Sgt. Slaughter Recalls Vince McMahon Pitching Iraqi-Sympathizer Heel Turn

WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter was all for headlining WrestleMania 7 with Hulk Hogan until he learned he was going to be turning heel.

Slaughter controversially turned heel and pledged his support for Saddam Hussein during the Gulf War of 1990 to 1991.

The storyline would see Hogan threaten to burn the flag of the United States, but instead burning a Hulk Hogan t-shirt, and Sarge would capture the WWF Title in January 1991.

Speaking with “Wrestle Binge” Slaughter recalled the pitch and at first believing that Hogan would be turning heel.

“He’s got the prototype of the Coliseum in LA, and he’s got big screens all over the Coliseum, and he said, ‘This is WrestleMania 7. This is going to hold 104,000 fans, and I want to break the Detroit record. He said I want you and Hulk Hogan to break it.’ I said, ‘Oh, really? How are you going to turn Hulk Hogan into the villain’ and he goes, ‘No, I want to turn you into a villain,’ and I said, ‘How are you going to do that? I came here thinking I was gonna be the real American hero.

“When I got home, my wife was, of course, expecting the real American hero story, and I told her they’re complete reverse. She said, ‘An Iraqi sympathizer? You’re gonna get killed. You can’t do that. You just came off GI Joe; you’re the real American hero.’ I said, ‘Well, that’s what Vince wants.”

WrestleMania 7 would be moved to a much smaller venue, with the WWF claiming a bomb threat had been made due to Slaughter’s character.

The general consensus is that the move was made due to underwhelming ticket sales for the LA Coliseum. Hogan would dethrone Slaughter at WrestleMania, who would turn face months later.

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