5 Things you didn't know about Sgt. Slaughter

#4. Vince McMahon Jr. Helped Turn Him Into An All American Hero

Sgt. Slaughter

Vince McMahon, Sr had no intentions of ever turning Sgt. Slaughter into a babyface. Slaughter was so impressive as a heel that he found himself pigeonholed as a villain.

After Vince McMahon, Sr. praised Sgt. Slaughter's heel work, Slaughter replied, "If you think I'm such a good villain, you ought to see me as a hero."

The WWE CEO replied,

"Sgt. Slaughter as a hero? No, you could never be a hero. That character can never be a hero."

Slaughter disagreed and proposed an angle that fit the political climate of the early 1980s,

"You've got the Iron Sheik from Iran. You've got the hostage situation, the killing of the Marines at the Embassy, Ayatollah Khomeini, Blackhawk's going down. I said, 'We never really got to punch Ayatollah in the nose. He kind of drifted off into the sunset and got off without any punishment. Why don't you let Sgt. Slaughter of the Marines go after the Iron Sheik?'"

The elder McMahon wouldn't budge, but Sgt. Slaughter could see that Vince McMahon, Jr. was much more receptive to the idea and would become WWE CEO in less than two months. It wasn't long before Vince McMahon, Jr. was pushing Slaughter as the all-American hero he was born to be.