WWE Executive Reveals Scrapped WrestleMania Showdown: The Match That Could Have Changed History
In an electrifying revelation that has shaken the wrestling world, Bruce Prichard, WWE Executive Director and a protracted-status insider inside the industry, has peeled again the curtain on a chief shift in WrestleMania history. During a recent episode of his acclaimed Something To Wrestle With podcast, Prichard discovered that one in every of the biggest WrestleMania suits of all time, offering the long-lasting Hulk Hogan, turned into almost absolutely unique. The headline fit at WrestleMania 7, wherein Hogan defeated Sgt. Slaughter to reclaim the WWE Championship, become initially deliberate to function a different opponent altogether.
As Prichard recounts, Vince McMahon, the mastermind in the back of WWE’s meteoric upward thrust, at first had a imaginative and prescient of Hogan squaring off in opposition to his close buddy Tugboat, a plan that would have converted Tugboat into the heel “Sheik Tugboat.” The storyline, however, took a dramatic flip because of real-global occasions that had been unfolding on the time – the Gulf War.
Tugboat: Hulk Hogan’s Would-Be WrestleMania Rival
Hogan, a true titan of WWE, became using excessive at the peak of his recognition in 1991. His trademark personality, the all-American hero, had captivated audiences international. It turned into this patriotism that WWE sought to take advantage of inside the run-up to WrestleMania 7, as tensions escalated inside the Middle East following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. This real-world conflict changed into woven into WWE’s storytelling, culminating in Sgt. Slaughter’s stunning heel turn. Once a beloved American icon, Slaughter have become an “Iraqi sympathizer,” drawing the ire of enthusiasts across the united states together with his scathing pro-Iraq promos.
The authentic plan, as Prichard recounts, changed into a long way removed from this state of affairs. McMahon, ever the visionary, noticed Hogan clashing with Tugboat, a wrestler who became now not simplest Hogan’s best friend but a fellow American hero. The proposed feud among the 2 friends, but, became purported to take a arguable turn. Prichard shared that the storyline changed into meant to look Tugboat align himself with Iraq and embrace a villainous personality as “Sheik Tugboat.” According to Prichard, McMahon was satisfied that this fit should headline WrestleMania 7, with plans to in the end stage Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter for WrestleMania eight in 1992.
“I think Vince had his way in his mind early on that it was going to be Sheik [vs.] Tugboat,” Prichard revealed on his podcast. “When just the little skirmish in the Middle East was not even anywhere intensified, but you did have a heel there in Saddam Hussein. And Tugboat being Hulk’s best friend, that was Hulk’s program.”
The idea appeared promising at the beginning, with Hogan and Tugboat’s near friendship set to feature emotional weight to the feud. But the converting political panorama and Slaughter’s already hooked up records as a cherished wrestler turned heel in the long run brought about a pivot in plans.
Sgt. Slaughter Takes Center Stage
As the Gulf War heated up, McMahon was faced with a catch 22 situation. While Tugboat’s flip could had been a dramatic betrayal of Hogan, Sgt. Slaughter’s newfound alignment with Iraq and his actual-world credentials as a navy hero grew to become villain made for a much greater compelling storyline. The selection was made to rapid-track Slaughter’s rise to the WrestleMania highlight.
Prichard explained: “But without a doubt, man, I think that when Sgt. came back and the reaction, and people did know him, he did get a great reaction, that ‘Man, you take Sarge, turn him heel, and put him against Hulk Hogan.’ The Greatest American Hero and Sgt. Slaughter, ‘GI Joe Sgt. Slaughter against the Real American in Hulk Hogan?’ That was — man, that’s natural.”
The emotional stakes were undeniably excessive. Sgt. Slaughter turned into transformed right into a national villain, betraying his country at the grandest degree in professional wrestling. Hogan, the embodiment of American patriotism, stood in stark competition, making the WrestleMania 7 major occasion a true warfare of accurate versus evil, with the Gulf War serving as a nerve-racking backdrop. The patriotic fervor that WWE tapped into throughout this time became Hogan vs. Slaughter right into a spectacle unlike another.
Prichard admitted that the original plan with Tugboat might not have had the same impact. “As things got on, it was like, ‘Vince, the Tugboat thing ain’t gonna work.’ And [we] switched very quickly to Sgt. Slaughter.”
Could Tugboat Have Delivered?
Looking again, Prichard displays on how different things might have been had Tugboat remained in the photo. “If the Tugboat thing had worked out, Tugboat would have been at [WrestleMania] VII with Hulk. Then you would have, like, a full year and a half to build Sgt. to go to VIII with Hulk.” But destiny had other plans, and the Hogan-Slaughter competition was born.
The WrestleMania 7 major event, notwithstanding its stunning backstory, proved to be an unforgettable moment in WWE history. According to Prichard, Sgt. Slaughter earned his vicinity along Hogan on wrestling’s grandest stage. “He main evented with Hulk Hogan, dropped the championship, and it was all done. So good for him. I mean, you know, he got his main event. I think it was deserved.”
The aggregate of actual-international drama, high-stakes patriotism, and WWE’s over-the-pinnacle storytelling created an iconic second in wrestling records, one that would for all time cement Hogan and Slaughter’s legacies. Yet, it’s captivating to imagine what might have been if Tugboat were the one status throughout the ring from Hulk Hogan that night time.
