[10.0] "I've just seen one of the best matches in the 80s and easily one of the best from the year as well that was wrestling as its most real as possible, it can't be more beautiful than that, Bob is amazing but sgt here was another level the way he sells everything here is just otherworldly truly, the way he took these punches.. , the last thing I want to say that THIS IS WR WRESTLING."
[7.0] "Pretty good match, Slaughter is fine enough stooging around and the ground work was pretty solid overall. Match flow was pretty nice, nothing dragged on for too long. More than anything else though, I quite appreciate the finish, it straddled the line between fiery babyface and overly aggressive very well, and even for someone white meat like Backlund, I think those characters work best with a little zest to them to keep them engaging and interesting in-ring. Maybe not either man's best match, but a fun watch. ***1/2"
[7.0] "Thought this was a great one until the DQ ending. I don't like that booking decision at all. TigerDiver said that apparently it was revenge from TV the week before but Backlund being a white meat babyface makes that ending real bad to me. I loved the opening and Backlund working from under for the majority against the big Sergeant."
[10.0] "When I woke up today, I was not expecting one of the best matches that I would watch would involve a husky fake sergeant and a beanpole redhead. But that's the magic of wrestling; it doesn't matter what you look like, you just need talent and charisma. And Sgt. Slaughter and Bob Backlund were dripping with both."
[8.0] "This is the beginning of the Backlund/Slaughter trilogy that would take up a chunk of late 1980 and early 1981. The first ten minutes of this was your typical, classic Backlund shine, where he would completely overwhelm his opponent while tearing one of their limbs off. Slaughter was outstanding here, being an absolutely awesome bumping machine before heeling it up later on perfectly. Sarge turned the tide by tossing Backlund outside, but it only took a while for Backlund to get going again. Backlund busted Slaughter wide open after throwing him into the turnbuckle's cable, giving us this sequence of him firing away at Slaughter's cut in a ruthless fashion! The ending was rather questionable, however. Slaughter had Backlund in a Cobra Clutch, only for Bob's manager Arnold Skaaland to interfere with a chair for the DQ. Not the best way to book your babyface world champion, although with the context of Slaughter ambushing Arnie the week prior on TV, this could make sense to some. Poor finish aside, this was a great WWF Title defense, with two sublime individual performances. [***3/4]"
[8.0] "Backlund started the match by uploading on Slaughter and tossed him about with arm drags and hip tosses, settling into an armbar while Slaughter tried to not to let Backlund completely overwhelm him. Slaughter was finally able to escape the onslaught by throwing Backlund to the outside floor and ramming Backlund? s head into the post, apron, stairs, anything hard. Somewhere in all of this, Slaughter gets bloody and Backlund starts throwing the fists. The wrestling went back and forth until Arnold Skaaland nailed Slaughter with a chair for the DQ. Inexplicable booking for your babyface champion. Although Backlund was in deep danger of losing, that simply does not happen in wrestling. Apparently the background to this match was Skaaland being attacked by Slaughter on TV which could explain the revenge/cheap shot. Good WWF Title match though. Great bumping by Slaughter and a good performance in both offence and selling by Backlund. ***3/4"
