Sgt. Slaughter

[Beast]

Wow.

 

I've been making my way through what's available online. Some AWA Super Destroyer Mark II matches, the Backlund MSG match from 1980, the Cobra Clutch Challenge, Patterson 4/81 and 5/81 and now Pedro in 6/81.

 

Also watching some Mid-Atlantic 1981 footage I brought in on DVD.

 

My eyes have been opened.

 

I grew up just watching him on Coliseum tapes doing the Iraq gimmick as champ and thought he had been a hero forever beforehand and had no real opinion on him. First off the heel drill sergeant gimmick is awesome and I love the various Cobra Clutch angles I've seen so far in both WWF and MACW.

 

His bumping and selling are fucking awesome. I am constantly gasping out loud at some his regular bumps like the head to the turnbuckle post. Between character work, promos, offense, a fantastic brutal looking finisher, and a consistently entertaining body of work, I am all aboard the Slaughter bandwagon.

 

I can't wait to get to Final Conflict era and the Sheik matches.

 

And I know a lot of you love him too, but for the general fan he's gotta be one of the most underrated performers ever. Sure he's a "WWE Legend" that trots out every year, but now that I know how awesome he was, I'm actually going to look forward to seeing him each time. I'm also looking to revisit the Hogan matches under the guise of knowing what came earlier.

[shoe]

He's one of those guys that you look at before the match starts and you think he's just a gimmick. The match starts and you're just wowed especially from 81-85.He made my SC poll so I see him making my list here easily.

[JerryvonKramer]

I'm going to review the entire Slaughter Sheik feud soon, same as I did with Colon vs. Hansen.

[C.S.]

One of my all-time favorites, but I have no idea where I'd realistically rank him.

 

Is the famous Alley Fight with Patterson on the Network? I'd love to start there.

 

He also loses points with me for being perhaps the all-time worse panelist on The Legends of Wrestling, which is wildly unfair to assessing his career, but man, he was horrible.

What was so bad about it? I don't remember his appearance being particularly offensive. But please refresh my memory. In my mind, Michael Hayes was a lot more obnoxious at times, Ric Flair was the drizzling shits (a bitter old drunk), and Mike Graham's "little brother tagging along" routine was kind of sad (but he was solid enough when he actually did speak).

[Ricky Jackson]

Is the famous Alley Fight with Patterson on the Network? I'd love to start there.

 

 

Here's your one-stop 1981 WWF Slaughter shop

 

Dylan, while it's still up there, here's a whole bunch of Sarge from 81:

 

 

You'll find the Patterson Philly matches on there, among other things.

[Parties]

I think he was only on for the one about Patriotism, but my memory was that he told super long, boring stories that went nowhere and made some awful non-jokes. I'm sure other people would look at it and see nothing wrong with it, but he came off as a dude you desperately wouldn't want to get stuck talking to at a party. Even at his career peaks I found him void of charisma, with the exception of a few of the most off the wall sympathizer promos.

 

I was looking at this thread last night and realized that I definitely have a stigma against AWA guys who aren't Bockwinkel. It always felt like a dull, low-rent promotion that made great workers less interesting. I love something like the Bockwinkel-Hennig broadway or Hennig-Hansen, but almost everything I've seen (including the top matches on the DVDVR set) feel like they would have been worlds better anywhere else.

[goc]

I was looking at this thread last night and realized that I definitely have a stigma against AWA guys who aren't Bockwinkel. It always felt like a dull, low-rent promotion that made great workers less interesting. I love something like the Bockwinkel-Hennig broadway or Hennig-Hansen, but almost everything I've seen (including the top matches on the DVDVR set) feel like they would have been worlds better anywhere else.

 

I don't even know what that means. I just watched some Blackwell/Crusher match earlier and while the match wasn't very good the crowd was nuts and when they turned the lights on at the end while Blackwell was beating down Crusher I thought there was about to be a full scale riot. When you have crowds that hot I don't know how you can call it a "dull, low-rent promotion" unless you are talking strictly about their TV.

 

[Parties]

Have not seen the match in question, or any other AWA match where it looked like a riot was eminent. Look: they drew great houses. That's not low-rent. I'm talking about stuff like having terrible announcers, production that feels way behind that of WWF/NWA/Japan of the time, and the palest roster in history, often filled out by a mix of lumbering oafs and solid workers who I find lacking in charisma. Even Watts and Memphis on limited budgets produced more interesting TV. Most of what I have seen is from ESPN, and that Showboat stuff often felt really tacky. But I'm also someone who would rather be shot out of a cannon than enter the average casino, so your mileage may vary.

[goc]

The TV does kind of suck I can't argue that. The Showboat era is actually better than what came before it if that tells you anything. But I find the arena footage is usually pretty damn good especially some of the early 80s stuff that was on the AWA set.

[JerryvonKramer]

I remember enjoying gritty cage matches featuring Sheik Adan-Al-Kasey.

 

My main beef with AWA was that faces got too much shine in general.

[dawho5]

My big problem with the AWA was how every big match seemed like it had to be explained by the referee after the decision. The announcing was pretty damn bad for sure. I never got the idea of Col. DeBeers gimmick against anyone other than Jimmy Snuka as far as people who mattered either. I loved a good portion of the work in the AWA set, and I thought the camera work was really good at times. But I do get the low rent complaint even if the crowds seemed hot to the bitter end. I liked Slaughter when he showed up, but not as much as his WWWF or WWF stuff I've seen. I think he belongs on a top 100 list for sure based on ring work.

[Beast]

Certainty for my top 100, but probably in 80-100 region.

 

- Tremendous heat, especially as a heel in 1981 WWF, and again in 1991 WWF

- Great "marquee matches"

- All-time great bumper

- Magnificent chin, second only to Inoki's

 

I'm listening to the relevant Titans episodes as I watch his stuff, but I'm curious to know what match or moment do you consider "peak" Slaughter.

[JerryvonKramer]

That run it's vs. Patterson, Alley fight.

[Woof]

Slaughter has fallen into that bin of 80's guys who I grew up watching as a kid but never really appreciated and have since come around on because I actually know what the hell I'm watching now. Current inhabitants include: Valentine, Patera, Martel, Ron Garvin, Patterson.

[peachchaos]

The matches with Patterson and Sheik blew my mind whenever they were released on WWE DVD like ten years ago. So in some ways Slaughter was my gateway to 80's wrestling.

 

Nowadays, I'm enjoying the Sarge on Mid Atlantic TV as a tip heel. I dig the idea of him having recruits. Not really any strong matches but of course I'm watching stuff a year out from Final Conflict, which I really enjoy.

 

From what I've seen, Slaughter was good everywhere he popped up. My only wish is that he had one really strong post-career match instead of the stinker with Hunter. A boot camp match with Austin would have been killer and made more sense if only Austin was healthy at the time.

[Jimmy Redman]

I'm another one who grew up only knowing about Slaughter as a gimmick, and once I began watching 80s wrestling I was completely blown away.

 

This dude is the nuttiest bumper. I think every single match of his there's some point where I go all Holy Shit when some insane bump lands him on top of his head. Total psycho.

 

Like peachchaos says above, he was good wherever he went. He has a slew of great shit, and his very best stuff is among the best matches of the 80s.

 

Honestly I think he's one of the very best workers of the 80s. He'll be pretty high for me.

[Matt D]

I don't have time to do the legwork on these three right now, but they didn't make the AWA set. Anyone have time to take a look and report back on how Slaughter looked against some game opponents?

 

 

 

(12 mins vs Saito)

[elliott]

I ranked Sgt. Slaughter 69th overall and I feel good about that. He's maybe a littler closer to 50 than he should be...but I dunno. Peak Sarge fucking rocks. Big dude, incredible bumper and bleeder. His very best matches are unbelievable and when it comes stuff like character and gimmick, Sgt. Slaughter takes a backseat to very few people. 

[overbooked]

I feel like with the Patterson, Sheik, Backlund matches and the Final Conflict, you could make a pretty good case for Sarge being one of the best Big Match workers in North America, if not the world, in the early 80s. So much fun to watch, made his opponents look superhuman and definitely in my 100. 

[strobogo]

He's definitely in my top 20 for beating the fuck out of jobbers. Those poor Mid Atlantic guys. I think he was harder on those pukes than even the Road Warriors or Barbarian would eventually be.

[KB8]

I had Slaughter at 84 in 2016, and I'm still not sure if I undersold him or oversold him. He's a hard guy to rate, even though he maybe shouldn't be. His resume of high-end stuff is exceptional - the Sheik feud, Final Conflict, the alley fight with Patterson, the best stuff with Backlund (I thought the Philly cage match was maybe the best WWF/E cage match ever when I last watched it). I thought the desert storm match with Hogan was more good than great, but it's a point in his favour as a post-prime recommendation. He's an amazing bumper and will bleed like a psychopath, but the way he actually sells that blood loss is brilliant, especially in the alley fight with Patterson. I found AWA Sarge sort of disappointing, but the cage match with Blackwell against Kaissey, Masked Superstar and King Tonga was great. I just really wish there was a Slaughter/Hansen match that lives up to its promise. Dylan makes the case that he has the peaks but not a ton of the mid-level stuff to go along with it, and on the surface I think I'd agree with that, but then Parv makes the counter case and I guess it depends on how much time I set aside to watch weekly 1981 WWF before I settle on one side of the fence. I've been meaning to rewatch the Final Conflict for years so I guess we'll see where that leads us. 

 

SARGEANT SLAUGHTER YOU SHOULD WATCH:

v Bob Backlund (WWF, 3/21/81)

v Pat Patterson (WWF, 5/4/81)

w/Don Kernodle v Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood (JCP, 3/12/83)

v Iron Sheik (WWF, 6/16/84)

w/Jerry Blackwell v Sheik Adnan Kaissey, Masked Superstar & King Tonga (AWA, 4/21/85)

[elliott]

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:
 

Spoiler

 

Sgt Slaughter vs Bob Backlund (WWWF - 10/20/80)
Here we fucking go. Sarge in an MSG main event. This is a classic Slaughter performance. He bumps like a champ. He can get up and down and do rapid fire bumps and then he also takes enormous match changing bumps as well. And he bleeds like a champ too. Just a great old school matchup. Sarge looks absolutely world class here.

Sgt Slaughter vs Bob Backlund (WWWF - 1/10/81)
This is a stone cold classic, top 10 WWF MOTDC. You don't need a review. Just go watch it. Its from Philly.

Sgt Slaughter vs Bob Backlund (WWWF - 2/14/81)
Another classic between two of the best of their era. Great chemistry. Super invested crowd. Holy shit yall, watch all these Slaughter vs Backlund matches.

Sgt Slaughter vs Pedro Morales (WWWF - 2/16/81)
Slaughter in MSG is SO OVER as a heel. It is wild. Sarge is awesome in the earlier going playing to the hyped up crowd. Lots of early schtick. The longer Backlund matches have been all action from the start so this is a changeup so far in terms of structure. Slow going but they keep the crowd interested early giving Morales lots of little wins. Great up & down bumping section off Morales arm drags by Sarge really gets the crowd going. Finally Sarge says enough and hits some great clubbing forearms to Morales' back and takes him down with a front face lock. They lay in it for 2 minutes and its not great but the crowd is right there with them when they slowly pick it up for a hope spot. Sarge cuts it off with a great shoulder block (nice bump by Morales) and a beautiful body slam (fantastic sell by Morales). Back to the front facelock and they build to another beautiful bodyslam this time as a counter by Morales. Great bump and selling from both guys. Slaughter gets to his feet first and locksin the cobra clutch but Morales makes it to the ropes and goes to the outside. They play a great king of the mountain game for a bit with Slaughter dominating. Pedro's selling is excellent in this match. He takes a HUGE bump off a back body drop. Slaughter follows up with a great backbreaker, his falling knee drop and fantastic punches. Fanastic criss crossing rope spot leads to the start of Morales' comeback. Morales' comeback means we get some of Sarge's world class bumping & selling. No one takes a post shot better than Slaughter. Its not possible. He takes a few different ones here and they're all fantastic. Finishing stretch is awesome as they just trade great looking punches until Sarge just bails. The heat is off the charts. Another great one.

Sgt Slaughter vs Andre the Giant (WWWF - 3/16/81)
I love this match. Andre is one of the best of all time and you get a taste of that here. Andre is a master at giving his opponents just enough offense and knowing exactly how much to sell. Slaughter is a perfect opponent for Andre because Slaughter is a huge human being compared to us average folks. So to see him dwarfed by Andre is a sight to behold. There's an amazing "HOLY SHIT" spot where Sarge flies off the 2nd turnbuckle and Andre just snatches him out of the air like a child. Sarge also has really great looking offense so if given an opening, it makes sense that he could do SOME damage to Andre. And of course Sarge is one of the all time bumpers so he can make all of Andre's stuff look absolutely killer. They do the Flair spot where Sarge gets caught on the top rope with a press slam and it is INSANE. This match is a ton of fun. Highly recommended if you're a fan of either performer.

Sgt Slaughter vs Bob Backlund (Cage Match - WWWF - 3/21/81)
I assume everyone knows this one already. One of the great cage matches of the decade. Prioritize this feud if you havent seen it!

Sgt Slaughter vs Pat Patterson (WWWF - 4/6/81)
Another epic match. This is another matchup where everyone is likely familiar with the famous blow off match, but the early matches are awesome. Fantastic chemistry from these two. Great heat. This is just perfect wrestling. Poor referee takes a beating. Sgt Slaughter vs Pat Patterson (WWWF - 4/18/81)

Sgt Slaughter vs Pat Patterson (WWWF - 4/18/81)
These two are just magic together. Another classic old school match

Sgt Slaughter vs Pat Patterson (Alley Fight - WWWF - 5/4/81)
Another one where I dont feel like I have to say anything. its the Slaughter vs Patterson Alley Fight. If you're reading this and haven't seen this match, stop reading.

Sgt Slaughter vs Rick McGraw (WWWF - 6/20/81)
And this is why we should do these deep dives. This is a short match less than 9 minutes. But McGraw comes out on fire and Slaughter cuts a fucking insane blade job and is just covered with blood. This makes him mad and he beats the absolute shit out of McGraw, gets the pinfall and continues to destroy him. AWESOME piece of business right here.

Sgt Slaughter vs Pat Patterson (Alley Fight - WWWF - 8/1/81)
I am ashamed to admit I did not know this happened. This one is from Philly. Lets see if its awesome...IT IS. WTF get on this people!

Sgt Slaughter vs Jay Youngblood (Maple Leaf Wrestling - 10/4/81)
Really good old school house show match. Super crowd. Sarge bumps around like a maniac for all of Youngblood's armdrags, hip tosses and other babyface for the first portion of the match. Then Sarge cuts him off and we get much sharper brutal looking offense. Youngblood gets a quick comeback before theygo to the cobra clutch. Really good.

Sgt Slaughter vs Wahoo McDaniel (JCP - 4/28/82)
Holy shit this ruled. Just a perfect studio match that starts slow and builds to a huge crescendo. These two have fantastic chemistry. I need like 10 matches between these two.

Sgt Slaughter vs Antonio Inoki (NJPW - 9/19/82)
As far as 6 minute matches go, this is really good. Slaughter gets some real heat on Inoki. He hits a gutbuster and focuses his offense on Inoki's ribs. There's a great spot where Slaughter picks Inoki up in gut-buster position and smashes him into the ringpost on the outside. Slaughter also hits an enormous version of his trademark bump over the post. Real good stuff here.

Sgt Slaughter vs Otto Wanz (CWA - 12/18/82)
This was one of the most shocked I've ever been watching a match. If we only had this one match of Sgt Slaughter, we'd be able to tell he was an all time great. In terms of a one man show, this ranks up there with anything. That's not to completely dismiss Wanz. He brings some positives. Namely he is CRAZY over with his crowd. But he's not gonna take a bunch of bumps or do a bunch of moves or work holds in an interesting way and he's not a super emotive seller. He's a real punch/kick wrestler. And luckily Slaughter is one of the all time bumpers & sellers. Slaughter takes like 8 completely insane bumps in this match. His selling is incredible. LIke we need to start talking about Slaughter. as one of the best 10 sellers of all time. Offensively Slaughter just annihilates Wanz with fantastic looking punches. Wanz isn't a real bump machine so we don't get a lot of the killer offense you'd normally see in a Slaughter match. Wanz isn't gonna take a tombstone and I don't blame him. So we get a lot of great looking punches, stomps, knees to the cut, falling knees, the great Slaughter clothesline, he nails a footstomp, comes off the top rope. That sort of thing. He can't do his backbreakers & piledrivers so he figures out other stuff to keep things interesting and moving. This isn't the very best Slaughter match, but honestly if I had to convince a skeptic that he was an all time great, I might pick this fucking marathon with Otto freaking Wanz.

Sgt Slaughter & Don Kernodle vs Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood (JCP - 1/30/83)
Fucking awesome 10 minute sprinty brawl. Just a classic quick southern tag that leads to a DQ when the ref kept getting shoved out of the way so they could all keep brawling with each other. For what they're going for, this is as good as it gets. All 4 guys look incredible. Slaughter throws some of the best looking clotheslines I've seen so far (Steamboat & Youngblood bumping has something to do with that of course) and "only" takes like 3 crazy bumps in this 10 minute match. Give me wrestling like this forever.

Sgt Slaughter & Don Kernodle vs Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood (Final Conflict Cage Match - JCP - 3/12/83)
One of the best US matches of all time. Go watch it again.

Sgt Slaughter vs Bob Backlund (WWWF - 5/23/83)
I absolutely love the Slaughter vs Backlund matches and this is another awesome one to add to the collection. Backlund jumps Slaughter when he gets in the ring and just destroys him for the first part of the match. Its super fast paced and Slaughter is bumping around like a maniac as usual. When Slaughter goes on offense, he looks fantastic focusing on Backlund's stomach. Lots of gutbusters, foot stomps, elbows, punches, kicks, knees, shoulders etc to the gut. Its well focused and everything looks terrific. The long transition into the Backlund comeback is fantastic. At one point Bob charges at him and just blasts Slaughter with a running headbutt like he (Backlund) is Ashura Hara or something. Backlund's comeback is mostly arm based leading to the chickenwing and everything he does looks great and no one is ever gonna complain about Slaughter's bumping & selling. Screwy finish leads to a great post match. It is nuts how over Backlund still is in MSG.

Sgt Slaughter vs Ivan Putski (WWF - 10/17/83)
I really liked this match a lot. Slaughter is a perfect opponent for Putski. Putski is CRAZY over but limited offensively in what he can do. Sarge is a master at working with opponents like this. He's got a bunch of good schtick he can use and his bumping and selling is in the greatest of all time conversation. Slaughter has started to do some fun schtick where he flexes "too hard" and hurts his pec or his bicep. Its funny stuff and works to particularly great effect when opposite someone like Putski. Stalling to start from Sarge as he's hesitant to get too close to this freak Putski. They do a great job of putting over Putski's great strength. He gets Slaughter in a side headlock and Sarge responds by flailing around because Putski is so strong. They really milk this side headlock but Putski is so ripped & Slaughter is reacting to it so well that the crowd is going crazy watching it. Its really simple by super smart work. Slaugher finally gets him off with an irish whip but Putski comes back with a shoulder block and Sarge takes his huge Rock taking a Stunner bump. Sarge is so good at creating killer offense for people like this. Its just a shoulder block, but in this setting it works as highspot. Putski's time on top is all basic stuff like that that Sarge looks like a millon bucks with his great bumping and selling. He does this again later when he takes one his patented bumps into the ring post off a simple irish whip. Putski takes the vast majority of the match but Sarge's selling on his attempted comebacks is something else. Check him out after his atomic drop as he attempts to get to his feet to follow up. Really great stuff. This is a basic super simple match but Sarge's brilliance still shines through.

Sgt Slaughter vs Ivan Putski (WWF - 1/23/84)
Really fun match. Sarge goes beyond being a bump freak here. He's just a complete lunatic with one insane bump after the other making Putski's pedestrian offense look amazing. Sarge only gets a little offense in but its awesome. Great looking atomic drop, a killer backbreaker, an Oklahoma Stampede into a backbreaker, one of the best Slaughter cannons' yet. Typical great MSG crowd. Just a total blast.

Sgt Slaughter & Dave Schultz vs Andre the Giant & Jimmy Snuka (WWF - 2/18/84)
This is short like 7 minutes but it is awesome. Super fun heated match (no shock there). Slaughter ends up getting isolated and Schultz refuses to tag in. Slaughter bumps and sells like the champ he is and eventually he & Schultz start brawling. Schultz runs off and Sarge goes back to take on this fucking dream team 1 on 2. But Andre offers a hand shake and then Snuka does and the crowd goes fucking bat shit insane for the Slaughter face turn. Awesome angle. Just brilliant.

Sgt Slaughter vs Iron Sheik (WWF - 2/18/84)
Here we go. This is a TV match. Slaughter comes out with a big American flag and the crowd fucking loves him. Sheik jumps him at the bell and this is just 4 minutes of punch, kick, stomp until Slaughter starts to act like hes about to make a comeback and Sheik just bails. CRAZY hot crowd. Great little match/angle to really kick this thing off.

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 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 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.

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 & 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 & 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 & 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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

 

 

[Childs]

Great post. If we could generate similar breakdowns for a lot of the candidates, that would be a terrific legacy for this run of GWE. 

[Tetsujin]

Yeah great post Elliot, gonna check some of those recommended matches asap because Sarge is a wrestler I've always been interested in but never dedicated enough time to as a fan.

Funnily enough, and not related to GWE, Sarge was BY FAR my favourite wrestler to pick in the Legends of WrestleMania videogame, and I fantasy-booked entire storylines around him as the ace of the company. His all time great theme song was everything I needed to push him

[elliott]

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