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Bruce Prichard Explains Why WWE Chose Sgt. Slaughter To Dethrone Ultimate Warrior
Image Credit: WWE
On the latest episode of Something To Wrestle With, Bruce Prichard talked about the Iraqi sympathizer storyline involving Sgt. Slaughter.
Prichard admitted that while the goal was to create a heel that fans could genuinely hate, the execution was a “misread” of the audience and the country. The storyline coincided with the height of the Iraq War in early 1991. You can check out some highlights below:
On the Idea:
“Hindsight 20/20, not the greatest idea in the world. It was complicated and it was — I think that at that point that may have been a line in the sand that did not need to be drawn. ‘I’m going to stand my ground by God, and this is what we’re going to do.’ And I’m like, ‘A’ight. Do we have to do that?'”
On the Idea Of Having Slaughter Burn the American Flag:
“I was one of the few that was okay with the burning of the flag. I mean, I hated it. I think anybody that does it should, you know — hated it. But they made such a big deal out of making it legal. And like I’ve said before, Jesse Ventura was like, ‘By God, you know, it’s legal now. You want to get some heat, do it.’
“But the symbolism that we did was kissing your sister. Didn’t get the heat of the other one. But the other one, burning the flag would have been — I don’t think that that would have been something we could have come back from. So I’m so grateful that we did not do it.”
On Slaughter Beating Ultimate Warrior At the Royal Rumble:
“Because we needed to get to WrestleMania. It was just that simple, it was always the plan. And it was in some ways a two-fold. But you know, look, that was always the plan for Sarge to go into WrestleMania as the champion. And to do it there, kind of segue Randy. And Randy was finishing up his in-ring career at that point. That was why the whole retirement match and all that stuff with Warrior at WrestleMania VII. But yeah, that was always the plan.”
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Something To Wrestle With an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.
