television on the August 4, 1997 episode of Raw is War to assume the role of on-air commissioner. Initially popular, he eventually became the target of D-Generation X, who called him "Sgt. Slobber". On an episode of Raw is War, he put Shawn Michaels and Triple H in a match for Michaels' European Championship. Michaels dropped the belt to Helmsley, by lying down in the ring. Slaughter challenged Triple H to a Boot Camp match at the December pay-per-view, which he lost. His feud with Triple H continued into WrestleMania XIV where he handcuffed himself to Chyna to prevent her from interfering in Helmsley's match against Owen Hart. Slaughter's efforts ultimately proved futile as Chyna threw powder in his eyes, interfered in the match anyway, and hurled Slaughter into the front row.
When Vince McMahon turned heel in 1998, Slaughter, along with Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson, became the on-screen lackeys of McMahon; running errands for him and dishing out punishment to McMahon's rivals, namely Stone Cold Steve Austin. In late 1998, Slaughter relinquished the role of commissioner to Shawn Michaels and largely disappeared from television.
Slaughter still appeared from time to time in the ring, mostly at house shows. He appeared on Raw to put over younger wrestlers, such as Kurt Angle and Randy Orton. Slaughter also made an appearance at WrestleMania X-Seven, in the Gimmick Battle Royal, which was won by The Iron Sheik. Slaughter got his revenge after the match by locking the Sheik in the cobra clutch. He also appeared on both Raw and Smackdown on occasion during the Invasion storyline in non-wrestling roles, usually in conjunction with Vince McMahon.
He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on March 13, 2004, the night before WrestleMania XX by long-time friend Pat Patterson.
He made a special appearance on the June 13, 2005 edition of Raw to challenge Chris Masters in his "Master Lock Challenge", which Slaughter lost. Then, he returned again on the December 5, edition of Raw, where he and Michael Hayes confronted Edge. He also appeared on the July 4, 2005 episode of Raw for a "Diva Boot Camp" segment, as a part of the 2006 Diva Search Competition.[5]
He re-appeared on the October 2, edition of Raw, defeating Nicky from the Spirit Squad with a roll-up when D-Generation X distracted him from up on the Titantron. Slaughter appeared on the October 23 Raw in the corner of Ric Flair as he faced Kenny of the Spirit Squad. After Kenny cheated to gain the victory, Slaughter, Dusty Rhodes, and Roddy Piper cleared the tag champions from the ring. Slaughter was one of three options between himself, Roddy Piper, and Dusty Rhodes that fans could vote for as a tag partner for Ric Flair at Cyber Sunday 2006, but did not win the vote. At Survivor Series 2006, Slaughter teamed with Flair, Ron Simmons, and Dusty Rhodes to take on four members of the Spirit Squad in a Survivor Series match. Slaughter was eliminated in the match, but his team won, with Flair as the sole survivor.
On December 18, 2006, Slaughter participated in a 30-Man Battle Royal for a chance to face John Cena in the main event for the WWE Championship, but he was eliminated from the match and did not get the title shot. At the Vengeance: Night of Champions pay-per-view in June 2007, he faced Deuce 'n Domino for the WWE Tag Team Championship, alongside Jimmy Snuka. They were unsuccessful in their attempt for the titles. He challenged Randy Orton on the July 30, edition of Raw, only to become another victim of the "Legend Killer", and was wheeled out on a stretcher. On Raw XV, the 15th-anniversary WWE Raw special on December 10, 2007, Slaughter participated in the 15th Anniversary Battle Royal. On March 31, 2008, on an edition of Raw, Slaughter paid tribute to long time friend Ric Flair at the end of the show. He appeared on Raw's 800th episode in Kung Fu Naki's dance off and also made an appearance in the Slammy Awards.
Slaughter, who had been working as a producer for WWE for the past several years, was released from his backstage producer duties with the company on January 13, 2009.[6] He remains with the company on a limited basis as an ambassador.[4][7] He was the special guest host on Raw on August 10, 2009 where he made fun of Canadians and saying how the USA is the greatest country in the world. He made an appearance on the Decade of SmackDown on October 2, 2009 where he had an altercation with the Iron Sheik about which country was the greatest, USA or Iran.
Sgt. Slaughter's official website announced that the former WWF champion has signed a new deal with World Wrestling Entertainment as their "Ambassador". Slaughter will be doing goodwill work for the company, including appearing at WWE AXXESS. He also recently appeared as a lumberjack during a Raw match. Slaughter also appeared in action for the first time in many years on the November 15, 2010 "old school" episode of RAW, losing to Alberto Del Rio. On the 2011 Capitol Punishment PPV, Slaughter made a cameo appearance with a lookalike of Barack Obama (who in reality is Reggie Brown). On a special July 4th episode of RAW, during an interview, he said he was going to lead the fans in the Pledge of Allegiance, but Jack Swagger disagrees. He says no one is more deserving than him to lead the fans. They later had a match, which he lost with a roll-up from Swagger. After the match, Swagger was chased out of the ring by Evan Bourne, leaving Slaughter to lead the fans in the Pledge of Allegiance. On December 13, edition of WWE Tribute to The Troops, he returned to accompany Zack Ryder to defeat Jack Swagger then sent a Cobra Clutch to Swagger.
Fictionalized versions of Sgt. Slaughter were part of the G.I. Joe toyline, cartoon and comic books, as a member of the G.I. Joe team and first appeared in the five-part TV episode entitled "Arise, Serpentor, Arise!" Along with the traditional merchandising of WWE superstars, Sgt. Slaughter is one of only a few real people to be immortalized as a G.I. Joe figure, (among the others being NFL football player William "The Refrigerator" Perry, pro-wrestler Roddy Piper, and astronaut Buzz Aldrin), and even appeared in G.I. Joe: The Movie. Slaughter also appeared twice as a special guest on The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, which starred fellow wrestler Captain Lou Albano.
During the mid-1980s, Sgt. Slaughter released a full length LP, Sgt. Slaughter and Camouflage Rocks America. It featured a number of original songs, including "The Cobra Clutch," as well as a cover of Neil Diamond's "America."
A brief cross promotional stint in the late 80's had Sgt. Slaughter and his "battling battalion" pit against the Big Foot Monster Truck in a tug-of-war challenge. It is featured on Blood, Sweat, & Gears USHRA home video. This stunt was recently attempted again with Sgt. Slaughter using fans from the crowd at a Monster Truck show to tug-o-war with the Bear Foot Monster Truck.
In the animated series Code Monkeys, Slaughter appeared as Sgt. Murder. He and Bulk Brogan (Hulk Hogan), "Manly Man" Ricky Ravage (Randy "Macho Man" Savage), and Sergei the Giant (André the Giant) were hired by a video game company to take on their rivals. His brother, Tommy Murder, was killed by "The Black Shadow", who was actually Black Steve, the company's accountant.
He appeared on episode #3.6 of Comedy Central's Tosh.0, when he clothes lined Daniel Tosh and put David Wills (a.k.a Youtube's "Crying Wrestling Fan") in a Cobra Clutch during Wills' "Web Redemption" segment.
It is rumoured that Sgt. Slaughter will appear in a cameo role in the new GI Joe: Retaliation movie as himself.