In Part 2, The Ultimate Warrior was trapped in a bearhug. Sgt. Slaughter had it locked in for a couple minutes and The Warrior looked to be fading.
Suddenly, The Warrior got a burst of adrenaline and managed to break out of the bearhug. Warrior scooped Slaughter up for a slam but hurt his back again in the process and he collapsed to the mat.
Slaughter dropped a couple of elbows to Warrior's back and delivered another backbreaker. Warrior seemed to be down for the count but Sarge put Warrior in a camel clutch. Slaughter didn't realize Warrior's feet were underneath the bottom rope, leading to a rope break.
Sarge thought he had won the match and argued with the referee, allowing The Warrior an opening to perform his rope shaking comeback. After a series of clotheslines and a shoulderblock, Warrior signaled for the press slam, his finisher.
Queen Sherri ran down to ringside to distract Warrior. She got up on the apron and The Warrior pulled her into the ring and picked her up for a press slam. Randy Savage then ran down the aisle carrying a scepter. (He was The "Macho King" at the time.)
Warrior saw Savage and threw Sherri onto him. Slaughter was playing possum though and kneed The Warrior in the back. The impact from the knee knocked Warrior to the ropes near Randy Savage.
As Sarge had the referee distracted, Savage nailed The Warrior with a glass scepter, knocking him out cold.
The blow was too much for the Warrior. Even with a slow count, he was unable to kick out of Slaughter's pin.
The announcement was delayed as the commentators questioned whether the decision would be overturned. It wasn't. Your winner and new WWF Champion Sgt. Slaughter.
Post Match Analysis:
This was a very dramatic match. Warrior shined in the beginning as Slaughter bumped around like a superball.When Slaughter took over, his offense was basic and unimpressive but the Warrior made it look like he was in agony.
Those who knock the Warrior should check out this match, he could really sell when he wanted to. The finishing sequence with Warrior taking a three way attack was very well laid out and executed.
Obviously, I recommend this match. In my view, The Ultimate Warrior never looked better. You can watch part 2 of the match here or on the WWE Network in high quality.
*Epilogue: I enjoyed this match then and still do but I question whether Slaughter was the right guy to defeat The Warrior.
Obviously, Sarge was old, out of shape and his wrestling style was more suited to 1981, as opposed to 1991. Sarge's win was a big shock at the time. He had just returned to the WWF only six months earlier and wasn't given a lot of momentum as a challenger.
I think the fan response would've been better if a more established WWF star won the title and went on to WrestleMania 7. (The event was supposed to take place in the L.A. Coliseum but had to be moved to the Sports Arena, a much smaller venue.)
I could think of at least 5 wrestlers who would've made a better "transitional champion" than Sgt. Slaughter.
1. Randy Savage - Savage was already in a feud with Warrior, so why not just have Savage win at the Rumble?
2. Roddy Piper - Piper was an awesome heel in his prime. (He was inspirational to wrestlers like The Miz and MJF.) If Piper had turned heel in 1991, I'm sure it would've made for compelling TV.
Ted DiBiase, Mr. Perfect and Big Boss Man were all talented wrestlers who were spinning their wheels in the mid-card and would've made credible champions. DiBiase and Perfect still stand out as two of the best never to win a world title.
You could even make a case for Earthquake as he got a big push in 1990 and certainly looked more imposing than Slaughter.
Is there anyone else I haven't mentioned? Do you have any other thoughts on this match? Feel free to comment.
ReplyDeleteAs I recall, there were other factors at play in 1991 that caused them to select Sgt. Slaughter as the perfect spoiler to the Ultimate Warrior's omnipotence. This match took place 1/19/91 -- the very night before the USA invaded Iraq to kick off the Gulf War. Tensions were high in the Middle East and many believed Hussein had Weapons of Mass Destruction. Slaughter was portraying a traitor to our country -- an Irai sympathizer. So this generated extreme Heel heat from patriotic wrestling fans, by having this chubby old traitor (note: Saddam Hussein also wore military garb over a paunchy frame) over-power the uber-masculine swole He-Man -- a symbol of US power and military strength.) Then Hogan, the Real American, could later defeat Slaughter to teach our enemies not to mess with the USA. America, f--- yeah!
I read an interesting interview by Slaughter (see https://tjrwrestling.net/news/sgt-slaughter-on-ultimate-warrior-being-kod-by-randy-savage/) where he claims that Savage had truly knocked the Warrior loopy IRL with that scepter in revenge for a previous incident where Savage had been injured by the Warrior. So maybe this wasn't good selling by the Warrior, maybe he was legit out cold after the scepter (a Weapon of Mass Destruction, apparently) to his orb. Slaughter also claims that the reason they moved WrestleMania 7 to a smaller venue was due to security concerns. He had been TOO effective at generating heat as a traitor to our country, stirring up a potential riot situation by the flag-wavers (we now know that flag-wavers will riot from time to time.)
You never know what to take for Truth in old wrestler interviews -- this may all be a big work. But it's some interesting food for thought.
Thanks for commenting. I was aware of the Persian Gulf conflict at the time. Personally, I think it was in poor taste to push Slaughter as an Iraqi sympathiser, especially considering the audience the WWF was targeting at the time. In my view, Sarge wasn't really "over", he just had "go away heat." Hence, the poor ticket sales for WM7.
DeleteI read the article you linked and I don't buy all of Slaughter's story. It sounds to me like he's trying to maintain kayfabe. While it is likely that Savage legitimately knocked the Warrior senseless, if that wasn't the finish they would've bought Warrior enough time to recover.
Also, the injury to Savage that Slaughter referenced took place on January 30, 1991, after the Rumble. See this link here - http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/91.htm
I forgot to mention Jake Roberts, as someone who could've taken Slaughter's place.
DeleteHe was also underutilised at the time and would eventually turn heel that summer anyway.