Sgt. Slaughter Iraqi sympathizer (1990-1991) Why is he known as the Iraqi sympathizer? A decision was made to have Slaughter support the Iraqi cause, not for the actual political reasons, but more for the fact that Slaughter liked "brutality
Did he wrestle with force?
Did Sgt. Slaughter wrestle with force?
After WrestleMania VI, Slaughter sent a letter to Vince McMahon saying he loved the program and was interested in returning. McMahon told Slaughter he wanted a heel, and his new gimmick would be that Slaughter turned on the United States due to its acceptance of the Russian Nikolai Volkoff. According to Slaughter, he found it difficult to do the anti-American promos associated with this gimmick. The August 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Ba'athist Iraq triggered a political crisis that would lead to the 1991 Gulf War, in which Kuwait was freed by a U.S.-led military coalition. A decision was made to have Slaughter support the Iraqi cause, not for the actual political reasons, but more for the fact that Slaughter liked "brutality" and the Iraqi government was "brutal" while the US regime was said by Slaughter to have become "soft" and "weak". Slaughter aligned himself with a kayfabe Iraqi military general, General Adnan (his old rival who left the AWA shortly after Slaughter did), and entered a feud with Volkoff (which saw Slaughter win the majority of their encounters at house shows), leading to a match at that year's Survivor Series which saw The Alliance (Volkoff, Tito Santana, and The Bushwhackers) defeat The Mercenaries (Slaughter, Boris Zhukov, and The Orient Express). As part of his character change, Slaughter began wearing Arab headdresses to the ring, adopted the Camel Clutch as one of his finishers, and was (kayfabe) photographed meeting with Saddam Hussein. Slaughter also infamously adopted a move where he would grind the tip of one of his knuckles into his opponent's temple (the childhood noogie). It was reported that while Slaughter was portraying a turncoat, he had received numerous death threats and could not go anywhere in public without wearing a bullet-proof vest and had to be surrounded with security personnel at all times. According to Slaughter, Vince asked him to burn the American flag, but Slaughter refused to, so Slaughter suggested he burn Hulk Hogan's shirt. As 1990 ended, Slaughter began challenging for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship that had been held by The Ultimate Warrior since WrestleMania VI. Slaughter got his chance at the Royal Rumble in January 1991, days after the Gulf War air campaign had begun. He defeated the Warrior when "Macho King" Randy Savage, who had also been feuding with the Warrior at the time, struck the champion in the head with his royal scepter. Slaughter thus became the thirteenth WWF World Heavyweight Champion and was immediately challenged by Royal Rumble winner Hulk Hogan, who was furious that Slaughter had (kayfabe) desecrated the American flag (off-screen) as part of his victory celebration. Hogan demanded a match against Slaughter at WrestleMania VII in Los Angeles, California, and Slaughter accepted. Slaughter was defeated by Hogan, thus losing his championship. After WrestleMania Slaughter introduced his newest ally, Colonel Mustafa (The Iron Sheik, Slaughter's old nemesis). Slaughter and company went on to feud with Hogan for months, including having a three-on-two handicap match at SummerSlam 1991, which saw the team of Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior prevail over Slaughter, Adnan, and Mustafa. CANNOTANSWER
CANNOTANSWER
Robert Rudolph Remus (born August 27, 1948), best known by his ring name Sgt. Slaughter, is a retired American professional wrestler who is currently signed to WWE in the ambassador program.

From the late 1970s to the early 1980s, Slaughter had success in the National Wrestling Alliance, American Wrestling Association, and the World Wrestling Federation. He won the WWF Championship and headlined WrestleMania VII in 1991. Slaughter also captured the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship twice. He is a WWE Hall of Famer, inducted as part of the class of 2004. As Sgt. Slaughter, Remus became known for his dark sunglasses, his campaign hat, and his Vietnam War-era military fatigues. In the 1980s, an alternate version of the Sgt. Slaughter character was incorporated into the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toy line as well as its animated series and comic books.

The gimmick of Sgt. Slaughter is that of a former U.S. Marine who fought in the Vietnam War. Remus himself never served in the military. This has caused controversy because, at times, Remus has talked about military service while seeming to be speaking as himself, and not in character.

Early life
Remus was born in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He attended Eden Prairie High School in nearby Eden Prairie, where he wrestled and played football.

Professional wrestling career

NWA and AWA (1972–1980)
Sgt. Slaughter held numerous regional titles early in his career and experienced his second major success in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) capturing the NWA World Tag Team Championship with Don Kernodle in 1982. During the late 1970s, Remus worked the American Wrestling Association (AWA) territory under a mask as Super Destroyer Mark II with manager Lord Alfred Hayes, whom he dismissed and replaced with Bobby Heenan, leading to a feud between the two managers with Hayes as the babyface.

World Wrestling Federation (1980–1981)
He then signed with the WWF and was pushed as a villainous character. Between 1980 and 1981, Slaughter wrestled in the WWF under the guidance of the Grand Wizard. He very quickly rose to the status of number one contender on the strength of his "cobra clutch" challenges where he would seat wrestlers in a chair in the ring, and apply the hold, offering $5,000 to anyone who could break it. He would eventually face Bob Backlund for the World Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Championship across the WWF territory in 1980, earning two-or-three main event matches in most markets. Slaughter was the only WWF-based challenger not to do the honors for Backlund at MSG (Backlund defeated him at the Meadowlands, but never in the Garden). Slaughter then engaged in a feud with Pat Patterson, which stemmed from Slaughter calling Patterson "yellow" and offering him $10,000 (double the usual amount) to try to break the cobra clutch. Patterson accepted on television and was escaping from the hold when Slaughter released it and put a beat-down on Patterson, starting a hot feud which culminated in an "Alley Fight" in New York, New York's Madison Square Garden between the two that is widely regarded as the best "hardcore" match of the Kayfabe era.

National Wrestling Alliance (1981–1983)
In September 1981, Slaughter joined the National Wrestling Alliance, mainly wrestling for its flagship territory Jim Crockett Promotions. In October 1981, he took part in a tournament to determine a new NWA United States Heavyweight Champion; he defeated Johnny Weaver, Jay Youngblood, and Rick Steamboat in the tournament to win the vacant title. He would hold onto the title for over seven months, before losing the title to Wahoo McDaniel in May 1982.

In September 1982, Slaughter and partner Don Kernodle were awarded the NWA World Tag Team Championship, claiming a title victory over Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba in Tokyo. They would be in a heated rivalry with the team of Rick Steamboat and Jay Youngblood, which culminated on March 12, 1983, losing the titles to Steamboat and Youngblood in a steel cage match in Greensboro, North Carolina. After the rivalry ended, Slaughter left JCP.

During this period, Slaughter also toured Germany and Austria for the Catch Wrestling Association, twice (in 1982 and 1983) unsuccessfully challenging CWA World Heavyweight Champion Otto Wanz.

First return to the WWF (1983–1984)
Slaughter returned to the WWF in March 1983, and again took on the Grand Wizard as his manager. He immediately targeted Backlund, who was still the reigning WWF World Heavyweight Champion. Slaughter turned up the feud another notch when he attacked Backlund at a television taping; Backlund was in the process of completing the Harvard step test before Slaughter beat him repeatedly with his riding crop, leaving bruises on his back. Although he won several matches by disqualification, Slaughter was never able to win the title from Backlund.

In early 1984, Slaughter's career took off after he turned face and defended America's honor against the hated Iron Sheik. Slaughter and the Iron Sheik engaged in many matches throughout the year, culminating in a boot camp match that took place before a sold-out Madison Square Garden that summer. However, with the emergence of Hulk Hogan as the WWF World Heavyweight Champion and lead face within the company, Slaughter left for the AWA. On Vince McMahon's McMahon DVD, Slaughter said he was fired by McMahon in Toronto after no-showing an event in protest of McMahon's refusal to give him six weeks of paid vacation. Other interviews with Slaughter and McMahon have revealed that Slaughter left the company more over a dispute that emerged due to the WWF not allowing Slaughter's role in the G.I. Joe toy line. At the time of his departure Slaughter was easily the second biggest "face" in the company, surpassing Jimmy Snuka, and even André the Giant, with his popularity rivaling that of Hulk Hogan's. Sports editor and columnist Lew Freedman wrote of Slaughter's popularity in the wake of his face turn in August 1985: "Talk about your overnight sensations. Slaughter had been wrestling for 10 years and suddenly he was hotter than Dwight Gooden".

American Wrestling Association (1985–1990)
He received a considerable push in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) throughout 1985 and 1986, becoming the AWA America's Heavyweight Champion, defeating Larry Zbyszko shortly after his arrival. He defended the title against wrestlers like Zbyszko, Kamala, Boris Zukhov, and Nick Bockwinkel (before the belt was retired) and feuded with Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissey and his stable of wrestlers, The Road Warriors, and Colonel DeBeers. He even challenged Stan Hansen for the AWA title. He was also involved in the short-lived Pro Wrestling USA Promotion. This was a brief attempt at pulling together the remaining wrestling talent to go up against the rising WWF. Slaughter in this company won a large 25-man battle royal by eliminating Kamala, winning the right to challenge Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

In 1988, Slaughter returned to wrestling in the AWA, resuming some of his past feuds with the likes of Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissey, the Iron Sheik, and Col. DeBeers. He also became a top contender to the AWA World title during Larry Zbyszko's reign in 1989 and was a team captain for the AWA's ill-fated Team Challenge Series during the first half of 1990. The AWA even teased fans with Slaughter appearing to win the World title from Zbyszko live on ESPN, only to have the decision reversed on a technicality (a booking practice the AWA had been employing for years).

Second return to the WWF

Iraqi sympathizer (1990–1991)

After WrestleMania VI, Slaughter sent a letter to Vince McMahon saying he loved the program and was interested in returning. McMahon told Slaughter he wanted a heel, and his new gimmick would be that Slaughter turned on the United States due to its acceptance of the Russian Nikolai Volkoff. According to Slaughter, he found it difficult to do the anti-American promos associated with this gimmick.

The August 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Ba'athist Iraq triggered a political crisis that would lead to the 1991 Gulf War, in which Kuwait was freed by a U.S.-led military coalition. A decision was made to have Slaughter support the Iraqi cause, not for the actual political reasons, but more for the fact that Slaughter liked "brutality" and the Iraqi government was "brutal" while the US regime was said by Slaughter to have become "soft" and "weak". Slaughter aligned himself with an Iraqi enthusiast David Hayward, and kayfabe Iraqi military general, General Adnan (his old rival who left the AWA shortly after Slaughter did), and entered a feud with Volkoff (which saw Slaughter win the majority of their encounters at house shows), leading to a match at that year's Survivor Series which saw The Alliance (Volkoff, Tito Santana, and The Bushwhackers) defeat The Mercenaries (Slaughter, Boris Zhukov, and The Orient Express). As part of his character change, Slaughter began wearing Arab headdresses to the ring, adopted the Camel Clutch as one of his finishers, and was (kayfabe) photographed meeting with Saddam Hussein. Slaughter also infamously adopted a move where he would grind the tip of one of his knuckles into his opponent's temple. It was reported that while Slaughter was portraying a turncoat, he had received numerous death threats and could not go anywhere in public without wearing a bullet-proof vest and had to be surrounded with security personnel at all times. According to Slaughter, Vince asked him to burn the American flag, but Slaughter refused to do that, so Slaughter suggested he burn Hulk Hogan's shirt.

As 1990 ended, Slaughter began challenging for the WWF Championship that had been held by The Ultimate Warrior since WrestleMania VI. Slaughter got his chance at the Royal Rumble in January 1991, days after the Gulf War air campaign had begun. He defeated the Warrior when "Macho King" Randy Savage, who had also been feuding with the Warrior at the time, struck the champion in the head with his royal scepter. Slaughter thus became the thirteenth WWF Champion and was immediately challenged by Royal Rumble winner Hulk Hogan, who was furious that Slaughter had (kayfabe) desecrated the American flag (off-screen) as part of his victory celebration. Hogan demanded a match against Slaughter at WrestleMania VII in Los Angeles, California, and Slaughter accepted. Slaughter lost the WWF Championship to Hogan at WrestleMania. After WrestleMania, Slaughter introduced his newest ally, Colonel Mustafa (The Iron Sheik, Slaughter's old nemesis). Slaughter and company went on to feud with Hogan for months, including having a three-on-two handicap match at SummerSlam, which saw the team of Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior prevail over Slaughter, Adnan, and Mustafa.

Various feuds (1991–1994)
After finishing the Hogan feud, Slaughter became a face again, appearing in vignettes next to American landmarks, saying, "I want my country back". During an episode of Superstars, Jim Duggan was under attack from The Nasty Boys, and Slaughter made the save. Duggan and Slaughter teamed up to defeat the Nasty Boys and continued to team over the next several months. Slaughter's last regular WWF match, which was against Nailz, was in October 1992 and ended in no contest when Nailz viciously attacked Slaughter before the match could begin.

Slaughter started appearing as an on-air official from October 1992 to June 1994. He made his first wrestling appearance in over a year when he appeared on a house show version of a Royal Rumble that was held on January 17, 1994, at Madison Square Garden. After helping to eliminate Adam Bomb he, in turn, was tossed out by Crush. Later that year he would wrestle on four house shows in July in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, facing and defeating Quebecer Pierre. He left the company in September.

Third return to the WWF

WWF Commissioner and sporadic appearances (1997–2009)
After a hiatus, he returned to WWF television on the August 4, 1997, episode of Raw Is War to assume the role of on-air commissioner by (kayfabe) President Gorilla Monsoon who in reality retired from being on camera due to health issues. Initially popular, he eventually became the target of D-Generation X, who called him "Sgt. Slobber". On an episode of Raw Is War, he put Shawn Michaels and Triple H in a match for Michaels' European Championship. Michaels dropped the belt to Helmsley, by lying down in the ring. Slaughter challenged Triple H to a Boot Camp match at the December pay-per-view, which he lost. His feud with Triple H continued into WrestleMania XIV where he handcuffed himself to Chyna to prevent her from interfering with Helmsley's match against Owen Hart. But Slaughter's efforts ultimately proved futile, as Chyna threw powder into his eyes, interfered with the match anyway, and hurled Slaughter into the front row.

In 1998, Slaughter turned heel, joined Vince McMahon along with Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson, and became the on-screen lackeys of McMahon; running errands for him and dishing out punishment to McMahon's rivals, namely Steve Austin. In late 1998, Slaughter relinquished the role of commissioner to Shawn Michaels and largely disappeared from television.

Slaughter still appeared from time to time in the ring, mostly at house shows. He appeared on Raw to put over younger wrestlers, such as Kurt Angle and Funaki. Slaughter also made an appearance at WrestleMania X-Seven, in the gimmick Battle Royal, which was won by The Iron Sheik. Slaughter got his revenge after the match by locking the Sheik in the cobra clutch. He also appeared on both Raw and SmackDown on occasion during the Invasion storyline in non-wrestling roles, usually in conjunction with Vince McMahon.

On November 24, 2003, he lost to Randy Orton on Raw as Orton became the Legend Killer.

He made a special appearance on June 13, 2005, episode of Raw to challenge Chris Masters in his "Master Lock Challenge", which Slaughter lost. Then, he returned again on December 5 episode of Raw, where he and Michael Hayes confronted Edge. He also appeared on the July 4, 2006 episode of Raw for a "Diva Boot Camp" segment, as a part of the 2006 Diva Search Competition.

He re-appeared on October 2 episode of Raw, defeating Nicky from the Spirit Squad with a roll-up when D-Generation X distracted him from up on the TitanTron. Slaughter appeared on the October 23 Raw in the corner of Ric Flair as he faced Kenny of the Spirit Squad. After Kenny cheated to gain the victory, Slaughter, Dusty Rhodes, and Roddy Piper cleared the tag champions from the ring. Slaughter was one of three options between himself, Roddy Piper, and Dusty Rhodes that fans could vote for as a tag partner for Ric Flair at Cyber Sunday, but did not win the vote. At Survivor Series, Slaughter teamed with Flair, Ron Simmons, and Dusty Rhodes to take on four members of the Spirit Squad in a Survivor Series match. Slaughter was eliminated in the match, but his team won, with Flair as the sole survivor.

On December 18, 2006, Slaughter participated in a 30-man battle royal for a chance to face John Cena in the main event for the WWE Championship, but he was eliminated from the match and did not get the title shot. At the Vengeance: Night of Champions pay-per-view in June 2007, he faced Deuce 'n Domino for the WWE Tag Team Championship, alongside Jimmy Snuka. They were unsuccessful in their attempt for the titles. He challenged Randy Orton on July 30 episode of Raw, only to become another victim of the "Legend Killer", and was wheeled out on a stretcher. On Raw XV, the 15th-anniversary Raw special on December 10, 2007, Slaughter participated in the 15th Anniversary Battle Royal. On March 31, 2008, on an episode of Raw, Slaughter paid tribute to longtime friend Ric Flair at the end of the show. He appeared on Raws 800th episode in Kung Fu Naki's dance-off and also made an appearance in the Slammy Awards.

Slaughter, who had been working as a producer for WWE for the past several years, was released from his backstage producer duties with the company on January 13, 2009.

Independent circuit (1998–2014)
His first appearance on the independent circuit following his 1997 signing with WWF, was for the World Wrestling Alliance (WWA) in a tag team match with George "The Animal" Steele. After that, he would only wrestle for WWF/WWE until making two appearances for the WWA in 2003. He started slowing down starting in 2006, wrestling only a few matches a year. To finish off his career he had one match in 2013 and two matches in 2014, all tag team encounters. His last two matches were for Northeast Wrestling (NEW), who he had competed for in the past.

Fourth return to WWE (2009–present)

He was the special guest host on Raw on August 10, 2009, where he made fun of Canadians and saying how the USA is the greatest country in the world. He made an appearance on the Decade of SmackDown on October 2, 2009, where he had an altercation with the Iron Sheik about which country was the greatest, USA or Iran. He later appeared on December 31, 2012, edition of Raw, where he was challenged by then-United States Champion Antonio Cesaro in a match for the WWE United States Championship. He lost the match and failed to capture the title. This would be his final match for WWE. He then made an appearance on Old School RAW, serving as the special guest referee for The Great Khali vs Damien Sandow match after he got the most votes.

Slaughter made an appearance on November 24, 2014, edition of Raw, where he confronted United States Champion Rusev and his valet, Lana, and attempted to force Lana and Rusev to recite the Pledge of Allegiance (with the alternative, per an edict from Daniel Bryan, who was running the show that night, being that he would be forced to defend his title against the entire Raw roster). Rusev refused and had a staredown with Slaughter, who wouldn't back down; however, Jack Swagger and his manager, Zeb Colter, ran down to the ring and fended Rusev off. Swagger, Colter, and Slaughter then finished reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
Slaughter returned at the Tribute to the Troops show on December 17, 2014, and helped Dean Ambrose beat Bray Wyatt by giving Dean his steel-toe boot to use on Wyatt.

Slaughter made a one-night appearance to WWE for the special Raw Reunion on July 22, 2019, and on January 4, 2021, on the Legends Night special episode of Raw.

Slaughter was in attendance at the February 5, 2020 episode of NXT.

Other media
Slaughter voices an adult version of himself in the animated WWE Network Exclusive show Camp WWE.

Fictionalized versions of Sgt. Slaughter were part of the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, animated series and comic books, as a member of the G.I. Joe team and first appeared in the five-part TV episode entitled "Arise, Serpentor, Arise!" Along with the traditional merchandising of WWE superstars, Sgt. Slaughter is one of only a few real people to be produced as a G.I. Joe figure, (NFL football player William "The Refrigerator" Perry, pro-wrestler Roddy Piper, and astronaut Buzz Aldrin are some of the others), and even appeared in G.I. Joe: The Movie.

Slaughter also appeared twice as a special guest on The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, which starred fellow wrestler Captain Lou Albano. He appeared in the episodes "All Steamed Up" (in "Butch Mario and the Luigi Kid") and "Caught in a Draft" (in "Bad Rap").

During the mid-1980s, Sgt. Slaughter released a full-length LP, Sgt. Slaughter and Camouflage Rocks America. It featured a number of original songs, including "The Cobra Clutch," as well as a cover of Neil Diamond's "America".

A brief cross promotional stint in the late 1980s had Sgt. Slaughter and his "battling battalion" pitted against the  Bigfoot Monster Truck in a tug-of-war challenge. It is featured on Blood, Sweat, & Gears USHRA home video. This stunt was recently attempted again with Sgt. Slaughter using fans from the crowd at a Monster Truck show to tug-o-war with Bigfoot.

He was featured in the 1989 video game Sgt. Slaughter's Mat Wars by Mindscape.

In the animated series Code Monkeys, Slaughter appeared as Sgt. Murder. He and Bulk Brogan (Hulk Hogan), "Manly Man" Ricky Ravage (Randy "Macho Man" Savage), and Sergei the Giant (André the Giant) were hired by a video game company to take on their rivals. His brother, Tommy Murder, was killed by "The Black Shadow", who was actually Black Steve, the company's accountant.

He appeared on episode #3.6 of Comedy Central's Tosh.0, when he clotheslined Daniel Tosh and put David Wills (a.k.a. YouTube's "Crying Wrestling Fan") in a Cobra Clutch during Wills' "Web Redemption" segment.

In 2014, Sgt. Slaughter made a cameo appearance in the RadioShack Super Bowl XLVIII commercial "The '80s Called".

He later voiced Dr. Military in the 2013 animated series Teen Titans Go! in a two-part episode called "Teen Titans Vroom!"

Championships and accomplishments
 American Wrestling Association AWA America's Championship (1 time)
 AWA British Empire Heavyweight Championship (1 time)1
 Cauliflower Alley Club Iron Mike Mazurki Award (2011)
 Central States Wrestling NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship (3 times)Georgia Championship WrestlingNWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Pak SongGeorge Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of FameClass of 2019 (Frank Gotch Award)
 Maple Leaf Wrestling NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship (Toronto version) (1 time)
 Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
 NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (1 time) – with Don Kernodle
 National Wrestling Federation NWF Americas Championship (1 time)
 Northeast Championship Wrestling (Tom Janette) NCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 NWA Tri-State NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Tri-State version) (1 time) – with Buck Robley
 Pro Wrestling Illustrated Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (1991)
 Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (1984)
 Ranked No. 36 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1991
 Ranked No. 34 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
 Ranked No. 29 of the 100 best tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Don Kernodle in 2003
 Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame Class of 2016
 World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment WWF Championship (1 time)
 WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2004)
 Wrestling Observer Newsletter'''''
 Match of the Year (1981) vs. Pat Patterson in an Alley Fight
 Most Unimproved (1985)
 Most Washed Up Wrestler (1985)
 Worst Feud of the Year (1985) vs. Boris Zhukov
 Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic (1991) Iraqi sympathizer angle
 Worst Feud of the Year (1991) vs. Hulk Hogan

Notes

External links

 WWE Hall of Fame profile of Sgt. Slaughter
 
 Bio & Interview from SLAM! Wrestling
 Sgt. Slaughter Debut on YouTube

1948 births
American male professional wrestlers
Fictional commanders
Fictional soldiers
Fictional United States Marine Corps personnel
Living people
Masked wrestlers
NWA/WCW/WWE United States Heavyweight Champions
Professional wrestling authority figures
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
Sportspeople from Beaufort, South Carolina
Sportspeople from Detroit
Sportspeople from Minneapolis
The Heenan Family members
WWE Champions
WWE Hall of Fame inductees
was a Japanese puroresu or professional wrestling promotion, founded in July 2013 by Keiji Mutoh following his resignation from All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). The core of the promotion's roster was formed by wrestlers loyal to Mutoh, who left AJPW in a mass exodus during June 2013. Mutoh served as the promotion's first president and the head of its parent company, kabushiki gaisha named GEN Sports Entertainment. In March 2017, Kaz Hayashi took over as the new president of Wrestle-1. The promotion held its first event on September 8, 2013, at Tokyo Dome City Hall.

The promotion shares its name with a series of professional wrestling events run by AJPW, K-1 and Pride Fighting Championships in the first half of the 2000s, but it is not considered a direct continuation of that project.

On April 1, 2020, Wrestle-1 ceased operations.

History

Formation
On November 1, 2012, IT company Speed Partners bought 100% of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) shares from main shareholder Keiji Mutoh and his business partners for ¥200 million. In late May 2013, Speed Partners president Nobuo Shiraishi fired AJPW president, Mutoh's longtime right-hand man Masayuki Uchida, and took over as the promotion's new president himself effective June 1, which led to Mutoh resigning as the chairman of the board and leaving the promotion. For the next weeks, Mutoh attempted to buy back his shares of the promotion from Speed Partners, but eventually gave up the attempt before the end of the month. During the rest of June, Masakatsu Funaki, Kaz Hayashi, Shuji Kondo, Ryota Hama, Hiroshi Yamato, Masayuki Kono, Koji Kanemoto, Minoru Tanaka, Yasufumi Nakanoue, Kai, Seiya Sanada, and Andy Wu all announced their resignation from AJPW out of loyalty to Mutoh and left the promotion following a June 30 event in Ryōgoku Kokugikan, which marked the official end of the eleven-year-long "Mutoh All Japan".

On July 10, Mutoh held a press conference to announce the foundation of his new promotion, named "Wrestle-1". Mutoh got the name from a series of professional wrestling events that were produced by his AJPW, K-1 and Pride Fighting Championships between 2002 and 2005. Wrestle-1 continues Mutoh's brand of "Pro Wrestling Love", which he had launched after taking over AJPW in 2002. Mutoh dubbed Wrestle-1's style of puroresu "Fighting Entertainment". As the label suggests, Wrestle-1 is considered more entertainment based than the traditional AJPW. The press conference was also attended by Funaki, Hama, Hayashi, Kai, Kondo, Kono, Nakanoue, Tanaka and Yamato. Andy Wu would also join the promotion, once he returned from an excursion to Mexico, along with trainees Brian Ishizaka, Daiki Inaba and Seiki Yoshioka, ring announcer Makoto Abe and referees Daichi Murayama and Daisuke Kanbayashi. The promotion announced its inaugural event for September 8, 2013, at Tokyo Dome City Hall. At the press conference, Mutoh stated that Wrestle-1 was open to working with other promotions and that he was looking to use Taiwan as a stepping stone towards an Asian and eventually global expansion. Mutoh also stated that he was open to the idea of having a women's division in Wrestle-1. On July 26, the Gaora television station announced that it would broadcast the inaugural event, as well as a 30-minute preview show, live on its channels. On July 30, Mutoh met with Jeff Jarrett in Nashville, Tennessee, United States to discuss a possible working relationship between Wrestle-1 and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Jarrett was later announced as a participant in Wrestle-1's October 6 event. Mutoh later also revealed that he wanted to form partnerships with promotions in Europe and Mexico, specifically mentioning Lucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA), and create a "true" world championship that would be recognized on three continents. On August 9, Mutoh revealed the promotion's official logo and a partial card for the inaugural event. Also announced was a sponsorship deal with the Ezaki Glico confectionery company, with its sales department and product manager Hiroki Kuwabara signed to Wrestle-1 as a conditioning coach.

Wrestle-1 Hataage Sen
 was Wrestle-1's inaugural event, which took place on September 8, 2013, at Tokyo Dome City Hall. On August 9, Wrestle-1 released the first partial card for the event, which revealed only the Wrestle-1 signed workers taking part in the event, but none of their partners or opponents. The event featured a women's match and the Japanese in-ring debut of Daiki Inaba. None of the other workers were revealed before the event, though Mutoh stated that TNA wrestlers would not be taking part in the event. The event aired in Japan on Gaora and internationally on internet pay-per-view (iPPV) through Niconico and Ustream. Tickets to the 2,500 seat arena were sold out the day they went on sale. Sports journalist Dave Meltzer wrote that this, coupled with AJPW's recent decline in attendance numbers, showed that "fans are taking  group as the real future of All Japan rather than All Japan". The event featured outside participation from several freelancers as well as wrestlers from Big Japan Pro Wrestling, Dragon Gate, Michinoku Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Zero1 and World Wonder Ring Stardom. Koji Kanemoto, René Duprée, Seiya Sanada and Zodiac, who were with AJPW prior to Mutoh's departure, but had not announced their affiliation with Wrestle-1, made surprise appearances during the event. In fact, Duprée, who took part in the main event, was still officially AJPW's reigning Gaora TV Champion at the time of the event. Duprée returned the title belt to AJPW three days after the event. Bob Sapp, who had appeared in several of the old Wrestle-1 events, made an appearance in a tag team main event with Mutoh. Kenta Kobashi, who had the previous March announced that he would be joining AJPW following his retirement in May, worked the event as a color commentator.

Regular tours
Wrestle-1 began running regular tours right after Hataage Sen; the first tour ran until September 22 and the second from October 6 to 14. Many of the outsiders taking part in the inaugural event became regular members of the Wrestle-1 roster with the exception of Bob Sapp, Fujita Hayato, Katsuyori Shibata, Kazushi Sakuraba and Masaaki Mochizuki. Though Wrestle-1 also did not have regular female wrestlers on its roster, each event included a women's match, featuring wrestlers such as Ryo Mizunami and Shuu Shibutani from Pro Wrestling Wave, Koharu Hinata, Makoto and Syuri from Wrestling New Classic, Hikaru Shida, Maki Narumiya, Risa Sera and Tsukasa Fujimoto from Ice Ribbon, and freelancers Akino and Hiroyo Matsumoto. Wrestle-1 sought to introduce an "openweight division", where its wrestlers would not be typecast as heavyweights or junior heavyweights, like in most Japanese promotions, but would be able to interact with each other across weight limits. On September 24, Wrestle-1 announced that Seiya Sanada had signed a contract to officially become part of the promotion's roster effective October 1. On October 6, Wrestle-1 held its first event in Korakuen Hall in front of a sold-out crowd of 1,750. On October 18, Mutoh announced his semi-retirement from in-ring action, saying that in the future he would be concentrating on running Wrestle-1.

The following month saw the continuation of a working relationship between Wrestle-1 and TNA, with A.J. Styles coming in to defend the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Seiya Sanada on November 16 and Jay Bradley and Rob Terry working the entire tour from November 16 to December 1. Meanwhile, Andy Wu also made his return from his seven-month Mexican excursion, making his debut for his new home promotion on November 16. During the event, Wrestle-1 announced its first ever event at Ryōgoku Kokugikan, set to take place on March 2, 2014. Mutoh later announced that this would mark only the first of four events Wrestle-1 intended to run at Ryōgoku Kokugikan in 2014.

2014
On January 12, 2014, Manabu Soya, who had resigned from AJPW the previous month, joined Wrestle-1 as a freelancer, taking the role of an on-screen matchmaker, while recovering from a recent shoulder surgery. On January 26, Wrestle-1 held its first tryout, which resulted in three men being accepted to begin training at the promotion's dojo the following April.

On January 30 it was announced that the March 2 Ryōgoku Kokugikan event would feature a "Wrestle-1 vs. TNA" theme with thirteen wrestlers coming in to represent the American promotion in addition to Rob Terry, who had remained with Wrestle-1 since the past November. Jeff Jarrett, the original man behind the Wrestle-1-TNA relationship, had since parted ways with TNA and now the relationship was handled by Bob Ryder and John Gaburick on the Americans' side. On March 2 at Kaisen: Outbreak, three TNA titles were defended as part of Wrestle-1's first Ryōgoku Kokugikan event. While Kaz Hayashi and Shuji Kondo failed to capture the TNA World Tag Team Championship and Kai the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, Seiya Sanada defeated Austin Aries to become the new TNA X Division Champion. The event also saw the debut of another former AJPW worker, Taiyō Kea. The following day, it was announced that Sanada would be leaving Wrestle-1 to work for TNA indefinitely. Also in March, Wrestle-1 relocated their offices from Minami-Azabu, Minato, Tokyo to Hyakunincho, Shinjuku, Tokyo to their own four-story building called "GEN Sports Palace", which also includes the promotion's dojo. In April, Wrestle-1 established two more international relationships with British promotion All Star Wrestling (ASW) and German promotion European Wrestling Promotion (EWP). As part of the relationship, EWP wrestlers Ecki Eckstein and Leon Van Gasteren worked a tour with Wrestle-1 from April 27 to May 4, with Van Gasteren successfully defending the EWP Intercontinental Championship against Hiroshi Yamato on the final day.

On June 18, Wrestle-1 held a press conference to announce that effective July 1 the promotion would be joined by Akira, Jiro Kuroshio, Koji Doi, Rionne Fujiwara, Tajiri and Yusuke Kodama, after their previous promotion Wrestling New Classic went inactive following June 26. On July 1, Wrestle-1 was also joined by Hiroki Murase, a freelancer who had started his career with WNC in January 2013. Wrestle-1's second Ryōgoku Kokugikan event, Shōgeki: Impact, took place on July 6 and featured matches for ASW's British Light Heavyweight Championship, EWP's Intercontinental Championship, TNA's World Tag Team Championship and Zero1's World Heavyweight Championship with Hiroshi Yamato capturing the EWP title from Leon Van Gasteren, Masakatsu Funaki the Zero1 title from Kohei Sato and Seiki Yoshioka the ASW title from Dean Allmark. The following day, Seiya Sanada announced he had agreed to a contract with TNA, which meant that he would continue to spend most of his time in the United States, occasionally returning to take part in Wrestle-1's larger events. Sanada remained with TNA until April 2015. Meanwhile, Seiki Yoshioka left for an extended tour of the United Kingdom with ASW, during which he lost the British Light Heavyweight Championship back to Allmark.

On July 21, Wrestle-1 announced the creation of its first own title, the Wrestle-1 Championship, with the inaugural champion being determined in a sixteen-man single-elimination tournament taking place between September 21 and October 8. On August 8, Wrestle-1 announced that Manabu Soya had signed with the promotion, ending his days as a freelancer. On September 22, Wrestle-1 announced the creation of the Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship with the inaugural champions being determined in a round-robin tournament taking place between November 15 and 30. On September 25, Wrestle-1 and Pro Wrestling Zero1 announced that the two promotions would be coming together to hold three joint shows at Shinjuku Face between November 5 and 7. On October 8, Masayuki Kono defeated Kai in the finals of the sixteen-man tournament to become the inaugural Wrestle-1 Champion. The relationship between Wrestle-1 and TNA continued on October 12 with eleven Wrestle-1 wrestlers taking part in TNA's Bound for Glory event in Korakuen Hall. On November 1, Wrestle-1 held an event at Ryōgoku Kokugikan celebrating Keiji Mutoh's 30th anniversary in professional wrestling. The main event of the show saw Mutoh defeat Masayuki Kono to become the second Wrestle-1 Champion. On November 30, Team 246 (Kaz Hayashi and Shuji Kondo) won the First Tag League Greatest to become the inaugural Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champions.

2015
On February 25, 2015, Wrestle-1 announced the creation of a cruiserweight division and a new third title, which was on March 9 officially named the Wrestle-1 Cruiser Division Championship. Starting on April 11, Wrestle-1 began holding shows at their dojo under the brand name "Wrestle-1 Starting Point", which were intended to showcase the promotion's younger wrestlers. On March 6, Minoru Tanaka won the tournament to become the inaugural Wrestle-1 Cruiser Division Champion. Also in May, it was reported that the relationship between Wrestle-1 and TNA had come to an end. Seiya Sanada remained in the United States, working on the local independent circuit.

In March 2015, Wrestle-1's management was hit with several resignations, which led to Mutoh offering DDT Pro-Wrestling president Sanshiro Takagi a job in his promotion's management. On May 5, Takagi was officially revealed as Wrestle-1's new chief executive officer (CEO). His goal was to make Wrestle-1 more profitable by getting sales up and increasing the number of shows. There were no plans for Takagi to start wrestling for Wrestle-1 or for Wrestle-1 and DDT to exchange talent. On May 13, Wrestle-1 and Seiya Sanada held a press conference, where it was announced that the two sides had decided to amicably part ways when Sanada's contract with the promotion would expire two days later, so he could continue working in the United States full-time as a freelancer. Later that month, it was announced that Wrestle-1 would be teaming up with American Pro Wrestling Alliance (APWA) to hold their first tour of the United States, holding five shows in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia, including one at the former ECW Arena, between June 23 and 28. However, on June 19, the tour was canceled with APWA citing a sponsor pulling out due to miscommunication between the two promotions as the reason. That same day, Wrestle-1 announced that Masakatsu Funaki would be leaving the promotion following his contract expiring on June 30. Meanwhile, Tajiri would only work sporadic Wrestle-1 events from July onwards. On June 26, Wrestle-1 announced the results of their recent contract negotiations with their wrestlers. 21 wrestlers had signed new contracts, including freelancer Kazma Sakamoto who in the process made Wrestle-1 his new home promotion, while Rionne Fujiwara became the second wrestler to leave the promotion following his contract expiring at the end of the month.

On July 13, Wrestle-1 announced the first "Wrestle-1 Grand Prix", a single-elimination tournament featuring 21 participants and taking place between August 2 and 30. The tournament was billed as the Wrestle-1 equivalent of New Japan Pro-Wrestling's G1 Climax. On August 3, Wrestle-1 announced the establishment of Puroresu Sōgō Gakuin ("Pro wrestling comprehensive school"), where Akira, Hiroshi Yamato, Kaz Hayashi, Shuji Kondo and Yasufumi Nakanoue would train both men and women in six-month-long terms. Graduates from the school are not automatically signed to Wrestle-1 and are free to join other promotions. The school's first term started two months later. On August 30, Wrestle-1 announced it was reviving two inactive titles on October 9; the UWA World Trios Championship and the F-1 Tag Team Championship, the latter being a comedy title Mutoh created in AJPW in 2006 for teams made up of a wrestler and an impressionist. On October 27, Wrestle-1 announced a new project named "Wrestling Camp", headed by Kaz Hayashi and former wrestler American Balloon, with the goal of recruiting more foreign wrestlers for the promotion.

2016
On March 30, 2016, Wrestle-1 held a show to celebrate the conclusion of the first term of the Puroresu Sōgō Gakuin, while also announcing the graduation of Hana Kimura, Jun Tonsho, Reika Saiki and Seigo Tachibana. With two women graduating from the class, Keiji Mutoh teased the possibility of starting a women's division in Wrestle-1. On May 4, AJPW president Jun Akiyama made a surprise appearance for Wrestle-1, facing off with Keiji Mutoh with the two agreeing to a tag team match against each other on August 11. On June 28, Wrestle-1 announced that Akira, Minoru Tanaka, Ryota Hama, Tajiri and Yasufumi Nakanoue would all be leaving the promotion following the expiration of their contracts two days later. On August 11, Wrestle-1 presented an interpromotional six-man tag team match, which saw AJPW president Jun Akiyama take on former AJPW president Keiji Mutoh. In the match, the AJPW trio of Akiyama, Naoya Nomura and Yuma Aoyagi was victorious over the Wrestle-1 trio of Mutoh, Koji Doi and Kumagoro. On August 31, Kazma Sakamoto also left Wrestle-1 following the expiration of his contract. On September 18, Wrestle-1 announced a new sub-promotion Pro-Wrestling A.C.E. (Academy, Challenge, Entertainment), which was made up of rookies from their wrestling school. On December 20, Kai announced he would be leaving Wrestle-1 and becoming a freelancer at the end of the year.

2017
On January 8, 2017, Wrestle-1 announced the creation of a new title, the Wrestle-1 Result Championship, meant for the promotion's younger wrestlers. On March 27, Wrestle-1 announced it was undergoing a change in management on April 1 with Keiji Mutoh moving on to the role of representative director, while Kaz Hayashi would become the new president. Also, Shuji Kondo takes over as the new executive vice president, while Sanshiro Takagi moves from being the CEO to the role of an advisor. On June 14, Wrestle-1 announced the creation of the Wrestle-1 Tag League in the fall and Wrestle-1 Cruiser Festival in the winter. On September 2, Sanshiro Takagi resigned from his advisory role in Wrestle-1. It was stated that the company would continue to have a friendly relationship with Takagi's DDT promotion.

2018
On January 17, 2018, Wrestle-1 established a working relationship with Booker T's Reality of Wrestling (ROW) promotion.

2019
In 2019, Wrestle-1 established the "Wrestle-1 Alliance", a promotional partnership with multiple U.S.-based wrestling companies.

2020
On February 29, 2020, Wrestle-1 announced that they would be holding their final event on April 1, with all members of the roster being released from their contracts the day prior. In the last card, on April 1 (with no attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic), Manabu Soya won a 30-man battle royal, last eliminating Akira. Keiji Muto participated in the match prior to the main event, teaming with Hayashi, Kono and Kondo in a losing effort against Ashino, Inaba, Doi and Kuma Arashi, but did not participate in the battle royal.

Roster

Natives
Andy Wu
CIMA
Daiki Inaba
El Lindaman
Kannazuki
Kaz Hayashi
Keiji Mutoh
Manabu Soya
Masakatsu Funaki
Masato Tanaka
Masayuki Kono
Mazada
Minoru Tanaka
Nosawa Rongai
Jiro Kuroshio
Kai
Ryota Hama
Seiki Yoshioka
Seiya Sanada
Shotaro Ashino
Shuji Kondo
T-Hawk
Tajiri
Takanori Ito
Yusuke Kodama
Hiroki Murase/UTAMARO
Koji Doi
Kumagoro/Kuma Arashi

Foreigners
Bob Sapp
El Hijo del Pantera
Jay Bradley
René Duprée
Rob Terry
Taiyo Kea
Zodiac

Championships

Other championships used by Wrestle-1

Tournaments

See also
All Japan Pro Wrestling
Pro Wrestling Zero1
Wrestling New Classic

References

External links
 
Wrestle-1 on YouTube 

 
Shinjuku
2013 establishments in Japan
Talent agencies based in Tokyo
Mass media companies based in Tokyo
Sports organizations established in 2013 , is a Japanese professional wrestler who's currently a freelancer best known for working for Wrestle-1. He's a former two time Wrestle-1 Result Champion, while also being a former one-time Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champion, alongside Masayuki Kono. He won the Striker Full Contact Karate Heavyweight Championship.

Early life
Before entering the Wrestle-1 dojo, Ito had a background on Karate where he has a black belt.

Professional wrestling career

Wrestle-1 (2016–2020)
On September 18, 2016, Ito made his wrestling debut with his mate Dennis Shinohara in a losing effort to Mazada and Nosawa Rongai. On November 12, after he scored his first win defeating another rookie Kohei Fujimura, it was announced that he would be joining his rookie mates at Pro Wrestling A.C.E.

On April 19, Masayuki Kono challenged Koji Doi and Kumagoro into a title match for the Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship. Kono announced that he would find himself an appropriate teammate which end up to being Ito. On May 4, Ito and Kono defeated Koji Doi and Kumagoro to win the Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship. They would make one successful title defense on June 6 against Manabu Soya and Ganseki Tanaka before losing the titles back to Doi and Kumagoro on June 24. On July 2 Ito defeated Seigo Tachibana in the finals of a tournament to earn the right to enter in the Wrestle-1 Grand Prix. At the Wrestle-1 Grand Prix, Ito managed to get into the semifinals losing to his tag team partner Masayuki Kono. After the loss, Ito won his first singles title in his career defeating Koji Doi on July 16 to win the Wrestle-1 Result Championship. Ito would defend the title once defeating Kumagoro on August 6 before he lost the title to Seigo Tachibana four days later. On September 2, Ito would rematch Tachibana for the Result Championship, emerging victorious and regaining the championship. From September to October, Ito teamed with Kono in the 2017 Wrestle-1 Tag League where they placed second in Block B with 4 points. On October 8, Ito made his first successful defense defeating Ganseki Tanaka. On November 2, Ito successfully defended the title a second time defeated Daiki Inaba. On December 2, Ito became a double champion when he teamed with Koji Doi and Kumagoro to win the UWA World Trios Championship.

On January 14, 2019, Ito successfully defended the Result Championship for a third time against Dyna Mido. On February 14, Ito lost the Result Championship to Jiro Kuroshio. One month later on March 14, Ito, Doi, and Kumagoro lost the UWA World Trio Titles to Fujita, Mazada, and Nosawa Rongai. In July, Ito participated in the 2018 Wrestle-1 Grand Prix but lost in the first round to Kuma Arashi (formerly Kumagoro). In the fall, Ito then entered the 2018 Wrestle-1 Tag League teaming with Ryuji Hijikata where they tied for second in Block B with two points. After Ito lost to Super Tiger at a Real Japan Pro Wrestling event on September 20, he suffered a torn ACL and sat out the next fifteen months. After recovering, Ito returned to the ring at Wrestle-1's Wonder Carnival event on December 31, 2019, where he teamed with Andy Wu and Jiro Kuroshio in a losing effort to Jun Akiyama, Kaz Hayashi, and Shinjiro Otani. On March 31, 2020, Ito, along with the rest of the roster, was released from Wrestle-1 when the promotion ceased operations. On April 1, Ito wrestled at Wrestle-1's final show defeating Pegaso Iluminar. He then participated in a battle royal which was won by Manabu Soya.

Championships and accomplishments

Professional wrestling
Wrestle-1
UWA World Trios Championship (1 time) - with Koji Doi and Kumagoro
Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Masayuki Kono
Wrestle-1 Result Championship (2 times)
Wrestle-1 Grand Prix Decision Tournament (2017)

Karate
Striker
Full Contact Karate Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

References

Living people
1993 births
Japanese male professional wrestlers