All language subtitles for EP-02 - Sgt.Slaughter

- This is what I travel around
with and have traveled around

with for probably 45 years
or more.

This is Sgt. Slaughter's
campaign cover.

It's a very important piece of
my life and my career.

Uh, this is where it all started
for Sgt. Slaughter.

When I put the cover on,
I become Sgt. Slaughter,

instantaneously.

Stand and attention
and salute me.

- Sgt. Slaughter.

- When I speak,
you shut your mouths.

[laughs]

- He loves to bark orders.

- Is that clear, maggots?

- You maggots.

Hearing that, like, you want to
hate that person, but then him

becoming an American hero, like,
"Oh, my God, I love this guy."

- The tremendous standing
ovation for, without a doubt,

one of the greatest living
American heroes today.

- The place would just erupt.

- There were people on the
sidewalk outside banging

on the windows.

"Sarge, Sarge."

- He was a tremendous, larger
than life character that went

beyond the Sports Entertainment
industry.

- Nobody beats GI Joe.

Yo, Joe.

- One of the biggest names
in the world.

- To be Sgt. Slaughter,
it means everything to me

and it cost me a lot of things.

- He loved the limelight.

I think that's pretty addicting,
better than any drug.

- It's the ultimate high.

- This business means everything
to my father.

It always came first.

- "I want you to be an Iraqi
sympathizer."

"I'm in."

I pledge to you,
President Saddam Hussein.

- It's a dark time.

We had bomb threats.

- and him having to wrestle
in a bulletproof vest.

- I think he was having
a lot of fun with it.

- Portraying the villain was
always fun for me.

- The legendary
Sgt. Slaughter.

- He is a certifiable legend.

- The character of Sgt.
Slaughter is going

to live forever.

- All I have ever wanted
to do in my life was be

a professional wrestler.

And it has its ups and downs,
lots of travel.

Over the last 50 years,
I've traveled the world.

I've gone from, uh, New York to
Tokyo,

but this is where I look

forward to coming to when it's,
uh, my day off.

This is where I-I call home.

Little place here
in North Carolina.

Really enjoy the relaxation
and the quietness.

Reminds me of my home back
in Minnesota.

I grew up on a farm
in Minnesota.

My father and mother were
farmers and my father had enough

of farming, so he moved us up to
Minneapolis and got a, uh,

job as a roofer.

And my, uh, earliest days of,
um, remembering professional

wrestling was, I guess I was
about three or four years old.

- My dad would watch it on TV.

My dad loved wrestling.

- So he put me on his knee.

And that's when I first started
watching professional wrestling.

- Oh.

- I really enjoyed it.

It was entertaining to me and
all the different characters

that were on there.

And I looked forward to it.

- Bob loved wrestling,
but Bob was into all sports.

- I always watched sports, loved
sports, played a lot of sports.

I was kind of a quiet,
shy boy in school.

And I always was so much bigger
than my classmates.

- Bob was always big and got
picked on.

- Being the larger boy in my
class and because of my, uh, jaw

and-and because I had the, uh,
lazy eye, my parents finally

made me go get glasses.

And the lens on one of my eyes
was always much bigger

than the other.

So, uh, they would say things to
me like, uh, here comes Bobby

Remus, the cyclops, because I
had one larger eye

than the other.

And, uh, of course my jaw, they
would call me, uh, cow face or

things like that.

But it didn't bother me.

I just, uh, kind of, let it go
in one ear and out the other.

- Well, he was a quiet
and likable person.

He didn't talk a lot.

He came out for football.

And, uh, that was interesting
because he-he was a big fellow

and, uh, he was always a little
timid and was, even with pads

on, he was afraid he was going
to hurt somebody that we had to

do things to irritate him
a little bit.

[laughs]

So he would get a little upset
about something and then he

would do better.

But he evolved quickly,
became a real good player.

He was, uh, all-conference
for the Minnesota Valley.

Two years.

- We had, uh, wrestling and kind
of dominated because I was

the heavyweight.

I was the bigger guy.

I didn't really enjoy
it that much.

I always thought there should be
ropes and uh, a ring.

But I was just fantasizing about
professional wrestling, I guess.

After high school, I became
a professional barber.

I met Diane at the barbershop
where I was working.

It was love at first sight.

- When I first met him, I just,
I remember standing there

and going, oh, hi.
And that was it.

- I was three years older
than she was.

I was 18 and she was 15.

- I couldn't even remember
his name.

But that changed quickly.

- We got married the day after
she turned 18 years old.

- He made me laugh a lot.

He had a wonderful sense
of humor.

I followed him everywhere.

They even had a nickname for me.

They called me Shadow.

- Because wherever Bob was,
you'd look behind and Diane was

coming right behind him.

[laughs]

- Bob did not enjoy being a
barber.

- My father finally decided that
he wanted to start

a roofing company.

- He started working
for his dad.

He was looking, he didn't know
what he wanted to do.

- One day a friend of mine
called me.

He was a, uh, sports writer and
his company asked him to do a

story on a pro wrestling
training camp put on

by Verne Gagne.

- My dad was Verne Gagne,
who started wrestling

professionally in 1949.

And he trained over
the years 144 wrestlers.

And we worked out on a farm
my dad had out

in Chanhassen, Minnesota.

- And, uh, to the far end
of the barn was a ring.

Verne was explaining everything
to the crew that's there.

- If you don't know how to fall,
you're going to get hurt.

And if you're hurt,
you can't wrestle.

If you can't wrestle,
you don't eat.

It's that simple.

- And he said, uh, is there a
volunteer that could come in the

ring and we could
put some holds on?

In I go, and Billy Robinson,
the, uh, British Empire

Heavyweight Champion
was in there.

- But Billy had a kind of a
temper and he liked taking

advantage of people,
especially the young guys.

- He dropped the, his shin on
the back of my ankle, tried to

break my foot to, kind of, show
this is the legitimate.

And, well, the first thing that
came to my mind when I felt the

pain was my father being on top
of that roof the next morning.

And I wouldn't be able to get up
on the roof because my leg was

broke and he'd be up there all
by himself working.

So I kind of went into a rage,
kind of, uh, some place I'd

never been before and, uh,
Billy and I went at it.

- And then Billy Robinson
evidently thought he was gonna

kick Bob's butt, but he didn't.

Bob kicked his.

- And, uh, finally Verne saw
that and jumped in there and

broke us apart, and he said, "If
you wanna pursue a professional

wrestling career, please get in
touch with me."

So I went home that night and I
said, "I'm gonna be a

professional wrestler."

- And I said,
"The hell you are."

- And I said,
"The hell I'm not."

- And I just couldn't believe it
because I knew my life would

change drastically.

I didn't like wrestling.

It just wasn't for me.

- And that inspired me to be
sitting in front of this camera

right now, because when she said
those words to me and I said

those words back to her,
I had to do it.

Couldn't let her get
one up on me.

- He loved it.

It was his calling.

Once he stepped into that ring,
that was it for him.

- Any time I went to the
training camp the next year and

I wanted to quit.

There was many,
many times I wanted to quit.

I heard those words in my ear,
in my mind, the hell you are.

The hell I'm not.

And I would keep going,

- Get up.

- scratch and claw,

- Run into him.

- and I made it.

And it was a very, very happy
day for me, and I went and told,

uh, Diane that I was a-a bona
fide, uh, professional wrestler

and she said, "Yippee,
yippee oh ki-yay."

- And I said, you do what you
have to do to be successful, and

that's all I could do for him
was to support him and hold down

the fort and I never complained,
ever did I complain.

- And so I shipped off to
Vancouver, Canada,

for my first apprenticeship.

I'm wrestling as "Beautiful"
Bobby Remus at that time.

I have long blonde hair.

"Superstar" Billy Graham who
wore all the tie-dye and the

different colors was my idol.

All of a sudden, I'm gone,
I've left.

She was my shadow and she came
out to Vancouver.

We, uh, started our family.

Our first daughter was
started out there.

- Well, I was thrilled and
actually I was thrilled that I

had someone to be with me,
someone to care for while he was

gone because he was
gone all the time.

He had wrestled in Vancouver,
British Columbia, and then

Seattle and Oregon.

I know that he travelled all the
towns out there.

He had been in Japan
for four weeks.

- When I very first met Sarge,
I was in Japan

He was really green
in the business.

Didn't really know what
he was doing.

- He thought he was gonna be a
superstar right out of the gate,

but he wasn't, so he had
to pay his dues.

- He had a- he had a tough time
when he first started getting

himself established with the
public, and Bob, kinda, I think

floundered around a little bit
because he didn't

have an identity.

- I was really kinda put down.

I didn't know what was going on
in my career at that time.

One day, I pulled the knob on
the TV and up popped a movie

called The D.I.

- You're gonna drill, drill,
drill, and you're gonna

do it right.

Do you hear me?

[Recruits: "Yes, sir."]

- I was mesmerized and I said,
"What a wonderful idea for a

villain in professional
wrestling, a drill instructor."

So as soon as the, uh, movie was
over, I ran down to my local

Army Navy surplus store and I
got a campaign cover, a whistle,

and swagger sticks.

- He had the chin, he had the
voice, he had the look.

And once he put that uniform on,
he did look like the typical

drill Sgt. that we had all
seen in the movies.

- I used to call him Dudley
Do-Right all the time, the

cartoon character back in--
Dudley Do-Right

of the mounted police.

He had that Sgt. Slaughter
chin.

Nobody had the look of-of
Sgt. Slaughter.

- I did a lot of research
on my character.

It was almost like being
in school.

I've talked to many, many,
many people.

My uncle served, my friend Bill
Tweet was a major in the Army,

and I would research everything.

I would think of lines to say.

The Sgt. Slaughter name came
from a movie called

Soldiers in the Rain.

- Sgt. Slaughter speaking.

- So I dress up and I head down
to the AWA wrestling office and

go to see Verne Gagne and he
said, "I love that character.

I hated my drill instructor in
the, uh, the Marine Corps.

What a brilliant idea.

You got to do this.

Harley Race just called me
looking for a new villain.

You need to go down to Kansas
City because this is big."

We ended up going down to Kansas
City and that's where Sgt.

Slaughter began in 1975.

- Well, he was Bob Slaughter in
Kansas City and I did have a

couple of matches
with him there.

And that character, I mean,
nobody else could do that

like he does it.

I mean, just his whole look.

I said, "You didn't realize that
when you were born, but

that-that chin is classic."

Uh, I mean, I said, "You look
like a drill Sgt."

- And we were doing really,
really good business and then I

got the call that my mother, uh,
was sick, that I should, uh,

come home immediately.

My mother had cancer and, uh, I
had to leave and take care of

the roofing company so my father
could be with my mother.

She was constantly in pain, so
they did some chemotherapy with

her and she got better.

And at that time in those days
when you got better from cancer,

you thought, "Hey, she's gonna
beat it.

She's gonna be okay."

But it was just a-a way of lo--
prolonging her-her illness

and her life.

And, uh, one day Verne Gagne
called me up and said, "Uh, Bob,

I'm having a little trouble with
my masked man, Super Destroyer

here and I was wondering if you
would consider

taking his place."

I said, "Well, Verne, I-- I'm
back, but I'm still running a

roofing company."

He said, "Well, I got an
eight-passenger plane.

We don't wrestle every night,
but when we do and I can get you

back the same night,
could you do it?"

So I told my mother and dad
about it at dinner, and my

mother said, "Bobby, I'm not
dying tomorrow."

So my mother, God bless her
soul, sewed me some masks, she

sewed me some robes and outfits,
and so I called Verne up and

said, "Okay. I'll do it."

- "The Super Destroyer" Mark II.

- Look at the size side of the
Super Des-- Oh.

- Oh.

- Oh, look out.

- When you wrestled in the AWA,
you didn't wrestle every night.

- And he was home,
he was home every night.

Kelly came along
in April of '79.

Even though he wanted what he
wanted in his wrestling career

to get that off, but he also
knew his commitment and devotion

to his family and he
couldn't leave.

He knew that his dad needed
to be with his mom.

- My mother, uh, finally had to
be put into a home and, uh, she

couldn't eat or she hardly even,
uh, was awake.

It was a horrible, uh, thing
just to witness.

- It was very difficult for Bob
to see his mother sick.

- And the doctor came and said,
"She's not gonna make it

probably through the night, so
you might wanna start going in

and saying your goodbyes."

I'll never forget the glow
around her head.

It looked like an angel and,
uh-- excuse me.

She smiled and, uh, said,
"Bobby, I'm, uh-- I'm seeing

the light."

And I said,
"Go to the light. Go."

- I know it was hard on him.

I know how much he loved his
mother because he hated

seeing her in pain.

It was hard.

She was a wonderful woman.

When she passed, he was back
wrestling almost right away.

- I decided to make professional
wrestling my career full-time.

- Well, your winner, ladies and
gentlemen,

"Super Destroyer" Mark II.

- Pat Patterson was a very close
friend that I met when I first

started wrestling as "Super
Destroyer" Mark II.

And, uh, one day I started
telling, uh, Pat about this

character, Sgt. Slaughter,
that I had created.

He said it sounds pretty good.

Pat was going to New York
to wrestle.

So I handed him some 8x10s, and
I said, "Would you mind taking

these to the WWE?"

Because WWE was the major
leagues.

I had been wrestling in a lot of
minor leagues,

but this is the major leagues.

And about two weeks later, I get
a call from Mr. McMahon Sr.,

the man in charge there, asking
me to come in, and off I went.

The name is Slaughter.

Drill Sgt. Slaughter.

Is that clear?

- I hated him.

[laughs]

I hated Sgt. Slaughter.

- When I come in the arenas,
I want you on your feet.

- Because he came across like
the drill Sgt. to not just

other wrestlers,
but to the fans.

- You're all slabs, hogs and
sows, that's all you are.

- He got over instantly.

I mean, as soon as he went to
the ring, with the look,

the cadence.

- Shut up, you maggots.

When I speak,
you shut your mouths.

Who gave you permission
to speak?

- Sgt. Slaughter was
straight-laced and hardcore

and zero emotion.

And I loved it.

- He seems like such
a sadistic individual.

He's been very, very rough
with all his opponents.

He's been breaking the rules
like crazy, and he's about

to do right now.

- Portraying the villain was
always fun for me because

it was the opposite of myself.

- I traveled with him
a little bit.

He's just a normal guy.

He wasn't a big partier.

He's quiet.

Sometimes you almost didn't know
he was in the dressing room.

- When he was in the back, you
know, he's Bob Remus,

he's playing cards
and hanging out.

And he was just a normal guy.

He wasn't intimidating at all.

But as soon as he went out
there, his whole look and his

whole demeanor changed when
he put the hat on and became

the drill Sgt.

- I never expected him to be
like Sgt. Slaughter.

That he could go from that quiet
person to somebody

that was outspoken.

- Welcome to Camp Slaughter.

All you maggots out there,
just remember one thing.

Sgt. Slaughter
is in command.

Move it, move it, move it.

Come on yuppie.

I worked endlessly, tirelessly.

You know the easy way or I'm
gonna throw you off.

I wanted to make sure that
Sgt. Slaughter's character

was the greatest villain
of all time.

It was tough to be that person
that I portrayed and then to

come home and be Bob Remus.

Uh because sometimes it was hard
to get out of the character.

But I learned as soon as I came
up that driveway, Sgt.

Slaughter stayed in the bag and
Robert Remus walked

into the house.

- Well, it was my rule and
I think he adopted to it.

But he probably needed
a break from the Sarge too.

He came in one time and he came
walking through the front door

and I cannot remember what it
was he said, what he did.

But all of a sudden I went,

"Did the Sarge just come into
my house?"

And I went, "Whoa."

I said, "The Sarge doesn't
live here.

Bob lives here.

Their daddy lives here."

I said, "You're gonna have to
leave."

And I said, "You come back when
Bob shows up."

He needed a place where he could
just come back and just be Bob.

Except as soon as you leave the
house and go somewhere,

then you were mobbed.

[crowd chants "Gomer"]

- Respect your Sgt.

Don't call me Gomer.

- Thousands of people
shouting Gomer.

- That's disrespectful.

- Gomer Pyle, of course.

- Gomer Pyle.

- Hey, Sarge.

- It was always a treat for me
to be the villain.

- Sgt. Slaughter really
enjoys what he does.

- I used to just marvel on how
mad I could get people.

I got people so mad at me that I
got stabbed four times.

- He is not well liked by this
capacity crowd at all.

- So Sgt. Slaughter became
larger than life with the help

of the WWE because of the
New York market.

- Slaughter is just devastating.

- Sgt. Slaughter was the
perfect villain because people

paid money to see him
get beat up.

Unfortunately for them, he
didn't get beat up too often.

That was until his rivalry with
Pat Patterson started.

When this alley fight was
promoted between Pat Patterson

and Sgt. Slaughter,
it was an instant sellout.

It was the moment that fans
expected Sgt. Slaughter

might finally get his.

- No referee, no holds barred.

- One of the greatest
match in my career.

We kicked the [bleep] out
of each other, too.

- And this place goes
absolutely bonkers.

- That match, the alley fight,
the thing that made Sgt.

Slaughter a household name.

That match was seen from
across the world.

- It's still as good today
as it was then.

And it was just on down at the
training center two days ago.

It's a phenomenal teaching
tool here.

- After that match, I was asked
to go down to Charlotte, the

Mid-Atlantic Crockett Promotions
by Vince McMahon Sr.

He wanted me to leave for a
while so that the people

would be begging for Sgt.
Slaughter to come back.

And as soon as I got there,
I said, wow,

this is like Minneapolis.

It's got the four seasons,
but they're not harsh.

So I called Diane.

I said you have to bring the
girls down and take

a look at this place.

- We ended up there and
loved living in Charlotte.

And the girls were happy.

They had their friends and, you
know, we have a beautiful home.

And Bob was around a lot more.

- Basically every night
I would be home.

We just really enjoyed my career
a lot more than what we did

when we first started.

I am the number one man
around here.

Since I was the ultimate villain
there also, I gotta do something

about my cars because every time
we would come out to leave,

either my windows were smashed
in, my tires were flat.

And so I decided I'm going to go
pursue a used car somewhere

because my car was being
demolished.

- He bought a limo and he had
it painted camo.

And then he had Private Nelson
and then Don Kernodle

as the drivers.

And he'd be riding in the back
of the limo like they'd be

chauffeurs, right?

- So people were hating me more
and more and more because I took

these two good guys and made
them villains.

- And Don never won
a match on TV.

So Sarge took him under his wing
and he convinced Jim Crockett,

who was owner of Crockett
Promotions for the Mid-Atlantic

area, that he could take Don and
make a main event guy

out of him.

- Don and I had became the World
Heavyweight Champions.

- They broke every record
there was

in the Mid-Atlantic territory.

- He was so instrumental in
making something that the

promotion did not think
would work.

- After about two years in
Charlotte, it was time to make

my way back up to New York and
Mr. McMahon Sr. said,

"There's never ever been a
villain like you."

And I said, "Well, Mr. McMahon,
if you think I'm such a good

villain, you ought to see me as
a hero."

And he went, "What?"

- The greatest living military
hero in the world today,

Sgt. Slaughter.

- 50 Americans continue to be
held captive in Iran.

Hostages of a mob and a
government that have become one

and the same.

- The biggest example of taking
real-world conflict and putting

it into a wrestling ring would
be Sgt. Slaughter

and The Iron Sheik.

- Well, you're not far removed
from the Iranian hostage crisis.

The hostages had been taken in
'79, but The Iron Sheik would

come in and demand that the
Iranian national anthem

be played.

- Iran, number one.

- Fans would go nuts.

They'd be booing,
they'd be throwing stuff.

- They wanted somebody to come
to the rescue of the

United States of America.

- And it started with just The
Iron Sheik and Sgt.

Slaughter passing each other,
one going to the ring,

one leaving the ring.

- Wait a minute,
who's gonna step aside?

- I'm getting goosebumps
just thinking about it.

It was so simple, but it was
brilliant in its simplicity,

is that Sarge would not get out
of the way.

- We may, Vince McMahon, have an
altercation that we never in a

lifetime would suspect between
these two men.

- It's like, he might be a
bully, but he's our bully.

He's better than that guy.

- Slaughter's not gonna take any
guff, you can count on that.

- And that started one of the
greatest feuds in the history

of the WWE.

- I've had it right up to here
every time I pick up an American

newspaper and see that one of my
Marines,

one of my boys went down.

USA.

USA.

[crowd chants "USA"]

- We had an excellent match.

Everywhere we go.

- I remember there was a match
between Sgt. Slaughter and

The Iron Sheik, where there was
no finish, and the battle just

didn't happen in the ring.

It actually went into the back.

- Here we are back in the
corridor area now and Slaughter

caught up with him.

- And for me watching it at
home, I'm watching The Iron

Sheik and Sgt. Slaughter
fighting in the back, but I'm

also hearing like some foul
language in the back.

- Get that son of a bitch, Sheik

- I was like, "Oh my gosh,
they're, like, really fighting."

And-And Vince McMahon is trying
to break them up.

I'm like, "Oh my gosh, this is
100% real."

- Man, oh, man alive.

I have never in my life seen
anything like it.

- Sgt. Slaughter against
The Iron Sheik was always

at or near the top of the bill.

- The fans here, listen to them
yell, "USA."

- There were a number of us
at NBC who were

real wrestling fans.

We loved it, and we would talk
about it all the time, even talk

to each other with straight
faces like seriously,

"Oh, there's an epic
showdown coming now.

I don't see how possibly The
Sheik can get in and out of

Madison Square Garden without
a phalanx of security."

This is not on the air.

This is how we talked about
it in the office

[laughs]

because we just bought into it.

- I've heard volume in Madison
Square Garden, but when I heard

Sarge come out, it was a
different level of volume.

Slaughter was outdrawing
all of us.

- The hottest ticket in town
right now, obviously,

is a ticket to the wrestling
matches.

- Wrestling has also triggered
a recent surge of patriotism,

thanks in part to Sgt.
Slaughter's crusade against

The Iron Sheik.

- Pitting a patriotic Marine
Sgt. against

an Iranian Sheik.

- Sgt. Slaughter, without a
doubt, he has become the most

talked about wrestler
in America today.

[crowd chants "USA"]

- I went to the show and
afterwards, you know, said hello

to Sarge and he said, "Where
should we go for dinner?"

It was late, so we go into the
Carnegie Deli, but we got there

in his camouflage stretch
limousine.

Within 15 minutes after he sat
down, not only was the place

packed, but there were people on
the sidewalk outside banging on

the windows, "Sarge, Sarge, The
Iron Sheik, want you to take

care of him," whatever the hell
they were saying.

And he was so good-natured about
the whole thing, but it wasn't

like he was trying to lowkey it.

You know, if you arrive in a
camouflaged limousine and it's

parked on a New York street, uh,
you're gonna get some attention.

Sarge was enormously popular,
enormously popular.

- He was going somewhere,
to a bookstore for a signing.

There were people, like,
practically jumping

off buildings.

I mean, it was a mob scene.

- Everybody jumped on board.

In fact, President Ronald Reagan
invited me to the White House,

and he said,
"Sgt. Slaughter,

I've always wanted to meet
you.

I love what you do for our
country and for patriotism."

[crowd chants "USA"]

I love this country.

I always have, I always will.

I wanted to be in the military.

Unfortunately, I have a lazy
eye, which kept me from serving

in the military, so I never
served in the military,

but Sgt. Slaughter has.

- Are you a Marine Corps
veteran?

- That's right.

- Are you a Sgt.
in the Marines?

- Sgt., drill instructor.

- How many years were you in?

- Seven years.

- Back then, to keep the persona
up meant you were on your game.

And there was no halfway,
half-hearted, you know, you got

to wind up, brother, and do it.

You had to be into it, you know.

- When I got there in 1984,
I mean, I didn't actually know

that he didn't have a
background in military.

I always assumed he did.

- For me to be the symbol of
Americana for anybody that was

out there watching,
it was an honor to me.

They can't themselves get into
the ring and I am fighting

for America.

I'm fighting for each and every
person in the audience.

- Sgt. Slaughter,
hero to millions.

- I played the villain.

Now I'm a hero and I
kind of enjoy it.

- You must be one of the busiest
men in the world today.

I don't know how you can
possibly maintain your schedule.

- It's unbelievable, Vince.

Uh, not only is-is the schedule
tough, but wherever I go,

people recognize me.

- In this year of "Mat Mania"
Sgt. Slaughter is an honored

celebrity, a folk hero, you
might say, standing head and

shoulders above the crowd.

- Unfortunately, that's when I
was my busiest when my

daughters were both in school.

- He really made sure that we
knew how much he loved us.

"And even though daddy can't be
here all the time, I'm always

thinking about you, and I wish
that I was there to see

you grow up."

He missed a lot.

It was hard.

- He was on the road 300
days a year,

so we only got him 64 days.

And I would say maybe half of
those, he was recovering from

injuries or just being on the
road for so long.

- Sometimes we would go weeks
without hearing from him.

Lots of birthdays were missed.

Lots of holidays, recitals.

I always say that for as much as
he was gone,

he wasn't an absent father.

He was very much present.

- He made up for the fact that
he wasn't there.

He would send flowers.

He would call us and let us know
that he wished that

he could be there.

- Family was important to him.

Bob made a great effort all the
time to get back

as often as he could.

- There was a time where I was
maybe four years old, and my dad

had come home from being on the
road for, who knows how long,

three months.

- And all of a sudden, Kelly
comes upstairs and walks right

into the bedroom with like three
of-- three neighbor kids.

- And I told them,
"See, I do have a dad.

He does exist, and he's right
there."

- Like, "Oh, my God, she had to
prove she had a dad?"

Because they had never seen him

because he was gone
all the time

He did have two lives.

He had a mistress and
it was wrestling.

That's what it came down to.

Wrestling was his mistress.

She was always calling him and
he'd go off and

take care of her.

- This business means everything
to my father.

It's his whole life.

It always came first.

- I did it not only for myself,
my family, but I did it for the

fans because they came
to see me perform.

We brought our, uh, daughters,
uh, one time to, uh,

an event in the Poconos.

- He was wrestling
The Iron Sheik.

- And he took a, uh, foreign
object out of his boot and went

to hit me with it.

And I don't think he meant to do
it, but he hit me pretty hard

and I started gushing blood.

[chuckles]

And this-this-this is a family
kind of show.

We're at the Poconos
with our families.

You know, we're not supposed
to be getting too crazy.

- Now my dad's bleeding and my
sister and I just lose it

because there's our dad
getting killed.

- And here I am, bleeding to
death in the ring, and my

daughters and my wife were in
the front row watching this.

- I tried to shield it from her
and she was screaming.

She was screaming, "He's gonna
hurt my dad."

- The next thing we knew, the
match was over and I popped up

and I was like, "Did he win?
Is he dead?"

And there's my dad in the ring,
you know, like this like he won,

and I was like, "Thank God my
dad's alive."

- When I came around the corner
go-going to the dressing room,

there was Diane.

[chuckles]

- Well, I was furious with-
with Bob.

- I had an easier time with
The Iron Sheik.

By the time she got done with
me, she was giving me

the riot act.

"Why did you do that?

Why did you do that in front
of your children?"

And I said, "I didn't know what
was gonna happen."

- But it was hard for her.

It took a long time for her to
calm down because she really was

terrified that her daddy was
going to be killed.

- It affected us for sure.

I mean, that's like childhood
trauma.

- So, it's the little things
like this that are just a

reminder of why I didn't like
the business.

- My career in the WWE got cut a
little bit shorter because of

the popularity of
Sgt. Slaughter.

Other companies were
seeing this.

A company by the name of Hasbro
was thinking about going in that

direction, where they could have
a real live character that could

be their spokesperson
and their ambassador.

They wanted me to be their guy.

And I said, "Well, I need to run
this by Vince first."

And he said,

"Pal, hell of an idea,
but I can't let you do it."

Vince told me that he had just
signed a huge contract with LJN,

a toy company, that it would be
a conflict of interest for me to

be with Hasbro and with LJN.

So I couldn't do it.

So I'm at home with Diane and
the children at dinner.

She said, "Bob, you can always
be a wrestler."

- But how often do you get an
opportunity to be

a G.I. Joe character?

- The next day I called Vince
and gave him my notice.

- Okay, whenever you're ready.

- Okay.

Sar-Sarge, some people are
saying,

"Where's Sgt. Slaughter?

Where's he been?"

You've been keeping
as busy as ever?

- Oh, busier than ever.

Uh, I've been, uh, doing a lot
of, uh, commercials and, uh,

some movies and, uh, made a
record album.

I joined up with the

G.I. Joe outfit.

Uh, I'm the first living

G.I. Joe now and it's been a
real busy schedule.

I've been expecting you.

My name is Sgt. Slaughter,
Special Drill Instructor for

G.I. Joe.

- I was a huge fan of
G.I. Joe.

And when G.I. Joe

came out with Sgt.
Slaughter, I was like, "Oh, my

God, this is great."

- Come on, you guys.

I could use a little help.

- I loved playing with

G.I. Joe as a kid.

There was something so cool,
though, about that Sgt.

Slaughter, G.I. Joe figure.

'Cause you knew it was
a real guy.

You've gotta realize,
in the late 1980s,

G.I. Joe wasn't a toy,
it was THE toy.

- G.I. Joe was huge at the time,
right?

This was the young male's answer
to the Barbie doll.

It really was.

- It really did make Sgt.
Slaughter a household name.

He's a G.I. Joe.

He's an action figure.

He's on the cartoon.

- That Joe's surrounded
by Cobras.

- Yeah, but that Joe's
Sgt. Slaughter.

- He's joined the G.I. Joe team.

- So we're celebrating by giving
away Sgt. Slaughter action

figures, but you can't buy them
in stores.

You've got to earn them.

Bob is inside.

Sarge is out in the garage.

So I've never put anything of
Sgt. Slaughter in my homes.

So let me look through here.

Oh, right off the bat, the
reason I left the WWE.

This is the first three and
three-quarter-inch

G.I. Joe Sgt. Slaughter
action figure.

This is where it all started for
Sgt. Slaughter and G.I. Joe.

I can't tell you how much this
action figure means to me

and my family because it changed
our lives.

And because of this action
figure with Hasbro G.I. Joe,

it created a volume, and
the volume of Sgt. Slaughter

being on products
all over the world.

Talk about changing your life.

All of a sudden,
I'm at birthday parties.

Young boys and girls were going
out and being

Sgt. Slaughter for
Halloween.

What boy or girl didn't want to
take a bubble bath with Sgt.

Slaughter in the soap that came
out of his-his head?

Here I am.

All the boys and girls could
take their lunches to school and

know that they were in good
hands because Sgt. Slaughter

was on the cover of their
lunchbox.

Hasbro never really made a
a action figure

that was this size before.

They never had a wrestling
action figure, so they added

this, made it so that I was able
to be put into the WWE line of

action figures of LJN, and I was
made just a little bit bigger.

Way to go, Sarge.
Yeah.

And I trademarked any brand that
had Sgt. Slaughter's

likeness in it.

I wrote a whole album full of
songs.

Had my own label.

Cobra Records, way ahead
of my time.

This was the first wrestling
video game that I know of.

That's where it all started.

- Sarge was so smart and so
bright, he foresaw the future of

merchandising before
a lot of us did.

- I think he opened up, like,
new horizons where, you know,

some of us that had never done
a, like a Gillette

commercial before.

All of a sudden it opened up the
door for me

to do things like that.

Anything less would be
uncivilized.

Oh my gosh, Randy Savage.

"Snap into a Slim Jim."

- Pick up the tempo?

- Yeah.

- Snap into a Slim Jim.

- I think he had a-a lot to
kicking down that fourth wall as

far as getting with the big
brands.

- I got, uh, different
invitations to, uh, be on a, uh,

Diet Coke commercial that I did.

I got invited to be on the Mario
Brothers show.

Sgt. Slaughter.

And I'm here to train you bozos
for a special secret

government mission.

- Okay, boys and girls, get your
crayon or your marker.

And we're gonna go over that
rough sketch you made earlier

and it's gonna look just like
Sgt. Slaughter.

- I'm challenging Bigfoot, the
biggest monster truck in the

world to an all-out tug of war.

We did a couple of music videos
with it.

I played an air guitar.

And I also, uh, appeared in a
movie called The Bad Guys.

- We have a celebrity in the
audience this evening,

Sgt. Slaughter.

- So those were things that I
tried to do to keep

my name out there.

- He was, for several years,
of one the biggest names

outside of WWE.

- Became the first real
superstar that went

on the Indie Circuit.

- I had a chance to see him on
several occasions at high

schools, and he worked hard, he
went out to the merchandise

table, he had a line a hundred
people long.

- And with autographs and my
fee, I was making more money on

the Indies than I was along with
my Hasbro contract than

I ever was making.

But I couldn't get any airtime.

So AWA called and said
"Hey, if you need somewhere

to be on television,
we sure could use you."

And I said, "Will you let me
promote G.I. Joe?"

"Of course."

So off I went to the AWA.

- And I've never seen any
wrestler with any more

popularity than Sgt.
Slaughter himself.

- And they allowed me to play my
music

and let me promote G.I. Joe.

From head to toe, G.I. Joe.

Yo, Joe.

The AWA didn't have a heavy
schedule.

And about the only time I
wrestled for them

was on television.

So, my career started slowing
down as far as in-ring work.

I enjoy myself right now.

I'm not wrestling as much
as I used to.

But, uh, I'm enjoying my family
these days and, uh,

it's been real nice.

Now I'm home.

I'm home a lot.

I'm going to events with my
daughters.

I'm taking them to dancing and
just kind of being a dad and a

husband and-and doing all the
fun things at home.

- He would drive me to school
every morning, put on the radio,

and we would sing the whole way
to school.

- Things definitely did change
for us.

He was around more,
and plus he was doing a

lot more, the charity work.

He was very involved in that.

They were able to participate in
his life a lot more.

- What I remember more so was
doing a lot of charity events

with him as Sgt. Slaughter.

I admired him
for his charity work.

And, um, it was very
heartwarming.

I remember having a relationship
with a boy who had

a brain tumor.

My dad would take him
to Yankee games.

He would always, um, point out,
like, how blessed we are.

And he would- he used those
moments to teach me that.

And so, I think that had a big
influence on me and the things

I've decided to do in my life.

Help people.

- He was around a lot more,
yeah.

It made for, uh,
a good family life.

But he missed it.

He missed the limelight of the
wrestling ring.

And having those fans.

- It just got to be where I just
said, "I'm not going to watch

the WWE anymore."

I was upset, I was mad that
I was gone.

That I couldn't be there,
especially with WrestleMania.

- WrestleMania, the greatest
wrestling extravaganza in the

history of sports.

- For six years,
I never watched it.

- Bob told me one time, he
looked at me and he goes,

"Diane, do you have any idea
what it's like to walk

into an arena?"

And he said, "You've got
thousands and thousands of

wrestling fans out there.

And I know that by what I do,"
he said, "it's like I take and

put them in the palm of my hand.

And I can take them wherever
I want.

I can make them feel this.

I can make them feel that.

I can make them love me.

I can make them hate me.

They're in the palm of my hand,
and it's intoxicating,

knowing that you can do that."

He lived for it.

He loved being able to do that.

- My contract with Hasbro was
coming up and, uh, they weren't

sure if they were gonna renew it
because they were gonna go in a

different direction, and the
phone rings.

"Hello?"

"Sarge?"

"Yes?"

"Vince."

He said,

"So, uh, I see your contract's
about up with Hasbro."

I said, "well funny you should
know that."

He said, "Are you ready to go
back to work?"

And I said, "Uh, yeah, yeah, I'm
ready."

He said, "Why don't you meet me
in my house tomorrow morning?

I got an idea for you."

And he took me into his, uh,
kind of a library there and he

shows me the prototype of LA
Coliseum.

He said, "I can seat 104,000 in
this one WrestleMania VII,

and I want you and Hulk Hogan to
sell it out for me."

- I was always in Vince's ear
about him coming back.

He was such a great worker.

So I knew me getting in the ring
with him was a win-win

for all of us.

- "How are you gonna make Hulk
Hogan the villain?"

He goes, "Hulk?

Oh, no.

I want you to be the villain.

Just give it some thought.

Go talk to your family about it
because it could get

a little rough."

And as soon as he said rough,
went,

"I'm in. I'm in."

104,000?

You know what that does
to my name?

That puts a medal on your chest
that you did that.

- And I remember him coming back
and telling me what he was going

to do, and I basically looked at
him and said, "Are you insane?"

I said, "You're going to ruin
our children's lives."

- This is Sgt. Slaughter
segment three, take one.

- The original plan was just to
bring Sgt. Slaughter back

as the old drill Sgt.

- I used to be proud of my
country, but not anymore.

- Drill Sgt. that felt that
the United States had gone soft.

- Peace is for pansies.

- Now, you have a conflict.

- Is a prescription for war.

This Iraqi invasion of Kuwait,
the tiny country that is a

primary source of oil, Saddam
Hussein, that cold-blooded

Iraqi leader is ruthless.

- And you actually have a
international enemy,

if you will, in Saddam Hussein.

You have a face, you know,
with-with that enemy.

It was just great timing.

Was not planned.

- Saddam Hussein, the man whose
ambitions caused the war in the

Gulf, a dictator ruling by fear,
personally murdering rivals on

his way to ultimate control of
the party and the country.

On the 2nd of August, his troops
ruthlessly translated that claim

into military invasion, reaching
the capital Kuwait city

early in the morning.

- I remember I was in fourth
grade when

the Gulf War was going on.

And it's scary.

You needed a hero.

- The first time the WWE
audience saw Sarge live in the

arena for the first time, it was
like a betrayal and there was

genuine hatred there.

- My leader is none other than
the general from Iraq.

General Adnan

- Sheik Al-Kaissie was
a former wrestler.

He was of Iraq descent.

He actually went to school with
Saddam Hussein.

- This is the most despicable
thing I have ever seen.

- So that poured more
fuel on fire.

- Oh, this is ridiculous.

This is garbage.

This is bad timing.

And I don't agree with any of
this at all.

- I was very upset.

Sgt. Slaughter was no longer
the American hero.

He was like evil and bad.

- I mean, the whole country
hated him.

- And he just stabbed him in the
back, stabbed the country in the

back, stabbed all the armed
forces in the back.

That was a lot of heat.

- President Saddam Hussein, I
pledge to you that I,

Sgt. Slaughter, will follow
in your footsteps.

- We would always have art
imitate life.

And that's what we were trying
to do with Sarge and making him

somewhat of an Iraqi
sympathizer.

So we had a, um, Sitex photo
made, which is what they call

Photoshopping now.

- We had a limo driver who was
about the same height

as Saddam Hussein.

And we took a picture
with the limo driver.

We're done taking the picture,
we took the driver out of it and

we put Saddam Hussein in there.

It looked like we were together.

It looked like we just had
lunch together.

And when they showed that on
television.

Vince gave me another call,

[laughs]

"Sarge, I just got threatened I
was gonna lose half my stations

and most of my sponsors. Okay?"

- I promoted, uh, the entire
Southeastern United States

for-for Vince at the time.

And my local sponsorship went
from being very successful down

to being almost non-existent.

- We interrupt the superstars of
wrestling to bring you

this special bulletin.

- World Wrestling --
abhors the actions and

statements of Sgt. Slaughter
and General Adnan as well as

their political affiliations.

Furthermore, the views of
Sgt. Slaughter and General

Adnan do not in any way reflect
the views of the Arab Americans,

or for that matter, the
overwhelming majority of Arabs

throughout the world.

- There was some pushback and
some felt that

we were crossing that line.

I applaud Sarge for embracing
the character.

We were gearing up for
WrestleMania.

And the-the idea for
WrestleMania VII was to be

Sgt. Slaughter versus Hulk
Hogan.

What bigger obstacle for Hogan
overcome

than an Iraqi sympathizer in
Sgt. Slaughter?

But to have Sgt. Slaughter
as the champion even bigger,

in real life, man, things were
heating up between

the United States and Iraq.

Things were heating up in the
world.

President Bush came out and
said, "We have declared war."

and we're all going, "[bleep]"

- As I report to you, air
attacks are underway against

military targets in Iraq.

The battle has been joined.

No nation will be permitted to
brutally assault its neighbor.

- It's like, okay, we've
declared war.

I think most experts would've
said, okay, this war's gonna

last two or three days.

We're still thinking, okay, we
can go with this.

- The Sgt. Slaughter
character already has the wheels

in motion and there's probably
no better evidence of that than

the fact that three days after
it's announced that America's

going to war, Sgt. Slaughter
goes to the Royal Rumble, still

a full-on Iraqi sympathizer, and
not only competes against The

Ultimate Warrior for the WWE
Championship,

but Sgt. Slaughter wins the
championship.

- No, no, no.

- Not like this?

- No.

[bell rings]

- Wait a second.

- No.

- The winner of this bout and
new World Wrestling --

Champion, Sgt. Slaughter.

[crowd boos]

- I stood in the ring and took
that purple belt

and held it above my head.

And you talk about, uh,
getting more heat

on yourself right there.

- People bought in.

We're in a war with Iraq.

People's anger was at an
all-time high and people,

they didn't dislike Sgt.
Slaughter.

They hated Sgt. Slaughter.

- We had death threats at the
office, had death threats

in every arena that we
went through.

Sgt. Slaughter,
unfortunately, his family, uh,

Sgt. had death threats
at his home.

- I'll never forget it when that
phone rang and I answered it and

it was Vince going,
"Diane, you better sit down."

He said, "I have something to
tell you."

And then he went into how the,
we're getting death threats and

someone knows where we live, the
ages of the girls, your names,

where you go to school.

- I didn't know that they knew
our names and where

we went to school.

- That's why he said, so we have
to take this seriously.

And he said, "I'm gonna send
armed security guards."

- Well, I came up the driveway,
and you know our driveway.

I don't know how that Winnebago
got up there.

And when I got up to the top,
there was four armed guards,

showed me they were carrying
weapons.

And they said, we're gonna watch
the perimeter of your property

24/7 until-until we're
told not to

He- it was a pretty serious
threat.

- Did you think it was fun,
though, being a bad guy?

- Yeah.

I-I was having a ball,
I was having a great time.

Right.

- I remember I got it so bad in
school and you would be home and

I-- we-we would be in the car on
the way to school or you would

be taking me to swim lessons or
something, and I would be

telling you all the things that
the kids were saying to me, all

the mean things and here I am
looking for a dad to give me a

comeback, like something to say
back and you'd just laugh.

You thought it was funny and I'm
like, "Don't laugh.

Tell me something to say back.

Do you remember what
you told me?

- No, I don't.

- You said,

"Tell them we're laughing all
the way to the bank."

[laughing]

- Pretty good advice.

- The armed guards told me that
when I left my house, they would

drive me to the airport,
not go through the terminal.

And so as soon as we would land,
a couple of police cars would

take me to the arena where
I was performing.

I would wrestle,
then head off to the airport

to take my next flight.

And that's the way it was
for quite a while.

And I was never, ever afraid.

- The second match I ever saw
of my dad was in 1991.

Just the people around me, I
mean, just spewing absolute

hatred and just being so
confused, like, because

my dad's a big teddy bear.

He doesn't, you know,
he's not an evil person.

But they were all hating him.

[crowd boos]

- I remember leaving the arena
with him, and he had many

bodyguards around him.

And we were maybe
a few people behind him.

People were spitting on us,
yelling obscenities,

just really awful, scary things.

So, I didn't like that too much.

To think like his family might
be harmed,

I don't think he liked that.

But other than that,
I think he loved it.

He loved being a bad guy.

- There was a point where Vince
and a lot of us were just going,

"Oh, my gosh,
is this going too far?"

But Slaughter was all in.

I said, "You know, we can always
back this thing down," and he

says, "No, man, let's go.
Let's just keep pushing."

- Bob loved the heat.

Bob loved going out and angering
people.

And I will never forget Jesse
Ventura said,

"You wanna get heat?

You wanna piss people off?

Why don't we set
the flag on fire?"

You know, my dad's 23 years
in the Army, retired.

I-I was-- that hit me.

But it also hit me.

Here, Jesse is a vet.

Jesse's a Navy SEAL.

But Jesse also was a very strong
First Amendment

and believed in his rights.

- And I said, "Uh, no.

I refuse to burn
the American flag.

But I'll tell you what
we could do.

How about if we put Hulk Hogan's
shirt, t-shirt on a flag pole,

and I'll say, that's a part
of Americana,

and I'll light that on fire?"

[crowd boos]

- I can't believe this.

- That's disgusting.

- That was about as far as we
were going to go with it.

- We were always second-guessing
ourselves on this one.

- As for this American, a United
States Marine, a platoon

Sgt. over in Iraq,
he turned his back on America

and it made people really mad.

And I- And I knew the truth, I
knew that it was character-based

and story-driven, but I am also
the fourth son of a wrestling

father and three older
wrestling brothers.

So, so I knew, but people got
legitimately angry.

- You know, there was a lot of
people that were put off by that

storyline, that it was too
serious of an issue

to make it a storyline.

- I was aware of that storyline,
and there are certain areas

where you just don't go.

While there's a patriotic
fervor, and American troops are

in the Middle East, the Super
Bowl in Tampa, with Whitney

Houston delivering perhaps the
greatest rendition of the

National Anthem ever, that had
an inspiring aspect to it.

- This guy is anything but a
great American.

- That storyline, that might've
rubbed some people

the wrong way.

- The worst part about the whole
WrestleMania scenario was Vince

calls me again, "We can't go
into the LA Coliseum."

- And I remember there was a lot
of scare that the WrestleMania

that year that there was gonna
be a bomb in the building or

something like that.

There was all kinds of fears
of what kind of reactions

they would get.

- They want a whole lot of money
to secure that building because

of all your death threats and
all the bomb threats.

So we are going to go inside
to the LA Arena.

That's why I did all this, was
to break the WrestleMania III

record of Detroit of 93,000.

That really put a dagger in my
heart that I couldn't

complete the mission.

- Several reasons the
WrestleMania VII moved from

100,000 seat to stadium to the
Sports Arena.

Look, ticket sales weren't
going well.

But the biggest thing was what
it cost to try and secure

WrestleMania because the
attraction itself was something

that would probably instigate
people wanting

to make a statement.

And we sure as hell didn't wanna
have a statement made

at one of our events.

Sports Arena, we could secure.

That was not an issue.

Plus, ticket sales.

Is it a disappointment from
where we were and what

we saw in August or September?

Yes, I think it was a
disappointment.

Um, but it was- a lot of it was
not under our control.

- That was the most downer
of the WrestleMania VII.

The reason I did all these
things, put my family in danger,

I did what I had to do, not only
for them, but for myself.

- You go with it and you make
the best that you can.

I thought the event that we
presented for WrestleMania VII

was a damn good event.

- Welcome to Los Angeles,
California.

Welcome to Star Spangled
WrestleMania VII.

- It was still WWE's biggest
show of the year.

You had a ton of celebrities
at that show.

♪ For amber waves of grain ♪

- A lot of the celebrities
wanted to be, you know,

ringside, wanted to be part
of this thing.

- You really see superhero right
in front of your eyes.

- And, uh, I just think so much
of it had to do with was how

good of a job Sgt. Slaughter
did with the character and how

hard he pushed the angle.

- This is the main event for
WrestleMania VII

for the World Wrestling --
Heavyweight Championship

scheduled for one fall.

- You want someone to come out
and just beat this dude up.

And there's no one better than
Hulk Hogan to do that.

- Our national hero.

The nation looking to him to get
the job done.

- Sarge had so much heat and
they hated him so much that

people were just begging
me to get him.

- For Hulk Hogan, it's more
than the gold.

It's the retribution.

It's the payback time for the
way that Slaughter has insulted

this great nation of ours.

- They wanted Hulk Hogan
to knock my head off.

- This is some beating, isn't
it?

I've never seen the Hulk
so determined.

- Oh, look at this.
Give me a break.

- Tremendous offensive
move by Slaughter.

That's why he's the champion.

What a match.

What a match.

- How much pain can
one man sustain?

- They're going nuts.

- Here comes the Hulk.

- The roof came off
the building.

It was crazy.

I had goosebumps from
head to toe.

I was, you know, coming up
after that no-good traitor.

- That adrenaline is flowing
through the body

of the Hulkster.

- Those are the things that I
remember the most about this

business are moments like that.

It was perfect.

- Uh-oh.

- That's it.

- You're not gonna
do that to me.

You're not gonna do that to the
United States of America, and

the thousands of Hulkamaniacs.

The cover.

He got him.

He got him.

[crowd cheers]

- What a comeback.

- Put it all to rest.

The war is now officially over.

- I didn't wanna watch
what he was doing.

I don't even think
the girls saw it.

They didn't watch it.

- We didn't watch it.

It was a hard time.

It was hard.

And to be worried, you know, my
dad traveling so much,

the extra pressure of him being
an Iraqi sympathizer

and these death threats.

I always knew that one day I
would get a phone- we would get

a phone call, there was an
accident of some kind

and he was dead.

It was hard.

It was hard.

I think she resented him.

They got divorced not long after
that.

- That was the- probably the
straw that broke the camel's

back, in my mind.

It hurt my children, so I
didn't- I don't like that.

I don't know that Bob knew how
it affected me.

- I think that my mom probably
kept a lot of the real-world

situations that she was dealing
with in parenting away from my

dad because he was home so
little that when he was home,

she wanted it to be good times.

She wanted it to be special.

And I don't think she wanted to
burden him with, you know,

whatever she was dealing with.

- I was raising them and
I was on my own a lot.

And I never complained
about me being lonely.

I never shared any of that with
him, that it was just me.

I went to bed alone and I got up
alone

300 days out of the year.

So, you know, that's not what I
got married for.

- And she said, "I didn't sign
up to be by myself.

I signed up to be with you,
and if I can't be with you,

I wanna go off on my own."

And I said, "Are you not happy?"

She said, "No, I'm not happy."

- I didn't wanna be
his wife anymore.

I didn't want--
I didn't want the life.

I wanted away from it.

I didn't like it.

I competed with that business
from the time he got

involved in it.

And I lost every time.

- Well, it bothered me a lot
because I wanted her to come

with me on my trips.

I wanted her to watch what I did
for a living,

but I didn't realize it had hurt
her.

It-it bothered her.

She finally had to tell me, I
don't-- I don't wanna watch you.

It was tough for me because
I was alone a lot.

You know, this-this is a lonely
business and you try to get home

as many times as you can.

And I drove hours and hours in
horrible weather, in places

I shouldn't have driven in,
in the times

I shouldn't have driven in.

But I did it.

I got home as often as I could
have, and I wanted

to make a better life for her
and my children.

It was her happiness that was
most important.

So we had a mutual agreement.

We had split everything down the
middle, and I said, if we can't

be married, let's be friends.

You know?

- Um, it was difficult,
honestly.

They always have gotten
along really well.

They've always had
a really good friendship.

So there wasn't like knockdown,
drag-out fights or anything.

- I'm sorry that I made her
unhappy for pursuing my love and

my career, but I didn't know
when I got into the business

that it was gonna be like that.

I just got into the business
'cause I loved it.

- Three, two, one.

- Sgt. Slaughter, you've
been in seclusion now

for well over a month.

- I don't expect my family to
ever forgive me for what I did.

I have to live with that.

But there's one thing
that I want.

And that is I want
my country back.

- That was great.

- It was time and it was what
really needed to be done to make

the Sgt. Slaughter
character whole once again.

- So they sent me out to
Washington, DC, and a bunch of

other monumental places
throughout the United States.

The beacon of hope.

- The thing that really makes
this wrestling business work is

one of the most hated people in
the world begs for forgiveness

and asks for grace.

The wrestling fans are very
forgiving, believe me, you can

make a lot of mistakes in this
world and they will forgive you.

- Listen to the chant for
Slaughter.

- And so that's when I finally
got my country back and started

slowly but surely getting my fan
base back as the hero.

I got hurt for a while.

And so I-I tried wrestling a few
more times,

probably a year or two.

And finally, uh, I-I kinda
looked at, uh,

the retirement end of it.

- Once Sarge's days in the ring
were over, we brought Sarge

in to work behind the scenes.

He had a really good
eye for talent.

I always think of Yokozuna.

Nobody knew what to do with him.

And it was Sgt. Slaughter
who said, make him a sumo.

- Yokozuna is an awesome force
to deal with here.

- Vince takes me in this room,
turns on the light, and there's

boxes and boxes and boxes of
videotapes.

People send in requests
for us to look at them.

He's- why don't you, uh, go
through these and see

if you can find something.

I found quite a few talents.

Sean Waltman, Billy Gunn and his
brother, Bart.

Adam Bomb, some type of
Tasmanian devil.

Wrestling name was Tazz.

We called him.

"You wanna come in for a
tryout?"

Then I helped out with
vignettes, and helping other

wrestlers get more creative.

Those were fun days.

I-I always wanted to be on that
end of the business because I

did everything else in the ring
that I could possibly do.

- Sarge had a good head for the
business.

Sarge could talk with anybody
about anything.

And he was someone
that everyone knew.

[laughing]

- I got you.

- From being Sgt. Slaughter
and that character,

that All-American to send him
out to community events,

there was nobody better.

- On behalf of the World
Wrestling --, I'm happy

to carry the banner for myself
and all the superstars.

- Very well spoken and a good
representative of the company.

And I think that everything that
he put his mind to,

I think that he succeeded.

- Vince came to me.

He wanted to know if I would
become a commissioner.

I was a sheriff at the O.K.

Corral without any rules, and I
loved it.

You aren't the new sheriff
in town, I am.

- You know, right off the top,
it's like he was credible.

Not everybody can carry
that off.

And Sgt. Slaughter pulled
it off really well.

- But then there were times when
I had to make a decision where

it was bad for the hero,
and I'm the one that always

got the brunt of it.

- Oh, no.

- Took a lot of stunners from
Steve Austin.

- Oh, my God.

Austin has just attacked the
commissioner.

- The late 90s were an
incredible time of growth for

WWE in terms of TV ratings,
in terms of people showing up

at live shows.

So when Sgt. Slaughter
popped back up as this

commissioner and he was back on
TV every week, it exposed an

entirely new audience to this
absolute legend.

- Some of my friends were big
wrestling fans,

so it was such a big deal
to them.

- They'll do anything to
humiliate anyone.

- It was a blast.

And Sarge was so into it.

I've always liked Sarge.

He was a fantastic road agent or
producer here for us.

- I really enjoyed helping other
wrestlers, giving them pointers.

- He was always someone that I
felt believed in me and didn't

listen to anyone else, kind of
marched by the beat of his own

drum and would be like,
"Hey, you're doing a great job.

Here's what you need to do."

- So that was fun teaching.

Those are the kind of things
that made you love the business

and makes me still love the
business.

- Welcome to the WWE Hall
of Fame induction ceremony.

Our next inductee is one
of the great ones.

Sgt. Slaughter.

- You know what that-that means?

That ring right there?

WWE Hall of Fame.

And that-that means
everything to me.

I don't take that ring off.

That ring is on my finger 24/7.

It's an honor that, uh,
I was recognized.

Well, I stand here, uh, very
humble, but, uh, I see a lot of

faces that I had the honor of,
uh, getting into the ring with,

and, uh, would do it all
over again.

I'd like to thank my dear friend
Diane, uh, my ex-wife for being

both mother and father, uh,
while I wasn't there, my

daughters, uh, Nichole and
Kelly, thank you so much for

giving up your precious time to
be with your dad so that he

could go out and be what he
wanted to be, a-a superstar in

professional wrestling.

- To see him get honored to be
in the Hall of Fame was amazing.

- To see him recognized by his
peers in that way-

it was awesome.

- I just say from the bottom
my heart, thank you.

I love you all.

And that's an order.

I'm dismissed.

[applause]

- Sgt. Slaughter's character
means everything to me.

I'm an actor, I'm an
entertainer.

I do this for a living.

I've been doing this for 50
years and I never went

out of character.

I have never, ever since I put
the combat boots on, I've never

ever been out of character on a
radio show, on a TV show,

at a veteran's hospital, at a
children's hospital.

I might not be as brash, but I'm
never out of character.

People say, "Oh, he's Bob Remus.

And we heard him on the radio
the other day as Bob Remus."

No.

- You were in the Marine Corps?

- Yes.

- Yeah.

What years were you in?

- Uh, I got out in '74,
went in at '68.

Some people don't understand
reality from entertainment.

- Sgt. Slaug--
oh, my God, look-

- As you were, maggot.

- Look at the Sarge.

He's come in, he's all decked
out in camo-

- He certainly is.

- -he's got the hat.

This is as Sgt. Slaughter as
I've never seen anybody be.

Welcome.

- I was told by Vince McMahon
Sr. that when I became

a Marine that I should act like
a Marine, be a Marine.

That's the only way that people
are going to believe you.

- Were you in the Marine Corps?

You were in the Marine Corps.

- Yes, yeah.

- Yeah.

What years were you in?

- Uh, I got out in '74,
went in at '68.

- Oh, okay, so you did
six years.

- Yes.

- So did you go over to Vietnam?

- Two tours in Vietnam, yeah.

When I did that show in New York
City, I wasn't Bob Remus.

That was Sgt. Slaughter
talking.

- For me as a wrestling fan,
I thought I was talking to

Sgt. Slaughter
the whole time.

Other people took it very, very
differently, and I think he,

kind of, had to pull back and
explain, there's a difference

between Sgt. Slaughter and
whoever I am in real life.

- It's just that era of talent
that are going to protect who

they are and what they are, and
you never ever let on anything

else other than what was
portrayed on TV.

- Yeah, okay, he didn't have a
military background.

He probably raised more
awareness for the military than

all the military posters
you see.

- Look, Sgt. Slaughter came
from a different time

and a different era.

He was so committed to that
character.

- If somebody got offended by
that, I-I-I-I apologize.

You will never hear it out of my
mouth again.

I don't mention Vietnam anymore,
I was told that that was part of

my character, so I portrayed
that character.

I can't tell you how many men
and women come up to me and tell

me that they served in the
military because of me.

Sgt. Slaughter is America,
and people come up

and want my autograph?

That's an honor.

- The guy's still my
American hero.

He is red, white and blue
through and through.

And look, I don't think the fact
that he didn't serve makes that

any less true.

I think he still believes in
God, Corps and Country.

- Sgt. Slaughter is one of
the most beloved superstars of

all time, because he is that
character.

He's kind of ageless.

When he puts his hat on, he's
still got that voice,

he's still got that chin.

[crowd applause]

- Yo Joe.

- I got here today from
Australia,

thanks to my friends

and my family, they all pitched
in with a GoFundMe specifically

to meet Sgt. Slaughter.

It's an honor and a privilege to
be shaking the hand

of my childhood hero.

- Say goodbye to--

- I've been working on the GI
Joe brand for

Hasbro for about the last
11 years.

To even be associated with your
childhood hero in that kind of

significant way after this many
years, emotional, honestly.

It's, you know, I don't want to
get weepy, but, like,

it's-it's-it's genuinely
surreal.

- I still travel just about
every weekend.

That's my job now, that's my
life, but I have the week off.

So I have more time to, uh,
see my daughters and-and Diane

and my grandchildren.

They're hungry today.

There you go.

Great job.

- Neither one of them remarried
and they ended up coming back

together after many, many years
and have a really great

companionship now.

Um, I think they're better
friends now than they were when

they were married.

- We both love each other dearly
to this day, and we share a lot

of time together.

We're together more now
than we ever were.

- The family comes first now.

Family comes first, that's one
thing that he's learned.

When there's things going on
now, and he has an engagement

somewhere, he'll cancel it like
that and go, "I'm not going to

go," and he said, "I'm going to
come to this,"

because he's not building
anything anymore.

It's already there,
it's been built.

- That's where I-I fought
to get to.

When I stepped into that ring,
in that barn, I knew that

someday it would be over with.

And we have four grandchildren.

There we go.

Let's see you try to counter
that one.

Oh, ho-ho.

- It's actually really fun to
see him as a grandfather because

I feel like my children are able
to enjoy him in a way that

I wasn't able to.

- Yes, get it.

He's got it.

He's got it.

He's got it.

Yeah.

I retained the title.

- He is a great grandpa,

and they have a
wonderful relationship.

Here we are with a good life.

- I'm living a pretty good
life right now and, uh, I'm

happy, I'm happy, uh, being
Sgt. Slaughter the hero.

- Sgt. Slaughter,
the greatest living

American hero today.

- The whole idea of Sgt.
Slaughter, an uber patriotic

symbol, was perfect.

- Perhaps the most patriotic
American ever.

- When you think of Sgt.
Slaughter, you think of somebody

that was waving that flag-

- I pledge allegiance to the
flag.

- -saluting that flag, getting
the fans to chant, USA, USA.

[crowd chants "USA"]

- People were so invested
in the character.

- And Sarge was able to
transcend the business

and be larger than life.

- From head to toe, GI Joe.

- One of the most recognizable
guys in the world.

- Yo, Joe.

- He's entertained me and
millions and millions of people

all over the world, and it's
created moments that literally

last a lifetime.

- The most grueling match.

- He worked his whole life to
have a character

that will live on forever.

- My God, it's Sgt.
Slaughter.

- Look at this.

- It's always cool to see him
come back and get the pop that

honestly he deserves.

- Listen to this chant.

Sgt. Slaughter chant.

- He's a fantastic human being,

when everything is said
and done.

- USA.

I just want to be remembered
as someone that loved his fans

and loved my country.

And just know that Sgt.
Slaughter was a character,

Bob Remus was a father,
a husband, and a grandfather

I just lived life
the best I could.

- The American icon,
Sgt. Slaughter.

- "Ten-hut."

- "Listen here, you maggots."

- "Maggots make me want to
puke."

- "Drop down and give me 20."

- "And that's an order."

- You're dismissed maggot.

[laughs]