WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.960 A thumb in the air, a literal two by four piece 00:00:02.960 --> 00:00:06.219 of wood just slung over his shoulder. Yeah. And 00:00:06.219 --> 00:00:08.140 a battle cry that sounds kind of like a foghorn. 00:00:08.220 --> 00:00:12.619 Ooh. Exactly. And the crowd just chanting USA. 00:00:13.099 --> 00:00:15.660 I mean, if you grew up anywhere near a television 00:00:15.660 --> 00:00:18.940 set in the late 80s or early 90s, you know exactly 00:00:18.940 --> 00:00:21.960 who we are deep diving into today. It's imagery 00:00:21.960 --> 00:00:24.920 that is basically burned into the collective 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:27.609 pop culture consciousness at this point. We are 00:00:27.609 --> 00:00:29.530 talking, of course, about Hacksaw Jim Duggan. 00:00:29.629 --> 00:00:32.250 We are. And I think for a lot of people, and 00:00:32.250 --> 00:00:34.409 honestly, myself included, before we started 00:00:34.409 --> 00:00:37.030 prepping for this, Duggan exists in our memories 00:00:37.030 --> 00:00:39.969 as this living cartoon character. He was the 00:00:39.969 --> 00:00:42.289 ultimate American patriot. The guy who would 00:00:42.289 --> 00:00:44.649 storm the ring, clear out the bad guys with a 00:00:44.649 --> 00:00:46.789 piece of lumber, get the crowd chanting, and 00:00:46.789 --> 00:00:48.890 that was kind of it. Yeah, a very one -dimensional 00:00:48.890 --> 00:00:51.659 hero. Exactly. Yeah. And this is why I really 00:00:51.659 --> 00:00:53.820 love diving into these source materials. When 00:00:53.820 --> 00:00:56.179 you actually look at the stack of biographical 00:00:56.179 --> 00:00:58.140 data and the wrestling history we have in front 00:00:58.140 --> 00:01:01.939 of us today, the man is so much more than that 00:01:01.939 --> 00:01:04.599 caricature. He really is. And that's the vision 00:01:04.599 --> 00:01:07.519 for our deep dive today. We want to sort of peel 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:09.959 back that American patriot layer, because when 00:01:09.959 --> 00:01:12.299 you look at the raw data, you don't just find 00:01:12.299 --> 00:01:14.500 a pro wrestler. No, you definitely don't. You 00:01:14.500 --> 00:01:19.290 find a legitimate elite athlete. You find an 00:01:19.290 --> 00:01:22.069 Ivy League adjacent scholar, which is a twist 00:01:22.069 --> 00:01:25.090 I definitely didn't see coming. And, you know, 00:01:25.109 --> 00:01:27.930 a man who has shown a level of resilience in 00:01:27.930 --> 00:01:30.989 his personal and medical life that rivals literally 00:01:30.989 --> 00:01:33.989 anything he ever did in the ring. Let's let's 00:01:33.989 --> 00:01:35.950 actually start with that twist you mentioned, 00:01:35.989 --> 00:01:38.379 because this. completely threw me when I was 00:01:38.379 --> 00:01:40.439 reading through the sources. We're deep diving 00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:42.659 into the life of a man known for carrying a block 00:01:42.659 --> 00:01:46.200 of wood and having a vocabulary that consisted 00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:48.780 mostly of just shouting vowels. Right. But before 00:01:48.780 --> 00:01:50.459 he ever laced up the wrestling boots, this guy 00:01:50.459 --> 00:01:53.120 was a serious student. He really was. So if we 00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:55.560 rewind the timeline back to Glens Falls, New 00:01:55.560 --> 00:01:57.920 York, that's where James Edward Duggan Jr. grew 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:00.379 up. And right out of the gate, the sources show 00:02:00.379 --> 00:02:02.640 us he wasn't just a big, tough kid. He was a 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:04.500 dominant athlete. Which makes sense for a future 00:02:04.500 --> 00:02:06.959 wrestler, sure. Yeah, but it's the breadth of 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:09.520 it. In high school, he's a letterman in football, 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:12.919 track, basketball, and crucially, wrestling. 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:15.319 Yeah, I want to point out from the notes, this 00:02:15.319 --> 00:02:16.939 wasn't just him being on the wrestling team. 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:19.740 No, not at all. He won the New York State High 00:02:19.740 --> 00:02:21.560 School Wrestling Championship. In the unlimited 00:02:21.560 --> 00:02:24.060 weight class. Right. And he was the first wrestler 00:02:24.060 --> 00:02:26.719 from Glens Falls to ever do that. Yeah. So that 00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:29.120 is legitimate competitive amateur wrestling. 00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:31.379 He wasn't just playing around. Exactly. The toughness 00:02:31.379 --> 00:02:34.259 was real. From day one. But here is the part 00:02:34.259 --> 00:02:36.919 that kind of blows your mind. Because of this 00:02:36.919 --> 00:02:39.620 athletic dominance, he gets recruited for football 00:02:39.620 --> 00:02:42.639 by Ohio State. Which is a massive powerhouse. 00:02:42.740 --> 00:02:45.800 Huge. But he actually chooses to go to Southern 00:02:45.800 --> 00:02:49.159 Methodist University, SMU, instead. He goes there. 00:02:49.259 --> 00:02:51.759 He eventually becomes the team captain. But the 00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:54.419 really fascinating part is what he majored in. 00:02:54.580 --> 00:02:56.780 This is my absolute favorite fact in the entire 00:02:56.780 --> 00:03:00.020 stack of sources today. It's so good. Hacksaw 00:03:00.020 --> 00:03:03.430 Jim Duggan. earned a bachelor's degree in applied 00:03:03.430 --> 00:03:06.250 plant biology. Applied plant biology. I mean, 00:03:06.250 --> 00:03:08.849 the guy famous for carrying around a 2x4 actually 00:03:08.849 --> 00:03:11.430 has a college degree in plants. I guess the wood 00:03:11.430 --> 00:03:13.710 connection was just there all along. It's a very 00:03:13.710 --> 00:03:15.930 poetic coincidence, isn't it? But I think it 00:03:15.930 --> 00:03:18.289 really highlights that the simpleton character 00:03:18.289 --> 00:03:21.389 he played on TV was just that. It was a character. 00:03:21.530 --> 00:03:24.629 Right. He was a highly educated, high -level 00:03:24.629 --> 00:03:28.689 college athlete. And after SMU, the NFL actually 00:03:28.689 --> 00:03:30.930 came calling. He signed with the Atlanta Falcons. 00:03:30.969 --> 00:03:33.750 Which is the dream for any college football player. 00:03:33.849 --> 00:03:36.789 Oh. But looking at the career history here. It 00:03:36.789 --> 00:03:39.449 didn't last very long. Unfortunately, no. And 00:03:39.449 --> 00:03:41.550 this is a super common theme when you look at 00:03:41.550 --> 00:03:44.189 professional wrestling history. The NFL dream 00:03:44.189 --> 00:03:47.349 dies because of an injury. Duggan was really 00:03:47.349 --> 00:03:50.289 plagued by knee injuries and the Falcons ended 00:03:50.289 --> 00:03:52.990 up releasing him. But that closed door is actually 00:03:52.990 --> 00:03:54.830 what led him to the meeting that changed his 00:03:54.830 --> 00:03:57.569 entire life. Right. Because while he was still 00:03:57.569 --> 00:03:59.990 at SMU, he happened to meet a guy named Fritz 00:03:59.990 --> 00:04:02.610 Von Erich. The patriarch of the legendary Von 00:04:02.610 --> 00:04:05.150 Erich wrestling family. Exactly. And that connection 00:04:05.150 --> 00:04:09.840 is what opened. It's interesting, though, when 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:12.979 he first started out around 1979, he wasn't Hacksaw 00:04:12.979 --> 00:04:14.939 yet. Right. He was actually working as a villain. 00:04:15.229 --> 00:04:17.350 Yeah, he was Big Jim Duggan. And I saw in the 00:04:17.350 --> 00:04:19.990 territories notes he even wrestled as the convict 00:04:19.990 --> 00:04:23.069 when he was working in Hawaii. Yes, a masked 00:04:23.069 --> 00:04:25.509 wrestler gimmick. It's that classic wrestling 00:04:25.509 --> 00:04:28.009 tradition of paying your dues. You try on all 00:04:28.009 --> 00:04:30.050 these different personas and masks to see what 00:04:30.050 --> 00:04:32.110 connects with the audience. Just throwing things 00:04:32.110 --> 00:04:35.250 at the wall. Exactly. But the magic really started 00:04:35.250 --> 00:04:37.829 to happen when he landed in San Antonio working 00:04:37.829 --> 00:04:40.670 for Southwest Championship Wrestling. That's 00:04:40.670 --> 00:04:43.089 where the sources say the name Hacksaw was first 00:04:43.089 --> 00:04:45.860 adopted. But the character we all know really 00:04:45.860 --> 00:04:48.759 took shape in the Mid -South territory. Mid -South 00:04:48.759 --> 00:04:51.199 wrestling. That was Bill Watt's territory, right? 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:53.920 Known for being incredibly gritty and tough. 00:04:54.660 --> 00:04:56.579 Extremely tough. A very hard -hitting style. 00:04:56.899 --> 00:04:59.660 And initially, Duggan was a bad guy there, too. 00:04:59.740 --> 00:05:01.779 He was part of this faction called the Rat Pack 00:05:01.779 --> 00:05:05.000 alongside Ted Dibbius. He was basically the group's 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:07.199 hired muscle. But then there was this turning 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:09.500 point that the biographical beta highlights. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:12.620 Duggan was aligned with a manager named Skandor 00:05:12.620 --> 00:05:16.120 Akbar. And the storyline they ran was that Duggan 00:05:16.120 --> 00:05:18.920 just refused to go along with Akbar's underhanded 00:05:18.920 --> 00:05:21.040 schemes anymore. Right, he grew a conscience. 00:05:21.300 --> 00:05:24.360 He did. And in wrestling terminology, he turned 00:05:24.360 --> 00:05:27.360 face. He became a fan favorite for the very first 00:05:27.360 --> 00:05:29.500 time in his career. And this is exactly around 00:05:29.500 --> 00:05:32.300 the time the iconic 2x4 makes its debut. Okay, 00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:34.379 before we get to the wood, I have to ask about 00:05:34.379 --> 00:05:36.899 the gorilla suit. Oh, man. I saw that in the 00:05:36.899 --> 00:05:39.100 outline and I desperately need context because 00:05:39.100 --> 00:05:41.579 I cannot picture it. It's just this chaotic bit 00:05:41.579 --> 00:05:44.959 of early wrestling history. During his time in 00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:46.860 the Rat Pack, so this is before the good guy 00:05:46.860 --> 00:05:50.879 turn, he interfered in a match wearing a full 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:54.600 head -to -toe gorilla suit. Wow. To cause the 00:05:54.600 --> 00:05:57.680 Junkyard Dog to lose a Loser Leaves Town match. 00:05:57.939 --> 00:06:00.920 That is amazing. It really just shows the wild 00:06:00.920 --> 00:06:02.959 variety of stuff he was doing. You know, being 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:05.100 the masked convict, wearing gorilla suits, before 00:06:05.100 --> 00:06:07.420 he finally found the formula that made him a 00:06:07.420 --> 00:06:09.620 national icon. So he drops the gorilla suit, 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:12.259 he gets the name Hacksaw, he gets the board, 00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:15.370 and he's a good guy. And then the World Wrestling 00:06:15.370 --> 00:06:17.990 Federation calls. The big leagues. It's 1987, 00:06:18.470 --> 00:06:20.810 WrestleMania III. Literally the biggest stage 00:06:20.810 --> 00:06:22.970 in the world at that time. Yeah. And Duggan doesn't 00:06:22.970 --> 00:06:24.810 just have a match on the card. He makes a massive 00:06:24.810 --> 00:06:27.670 statement. He certainly does. He runs down to 00:06:27.670 --> 00:06:30.029 ringside before a match involving the Iron Shuk 00:06:30.029 --> 00:06:33.550 and Nikolai Volkov. Now, Volkov is in the ring 00:06:33.550 --> 00:06:35.970 singing the Russian national anthem. And remember. 00:06:36.509 --> 00:06:38.730 We have to view this through the lens of the 00:06:38.730 --> 00:06:42.529 era. This is peak Cold War tension. Right. The 00:06:42.529 --> 00:06:44.689 sources note these promotions played heavily 00:06:44.689 --> 00:06:47.790 on those real world anxieties. Exactly. So Duggan 00:06:47.790 --> 00:06:50.110 storms down to the ring, interrupts the Russian 00:06:50.110 --> 00:06:53.329 anthem and just loudly asserts American dominance. 00:06:54.089 --> 00:06:56.449 It was brilliant because it established his character 00:06:56.449 --> 00:07:00.290 instantly to a massive global audience. He was 00:07:00.290 --> 00:07:02.870 suddenly the ultimate defender of the flag. Yeah. 00:07:02.990 --> 00:07:05.050 But and this is a big but we have to talk about 00:07:05.050 --> 00:07:06.509 the incident that happened shortly after that 00:07:06.509 --> 00:07:08.509 debut. Yeah. The New Jersey incident. Right. 00:07:08.730 --> 00:07:12.029 Because. For as much of a pristine hero as he 00:07:12.029 --> 00:07:14.910 was on television, the sources detail a really 00:07:14.910 --> 00:07:18.230 messy real life situation in 1987 that nearly 00:07:18.230 --> 00:07:21.110 derailed his entire career. This is a legendary 00:07:21.110 --> 00:07:23.189 story in the wrestling business, mostly because 00:07:23.189 --> 00:07:25.250 of how much damage it did to the illusion of 00:07:25.250 --> 00:07:27.870 wrestling, what they call kayfabe. Duggan, who 00:07:27.870 --> 00:07:31.879 was the ultimate American hero. and the Iron 00:07:31.879 --> 00:07:34.480 Sheik, who was the ultimate anti -American villain, 00:07:34.740 --> 00:07:37.259 were pulled over by the police together. They 00:07:37.259 --> 00:07:39.220 were carpooling. Essentially, yes. They were 00:07:39.220 --> 00:07:41.920 traveling between towns. And it wasn't just a 00:07:41.920 --> 00:07:44.639 routine traffic stop. The police found that Duggan 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:47.300 was under the influence of marijuana and alcohol. 00:07:47.699 --> 00:07:50.560 And the Sheik. The Sheik was high on cocaine. 00:07:50.899 --> 00:07:54.000 Oh, wow. So that is not a good look. From a legal 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:56.589 standpoint, it was bad. But from a wrestling 00:07:56.589 --> 00:07:59.069 business standpoint at that time, it was absolutely 00:07:59.069 --> 00:08:01.110 catastrophic. You have these mortal enemies, 00:08:01.269 --> 00:08:03.449 the hero and the villain, just hanging out, doing 00:08:03.449 --> 00:08:06.250 drugs together in a car. It completely broke 00:08:06.250 --> 00:08:08.930 the spell for the fans. I can imagine the promoters 00:08:08.930 --> 00:08:11.589 were furious. Oh, they were. Duggan was actually 00:08:11.589 --> 00:08:13.569 released from the company temporarily because 00:08:13.569 --> 00:08:15.129 of it. That really feels like it could have been 00:08:15.129 --> 00:08:17.329 a career ender right there. It easily could have 00:08:17.329 --> 00:08:19.449 been. But he was well -liked and he was brought 00:08:19.449 --> 00:08:21.689 back eventually. However, the consensus among 00:08:21.689 --> 00:08:24.050 the experts and the sources is that this arrest 00:08:24.050 --> 00:08:27.500 permanently altered his career trajectory. Well, 00:08:27.540 --> 00:08:29.860 before the incident, he was positioned to be 00:08:29.860 --> 00:08:33.299 a top -tier main event champion. There were even 00:08:33.299 --> 00:08:35.639 rumors he was being groomed to eventually challenge 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:38.179 Hulk Hogan. But after the arrest, when he came 00:08:38.179 --> 00:08:40.799 back, he was slotted as a mid -card attraction. 00:08:41.419 --> 00:08:44.019 Ah, I see. He was incredibly popular, always 00:08:44.019 --> 00:08:46.740 got a huge reaction, but he was never trusted 00:08:46.740 --> 00:08:49.600 to be the guy carrying the company. That makes 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:51.279 a lot of sense. Though even as a mid -carder, 00:08:51.340 --> 00:08:53.940 he still made history. I actually didn't realize 00:08:53.940 --> 00:08:55.779 this until we look at the championship records 00:08:55.779 --> 00:08:59.179 for this deep dive. Hacksaw Jim Duggan won the 00:08:59.179 --> 00:09:02.639 very first Royal Rumble match in 1988. That's 00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:05.639 right. Now, it wasn't the massive 30 -man spectacle 00:09:05.639 --> 00:09:08.120 it is today. It was 20 men back then, right? 00:09:08.179 --> 00:09:10.980 Exactly. He entered at number 13, outlasted the 00:09:10.980 --> 00:09:13.820 other 19 guys, and last eliminated the one -man 00:09:13.820 --> 00:09:16.320 gang. So regardless of his card placement, he 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:18.659 has a permanent, unerasable spot in the record 00:09:18.659 --> 00:09:21.259 books. And he had these incredible feuds during 00:09:21.259 --> 00:09:23.580 this golden era. Looking at the match histories, 00:09:23.799 --> 00:09:25.840 he actually knocked out Andre the Giant with 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:29.759 his 2x4. Which was incredibly rare. Andre did 00:09:29.759 --> 00:09:32.620 not sell for just anyone. If Andre the Giant 00:09:32.620 --> 00:09:35.100 let you knock him out on television, it meant 00:09:35.100 --> 00:09:37.700 he respected you as a performer. That is a huge 00:09:37.700 --> 00:09:40.340 endorsement. It really was. And then later on, 00:09:40.440 --> 00:09:43.759 jumping to 1993, Duggan had this famous feud 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:47.009 with Yokozuna. Yokozuna was this massive, dominant 00:09:47.009 --> 00:09:50.110 sumo wrestler character. And the storyline challenge 00:09:50.110 --> 00:09:52.610 was simply for someone to knock Yokozuna off 00:09:52.610 --> 00:09:55.049 his feet. The classic unstoppable force meets 00:09:55.049 --> 00:09:57.370 the immovable object. Precisely. And Duggan actually 00:09:57.370 --> 00:09:59.730 succeeded. He hit him and knocked the big man 00:09:59.730 --> 00:10:02.629 down. But the aftermath was brutal. Yokozuna 00:10:02.629 --> 00:10:05.710 recovered and hit Duggan with four banzai drops, 00:10:05.970 --> 00:10:08.690 which was his finishing move, where he basically 00:10:08.690 --> 00:10:11.009 drops his entire body weight onto you from the 00:10:11.009 --> 00:10:13.610 ropes. Oh, man. It effectively wrote Duggan off 00:10:13.610 --> 00:10:23.360 television. So eventually, like a lot of the 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:26.440 big names from that WWF era, he makes the jump 00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:29.700 over to World Championship Wrestling, WCW. This 00:10:29.700 --> 00:10:33.159 is in 1994. And this part of the notes blew my 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:35.600 mind. He walks into the company and immediately 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:38.320 wrestles Steve Austin for the United States Championship. 00:10:38.620 --> 00:10:41.279 Yes. Stunning Steve Austin. Right. Before he 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:44.019 became Stone Cold. And Duggan beats him. In 35 00:10:44.019 --> 00:10:47.139 seconds. 35 seconds. He just squashes him. That 00:10:47.139 --> 00:10:49.120 is wild to think about now, knowing what Austin 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:51.779 became. It really shows you exactly where the 00:10:51.779 --> 00:10:54.940 hierarchy was in 1994. Duggan was the established 00:10:54.940 --> 00:10:57.840 bankable legend, and Austin was still just this 00:10:57.840 --> 00:11:01.320 rising talent. But I will say, Duggan's WCW run 00:11:01.320 --> 00:11:04.000 got really weird as the years went on. Weird's 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:06.460 putting it mildly. The sources mention a storyline 00:11:06.460 --> 00:11:08.899 where he was a janitor. Yeah. There was an actual 00:11:08.899 --> 00:11:11.000 storyline where he supposedly had to work as 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:13.559 a janitor for WCW. Just sweeping up the arena. 00:11:13.820 --> 00:11:15.759 Pretty much. And then there was the time he literally 00:11:15.759 --> 00:11:18.419 found the World Television Championship in a 00:11:18.419 --> 00:11:21.299 trash can. Yeah. Scott Hall had thrown the belt 00:11:21.299 --> 00:11:24.379 away in the trash on TV and Duggan just fished 00:11:24.379 --> 00:11:26.440 it out and claimed it as his own. He was the 00:11:26.440 --> 00:11:28.500 trash can champion. One man's trash is another 00:11:28.500 --> 00:11:31.440 man's championship, I guess. But then we hit 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:34.200 the year 2000 and something truly sacrilegious 00:11:34.200 --> 00:11:37.960 happens. The ultimate American patriot. Turns 00:11:37.960 --> 00:11:40.980 his back on America. The Team Canada era. Yes. 00:11:41.179 --> 00:11:44.059 It was a very desperate time for WCW creatively. 00:11:44.299 --> 00:11:46.360 They were losing the ratings war. They needed 00:11:46.360 --> 00:11:49.480 to shock the audience. So they have Duggan abandon 00:11:49.480 --> 00:11:52.279 the USA gimmick and join a villainous faction 00:11:52.279 --> 00:11:55.159 called Team Canada, which was led by Lance Storm. 00:11:55.419 --> 00:11:58.539 The visual change alone was shocking. The sources 00:11:58.539 --> 00:12:01.059 note he cut his long hair short. He shaved off 00:12:01.059 --> 00:12:03.159 his trademark beard. And he started singing Oh 00:12:03.159 --> 00:12:05.659 Canada on the way to the ring. Seeing Hacksaw 00:12:05.659 --> 00:12:07.940 without the beard is just fundamentally wrong. 00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:09.559 It's like seeing a clean -shaven Santa Claus. 00:12:09.720 --> 00:12:11.820 It was incredibly jarring for the fans, and it 00:12:11.820 --> 00:12:13.820 didn't last very long because the faction eventually 00:12:13.820 --> 00:12:16.799 turned on him, which set up his departure. But 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:18.840 I think it showed his willingness to try to adapt 00:12:18.840 --> 00:12:21.980 and change, even that late in his career. Definitely. 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:24.720 Yeah. But while all this wrestling chaos and 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:27.080 these weird storylines are happening, the real 00:12:27.080 --> 00:12:29.340 battles that Duggan was fighting behind the scenes 00:12:29.340 --> 00:12:32.419 were so much more serious. Yes. This is where 00:12:32.419 --> 00:12:34.480 the transcript takes a turn toward the genuinely 00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:36.980 inspiring because the tough guy act he played 00:12:36.980 --> 00:12:40.080 on TV wasn't actually an act. The medical history 00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:42.820 detailed in these sources is intense. It is staggering. 00:12:43.500 --> 00:12:46.580 In 1998, right in the middle of his WCW run, 00:12:46.740 --> 00:12:49.720 he is diagnosed with kidney cancer. He disappears 00:12:49.720 --> 00:12:51.899 from television to get treatment, goes through 00:12:51.899 --> 00:12:54.620 the battle, and he beats it. Which is incredible 00:12:54.620 --> 00:12:56.919 on its own. But that wasn't the end of his health 00:12:56.919 --> 00:13:00.019 struggles. In 2021, decades later, he gets diagnosed 00:13:00.019 --> 00:13:02.279 with prostate cancer. He has to undergo surgery 00:13:02.279 --> 00:13:04.779 for that. And he beat that too. Yeah. But even 00:13:04.779 --> 00:13:07.259 as recently as 2023, he had another massive health 00:13:07.259 --> 00:13:10.389 scare, right? An emergency surgery for a parietal 00:13:10.389 --> 00:13:13.070 abscess that the doctor said nearly led to full 00:13:13.070 --> 00:13:15.429 -blown sepsis. Not to mention, he was admitted 00:13:15.429 --> 00:13:18.509 to the ICU for atrial fibrillation back in 2018 00:13:18.509 --> 00:13:21.710 and had to have subsequent heart surgeries. Wow. 00:13:21.870 --> 00:13:24.409 The man's body has just been through absolute 00:13:24.409 --> 00:13:27.370 wars, both inside and out of the ring. It's a 00:13:27.370 --> 00:13:30.269 testament to his sheer will. But the story that 00:13:30.269 --> 00:13:32.909 I think really cements Jim Duggan as a real -life 00:13:32.909 --> 00:13:37.299 badass happened in December 2022. And this isn't 00:13:37.299 --> 00:13:39.419 a wrestling angle. This happened at his actual 00:13:39.419 --> 00:13:42.919 home in South Carolina. This story is incredible. 00:13:43.220 --> 00:13:46.019 A home invader actually broke into his property. 00:13:46.419 --> 00:13:49.200 And Duggan, who, remember, is in his late 60s 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:51.320 at this point and has survived multiple bouts 00:13:51.320 --> 00:13:53.980 of cancer and heart surgery, he tackles the guy 00:13:53.980 --> 00:13:56.779 and detains him at gunpoint until the police 00:13:56.779 --> 00:13:59.259 arrive. He literally held the line to protect 00:13:59.259 --> 00:14:01.740 his house. It's like the hacksaw character just 00:14:01.740 --> 00:14:03.720 came to life to protect his family. It really 00:14:03.720 --> 00:14:05.960 does blur that line between the performer and 00:14:05.960 --> 00:14:09.500 the man. He clearly has this very deep, protective 00:14:09.500 --> 00:14:12.139 warrior instinct in real life. And despite all 00:14:12.139 --> 00:14:14.700 this, or maybe because of it, he's stayed incredibly 00:14:14.700 --> 00:14:17.139 relevant in pop culture in some of the most unexpected 00:14:17.139 --> 00:14:20.000 ways. Oh, for sure. The sources mention he appeared 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:22.360 on Duck Dynasty. He starred in a movie literally 00:14:22.360 --> 00:14:25.059 called Pro Wrestlers vs. Zombies. A cinematic 00:14:25.059 --> 00:14:27.940 masterpiece, I'm sure. Naturally. But my favorite 00:14:27.940 --> 00:14:29.759 pop culture footnote is that there is a rapper 00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:32.580 named Estee Nack who released an entire album 00:14:32.580 --> 00:14:36.039 titled Nacksaw Jim Duggan. Yes. And Duggan actually 00:14:36.039 --> 00:14:38.559 provided guest vocals on one of the tracks for 00:14:38.559 --> 00:14:41.419 that album. That is so great. I think it shows 00:14:41.419 --> 00:14:44.879 that his specific brand of charisma just transcends 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:47.919 generations. You have rappers today who grew 00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:50.379 up watching him in the 90s, and he's become this 00:14:50.379 --> 00:14:52.759 cultural symbol of toughness and uniqueness. 00:14:53.240 --> 00:14:55.600 So let's look at the overall legacy here as we 00:14:55.600 --> 00:14:59.230 wrap up. He rightfully goes into the WWE Hall 00:14:59.230 --> 00:15:03.009 of Fame in 2011. And fittingly, he was inducted 00:15:03.009 --> 00:15:06.250 by his old Mid -South Rat Pack partner, Ted Divias. 00:15:06.679 --> 00:15:09.419 A really nice full circle moment for his career. 00:15:09.580 --> 00:15:11.559 Absolutely. And he didn't just retire to the 00:15:11.559 --> 00:15:13.759 convention circuit. He kept showing up. He was 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:16.460 a mentor to the Eugene character in the mid -2000s. 00:15:16.460 --> 00:15:18.820 He made a surprise appearance in the 2009 Royal 00:15:18.820 --> 00:15:20.899 Rumble. Which actually set a record at the time 00:15:20.899 --> 00:15:22.840 for the longest gap between Rumble appearances. 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:25.320 Right. And the sources point out he was on television 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:28.259 as recently as 2025, appearing on SmackDown for 00:15:28.259 --> 00:15:30.620 a tribute to Hulk Hogan. That is a career spanning 00:15:30.620 --> 00:15:33.980 nearly 50 years. From the gritty regional territories 00:15:33.980 --> 00:15:38.799 in the 70s to global age. And that longevity 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:41.080 is the key takeaway for me when looking at all 00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:44.000 this material. Hacksaw Jim Duggan wasn't a technical 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:46.539 wizard in the ring. He wasn't doing backflips 00:15:46.539 --> 00:15:48.299 or putting guys in complex submission holds. 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:51.039 He kicked, he punched, and he hit you with a 00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:53.340 clothesline. Yeah, a very basic move set. Very 00:15:53.340 --> 00:15:55.759 basic. But he understood connection. He knew 00:15:55.759 --> 00:15:58.100 exactly how to make an arena full of people care 00:15:58.100 --> 00:16:00.840 about him. It's the contrast that gets me. You 00:16:00.840 --> 00:16:03.139 have this character who is presented to the world 00:16:03.139 --> 00:16:06.820 as a simple, loud, board carrying brawler. But 00:16:06.820 --> 00:16:09.559 the man underneath that persona. is a college 00:16:09.559 --> 00:16:12.980 biology major, a guy who beat cancer twice, and 00:16:12.980 --> 00:16:14.659 someone who takes down a home invader in his 00:16:14.659 --> 00:16:16.919 senior years. It just proves that the hacksaw 00:16:16.919 --> 00:16:20.000 persona was only one facet of a very complex, 00:16:20.179 --> 00:16:22.600 deeply resilient human being. I mean, he survived 00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:25.799 the brutal 300 -day travel schedules of the 80s, 00:16:25.820 --> 00:16:28.840 the toxic backstage politics of the 90s, and 00:16:28.840 --> 00:16:32.659 terrifying health crises, and he is still standing 00:16:32.659 --> 00:16:34.740 with a thumbs up. It really makes you rethink 00:16:34.740 --> 00:16:37.399 what it takes to be a true legend in that industry. 00:16:37.539 --> 00:16:40.139 It's clearly not just about having the best moves. 00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:42.940 Not at all. It's about heart. So, as you go about 00:16:42.940 --> 00:16:44.779 your day, here's a final thought to mull over. 00:16:45.700 --> 00:16:48.139 We often value technical skill and complexity 00:16:48.139 --> 00:16:50.480 above everything else, whether that's in sports, 00:16:50.620 --> 00:16:53.879 in art, or in our careers. But Hacksaw Jim Duggan 00:16:53.879 --> 00:16:57.460 built a 50 -year globally recognized legacy using 00:16:57.460 --> 00:17:00.279 a thumb, a plank of wood, and a single word. 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:02.879 It begs the question. What if the cartoonish 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:05.099 simplicity of that character wasn't a limitation 00:17:05.099 --> 00:17:07.839 of his talent, but actually a brilliant conscious 00:17:07.839 --> 00:17:11.039 psychological shield? A way for an educated man 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:13.799 to protect his real complex identity from the 00:17:13.799 --> 00:17:16.240 meat grinder of the entertainment business. Sometimes 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:18.460 the simplest exterior guards the most resilient 00:17:18.460 --> 00:17:21.940 core. Ooh. Ooh. Thanks for joining us on this 00:17:21.940 --> 00:17:23.059 deep dive. See you next time.