Sgt Slaughter Tells True Story Of WrestleMania VII Venue Change

Sgt Slaughter has clarified the real reason why WrestleMania VII switched venues ahead of his headline match with Hulk Hogan.

At WrestleMania VII, Slaughter, portraying an Iraqi sympathiser at the time, faced Hulk Hogan for the WWE Championship. Originally set to take place in the LA Memorial Coliseum, the event ultimately emanated from the smaller LA Memorial Sports Arena.

Speaking on Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw, Slaughter noted that he was told by Vince McMahon that the arena was changed because the LA Coliseum would’ve required McMahon to secure the venue. Explaining the situation, Slaughter said:

“That was the worst day of my life, when Vince called me and said ‘Sarg I’ve got some bad news… The LA Coliseum wants me to secure the coliseum, it’s going to cost between 4 and 5 million dollars, and I just can’t do it. So we’re going to move the show indoors to the arena.’ I said ‘No! No!’”

“When you look up the records of matches, and you see LA Coliseum, Hogan and Slaughter, sold out, 104,000. That’s a badge… It was just heart-breaking”

“There was all these rumours that it wasn’t drawing, but when I got my damn paycheck, it drew. (laughs) It was the biggest paycheck I ever got. I’d never seen that much money.”

“I’m going by what Vince told me, they wanted to secure the venue.”

Slaughter was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004 by Pat Patterson.

Quote via Inside The Ropes. 

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• sgt slaughter
• Hulk Hogan
• WrestleMania
• Vince McMahon

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