When you think of Sgt. Slaughter you think of a loud-mouthed, tough-as-nails Marine drill
sergeant who would sure kick your ass if you disobeyed his orders. Funnily enough, that
was exactly what he was before he pursued a career as a professional wrestler. After
graduating from high school, Sgt. Slaughter joined the United States Marine Corps where
he was a legitimate drill instructor in Parris Island, South Carolina, earning the moniker,
“Sgt. Slaughter” while there. After he was done verbally slaughtering Marines in
boot camp, he took up professional wrestling and joined the AWA under a mask as Super Destroyer
Mark II before eventually joining the WWE as the iconic drill sergeant we all know him
for. During his time in the WWE, Sgt. Slaughter became a one-time World Heavyweight Champion
and headlined WrestleMania VII in 1991. In addition, his character was so popular that
he was only one of a few real people to be incorporated in the G.I. Joe universe.
Perry Saturn competed in ECW, WCW and WWF and during his time there, he won the ECW
World Tag Team championship, the WCW World Tag Team championship, the WCW World Television
championship, the WWF European championship and the WWF Hardcore championship. Inside
the ring, he was solid, disciplined and had a no-nonsense attitude, something he brought
with him from the time he spent in the military. At the age of 17, Saturn enlisted in the United
States Army and became a U.S. Army Airborne Ranger. He served for four years before becoming
a professional wrestler and falling in love with a mop. Yep, a mop… “Moppy” for
those who remember.
“Oh, you didn’t know?” Yes, Road Dogg, perhaps best remembered for being one half
of the tag team duo, The New Age Outlaws as the “D-O-double G” with his partner, Billy
Gunn, served in the military. After competing in his first match back in 1986, Road Dogg
made the bold decision to serve his country by joining the United States Marine Corps.
During his time in the military, he saw action in the First Gulf War, fighting in Operation
Desert Storm in 1991, where he was a platoon sergeant in command of 33 Marines. Following
this, Road Dogg made his return to wrestling and eventually signed with the WWE, where
he found great success as a tag team wrestler with his partner, Billy Gunn as The New Age
Outlaws. The Two became the most popular duo of the Attitude Era and won seven tag team
championships together. In addition, Road Dogg has also captured the Intercontinental
and Hardcore championships as a singles competitor. “Oh, you didn’t know?” OK, I’ll stop
using that joke. He now works for the WWE as a producer and head of the creative team
at SmackDown Live. “Oh, you didn’t know?”
Before becoming a professional wrestler and even before joining the military, Kevin Nash
was an accomplished NCAA basketball player and moved to Europe to play professionally.
However, his basketball career unfortunately came to an end when he suffered an injury;
he tore his quad. All jokes aside, he actually tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the
knee… close enough to the quad. As a result, “Big Daddy Cool” decided to enlist in
the U.S. military, joining the 202nd Military Police Company in Germany. He was stationed
at a NATO facility for two years and reached the rank of Specialist during his time there.
After serving overseas, Nash worked at an assembly line for Ford and worked as the floor
manager of a strip club in Atlanta, Georgia before training to become a professional wrestler.
He went on to have a very successful career becoming a six-time world champion: a five-time
WCW World Heavyweight Champion and a one-time WWF Champion.
“The Viper”, “The Apex Predator”, “The Legend Killer” or whatever you wish
to call him, Randy Orton is unquestionably one of the greatest wrestlers to ever step
foot in a WWE ring. He has accomplished a tremendous amount in the business becoming
a 13-time world champion having held the WWE Championship nine times and the WWE World
Heavyweight Championship four times, and has headlined numerous pay-per-view events including
WrestleMania XXV (25) and WrestleMania XXX (30). But before he went on to achieve great
things in the world of wrestling, Orton enlisted in… you can have a guess by now… the United
States Marine Corps after graduating from high school in 1998. He even got a United
States Marine Corps tattoo on his left arm, however, later covered it up, which we will
get to why shortly. It’s safe to say that Orton did not adapt well to military life
as he received a bad conduct discharge just a year into his military service after he
deserted not once but twice as well as disobeying an order from a commanding officer. As a result,
Orton spent 38 days in a military prison, something he surely would like to forget about.
And to think he was originally cast for the film, The Marine 3. It would have
probably looked something like this: The Marine 3: Desertion. #OuttaNowhere