Bruce Prichard On Sgt. Slaughter Iraqi Sympathizer Angle In 1991, Comparisons To Mohammed Hassan Character

In a recent edition of Something to Wrestle, Bruce Prichard discussed the Sgt. Slaughter Iraqi sympathizer angle in 1991, comparisons to the Mohammed Hassan character in 2004, and much more. You can read his comments below.

Bruce Prichard on the Sgt. Slaughter Iraqi sympathizer angle in 1991: “First of all, having to do it all over again and hindsight being 20/20, we wouldn’t have done it. It was timely, and in many ways, formulaic in how we had presented storylines before – mirroring what was going on in the world and being able to take conflict in the world and bring conflict into the ring in a storyline that would hopefully make sense. This was probably just a little too soon, a little too close to home. I don’t think anyone ever really thought until that weekend that we were ever gonna have a full conflict and go to war. There was conflict and everybody was watching what was going on in Iraq, but you hear this shit all the time and there’s no big major war. This one turned into that major war that people hadn’t been a part of in many, many years. I think it just affected the psyche of the country.”

On comparisons to the Mohammed Hassan character in 2004: “Both were victims of bad timing as well as just bad characters. I don’t know about judgment, it was timing. I think if they had done it at any other time where some of the outside circumstances hadn’t taken place, I think they would have been fine. But when you start seeing people in war, which they had never seen in real-time before – your closest war was Vietnam, and all you saw was film. You didn’t see the reporting of the war the way they were able to report it in 1991 with CNN and having live cameras there that were reporting it. It was unheard of. It was the first time anyone in the world had actually experienced that.”

On how Slaughter and Hulk Hogan reacted to the angle: “I think everyone was looking at it not necessary through rose-colored glasses but keeping a close eye on it. You still have to believe based on what you’re shown, ‘This is not good.’ What we were doing was nothing more than, again, choosing sides. Historically it had been done for years and years and years…..talent were talking about it, and Sgt. Slaughter had security for him and his family. It was touchy, but sometimes I think it was looked at as, ‘Wow, look at this great heat that we have. Old school.’ That’s what you strive for. As insane as that sounds, you strive for people coming into the ring and trying to kill you because that meant you got heat. It’s a little strange when we discuss it in this context. I don’t think it would be possible to get that kind of heat anymore.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Something to Wrestle with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.