One of the sport’s most recognizable figures.  From the GI-Joe Figure that sported his
likeness, to his position on the cartoon show, Slaughter was, and continues to be an icon
for children.  Slaughter combined his outside the ring persona with his in-ring attitude.  
The “drill” sergeant.  Slaughter was always out of for the good of the sport, fighting the
“bad guys.” Until he changed his post in late 1990, Slaughter has always been one of the
fan’s favorites.  He will always be remembered as a hero.  Slaughter still portrays
credible authoritative roles in the wrestling circle.  He has also competed as Bob
Slaughter.

Slaughter is a former WWF World Champion and two-time NWA United States
Heavyweight Champion.  He served in the Marine Corps and was a drill sergeant prior to
making his professional debut in 1975.  Early in his career, he appeared in the Central
States Region after leaving Minneapolis.  Slaughter captured the heavyweight title of that
region in January 1977 and later dropped the title to Ted Oates in St. Joseph on
February 4, 1977.  He regained it a week later in the same arena and also traded the
belt with Bob Brown before losing it to Ted DiBiase.

In 1980-’81, he competed in the World Wrestling Federation and was managed by the
Grand Wizard.  Slaughter received a Madison Square Garden WWF Title shot in late
1980.  Arnold Skoaland attacked Slaughter with a steel cane, protecting Bob Backlund’s
championship.  Many thought Slaughter was very close to winning the match and the
belt.  He received a slight concussion in the process.  Slaughter left the WWF and
signed on with the NWA in the Mid-Atlantic Territory, Jim Crockett Promotions.  He took
the NWA Canadian Heavyweight Title from Angelo Mosca Sr. later in the year.

Slaughter won a 16-man, single-elimination tournament in Charlotte on October 4, 1981
over Rick Steamboat to capture the vacant NWA United States Heavyweight Title.  A
huge accomplishment.  He remained the champ until May 21, 1982 when he lost the belt
to Wahoo McDaniel in Richmond, Virginia.  McDaniel no-showed a defense against
Slaughter on June 7th and officials awarded the belt back to Slaughter.  On August 22nd
in Charlotte, Slaughter lost a match to McDaniel and thus saw the U.S. Belt disappear
once again.  He toured Austria and parts of Europe.

In 1983, Slaughter returned to the World Wrestling Federation and remained there until
1985.  From there, he went to Minnesota for the AWA.  Slaughter, wrestling alone after
his partner, Jerry Blackwell, pulled out because of injury, won the New Jersey tag team
battle royal at the Meadowlands Arena on February 24, 1985.  The event was labeled
“Star Wars ’85.” Afterwards, the staff sergeant was presented with a $100,000 check
from Verne Gagne.  Slaughter captured the AWA Americas Heavyweight Title from Larry
Zbyszko in Chicago on June 21, 1985.  In Chicago at Comiskey Park on September 28th,
Slaughter beat Boris Zukhov by disqualification.

He remained in the territory for several years before traveling back to the WWF in the
late ‘80s. Shocking the sport of professional wrestling, Slaughter turned his back on the
fans in 1990 after his attack on patriot Nikolai Volkoff.  Their feud culminated in a
Survivor Series match on Thursday, November 22nd in Hartford, Connecticut.  He
teamed with the Orient Express and Boris Zukhov, losing to Nikolai Volkoff, the
Bushwhackers and Tito Santana.  He dominated a good portion of the match.  Slaughter
eliminated Volkoff by pinfall, then pinned both of the Bushwhackers before being
disqualified.  Santana, the only man remaining on the team of fan favorites, won.

Tensions began to rise in the Persian Gulf and Slaughter backed Iraq.  He immediately
became the most hated man in the organization.  Slaughter changed his look and began
wearing desert uniforms and waved the Iraqi Flag.  He took Colonel Mustafa, formerly
known as the Iron Sheik, and General Adnan as advisors.  The former Marine began
receiving real world death threats.  On January 19, 1991, he achieved the biggest
accomplishment of his career.  He appeared in Miami for the Royal Rumble and
challenged the Ultimate Warrior for the WWF World Heavyweight Title.  After 12:47,
Slaughter pinned the Warrior and captured the World Championship.  Randy Savage
had interfered earlier in the match, using his scepter on the defending champion.  
Whether you look at the details or not, Slaughter was the World Champion of the WWF.

The war overseas escalated and the United States firmly backed their military heroes.  
The nation came together as one.  Promotions for WrestleMania began and the WWF
locked in the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles.  They expected to exceed it’s WrestleMania III
turn-out, but to protect Slaughter’s safety, officials moved the event to the indoor Sports
Arena.  Slaughter’s antics teased emotions from the young to old, which said a lot for his
abilities, but in the case of real life military action, many were left with a bad taste in their
mouth.

“Superstars and Stripes Forever,” WrestleMania VII, was held on March 24th before an
estimated 15,000 fans.  Slaughter was defending his WWF World Crown against the
most popular wrestler in the world, Hulk Hogan.  He lost the belt.  America had won the
war, both overseas and in the wrestling ring.  Slaughter had been stopped.

The Warrior defeated Slaughter on April 6th in Tokyo at the Tokyo Dome.  Despite
losing the belt, the gimmick continued into the main event of SummerSlam on August
26th in New York City.  He teamed with Mustafa and Adnan against the Ultimate Warrior
and Hogan in a special handicap match.  Sid Justice was the guest referee.  He was
pinned by Hogan.

After months of being a heel, Slaughter asked for forgiveness from the fans on
September 28th. Some responded, some didn’t.  Only time would tell.  He teamed with
the popular Kerry Von Erich, Jim Duggan and Tito Santana on November 27th in Detroit
for the Survivor Series.  They battled Mustafa, Berzerker, Hercules and Skinner.  He
pinned Mustafa to open the match and later eliminated Skinner.  All four of their team
remained at the end.  Slaughter pinned Mustafa again on January 11, 1992 at the
Philadelphia Spectrum.   By this time, the fans were in full support of their hero.  
Slaughter was once again, their man.  Before an estimated 17,000 fans in Albany, he
participated in the Royal Rumble on January 19th.  The match was for the vacant WWF
World Title.  Slaughter did not win and Ric Flair ousted Sid Justice for the championship.

On April 5, 1992, WrestleMania VIII took place in Indianapolis.  More than 60,000 fans
were present to see Slaughter team with Duggan, the Big Bossman and Virgil against
The Mountie, Repo Man and the Nasty Boys.  Virgil pinned Brian Knobbs for the victory.  
It was a more successful WrestleMania appearance.  Slaughter went into semi-
retirement.  In the years that followed, he was named to the WWF Commissioner position.

The Slaughter-DX War began on November 10, 1997 during a live edition of Raw from
Ottawa, Ontario.  He went to the ring and announced that the new WWF World
Champion, Shawn Michaels would wrestle Ken Shamrock at a later date, but that Hunter
Hearst Helmsley would wrestle the “Worlds Most Dangerous Man” later that night.  
Needless to say, Helmsley had a negative response.  During the bout, Slaughter played
a pivotal role.  First, he stopped a pinfall count, which was shown the next week due to
the fact that the show had run over it’s scheduled time-frame, and continued the match.  
Helmsley had hit the referee.  Then, he counted a three-count as Shamrock covered
Michaels for an unofficial victory.  Fans were overjoyed.  A week later, DX called
Slaughter to the ring.  Both sides had words before the commissioner slapped Helmsley.  
Members of the group proceeded to attack Slaughter.  He later announced that Helmsley
had crossed the line and that he would come out of retirement to face him at the
December pay-per-view.  The show was held on December 7, 1997.  Slaughter wrestled
Helmsley in a special “Boot Camp” match.  He was defeated.

Into 2000, he continued to support different charitable organizations throughout the
world.  The 2nd Annual Sgt. Slaughter Celebrity Golf Invitational was held during the
weekend of May 31st and June 2, 2001 at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Miami,
Florida.  The 2000 event raised $20,000 for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  
He also took some independent dates as a wrestler during the summer.

Slaughter is a legendary figure.  His status as a hero leaves no dispute.

TITLE HISTORY:
-A three-time NWA Central States Heavyweight Champion
        -Defeated Unknown (1977)
        -Defeated Ted Oates (1977)
        -Defeated Bob Brown (1977)
-Co-holder of the NWA World Tag Team Title (1982) w/ Don Kernodle
-A two-time NWA United States Heavyweight Champion
        -Defeated Rick Steamboat (1981) tournament final
        -Awarded (1982)
-AWA/ NWA Americas Heavyweight Title (1985-’86) defeated Larry Zbyszko
-WWF World Heavyweight Title (1991) defeated The Ultimate Warrior

Research by Tim Hornbaker
Sergeant Slaughter Wrestling History
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