America’s Most Patriotic Wrestlers
Nothing says red, white, and blue like good ol’ professional rasslin! World leaders would search far and wide for the biggest, creepiest, and most sadistic men to invade America and challenge wrestling’s biggest heroes. In celebration of July 4, I present America’s Most Patriotic Wrestlers.
Before anyone gets their panties in a bunch, let me remind you that this is all for fun. While wrestling has always thrived on feuds, the feuds in wrestling used to be much different. Taking pages out of current foreign disputes, promoters would generally book heels from the world’s axis of evil to take on the current top star. Wrestlers “from” Iran, Russia, Germany, France, Vietnam, Japan, China, Mongolia, and others would come to America to destroy wrestling’s hero.
Sgt. Slaughter – There isn’t another pro wrestler in the history of the business that represents America the way that Sgt. Slaughter did. As a former drill sergeant in the marine corps, Slaughter brought that same tenacity with him into the ring. One man, one country, and one war turned Slaughter from evil to good in one night. Slaughter’s challenge would come from Tehran, Iran’s own, the Iron Sheik.
Slaughter truly made his reputation with this one feud against the Sheik. Over twenty-years later, the feud is still remembered as one of the all time greats. The timing, just a few years away from the Iran hostage crisis was crucial. Slaughter would go from being showered with boos to leading 15,000 people in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Slaughter would later make the move from wrestling to popular culture. Slaughter became a fictional part of the G.I. Joe series. Slaughter would appear in the cartoon, as well as have his figure included in the popular set. Kids who never heard of the Iron Sheik were now playing with Sgt. Slaughter figures. Everyone knew Sgt. Slaughter in 1986.
Even Sgt. Slaughter’s brief turn in the early 1990s couldn’t tarnish his legacy. Most fans forgive Slaughter’s allegiance to Iraq during the Gulf War. Sgt. Slaughter reigns today as wrestling’s most patriotic wrestler and will hold on to that legacy for decades to come.
Check out Slaughter and Sheik’s 5/21/84 match from Madison Square Garden as part of the WWE Greatest Wrestling Stars of the 80s DVD set by clicking here.
Hulk Hogan – He may be lying like a tax cheat on Larry King today, but that wasn’t the Hogan I grew up in the 1980s. Hulkamania was real and swept the world in the mid-1980s. In the 1980s, Hogan would make the song, “Real American” his trademark theme song. Hogan would live up to that song with some fierce battles against some of the world’s toughest villains.
Order the Hulk Hogan: The Ultimate Anthology DVD by clicking here.
Hacksaw Duggan – Before he was turned into a cartoon character on WWF television, Duggan was one tough cookie. Duggan made his reputation as one of America’s soldiers was actually made on a smaller scale. America’s hero was born in the mid-south of all areas for Cowboy Bill Watts.
Duggan’s wars in Mid-South Wrestling with the nasty foreigners put him on the cover of several national wrestling magazines. The pictures of Duggan slugging it out with Russian villains, earned his reputation amongst readers from all over the country.
Like Slaughter, one man would change boos to cheers from fans all over the country. Duggan’s termination of his association with Arab Skandor Akbar that turned things around for him and the fans. Duggan would go on to face foreign and turncoat villains managed by Akbar. Duggan began wearing American bandanas and bringing flags with him long before Hogan did.
Duggan brought his patriotic love with him to the WWF when he left Bill Watts’ promotion. Duggan immediately jumped into a war with the Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff. Duggan would also wage battles with Kamala, Andre the Giant, Boris Zhukov, and other foreign villains in the WWF.
See Duggan wage war with Nikolai Volkoff in Bill Watt’s Mid-South Wrestling on the Giants, Midgets, Heroes and Villains II DVD by clicking here.
Dusty Rhodes – Dusty Rhodes was the son of a plumber and represented the “American Dream” of the country every time he stepped into the ring. There weren’t many fans in the audience who couldn’t relate with the blue collar persona of Dusty Rhodes.
It wasn’t one war with a villain that prompted to Dusty Rhodes to patriotic greatness. Rhodes, like all of the other wrestlers on the list was a former villain. On a Florida night in May 1974, Dusty finally had enough and turned on his partner Pak Song. That turn has been called one of the greatest angles in wrestling history.
Dusty would defend the honor of America against numerous foreign villains for decades. Dusty would travel throughout the country waging wars against the likes of the Koloffs, the Iron Sheik, Kamala, Krusher Khruschev, The Sheik, Abdullah the Butcher, and countless others. Dusty was always successful and would bleed and crawl his way to victory. For this, Dusty Rhodes is one of America’s most patriotic pro wrestlers.
Order the The American Dream: The Dusty Rhodes Story DVD by clicking here.
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