Sgt. Slaughter is a WWE Hall of Famer, a former WWF World Heavyweight Champion, and one of the most recognizable characters wrestling has ever produced. Trained by Verne Gagne and Billy Robinson, Robert Remus debuted the drill instructor gimmick in the late 1970s and became a main event fixture across three of the biggest promotions in the business. He won the NWA United States Championship twice, beating Ricky Steamboat in the tournament final for his first reign, held the NWA World Tag Team Championship with Don Kernodle, and reigned as AWA America's Champion for 431 days.

He captured the WWF Championship on January 19, 1991, defeating The Ultimate Warrior at the Royal Rumble in the first world title match in Rumble history, then headlined WrestleMania VII against Hulk Hogan. Before that he was the patriotic hero who sold out Madison Square Garden for the legendary Boot Camp match against The Iron Sheik, and the man on the other side of the 1981 Alley Fight with Pat Patterson, a no-rules brawl named Match of the Year that WWE still calls the first time it went extreme. WWE posted the full match for its 45th anniversary in 2026, with a new interview from Slaughter himself. He returned to television later as WWF Commissioner, feuding with D-Generation X, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004 by Patterson.

Then there is the other half of his legacy. In 1985 Hasbro made him the first real person ever turned into a G.I. Joe action figure, a mail-away exclusive that required five proofs of purchase and sold out on backorder. He served as the Joe team's drill instructor in the cartoon, in Marvel's comic series, and in G.I. Joe: The Movie, voicing the character himself, and the deal was big enough that he stepped away from wrestling and missed the first six WrestleManias. Hasbro brought him back for a brand new G.I. Joe Classified Series Sgt. Slaughter and Triple T set, which went up for preorder in August 2026 for a fall release. Today he remains a WWE Ambassador and a regular on the convention circuit.