elliott

Fuerza Guerrera & Blue Panther & Negro Casas vs El Hijo del Santo & Gran Hamada & Yoshinari Asai (Hamada's UWF 1990) Is there a more talented rudo team in history? No way. This is a short and awesome match. Everyone looks fantastic but especially Santo & Casas. Their chemistry is so magical. Fuerza vs Hamada looks like a terrific matchup and Fuerza looks like his typical awesome self. But he's more of a background player and as Santo & Casas take center stage & kick fucking ass as usual together. Fuerza Guerrera & Blue Panther & Negro Casas vs Super Astro & Kendo & Kato Kung Lee (Hamada's UWF - 1990) Short and forgettable. Fuerza Guerrera & Canelo Casas & Jacques Mate vs Ciclon Ramrirez & Octagon & Rafaga Azul (EMLL - 1/26/90) I think this is a really interesting one to watch for the purposes of this project. In most of the previous matches Fuerza is in there looking amazing but there's usually someone or two or more people in the match that we know are just awesome workers. El Dandy, Blue Panther, Santo, Emilio, Casas etc. Here's a match where Fuerza is in there with a bunch of guys who aren't all that interesting at this point. If you'd neve seen a Fuerza match before and I showed you this one and said "He's the great wrestler confident in his abilities" you'd be able to pick him out easily. He's just so comfortable as a performer and is doing something constantly....sometimes its a huge thing or sometimes its a little tiny thing in the background. Seriously even when hes in the background he's doing these little subtle things that you might not even notice unless you're watching him. But it shows he's in the performance every time. This is a pretty average match all around and Fuerza's performance is notable if only for the fact that its not really a notable performance and he still looks this good and puts thought into every moment he's out there. Fuerza Guerrera & El Hijo del Gladiador & Comando Ruso vs Mogur & Chamaco Valaguez & Remo Banda (2/4/90) I liked this a lot. The match is building to a Ruso vs Banda match so Fuerza isn't the focal point but he still manages to look like a world class performer. Beautiful back and forth sequences, comedy spots, crazy bumps, this is another example of Fuerza shining as a background player. Fuerza Guerrera & Herodes & Emilio Charles Jr vs Ringo Mendoza & Cachorro Mendoza & Kung Fu (2/23/90) What a rudo team that is! Wow! THis is a really good all action match. Fuerza is great in these trios matches. Very consistent. He gives you some good comedy and some crazy fast rope running and back and forth grappling sequences in these more technical matches and then when he needs to brawl he can bring the violence too.

Umaga? For the rest of it I would ask hOw much of this comes down to booking? Can you cite some examples of what youre thinking about?

Fuerza Guerrera vs El Hijo del Santo vs Rocky Star vs All Star (EMLL - 12/1/89) The 4 way part of this is pretty goddamn awesome brawling match. There's a lot going on so this isn't a match for someone new to Lucha, but if you're familiar with the style and tropes its really good. The Fuerza vs Santo matchup is particularly great and you really just want to see a matchup between these two. But its not to be. This leads to a singles match between Fuerza vs Rocky Star. It starts with Fuerza taking a huge bump into the seats so you forget all about Santo vs Fuerza. FUerza vs Rocky Star is good. Bloody hard hitting, lots of drama. I feel like its missing that extra gear to put it really over the top, but its very good. Fuerza's not doing any of his comedy really because he's in a war. Fuerza Guerrera vs El Hijo del Santo vs All Star (Mask vs Mask vs Mask - EMLL - 12/8/89) Starts off as Fuerza vs Santo for 8 minutes and it is absolutely fantastic. Fuerza's ability to switch gears and go from stoogey stumbly wumbly to 100mph tumbling routines is fucking incredible. He has the widest range per minute of anyone I can think of. He can in one section go from violent to hilarious to uber athlete in the blink of an eye and be completely comfortable at all of it. We get our first Crane Kick on the top rope and face plant and it is fucking tremendous. One of the greatest spots in the history of wrestling. Great matchup. Fuerza gets the win that leads to Fuerza vs All Star. Fuerza gets the jump on him & beats the shit out of All Star right away to try and get the quick win and keep his mask safe. All Star's first quebradora that cuts him off has Fuerza sell in a hilarous way. He sort of throws a lil tantrum before selling the pain like he's frustrated he didn't get the quick win. Kinda subtle if you can believe it but its there. All Star starts really up the violence & rips at Fuerza's mask & bloodies him. Fuerza cuts him off with an absolutely enormous punch. Like make you stand up off your couch sort of punch. Incredible. Its super dramatic and Fuerza is just desperate at this point. He eats a slingshot and tries to sell a low blow but the ref isn't going for it. Match continues to pick up in drama and intensity. Fuerza is a bloody mess. Great selling. Fuerza hits an absolutely killer back elbow off the top rope. He somehow gets outta there with the win. Fuerza is fucking awesome in this match. Santo vs All Star is really good considering probably no one thought Star stood a chance. Well worth your time.

OK you convinced me and I watched a 2000 match from Sunday Night Heat and it was pretty fucking awesome for a 5 minute squash. Slaughter busts out a ton of offense and Funaki bumps like an absolute lunatic. Sarge doesn't bump at all, but he annihilates Funaki. Fun match.

I didn't end up watching any of the super past his prime stuff. I ended it on that HHH match because I told Grimmas I was gonna watch all the Slaughter and they were like "LOL THERE'S A 17 MINUTE HHH MATCH!" so I figured I was committed at least until that 3 minutes against Randy Orton from 2007 is asking too much though

Fuerza Guerrera vs Aguilar Solitaria (EMLL - 12/18/88 or 6/2/89) This is a title match. FIrst two falls are good but really missing that extra gear. I think Fuerza overall looks sharp but I wasn't very impressed with Aguilar. He's a little slow and pretty dull. We get our first Fuerza pointing at his groin complaining of a foul spot after he splats face first on the mat after a slingshot. Taht was fun. 3rd fall is also kinda missing the mark. The drama just isn't there so after a nearfall that sees the crowd barely react, Fuerza starts interacting with them more. First he chants Aguilar's name & gives a big thumbs down. Then he slams Aguilar on one side of the ring and climbs the opposite turnbuckle and makes a big deal about how Aguilar is too far away. So the crowd starts laughing. Fuerza jumps down, slams Aguilar again & climbs the closer turnbuckle, and leaps off only Aguilar moves. Crowd laughs again and now theyre more into it reacting a little more to the nearfall roll up attempts. Smart way to reengage the crowd during a disappointing match. After this the match really picks up and has a hot finishing stretch with an awesome finish. Fuerza Guerrera & Egipcio & Hijo del Gladiador vs El Dandy & Apolo Dantes & Mogur (EMLL - 5/19/89) Good not great match overall but pretty damn awesome when Fuerza & Dandy are in there together. You get a little bit of the full Fuerza experience. Theres some brawling, some comedy & some fast workrate sequences. This is more brawl heavy than anything so thats what we see the most of and Fuerza is good at it. So far the only people I've seen on Fuerza's level are 1986 Negro Casas & 1989 El Dandy. Good company. Fuerza Guerrera & Blue Panther & Emilio Charles Jr vs Atlantis & Super Astro & El Faraon (EMLL - 8/18/89) Fantastic trios match. Fuerza looks awesome and there's a spot where hes standing on the apron and Atlantis runs over & slaps him. Fuerza's sell & bump to the ground is utterly spectacular and one of the (many) highlights of this match. Seriously these are some of the best wrestlers ever and they all look awesome. If you're a fan of lucha but haven't seen this one, you gotta check it out! Fuerza Guerrera & Hijo del Gladiador & Blue Panther vs Huracan Jr & Blue Demon Jr & Black Shadow Jr (EMLL - 10/13/89) I enjoyed this one a lot. First fall in particular is spectacular, but I think this is one to highlight more for a Blue Panther project than a Fuerza one. Fuerza looks great as usual but he's more of a background player while BLue Panther takes the wheel in the ring. Terrific stuff. Fuerza GUerrera & All Star & Rocky Star vs El Hijo del Santo & Super Astro & Blue Demon Jr (Ruleta Rusa - EMLL - 11/24/89) This is a 6 person battle royal & is real fun. Short and sweet. Fuerza steals the show with one of the best near eliminations you'll see and then a totally spectacular elimination. This one is all the evidence we need that Fuerza would've been a great Royal Rumble performer.

The thought of Fuerza Guerrera taking a young Juventud to see Karate Kid and it inspiring his wrestling career is just wonderful

Fuerza Guerrera & Talisman & Jerry Estrada vs El Hijo del Santo & Ringo Mendoza & Chamaco Valaguez (EMLL - 3/9/84) Fuerza comes in the ring against Chamaco but Fuerza confidently calls out Santo. So Santo comes in and Fuerza calmly steps out of the ring. Beautiful. Fuerza actually dominates Santo early with hard punches & kicks. Great looking strikes. Fuerza & Chamaco end up in the ring together and Fuerza brings him in for a tender handshake & hug but then Fuerza just knees the shit out of Chamaco's knee. Punch sends Chamaco outside and Santo comes in but Fuerza holds up the hand telling him to STOPPPP. But Santo doesn't and he & Fuerza have a great looking super athletic back & forth sequences that ends with Fuerza jawing at the crowd allowing Santo to hit him with a dropkick from behind and Fuerza takes a big bump to the outside. Finishing run of the fall has Santo try to dive on Fuerza from the top rope to the floor but Fuerza SPRINTS away as fast as he can as his teammates are submitted in the ring. Fuerza heads back towards the ring and eats a dive from Santo anyway. So in this first fall Fuerza does multiple different comedy spots that are all great. He takes a big bump. He dominates a for a moment with great looking punches and kicks. He does back & forth hot sequences with Santo. Its wild. 2nd fall is the rudo beat down of the tecnicos and it is focused mostly on Fuerza beating the ever loving fuck out of Santo with a low blow and great looking punches & kicks. Seriously Fuerza throws a hell of a punch. There's a fantastic mask ripping section where Santo & Fuerza fucking go after each other and this whole thing breaks down to a violent brawl showing another element of Fuerza's work and he's awesome here. This is a fantastic match. Definitely one to check out. Fuerza is an absolutely world class performer already. He's amazing in all of these matches and can do whatever is called upon. He's hilarious but holy fuck when a match needs to break down into a wild brawl he is ready for that shit too. And he's an incredible athlete. I knew early Fuerza was awesome, but he's even better than I remembered. Fuerza Guerrera & El Dandy & Talisman vs Americo Rocca & Hombre Bala & Chamaco Valaguez (EMLL - 3/22/85) Starts with rudos dominating in a hard hitting brawlng type match. Great energy everyone looks good. 2nd fall starts smiliarly but eventually settles down and we start getting some beautiful rope running sequences. Fuerza looks awesome doing all of this as usual. Wanted to throw young El Dandy a shout because he looks terrific here too. Super smooth already. 3rd fall is back to a brawl. Fuerza's ability to switch gears is really impressive. He can go from beautiful workrate sequence to violent brawl to ridiculous physical comedy all within the blink of an eye. Fuerza is more of a background player here as the match is built around Rocca vs Talisman, but Fuerza's great here in the role. He's dialed his schtick back a bit so it doesn't dominate the match and allows the focus to remain on Rocca & Talisman. Its good smart stuff. Fuerza still does some big bumps and looks really sharp when hes in there. But hes also not overshadowing the storyline of the match. Fuerza Guerrera & Al Rojo Vivo & Talisman vs Hombre Bala & Javier Cruz & Aguilar Solitaria (Pista Arena Revolution - 1986) Fuerza starts off against Javier Cruz here and its really good stuff. Its traditional lucha grappling. They're not doing 100mph workrate bumping sequences and Fuerza's not doing his over the top comedy routines. Its just good solid back and forth grappling than ends with a handshake. Nice example of Fuerza showing he can work a more traditional style when called for. 2nd fall starts with one of those 100mph work rate sequences with Fuerza & Aguilar that ends with Fuerza bumping out to the outside. 2nd fall also sees Fuerza planting Cruz with a back suplex worthy of AJPW. 3rd fall starts as a more chaotic heel control brawl until the hot babyface comeback. Fuerza looks good here with rudo punches & kicks and then turns up the heat when its time for the tecnico comeback. Fuerza eats a couple of beautiful tilt a whirl backbreakers. And there'sa hilarious spot where Talisman keeps trying to roll out of the ring for safety but Fuerza keeps pushin him back in. We haven't seen that one before and it rules. Talisman pays back the favor later. This is a good little match. Fuerza continues to look really great all around. Able to do whatever thematch calls for. I left this one wanting to see Fuerza vs Javier Cruz in a title match and Fuerza vs Talisman in a brawl. Fuerza Guerrera vs Negro Casas (WWA - 1986) Do I really need to say anything? Its Fuerza Guerrera & Negro Casas. Its real and its spectacular. Classic title match with a clean first two falls of back & forth grappling followed up a 3rd fall where the heat is turned up and they're doing dives and all the roll ups they can think of to try and get the win. Just an awesome match.

I'm going to take a closer look at Fuerza Guerrera for the purposes of GWE. I've always gotten into trouble trying to do lucha reviews because I'll try and list out spots or moves or sequences or specific matchups and they just end up being impossible because so much is happening with so many people and often times the best parts of lucha matches are these beautiful intricate sequences and I dunno how you review that sort of thing. In order to keep myself out of the weeds my interest here is Fuerza and Fuerza's performances specifically. What's he doing and how does it affect the matches positively or negatively. Obviously I'll be watching what the other people are doing as well and will take note of it, but the focus of this is Fuerza. Alright lets fucking do it. 200+ Fuerza matches. Fuerza Guerrera & Lobo Rubio vs El Hijo del Santo & Atlantis (EMLL - 11/25/83) They are all so skinny and young. The first look at Fuerza for this project is him matched up with Atlantis in the first fall and they are doing just beautiful lucha grappling exchanges. They do the wacky competing leg locks while standing on their head and slapping the shit out of each other spot. Had you told me Rey Jr & Juventud created that spot in 1994, I'd have believed it before seeing this match. Fucking hell of a way to start. Fuerza is already doing a really good job of riling the crowd up with either stalling or missing a move. For example, Fuerza comes off the ropes, eats a monkey flip but gets up and nails Atlantis with a side kick. Atlantis stumbles back towards the ropes and Fuerza thinks he's got him so he charges for a dropkick. But Atlantis moves out of the way at the last second, and Fuerza goes through the ropes and lands on his butt on the apron. Fuerza stands up off the apron turns around and looks at Atlantis like "how the fuck did I get here?" and puts his hands on his hips and turns around and starts jawing with the front row fans and the arena goes nuts. Awesome spot. This first fall is a harbinger of whats to come in this project I suspect. Shortly after he works an exchange with Santo where Santo will do a lil dive at him but Fuerza will duck out of the way only for Santo's back arm to snatch him for an armdrag. After a few times Fuerza just slaps the mat on his knees in frustration. Its a simple spot that makes Santo look awesome but is really Fuerza doing the majority of the heavy lifting to make the move work. Terrific stuff. We all know Santo as one of the great performers ever but this is eaaarly in his run and he's still really green and that's apparent here. Fuerza is able to make him look like a million bucks. Later Fuerza offers Santo a handshake and Santo refuses so Fuerza slaps him. Not the last time we'll see that I"m sure. There are countless great spots and moments here. Too many to list. But in the first match of this project in there with Atlantis & specifically designed to make future GOATC Hijo del Santo look great, it is Fuerza who looks like the best performer in the match. This is a great introduction because you get a nice taste of the Fuerza experience. He's a great athlete who can do all the mat work, but he's also a heat seeking goof willing to make himself look bad for the sake of the tecnico. Fuerza Guerrera & El Brazo & Talisman vs Blackman & Kendo & Avispon Negro (Early 80s) Oh man. This is not for the "Lucha is too cooperative & choreographed" crowd but I was fucking cracking up on some of the spots here. It's gonna be interesting to see how Fuerza's comedy spots hold up doing a crazy deep dive, but at this point I'm loving it. He seriously has so many tricks in his pocket already you just have to watch him. There's too many to describe and it would take too long to even try. This has the first appearance of the Crane Kick pose so it has to at least be 1984 right? Were people doing crane kicks before Karate Kid? I also don't want to let another match go by without saying Fuerza throws really great punches & kicks. His whole deal is making his opponent look amazing while making himself look silly so he's not busting out a lot of great offense other than punches & kicks. But they look fucking great and he can do so much else that in these trios matches that's all he really needs to do while still making an impact. If this shit keeps up I'm going to start comparing Fuerza to Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin instead of El Dandy or Blue Panther.

Thank you! My hope is to see more big writeups. I'm going try and do my part and do as many as I can over the next 5 years. I dunno how many that will be, but its really fun exploring wrestlers I like in depth, thinking and writing about them in the context of GWE. I've said it before, but I (and other people) have come back to these threads over the past 5 years in attempts to find recommendations or learn more about wrestlers I'm not as familiar with. There's a lot of great content but just as often you'll click on a thread and see unanswered questions or some snarky comments asking about how they performed in the last year of their career or just some quick brush-offs that doesn't really tell you anything in depth about the wrestler. Ideally I'd like to be able to click on any thread at random and learn about someone's traits or when they were at their best or what are their defining matches or where they stand in a broader landscape or if they're a bright shining star peak or a steady long time hand, whether you can expect violent brawls or graceful mat work or flippy floppy or whatever. I probably click on the CIMA thread once a year like "I used to kinda dig him lemme learn more about him" and thats never paid off (although, InYourCase made some recs I need to make some time for!) Shit, look at the Lou Thesz thread. What a disaster! This is my real hope for this project. That we can all learn from each other. Anyway, it looks like I have access to 220+ Fuerza Guerrara matches. That could be fun.

Thanks yall! I appreciate it! I'm gonna work on a playlist for a Watch Party. I have a few people in mind for my next project (Andre the Giant, Randy Savage, Tully Blanchard, Fuerza Guerrera, Atsushi Onita, Steve Corino is the group I'm circling) but I welcome everyone to join the fun

So I've watched 130+ Sgt Slaughter matches from 1975-1997 and I feel confident saying he is one of the 100 greatest wrestlers of all time. I haven't figured out where exactly he'll rank on my list because we're so far out, but I know for certain that he belongs. I'm going to walk through how I view his candidacy: his specific traits, his highs and lows and make a bunch of recommendations at the end. Are there footage issues? Does this affect his candidacy? Unfortunately there are footage issues on the early side of Slaughter's peak run. I've been unable to track down much in the way of complete matches from the 70s. He looks solid in the brief clips and couple of complete matches I was able to find. He's a good bumper from the very beginning and had a nice offensive repertoire for the era. Unfortunately I don't think we can tell much from the clips about when he started to go from good to very good to great. The second he debuts in WWF as Sgt Slaughter he looks like a world class performer. So its likely with more footage available from the 70s we'd be able to add some quality years to his resume'. So keep your fingers crossed for more footage down the line. What kind of candidate is Sgt Slaughter? Sarge is one of the ultimate peak candidates. He's not a guy who we can point to 25 years of greatness or even ten. So if you're someone who values longevity over absolute peak, Slaughter is unlikely to rank well for you. Some wrestlers are "little things" candidates who might not have gotten the opportunities to produce high profile classics, but excelled at house shows or studio matches and we can point to great technique, versatility etc while wishing they had gotten better opportunities. Sarge isn't one of those candidates. Sarge got the opportunities and he made the absolute most of them. He was put in the highest profile positions in the highest profile territories in the country and consistently delivered in the ring. At its core, Sarge's case really comes from his run between 1980-1984 where he is a top tier performer consistently producing at a high level against a variety of opponents including some of the best feuds & matches of all time. I do think there's more to his career that is worthwhile than this 80-84 stretch that does add some bulk to his candidacy. But if you're not sold on his 80-84 run as an all time level run, he's not going to be a strong candidate for your list. So whats so great about this peak? I think Slaughter is a strong candidate for the best wrestler in the world for the 1980-1984 stretch. I'm not sure if I'd rank him #1 for that stretch but I think he's in the conversation with folks like Tatsumi Fujinami, Ric Flair, Jumbo Tsuruta, Buddy Rose, Terry Funk, Jerry Lawler, Nick Bockwinkel, Jaguar Yokota & Devil Masami. My top 20 is going to be filled with those names (and at least 4 of those people are going to make my top 10). I think Slaughter is in the conversation for best in the world for both the cumulative time period of 1980-84 and for each individual year. I tend to have a very high opinion of the best wrestlers from this era and so challenging for the best wrestler of this era means a lot to me. During this 1980-1984 stretch, Sgt Slaughter delivered in the ring regardless of setting or opponent. His big time arena matches are some of the most famous of the era. He has several blood feuds all of which build and build before climaxing with legendary all time great matches that stand the test of time with Sarge's performance usually the driving force behind what makes the matches so great. When he's wrestling a more limited opponent in a big setting like old Pedro Morales, Otto Wanz, or Ivan Putski Sarge knows how to work comedy spots, kill time with great schtick and create offense from nothing with his all time great set of signature bumps. Slaughter's TV Jobber matches standout as entertaining because his charisma & presence tied to one of the great characters in the history of wrestling are transcendent. He still feels unique and special 40 years later. Sarge also has a pretty deep well of good offensive moves and doesn't need to use every one in every match. So you can watch 5 or 6 Sarge vs Jobber matches in a row and see something a different match each time and they'll all be entertaining. Slaughter also managed to get the most out of his character during this era. He performed at the highest possible level as a heel and as a babyface. When he made the switch from legendary heel to legendary babyface, his ring work shifted appropriately. He cut down on the stooging & ramped up the ass kicking aggression. Instead of using his insane signature bumps for comedy or to create killer offense for limited early 80s WWWF Babyfaces, he starts using them to set up heel transitions and devastating cut offs. He's not the most versatile wrestler ever, but he got the absolute most out of what he does as a heel and as a face.\ To sum up the peak, for 5 years Sgt Slaughter consistently performed at the highest level in the business regardless of setting or opponent. He was consistently hard working and clearly put thought into even the smallest jobber matches. He produced 3 of the legendary feuds of all time (and another that deserves that kind of praise) with numerous great matches. He did this as a singles performer, as part of a tag team and as a babyface & a heel. He wasn't working in a vacuum either. He was one of the hottest wrestlers in the entire world with a truly special crowd connection so every single match he was in during this time period has an insanely invested crowd. This really added to the atmosphere of pretty much every match he was in and helps him (and his matches/feuds) come across as special. What are his standout traits? When I read the name Sgt Slaughter I imagine him flying over the top rope in a maniac bump or eating the ring post. Sarge was a big man and a really good offensive wrestler, but he is the premier bumper of his era. He was Mick Foley before there was Mick Foley. Slaughter was a big man who could credibly be billed as 6'4 and 300lbs and he had numerous signature bumps that would see him flying over the top rope to the concrete floor. He would regularly do the "Rock takes a Stunner" bump. Sarge had multiple signature bumps into the corner. Sometimes he'd just fly over the corner to the floor like a complete lunatic. Sometimes he'd slam into the corner chest first like Bret Hart only Sarge would then leap forward to sell smashing his face on the ring post. Sometimes Sarge would just take the corner bump chest first and then take a big exaggerated stomach bump back into the ring. Sometimes he'd take an irish whip and he'd go through the turnbuckles to the floor like he's doing tope to nowhere. Sometimes he'd go through the turnbuckles and eat the ringpost with his shoulder or head. Sometimes he'd come off the top rope and miss splashes for crazy splat bumps. Sarge was also fantastic at mixing these bumps up. He'd do them all regularly but they'd be utilized differently. Sometimes they'll work as killer cut off spots or transitions. Sometimes they're part of a babyface dominating section. Sometimes they're worked for comedy. You'd also never know when it was coming. Like you always knew when Ric Flair was going to take the gorilla press bump off the top rope. But with one of these killer Slaughter bumps, you just didn't know. Sometimes he'd take a big Irish whip into the corner and it'd be your traditional spot. Other times he'd dive over the top rope and crash to the floor. He was also great at just traditional bumps. He could really move and get up and down for rapid fire heel bumping or he could do the biggest bumps in the world and really let them sink in and change the tone of the match. Seriously. Sarge has to be at or near the top of the list for craziest bumper in history. Between the bumps and the GI Joe money, its no wonder his career as a high end performer wasn't as long as other all time greats. Additionally Sarge was an all time great seller. Whether he's stooging for comedy or selling that he's been in an absolute war, Sarge's selling was always on point. Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Sarge is one of the all time bleeders in wrestling history. Sarge's bloodiest matches are some of the all time blade jobs AND he did it as a babyface (for sympathy) and as a heel (for crowd joy). Those are the things I think of first when I think about Sgt Slaughter: Bumping, Selling & Bleeding. Hey, how is his offense? Well goddamn it was really good. This has been forgotten and obscured over time because Slaughter's Bumping, Selling & Bleeding are SO good its easy to forget that he was a terrific offensive wrestler. He has a pretty nice range of moves for a big guy of the era in any given match you'll see: various backbreakers, back suplex, shoulder breaker, vertical suplex, gutbuster, atomic drop, a stun gun, a regular piledriver, a tombstone piledriver, a flying knee/stomp (rare), the Slaughter cannon, and the cobra clutch. He had all the midrange moves like clubbing forearms, knee drops, elbow drops, back rakes, knee strikes to the gut that sort of thing and they all look really sharp. In addition to that he was an excellent puncher. He can comfortably fill different matches with different body part attacks. He could focus on the back with his backbreakers, suplex, directed falling knees & elbows. He could focus on stomach/ribs with his gut buster, running kitchen sink knee strikes, ab stretch. Or he could focus on the head & neck with piledrivers, back suplex, and the Cannon in order to set up his cobra clutch. So while Sarge is the king of bumping like a maniac and bleeding & selling all over the place, he was a really good offensive wrestler who could hold his own on that end in a variety of different ways. Was Sarge very versatile as a performer? Is there much range to his matches? Sarge is an interesting person to think about when it comes to versatility and range. I think most people's gut reaction is going to be to look for a big time brawl and a technical masterpiece. Well Sarge has all the violent brawls you could hope for, but I can't point to some technical masterpiece with great mat work or something like that. Sarge isn't that kind of versatile. Sarge's range & versatility is seen in his ability to work with anybody. His versatility exists in these incredibly violent brawls both on the heel side of the spectrum and on the babyface side. Then its seen in his bumping & stooging for comedy against Ivan Putski. Any flaws with his ring work? Not during his peak. I think he always delivered. If you wanted to nitpick and say he's missing that great grappling match, I'd understand. But I don't need Sarge to trade holds to see that he was a great pro wrestler. What are the best feuds? The heavy hitters are the rivalries against Pat Patterson, Iron Sheik and teaming with Don Kernodle vs Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood. These are all legendary feuds with multiple great matches. These are the sort of feuds I think all wrestling fans interested in wrestling history should be familiar with. I think Slaughter's rivalry with Bob Backlund deserves mention on this level as well. Slaughter & Backlund have some incredible matches together in 1980 & 81 and then they run it again in 1983 and it looks like they hadn't missed a beat together. I could only find footage of one TV match and clips of another match but I suspect if we had more footage the feud over the US Title with Wahoo McDaniel in 1982 would be in this conversation as well. Does the AWA run add anything? So I actually do think it did until it didn't. I was very tempted to extend Sarge's prime years at least into 1985 but I just didn't feel totally comfortable with that. I was working with more clips & highlights. I think Sarge continues to look really good in 85-86. He has a short run teaming with Jerry Blackwell and they look fucking awesome and it peaked with Sarge's last MOTDC against King Tonga, Masked Superstar & Adnan al-Kaissey in the cage (4/21/85). I'm a pretty big fan of the Slaughter vs Hansen matches. I'm not going to argue it as a great feud with multiple MOTYC, but none of their matches are bad and are literally all very good. I think Slaughter vs Hansen is a perfectly acceptable sort of secondary feud in a career that is a clear positive for both wrestlers. I think Slaughter vs Hansen has been mislabeled a disappointment because expectations for those two wrestlers were unreasonably high to begin with. I have no problem calling Slaughter a very good wrestler through mid 86. Sarge barely worked anywhere in 1987 and when he shows up again in 88-89 he's enormous. Just huge and out of shape. He could be hidden in tag matches but he really couldn't do much. He could have big guy slugfests, but what made him special appears to be gone. Does the early 90s WWF run add anything? I think it helps! He's in better shape than he was in the late 80s and is back to bumping like a complete lunatic. The Hogan rivalry is very good and some of those matches (not WrestleMania, but the MSG ones) are among Hogan's very best. He was even able to get quality matches out of Ultimate Warrior joining a very small group of wrestlers to accomplish that feat. His killer offense from the early 80s is largely disappeared during this run and he's 90% bumping and stooging and selling, but Sarge knows how to bump & stooge and sell so they're enjoyable matches. This isn't a case where comes back and looks like he's one of the best wrestlers in the world again. Its a good run and he works his ass off and produces some quality matches. How far was the drop off once the GI Joe money started coming in? Sarge debuted on GI Joe in 1985 and Slaughter was good in the ring until at least 1986. After that is when it really fell apart. But he wasn't even working that much so I'm not sure how much I really care. And then when he got paid to come back and wrestle, he got himself in shape and was very good again. But you wouldn't believe the guy in 1988 was the same guy from 1984. Am I sick of him? Fuck no. Point me to more Sgt Slaughter. So where's he gonna rank? Somewhere in the 25-50 range. As much as I love his peak, the scope of his career just doesn't really touch other people I have in my top 20. I couldn't see him falling below 50. But I do think there's a limit to how high I could put him. If he was the definitive no brainer best in the world for that 1980-84 stretch, I could maybe see an argument for ranking him in the top 20. But I don't think that's the reality of the situation, as good as he was there was always at least a couple of people I think were operating on that same level. The Must See Matches:

Truly his legacy.

Sgt Slaughter vs Jim Duggan (WWF - 2/1/91) Fun slug fest. Slaughter takes some HUGE bumps to the outside and Duggan shows a lot of fire. Short but sweet. Sgt Slaughter & General Adnan & Undertaker vs Hulk Hogan & Ultimate Warrior (WWF - 3/11/91) I'm in some kinda trouble with these WWF matches or something because this was pretty goddamn fun! Every time I think "Hey Warriors not so bad" he fucks up a spot in some hilarious way. BUt he's got some ok moments here too. Taker is very much in all he does is choke mode. Sarge is in super bump freak mode. Seriously he takes multiple insane bumps in this one. The structure of this is shocking. After a hot start for the faces it settles into a triple face in peril match! There are two sections where Hogan is isolated and one where Warrior is. Its a relatively short match but it starts to drag because Taker is so chokey and nothing else. But then it gets kinda fun again. LIke Hulk hits the big boot and it staggers Sarge and then Hulk does a school boy roll up for a near fall. HEY! COol spot off the Hogan big boot! Even cooler spot where Sarge puts the camel clutch on HOgan and Taker comes in and pulls back on Sarge creating more leverage! WHOA! Neat thoughtful basic spot! WTF is happening? Weird match because there's some really bad and some really good all in one. Sgt Slaughter vs Hulk Hogan (WWF WrestleMania - 3/24/91) Really good match that's kinda missing an extra gear. I think if the cut out the Adnan stuff and if Hulk had more devastating offense and the transitions were a little more interesting, it would've helped a lot. Slaughter is great bumping around like a monster and has good looking offense including coming off the top rope. Hogan cuts a huge blade job and is good selling. Like no real complaints just missing the extra something to put it over the top. Sgt Slaughter vs Hulk Hogan (WWF - 4/22/91) Wow now this is a heck of a match. Vicious brawl that has all the urgency that seemed to be missing in the Mania match. Great pace helps obscure how limited HOgan's offense is at this point. Sarge takes his usual killer bumps. Hogan's selling is good and he has another major blade job playing off the Mania cut. Terrific stuff. Sgt Slaughter vs Ultimate Warrior (WWF - 4/27/91) Not good. Slaughter is on offense most of the way which is not working to either guy's strengths against each other. Short and full of bear hugs and Ultimate Warrior selling. Sgt Slaughter vs Hulk Hogan (Desert Storm Match - WWF 6/3/91) FUcking awesome match. This is like 90% Slaughter getting his ass kicked and 100% awesome. Super crowd, crazy Slaughter bumps like a loon and cuts a massive blade job. Hogan works his ass off and throws powder (called tear gas by Monsoon lolololol wtf you maniac) and fire. Just a total blast. You definitely want ot see this one. Sgt Slaughter & General Adnan & Col Mustafa vs Hulk Hogan & Ultimate Warrior (Guest Referee: Sid - WWF SUmmerSlam - 8/26/91) Slaughter works most of the way, he bumps really big and has good looking offense but still manages to feel like a background player because this match is about wanting to get you to see Hogan vs Sid. Sgt Slaughter & Jim Duggan & Kerry Von Erich & Tito Santana vs Col Mustafa & Hercules & Berzerker & Skinner (WWF Survivor Series - 11/27/91) This is designed completely to get Slaughter over as a babyface and make sure everyone knows hes a real American and shit. He comes out with Duggan, takes the hot tag from DUggan, bumps around for a face in peril section to allow a USA chant from the crowd, he pins Sheik, etc. PRetty dull match overall but accomplishes what it sets out to do. Sgt Slaughter vs Ric Flair (WWF - 5/9/92) They manage to do 2 gorilla press slams in the first 90 seconds. I think there have been 3 gorilla press slams this entire project and they're all in the previous FLair match and the first 90 seconds of this one. They do a 3rd one within the first 6 minutes. Incredible. That said, this is a fun all action quick match. Mountie is at ringside putting together the cattle prod and shocks Slaughter. Sgt Slaughter vs HHH (Boot Camp Match - WWF Degeneration X In Your House - 12/7/97) Don Kernodle gets a shout! HHH shows his tough guy roots by showing up for this street fight with his long hair down, his shirt tucked in and his kneepads on the outside of his jeans. Lawler says the only war Sgt Slaughter was in was Vietnam and he lost that one. Later Lawler he sayd "Da Nang was never like this, huh Sarge" and then calls JR a draft dodger. Good lord. JR calls Slaughter's Cannon a "Cannon like CLothesline" lolol. Slaughter takes a couple of HUGE bumps in this one. One just straight up over the ropes. And another is the classic Slaughter bump over the ring post to the floor. This time there are the giant steps down there so he had to go over that too. He also takes the Flair gorilla press off the top rope. Slaughter throws powder at Chyna and Lawler screams "CHEMICAL WARFARE!" and after all his terrible military jokes throughout this match, I gotta say that one got me hahaha. HHH takes his boot off and hits Slaughter with it. Haha. This match sucked but its really because it was ridiculously long. Whoever booked this to go 17 minutes bell to bell was fucking mean. If this was like 8 minutes it couldve been a hot match. Slaughter took some major bumps. HHH could bump & sell. BUt because they were going so long and Slaughter is out of shape & old this was slooooowwwww and the crowd could not give less of a shit for a lot of it. Is this the first example of a HHH match going way to long to the detriment of everyone involved?

Explosions good. Sickles and knives bad.

I've edited in some stuff above that I watched out of order by mistake. Nearing the finish line from the looks of things. Sgt Slaughter vs Larry Zbyszko (AWA - 9/7/85) JIP 5 minutes in and its a shame because this is a really fun old school tv match. These two have terrific chemistry. Slaughter takes a few absolutely insane bumps and brings some good offense. Larry Z looks awesome. Sgt Slaughter & BIlly Jack Haynes vs Road Warriors (PNW - 9/24/85) Really fun tag match. Roadies are forced to sell for Slaughter & Billy Jack so this has a more clash of the titans feel than Road Warriors squash fest. Sarge's bumping & offense are on point here and the crowd is hot for this one. Sgt Slaughter vs BOris Zhukov (AWA - 9/28/85) This is the Superclash match. Its a big show so Sarge works hard and bumps like a loon. But its Zhukov. So there's a pretty low ceiling. Fun though and better than you might think or remember. Sgt Slaughter vs Boris Zhukov & Chris Markoff (9/29/85) Bleh. Zhukov & Markoff just maul Slaughter for 7 minutes and then he hits the cannon for the win. Slaughter bleeds & his selling is good but BOris & Markoff aren't very interesting. Sgt Slaughter vs Stan Hansen (AWA - 1/12/86) I watched the Slaughter vs Hansen series completely out of order. Unintentional but its what ended up happening. Anyway, this is another terrific match between these two. This is the 3rd match I've seen between them during this Slaughter dive and all 3 have been great and different matches. At their core, they are slugfests between two heavy/borderline super heavyweights. This one has a base of Hansen working over Slaughter's arm and its really good. This feud has been labeled disappointing in the past (including by me) but the reality is they have really good-great matches together. Sgt Slaughter vs Stan Hansen (AWA - 2/23/86) Fucking awesome match. This is an awesome hard hitting brawl by two of the best heavyweights of all time. Don't let the reputation lead you to believe this is one to skip. It is not. Sgt Slaughter vs Stan Hansen (AWA - 3/9/86) Really fucking awesome slugfest. These two beat the shit out of each other with a super hot crowd. Sgt Slaughter vs Earhquake Ferris (AWA - 3/13/86) Short but surprisingly fun TV match. Paging MattD for this one. Ferris is a great big dude so this has a lot of fun Clash of the Titans shoulder blocks and Sarge has to figure out t a way to deal with him the big man. Killer finish. Sgt Slaughter vs Nord the Barbarian (AWA - 4/18/86) Hot TV match. Really fun slug fest between two big guys. Nord is a great offensive wrestler & Slaughter is one of the best bumpers & sellers ever. Very fun match spoiled by a Brody run in. Luckily Sarge beats the shit out of Brody too. Good stuff. Sgt Slaughter vs Kamala (AWA - 4/20/86) Outside of a longish nerve hold, this is a fun match. A little on the tamer side than you'd ideally want, but they work to some really nice moments. Slaughter slamming Kamala is a hell of a spot and the crowd reacts appropriately being going crazy. Hot finish. Sgt Slaughter vs Samu (AWA - 4/28/86) Last few minutes of what looks like a really fun match on paper. I've never been one of those people who likes to come to big conclusions based on a few minutes of clips. Sgt Slaughter vs Solidat Ustinov (AWA - 10/15/88) Blah. Short match and they don't even do much. Lot of sideheadlock standing around. Sarge does some stuff. A standing reverse hammerlock, a dropkick, he takes a backdrop but theres not much you can really do with an opponent like Solidat Ustinov. Sgt Slaughter & Keith Eric vs Solidat Ustinov & Teijo Khan (AWA - 10/29/88) Mercifully short. Sarge is firey on the hot tag but overall blah match. These Solidat Ustinov matches have me looking forward to Sarge vs Ultimate Warrior matches if you can believe it. Sgt Slaughter vs Col. DeBeers (Boot Camp Match - AWA - 12/13/88) I enjoyed this for what it was. It finished towards the bottom on the AWA set voting but I suspect that has more to do with it being short and towards the end of the set when a lot of people start to experience burnout. This is a perfectly fine 5 minute slug fests with two big men. Hot angle at the end with Iron Sheik. No complaints. I've always liked Wiskowski. Sgt Slaughter vs Col. DeBeers (AWA - 3/4/89) Fun match. These two are kinda similar in the sense that DeBeers is sort of a poor man's Slaughter. They are both large men, deceptively good athletes who can bump big. I mean, Slaughter is in a whole other ballpark as a performer and Wiskowski relies more on schtick and comedy, but there are some similarities and I'd have loved to see a match between these two in the early 80s. Anyway, this is a good slugfest. Methodical but with some big bumps. DDP being a ridiculous caricature of a human being, even in a pro-wrestling setting, makes this even more enjoyable. Sgt Slaughter vs Larry Zbyszko (AWA - 10/7/89) Sarge is enormous here and seems like he wants to work hard in the beginning but he blows up pretty quickly. Larry Z is working hard and does what he can but this was a real disappointment. Sgt Slaughter & Baron Von Raschke vs Destruction Crew (AWA - 10/13/89) I was dreading this honestly but then it turned out pretty well. Destruction Crew are a good team and they worked their asses off. Sarge is working really hard and is able to tag out when he blows up. Baron is old and washed up but he knows how to work a tag match. I wouldn't exactly recommend this or go out of my way to watch it, but it exceeded my expectation and shows even in this washed up, overweight lazy stage Sarge could still bring something to the table in a tag setting. I'm really ready for that WWF run though because I know he gets back in shape. Sgt Slaughter vs Kokina (AWA - 4/29/90) Surprisingly fun battle of the (truly) superheavyweights. Slaughter is fucking huge here and Kokina of course is the future Yokozuna. Slow pace but it works in the favor of the match becuase it allows things to sink in and Slaughter doesn't blow up. Mostly based around schtick and punching. ( Sgt Slaughter vs Jim Duggan (WWF - 11/19/90) Short TV match. Slaughter is working really hard getting up & down bumping for Duggan. Mostly punches. Slaughter's offense comes off interference and its focused on Duggan's lower back. Good for a minute or so but thats all before Duggan makes his comeback. Too short to really be anything but Sarge is clearly in better shape than he was a year ago. Sgt Slaughter & Boris Zhukov & Orient Express vs Tito Santana & Nikolai Volkoff & The Bushwackers (WWF Survivor Series - 11/22/90) Slaughter's team is all wearing camo face paint and they are all eliminated in the first 2 minutes. So its Sarge on 4. Slaughter quickly takes out Volkoff & the Bushwackers. It takes a little more effort & some interference from Adnan to put away Tito. Sarge vs Tito is fun for the minute or so. Sgt Slaughter vs Ultimate Warrior (WWF - 1/7/91) This was really fun! Slaughter is working his ass off and back to his maniac bumping ways. Warrior is at the same time better than we give him credit for (he has some real tools! its not like he's Solidat Ustinov) and just as bad as we all say (the rhythmic way he sells those kicks in the corner is garbage...but i guess at least he's trying kinda in his own way). I will say Warrior works hard here. He even takes his own version of the over the top rope Slaughter bump! Slaughter looks really good. He's not as his 1980-84 peak, but he's working hard bumping like a fucking champ and what he gets to do offensively looks good. After those late era AWA matches, I could go for bunch of matches like this. Sgt Slaughter vs Ultimate Warrior (WWF Royal Rumble - 1/19/91) Ok setting aside the reprehensible angle, this is a really good match. Great crowd. Don't get me wrong, this doesn't compare to like MSG in the early 80s, but this crowd is super invested and standing for the majority of the match. The opening section with Slaughter bumping around like a maniac is really fun. The initial Savage interference spot is fucking awesome. Savage legit comes out of nowhere and its VICIOUS. I really like Warrior's selling crawling back to the ring. Slaughter's offense looks really good and convincingly damaging to Warrior. The Sherri bump is fucking insane. Like this is good pro-wrestling performance. Garbage script & storyline. But no complaints for the ring work.

This or the Santo/Onita trios are my 2 favorites. This is probably my pick for the best La Parka match i've ever seen

Its everything i have access to

Sgt Slaughter vs Nikolai Volkoff (WWF - 10/22/84) Probably the worst long Slaughter match I've watched because Volkoff is terrible. Slaughter is awesome bumping and selling for Volkoff's shitty offense and this is probably the best Volkoff match I've ever seen but its dullsville. I will say Slaughter is terrific and the crowd is VERY into this. Slaughter has a signature schtick spot where he pantomime's that he's going to body slam his opponent and then throw him out of the ring. This time Slaughter switches it up and pantomime's slamming Volkoff and then pulling his pants off and pooping on him. Major highlight that honestly made this long Volkoff match worth it alone. Sgt Slaughter vs Masa Saito (PWUSA - 1/26/85) Fun little match. Sort of a truncated version of the great match they shouldve had. Only about 7 minutes but the work is good and sharp. Sgt Slaughter & Blackjack Lanza vs King Tonga & Masked Superstar (AWA - 2/7/85) One of the first big disappointments so far. I was hoping this was gonna be really fun. Unfortunately Lanza works most of the way and he's not great. Picks up for the Sarge FIP section but he's not bumping around like a maniac like he was a few months before this. Sgt Slaughter & Jerry Blackwell vs Nick Bockwinkel & Tom Stone (AWA - 2/16/85) About as fun of a 4minute tag as you're gonna get. The Slaughter/Blackwell team is dream with a DEVASTATING double team move. Bockwinkel's chemistry with Sarge & Blackwell is great of course. Stone works hard. Fun stuff! Sgt Slaughter & Jerry Blackwell vs Road Warriors (AWA - 2/22/85) Really enjoyed this. Big time slug fest with 4 super over characters. The Road Warriors are put in a position where they have to work fairly evenly so this is a hot match. Great selling from the Blackwell & Slaugher team but they bring the pain too. And this is prime Roadies. Good stuff. Sgt Slaughter vs Kamala (PWUSA - 4/19/85) Solid big man slugfest. Missing that extra gear. Really a huge Slaughter bladejob would've helped this have more staying power. Sgt Slaughter & Jerry Blackwell vs King Tonga, Masked Superstar & Sheik Adnan Al-Kassie (AWA - 4/21/85) Slaughter is gold in a cage. Blackwell is gold in a cage. One of the great US MOTD. Must see. Sgt Slaughter & Greg Gagne vs Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens (AWA - 7/14/85) Based on the time calls by the arena announcer, this is pretty clipped and that's a damn shame. Looks like a really hot match with everyone looking good. CLassic southern style tag with Greg catching a beating. Sgt Slaughter vs Larry Zbyszko (AWA - 8/11/85) Last few minutes of what looks like a nice match. Can't really tell anything from this but it makes me want a full length match between the two. Sgt Slaughter vs Ric Flair (PWUSA - 8/16/85) Sigh. This is a very good match, probably even a great one. But its about as egregious a Flair formula match as I've ever seen. Slaughter is one of the best workers of his generation and here he's just Generic Flair Opponent X. The best possible version of this match up is closer to Flair vs Funk from GAB 89. This is like Flair vs Terry Taylor. Slaughter's bumping & selling are great. And offensively he's able to do all the shit Flair forces all of his opponents to do in every match. But this is a Ric Flair vs Opponent X match not a Ric Flair vs Sgt Slaughter match.

As I recall, Candy gets really good really quickly. I agree about Devil vs Cutie too. Just a perfect match up stylistically and as far as their characters/presentation goes too. Devil is a master at working against smaller opponents and Cutie is one of the more underrated performers of her generation. Anytime they match up in a singles or on opposite sides in a tag or multi-person match, you're in for some good stuff.

Candy Okutsu is so good!

We were all misled about 80s WWF not being awesome. Maybe they don't have the depth up and down the card of some of the other promotions, but goddamn there is so much great stuff. A proper 80s WWF DVDVR Set would've been great!

Sgt Slaughter & Terry Daniels vs Dick Murdoch & Adrian Adonis (WWF - 7/23/84) Well goddamn this fucking ruled. Terry Daniels worked most of the way and looked good! He does some really impressive athletic spots and then takes a shit kicking. Sarge is awesome coming in off hot tags and picks his spots. Murdoch & Adonis look fantastic. Great mixture of comedy, bumping and vicious teamwork. Sarge & Daniels do an absoltuely awesome spot where Sarge picks up Daniels on his shoulder and then Sarge walks over and drops a knee drop on Murdoch. What a smart and unique spot I don't ever remember seeing anyone do before. Its just a basic kneedrop with the added extra 220lbs. Simple but super effective. They work to a crazy hot finish. What a blast! Sgt Slaughter & The Wild Samoans vs Dick Murdoch & Adrian Adonis & Lou Albano (WWF - 9/22/84) Holy shit this rules. Exactly the match you want these 6 to work. Lots of schtick early on. Absolutely nuclear heat. Everyone looks at the top of their game. Adonis hits a missle dropkick in a crazy holy shit moment. Can't believe this doesn't even have a thread. Watch this sucker. Sgt Slaughter vs Iron Sheik (WWF - 9/23/84) Typically awesome match between these two. On the shorter side (~10minutes) but all action and excellent. These two have magical chemistry. Sgt Slaughter & Junkyard Dog vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff (WWF - 10/13/84) Missed this while going in order. Another amazing match between these two. These are must see tag matches. Sgt Slaughter & Andre the Giant vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff (WWF - 10/14/84) I really enjoyed this. Long opening section of fun schtick/babyfaces in control leads to a double face in peril section including SLaughter blading. Finish is nasty. Great crowd. Just good solid wrestling. Sgt Slaughter vs Johnny Rodz (WWF - 11/3/84) Basic 2 min TV match. Rodz actually controls most of the match so we get some great Slaughter selling. Eventually Slaughter crushes him with the slaughter cannon and then cobra clutch. Sgt Slaughter & Junkyard Dog vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff (WWF - 11/10/84) I've watched this 3x in the past few months and its one of the most fun matches in the history of wrestling. Just perfect.

Sgt Slaughter vs Iron Sheik (WWF - 4/23/84) Crazy hot brawl. Fantastic match. Sarge shows himself to be an incredible babyface performer immediately. Crowd loves it, I love it. Its Slaughter vs Sheik baby! Sgt Slaugher vs Tiger Chung Lee (WWF - 4/28/84) Quick forgettable match. Not a total squash as Lee gets some offense in but not much. Sgt Slaughter vs Dave Schultz (WWF - 5/5/84) You have go to see how hot this crowd is for Sarge when he comes out. He's getting like the biggest high fives you've ever seen. People are going absolutely bonkers. Sarge is over like Chigusa Nagayo. Its amazing. I've mentioned this a lot throughout this project, but it is worth repeating, Sarge is an all time great puncher. He may not have Jerry Lawler punch variety, but if you want just a great looking punch, Sarge delivers the goods. Sarge starts off hot and is just killing Schultz. Opening when Slaughter charges at Schultz in the corner and Slaughter takes a killer ring post bump (this time Slaughter goes through the rope instead of over). Slaughter's sell of the post bump is remarkable. Sarge gives Schultz a clear opening to start working his shoulder, but Schultz passes it up for more general beat down until he hits his signature 2nd rope elbow. Schultz goes for another elbow this time from the top rope but SLaughter moves and hits him with the Cannon for the win. Real fun lil' match. I didn't think I was gonna like babyface Sarge as much as heel Sarge but its fucking close. Sgt Slaughter vs Butcher Vachon (WWF - 5/19/84) Forgettable jobber match but Sheik comes out in the middle of it and spits on Terry Daniels who is dressed in uniform & carrying the flag. Slaughter comes out to chase them off and gets counted out. He lays out Vachon and puts him in the cobra clutch to the delight of fans. Sgt Slaughter vs Iron Sheik (WWF - 5/19/84) This is probably the worst Slaughter vs Sheik match I've ever seen. Its only like 4 stars. Really though. Another fantastic match between these 2. Sgt Slaughter vs Iron Sheik (WWF - 5/21/84) Its hard to believe they would go on to top this. If the bootcamp match never happened, we'd have been talking about this for the last 35 years. Sgt Slaughter vs Paul Orndorff (WWF - 6/2/84) I really loved this. This sort of match is one of my favorites. A super over face vs a super over heel with a crazy hot crowd worked at a good pace. 2 distinct characters who can both come across as vicious badasses and great athletes that also know how to do comedy schtick and bump & sell. Like this shit rules. I could watch matches like this forever. Sgt Slaughter vs Iron Sheik (Boot Camp Match - WWF - 6/16/84) What needs to be said? One of the top US Matches of the Decade.

There is a match between them from Capitol Centre 7/28/84 that I just noticed is coming up in my Slaugher deep dive. The video is 16+ minutes. I'm VERY excited.