When its all said and done: special terrorist edition

[Mighty NorCal]

Now at first this may seem silly but really think about it before you post.


When its all said and done, what was more insane, Sgt.Slaughter, or Muhammed Hassan and Daivari??

Now at first, people will go with Slaughter, simply becuase he got death threats, had more success, and ME'd Wrestlemania with the Hulkster. Consider for a second though, that things of this nature were FAR more acceptable, in wrestling, and pop culture in general. Add the fact that the war had been over for quite some time when shit went down at WM. Hassan and Daivari came along when shit like this, which was basic heel heat from hate mongering, was absolutely out of control, and unacceptable. This is also in the very apex of heat in a war. I firmyl belive the only reason they didnt acheive more, is becuase they were cut short. By fucking network television no less. Im not sure if that has EVER happened in WWE before, or since. Something that went TOO far, to the point of the network threating to drop WWE programming. So in my opinion, Hassan and friends were way crazier, hotter, and overall BETTER than the old school Sgt Slaughter was. Lament your thoughts friends.

 

[klunderbunker]

I'll take Daivari/Hassan. At the end of the day there's one major difference: Slaughter is American, Hassan is Arabic. The look of a person can change so many things about them. WIth Slaughter, nothing had ever actually been done on American soil. Hassan was a different case entirely. You have a much different world of that later of the two. In that world, Americans have died due to the kinds of people that Hassan was portraying. For Slaughter, the war was this far off thing that affected no one in America for the most part. To put Hassan on television with that character was indeed too far. To have a wrestler attempt to behead another, was too far, especially for kids watching. Explain that one parents. Overall, not even close.

 

[Richard]

I picked Hassan and Daivari.

I think that if Hassan and Daivari weren't released, they could have been a pretty big team. They came into WWE a few years after the whole 9/11 thing happened and society gained the view that supposedly all middle eastern people and muslims were terrorists (which isn't true). They got heat from the start and correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't they get released because of the whole London bombing thing and Vince didn't want to have people look at his company and see a wrestler who had men in balaclavas attacking people (after they attacked The Undertaker I believe it was) but I feel that if Hassan and Daivari had more time in the WWE, they could have become bigger heels. With their entrance music along with Daivari shouting out things in whatever language it was gained them heat and chants of USA, USA, USA whever they went.

Imagine the backlash if Hassan had captured the WWE title or WHC.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

. To put Hassan on television with that character was indeed too far. To have a wrestler attempt to behead another, was too far, especially for kids watching. Explain that one parents. Overall, not even close.

So right on KB. WM 21 was my return to WWE, after having not been able to watch it through out basic and my training. So it had been nearly a year since I had watchied it regularly. THIS guy comes out, and I will swear I will NEVER forget that music, that guy, and when he pulled Eugenes head back, and did the "slit the throat" gesture I was like "holy shit, did he really just do that??" this is while innocent people are being beheaded by people who look like Hassan on TV. thats totally out of fucking control. It was just SO much more intensely real. even down to the music, as Slaughter kept the drum roll music, and Hassan had the islamic singing. Just that alone caused people to be compltely livid. An amazingly hot character IMO.

 

[agentmichaelscarn]

Yes the timing of the Hassan and Daivari was worse since we were in the middle of a crisis and war but at the same time unless you were a young kid everybody knew it was a work and everybody knew that wrestling was staged so it didnt have that big of effect. Most fans might have hated the whole gimmick and booed it because it was pretty tasteless considering we were in war, plus they did yell in arabic which only added to the terrorist steroetype but I dont know if the fans legitamitely hated Daivari or Hassan as people like they really hated Slaughter because they knew it wasnt real. Like people actually did hate Slaughter where as if Daivari or Hassan were walking down the street I dont think people would want to kill them or kick their ass because nobody thinks or thought they were real terrorists or anti americans but everybody thought Slaughter turned against the U.S.

When Slaughter did it Id say maybe 50/50 viewers didnt know whether wrestling was real or fake and the ones that did think it was fake were still so much more emotionally attached or involved in the character. Viewers then genuinely seem to care about the character and storylines, it wasnt just a form of entertainment like it is now. I was reading in another thread and somebody brought the example of when Taker tombstoned Hogan on a chair and the crowd was actually in tears when it happened, you would never see that in todays wrestling. I dont know if this is real or just some made up bullshit from the WWE cause they couldnt sell enough tickets but the rumors were that they actually had to move WM7 indoors instead of the outdoor colisseum because of possible snipers. If that is true that shows just how much more the Slaughter turn hit home with WWF viewers.

So I would agree that if they were both done in the same eras that the Daivari and Hassan would be more controversial and draw more heat but since they werent I gotta go with Slaughter because of the reasons I mentioned.

 

[shouldhavebeenswallowed]

Slaughter's Iraqi Turncoat angle was much more hotter and crazier. Burning the American Flag on TV? Dressing up to play the part of an enemy combatant? Not to mention the real life death threats Slaughter was receiving before 'Mania 8. I don't care what the critics say about the payoff and all, I was 7 during that angle and it was incredible seeing Hogan crush Slaughter.

 

[Mr. TM]

I think Sgt. Slaughter was able to get the character over more than Hassan did. Hassan had huge potential, but never at the main event. He did get to go against Hogan and Undertaker, which for a wrestler of his caliber is very fortunate. But Slaughter actually reached the main event at a Wrestlemania and battle Hogan in his prime. I think the hate for him was more legit, when people knew less about Keyfabe. Viewers now a days can look at Hassan and examine that yes the character is evil, but I bet Hassan is a great guy in real life. In the early 90s, people would have loathed Slaughter.

 

[Darkshot77]

I never saw Slaughter so I cant decide on him. All i know is that the Hussan angle was one of the most edgy things I have ever seen. In hind sight it was a good angle, that gets a bad rap for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Something out of the WWE's controll forced them to terminate the gimmick. I hadnt made the connection between the Undertaker attack and the London Bombings till much later. But I do remember watching hussan tell Davari that he was a scrifice, then praying on the ramp, the brutal attack on the Undertaker and then Davari carried off like a mayrtr. I was speechless. I had never seen anythign before it in my life. But imagine if the gimmick would have continued and if Hussan won a major title. we may look back and say Muhammed Hassan was the Biggest, mabey not the best, heel of said time period. Any one could heve played face to him. Vickie would get cheers if she was against Hussan. He was the Mecca of Heel (horrible pun intended). Heck he could even had made for an interesting Bobby Lashley feud. There would have been an aura of sudo-legitimacy to that feud. Shame it was cut too short, cause that was the ultimate in crazy gimmicks.

 

[realblackhart]

I think Slaughter was hotter and crazier becuase he feuded with a wrestling hero and the main event guy at the time. Hogan was adored by fans and as mentioned before this was during a time where some people still thought wrestling was real. Slaughter making General Adnan as his manager during the war was brilliant in making Slaughter as a heel, he was booed viciously. Adnan was compared to Sadam a a time of war. The Iraqi sympathizer storyline was better than what Davari or Hassan did because Davari and Hassan had so much more to do but were forced to go. Hassan and Davari were hated big time but they were probably going to be more hated. Sgt. Slaughter's feud with the Ultimate Puke for the title and defeating him for the title elevated the hatred the fans had for Slaughter. The country was emotionally attached to Hulk Hogan and millions of people watched Wrestlemania VII to see Hogan defeat Sgt. Slaughter for the WWF title. Fans waved their mini American Flags in the crowd for Hogan during this time. Slaughter was hated by fans, making Hogan bleed the way he did during his WM VII match made the fans detest Slaughter. I remember Slaughter and Adnon putting the Iraqi flag over Hogan's face, major heel points there. The burning of the flag, the burning of the Hogan banner, the burning of the Hogan T-shirt, the Hogan poster, and the fireball to Hogan's face after his WM VII victory made him a major heel. Hogan's promos against Sgt. Slaughter were among his best The crowd went bananas went he defeated Slaughter for the title even though the war was over by that time.

Davari was hated but if you are going to compare his time in the WWE or TNA to the time Sgt Slaughter had as the Iraqi sympathizer then you have to give the edge to Slaughter. Davari never really feuded with anybody the way Slaughter and Hogan feuded with each other. Davari was short changed in the WWE and could have done more even after Hassan left but he was given a chance in TNA. Davari was a great wrestler in the WWE, it's a shame they wasted his potential. He had good mic skills, but the WWE let him go. Hassan made both heels and faces hate him, which is pretty neat. He was awaited for, beat up, and eliminated by everyone in the ring during the Royal Rumble. His promos were great because of the tremendous amount of heat he drew. Hogan and Shawn Michaels were good guys to feud with. The Undertaker feud was a good one too and could have been better if UPN hadn't left the WWE alone. He had a lot of potential in my opinion. UPN being a local TV network eventually played a part in the WWE getting rid of the Hassan character. Hassan was set to become World Champion maybe at the Bash or Summerslam but the networks didn't think it was a good idea. The controversial Smackdown episode wasn't really that controversial in my opinion. He got a Last Ride from the Undertaker ending his WWE career. If Hassan had the opportunity to continue what he was doing in the WWE then I would have to vote his way but since he didn't get that chance I voted for Slaughter.

 

[pyrusane]

Hassan was a typical example of taking someone who resembled the enemy du jour and making him a heel. In the 80s it was russians. Hassan just happened to do an excellent job at it, drawing tremendous heat to the point that it actually went too far, especially at the time that it did, and resulted in the character being pulled. This is not to downplay the superb job that he did, just to point out that he took an old old formula and made it work very well.

On the other hand, Sgt. Slaughter was G.I. freaking Joe!!! The man was literally the only living G I Joe, to the point that I remember he was actually hosting the cartoon in the late 80s early 90s. Beginning of every episode of GI Joe, there was the real-life Sgt. Slaughter, setting up the action and throwing a couple of insults at Cobra. Suddenly, this guy is waving an Iraqi flag, burning our flag...omg, wtf just happened???!!! It was so unexpected, so anti-Slaughter...honestly, I would put his heel turn, because of the way it was handled, up there near Hogan's heel turn to the NWO in terms of shock value. Just below Hogan, just above Austin hugging VKM.