Remember back in late-1990 and early-1991 when Sgt. Slaughter turned heel, became an Iraqi sympathizer? Pepperidge Farms remembers…wait…no, no I remember. That would later parlay into Slaughter defeating Ultimate Warrior for the WWE Championship at the 1991 Royal Rumble in January, leading for Hulk Hogan to take the title back for the good ol’ U-S-of-A at WrestleMania VII that March. But apparently, according to a former WWE producer, that wasn’t the original plan.
On a recent episode of Ric Flair’s podcast, former WWE producer Bruce Prichard mentioned that the main event of WrestleMania VII, Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter, was almost very, VERY different. The main event ALMOST involved Tugboat. Yeah, Tugboat (aka Typhoon, aka The Shockmaster-Bedazzled-Stormtrooper Fella):
“The idea was that we’d have a red-hot heel take the title from Warrior and then Hulk would come in, All American type deal, and face the champion in front of 107,000 people. This super red-hot babyface that was going to be turned to this super, just ungodly, red-hot heel to go to WrestleMania and fill 107,000 seats was Tugboat. Big Fred Ottman who’s a sweetheart of a guy, a great guy, it was Tugboat.”
Wow, it’s amazing what COULD have been, huh?
Also, this:
