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Post by claytanic on Apr 10, 2019 12:29:28 GMT -5
By today's standards, the build was absolutely phenomenal, and though a little long in the tooth at the time, Slaughter was the perfect antagonist. The bad side to feuds like this is that they book themselves into a corner so that the result is a foregone conclusion. But then they did the post-show bit where Slaughter blinds Hogan with a fireball backstage? Heckuva downer for the PPV audience to end the show on, while the event's audience goes home happy. For one at MSG they even changed the rope color order to blue, white, red which seemed crazy to me at the time. .....the WWF ring ropes were always red white and blue during the late '80s/early '90s era, weren't they? IfI wanna say that lasted until maybe the Attitude Era. They were those colors but the order was red, white and blue. In this match the order was blue, white and red.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2019 13:30:14 GMT -5
I was one year old when that match took place, so I obviously have no opinion on it as it happened. Having gone back and watched a lot of the content from that era, I consider evil drill instructor Slaughter one of the best characters in wrestling history. His promos and mannerisms were amazing. The matches weren’t great, but they didn’t need to be in that era.
The Iraqi sympathizer thing, as others have mentioned, was probably a little much, particularly for that era WWF, but Slaughter really out everything he had into that angle. I think it would have been fine if he was just a “ruthless” violent drill instructor without the sociopolitical elements.
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Post by Hit Girl on Apr 10, 2019 13:30:27 GMT -5
Sarge's heel performance as an Iraqi sympathiser is one of the greatest ever IMO.
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Apr 10, 2019 14:05:03 GMT -5
It wasn't even the war stuff that got me. Hogan had been fighting larger than life monsters, guys with huge ripped physiques, the most skilled wrestlers. Then there's this tubby balding guy... ok??? He was a legitimate star and main eventer... years ago. It'd be like if when Bret Hart had his return, if WWE had just acted like he hadn't lost a step and was the same guy he always was, instead of just using him for a few matches then sunsetting him like they did. But like you said, he was out of shape and not the imposing figure he'd have been in his prime, the guy who brought an unseen at the time level of violence to WWF with Patterson and Sheik in the bootcamp matches. Yeah, even if he was still "I WANT MY COUNTRY BACK!" heel angry at things like the fans cheering for "the enemy" with Nikolai Volkoff's recent face turn... and not gone into the Iraq War stuff he was still past his prime and too beat up to actually feel like a massive threat.
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tms
Don Corleone
Posts: 1,901
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Post by tms on Apr 10, 2019 18:33:05 GMT -5
I always loved how Sarge kicked out of the legdrop immediately after the ref hit 3. Even if he was past his physical prime, it made him seem tough as nails s nobody else did that after Hogan's finishing move.
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Post by James Fabiano on Apr 10, 2019 20:51:29 GMT -5
.... wasn't that bad, IIRC. Decent enough fight/Hogan style match.
The fireball was seen on the Prime Time after Mania, then the syndicated shows. Kind of like the wedding reception later that year.
What was weird about Sarge's heel run was that G.I. Joe was still being rerun at the time.
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greyfmdan
Mephisto
Posts: 739
Member is Online
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Post by greyfmdan on Apr 14, 2019 14:27:20 GMT -5
Sorry to dig this up, but I just read this thread today and wanted to throw in my $.02.
I was a kid at the time, growing up in a very conservative, patriotic-minded family. So I had no problem with it. I remember commenting to some of my buddies in school that I hoped Hogan won, because it would “send a good message.” 😄
One thing I particularly noticed about this feud, though, was that even as champion, Slaughter was still wrestling jobber matches on Superstars and Wrestling Challenge. I’d been watching for a couple years or so at that point and knew the top-level guys generally only appeared on those shows for promos or interviews. I never saw Hogan wrestle on them. Warrior stopped wrestling on them once he won the title. I generally only saw Savage wrestle on them when he was outside the top title picture. Andre only wrestled on them as part of the Colossal Connection (and on the way to winding down his career, as I’d later learn). So, seeing Slaughter as champion still wrestling jobber matches on Superstars, even as a kid, seemed pretty odd.
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Nr1Humanoid
Hank Scorpio
Is the #3 humanoid at best.
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Post by Nr1Humanoid on Apr 16, 2019 6:47:48 GMT -5
Damn, Slaughter really bumped like crazy for Hogan in that WM match.
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Futureraven: Beelzebruv
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
The Ultimate Arbiter of Right And Wrong
Spent half my life here, God help me
Posts: 15,133
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Post by Futureraven: Beelzebruv on Apr 16, 2019 7:40:49 GMT -5
Damn, Slaughter really bumped like crazy for Hogan in that WM match. Oh he was always great at that, his exit from the 92 Rumble was brutal.
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Post by wildojinx on Apr 16, 2019 13:28:55 GMT -5
.... wasn't that bad, IIRC. Decent enough fight/Hogan style match. The fireball was seen on the Prime Time after Mania, then the syndicated shows. Kind of like the wedding reception later that year. What was weird about Sarge's heel run was that G.I. Joe was still being rerun at the time. Not just the reruns, he was part of the first season of DiC episodes that were airing in syndication. On a side note about Slaughter, I preferred him using the Camel Clutch to the Cobra Clutch. Looked more intimidating, especially given Slaughter's girth.
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Post by Hit Girl on Apr 16, 2019 13:58:05 GMT -5
Honourable mention to General Adnan, who was also superb in that role.
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Post by James Fabiano on Apr 16, 2019 14:24:50 GMT -5
.... wasn't that bad, IIRC. Decent enough fight/Hogan style match. The fireball was seen on the Prime Time after Mania, then the syndicated shows. Kind of like the wedding reception later that year. What was weird about Sarge's heel run was that G.I. Joe was still being rerun at the time. Not just the reruns, he was part of the first season of DiC episodes that were airing in syndication. On a side note about Slaughter, I preferred him using the Camel Clutch to the Cobra Clutch. Looked more intimidating, especially given Slaughter's girth. Fit the character, as it were, as well. And sure beat the Atomic Noogie.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2019 16:25:38 GMT -5
I enjoyed the Mania match, MSG rematch and the Desert Storm match at the Garden. I think extending it to Summerslam was a mistake but I don’t know who they could put Hogan against. Taker? Quake if they built him more? Sid might’ve worked.
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petef3
Don Corleone
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Post by petef3 on Apr 16, 2019 23:46:55 GMT -5
Honourable mention to General Adnan, who was also superb in that role. But boy did he crap the bed with his performance at WM, completely blowing and exposing two spots (distracting the referee at the wrong time and then mistiming when he was supposed to trip up Hogan). It's a stain on what was really a darn good match.
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