Hacksaw Jim Duggan
He is best known for his time with WWE in the 1980s, when it was known as World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). His best known gimmick is that of an American patriot and his favorite weapon, the 2x4.
He is currently the oldest active wrestler in the WWE.
Duggan is a survivor of kidney cancer, an illness he was diagnosed with during his time with WCW. His real-life struggle with the disease was very public and his comeback to wrestling after fighting off the ailment was a triumphant affair involving his entire immediate family.
Duggan has claimed to have wrestled in all 50 States in America as well as in the countries/territories of Australia, Austria, the Bahamas, Belgium, Bermuda, Canada, the Dominican Republic, England, France, Germany, Guam, the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Poland, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland and Wales.
In WWF, Duggan was the winner of the first-ever Royal Rumble match in 1988 and in WCW, he was a 1 time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion and a 1 time WCW World Television Champion, being the last title holder.
Early life and career
Duggan grew up in Glens Falls, New York where he became a star athlete in high school. His father was the Chief of Police for the City of Glens Falls.
In wrestling, he won the New York State High School wrestling championship, unlimited weight class division - the first wrestler from Glens Falls to do so.
He was recruited by the football programs of several major universities, including Penn State and Ohio State, but would play at Southern Methodist University (SMU), where he was eventually voted team captain. After college, Duggan was signed by the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL, but was released after being plagued by knee injuries.
Early career
Jim Duggan broke into the professional wrestling business thanks in large part to wrestler Fritz Von Erich.
The two met while Duggan was on a recruiting trip to SMU. Training at the Sportatorium in Dallas, Texas as well as with Samoan wrestling promoter Peter Maivia (grandfather of The Rock), Duggan gained the attention of Vince McMahon Sr.
and the World Wrestling Federation.
After a brief stint with the WWF, Duggan began to work regularly for Georgia Championship Wrestling. During this time, Duggan was known by two in-ring aliases: in the United States as "Big Jim Duggan" and in Hawaii as "The Convict", a masked wrestler.
After wrestling for a Birmingham, Alabama-based promotion, Duggan began wrestling in a promotion based in San Antonio, Texas where he adopted the "Hacksaw" nickname.
Mid-South Wrestling / Universal Wrestling Federation (1982-1986)
Duggan at a fan signing for wounded soldiers
In 1982, Duggan made his debut in Mid-South Wrestling. Over the course of the next four years he became a favorite in the Louisiana-based promotion as he switched from being a heel to a face character.
Early on, he belonged to a heel stable called the Rat Pack with Ted DiBiase, Matt Bourne, and Mr. The Rats also feuded with stars Junkyard Dog, "Hacksaw" Butch Reed, and Magnum T.A..
During this time Duggan interfered in a DiBiase/JYD match wearing a gorilla suit, causing JYD to lose a "Loser Leaves Town" match in New Orleans, Louisiana. After DiBiase aligned himself with Skandor Akbar, Duggan refused to go along and turned face for the first time in his career.
At this time, Duggan began carrying his iconic 2x4.
As a babyface he won the Mid-South Tag Team Championship with Magnum T.A. and later won the Mid-South North American Championship. After the Mid-South North American title was retired when the Mid-South became the Universal Wrestling Federation in 1986, Duggan lost to Terry Gordy in a tournament final to determine the first UWF Heavyweight Champion.
Duggan then teamed up with Terry Taylor and won the UWF Tag Team Championship. After losing a Loser Leaves Town match to the One Man Gang, Duggan left the UWF and signed to the WWF.
World Wrestling Federation (First run; 1987-1993)
WWF Debut (1987)
Duggan was signed to the World Wrestling Federation, in January 1987, making his first major appearance with the WWF at WrestleMania III, where he made his pay-per-view debut. His character was mainly comical, as he rarely was in major contention for titles.
He won the match (which consisted only of 20 men) after he last eliminated One Man Gang thus making history as the first-ever Royal Rumble winner and receiving a push. After receiving push as a Royal Rumble winner, he started a feud with King Harley Race, whom Duggan defeated several times in both televised and non-televised shows. At WrestleMania IV, he participated in a 14-man tournament for the vacant WWF Championship, where he lost to Ted DiBiase in the first round after interference from André the Giant. Duggan and André started a feud with each other, and attacked each other several times. André interfered in a match of Duggan against Hercules on April 30 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event. Duggan also claimed to be the only wrestler who knocked out André in a WWF ring.
Duggan earned a shot at the WWF Intercontinental Championship against IC Champion The Honky Tonk Man in July 1988, but Honky Tonk got himself disqualified, thus retaining the title.
Duggan proved that he was an American patriot by feuding with several non-Americans in the fall of 1988. He got involved in a feud with Dino Bravo, and at Survivor Series 1988, he captained a team of 5 men against the team of André the Giant, which also included Dino Bravo.
Duggan was disqualified after he used his 2x4 on Bravo. Duggan's team eventually lost the match. His next feud was with Russian Boris Zhukov, whom he defeated in a flag match on November 26 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event. He restarted his feud with Dino Bravo, and at Royal Rumble 1989, Duggan and Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) defeated Bravo and The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques and Raymond) in a two out of three falls match. He was involved in a brutal rivalry with Bad News Brown, which culminated in a match at WrestleMania V where both men fought to a no contest.
American patriot (1989-1992)
In the mid-1989, he started a feud with King Haku, who was given the crown and robe by Harley Race, who had departed from WWF. Duggan defeated Haku to win the crown and earn the title of "King of Wrestling". On May 25 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, Duggan earned a shot at the Intercontinental Championship against IC Champion "Ravishing" Rick Rude.
Duggan won the match by countout, and a title could not change hands via countout or disqualification, thus Rude retained the title. At SummerSlam 1989, Duggan teamed up with Demolition (Ax and Smash) in a six-man tag team match and defeated André the Giant and Twin Towers (Akeem and Big Bossman).
Duggan poses for the fans.
He eventually lost his crown to "Macho Man" Randy Savage who began calling himself "Macho King" and started a feud with Savage. At Survivor Series 1989, he captained a 4-on-4 team dubbed "4x4" against Savage's team, "The King's Court".
Slaughter and faced Slaughter for the title on February 1, 1991 edition of The Main Event. He moved to undercard status and was often used in feuds of other wrestlers. In early 1993, he was involved in a feud with the then near 600 pound Yokozuna, who was the #1 contender to the WWF Championship, at the time held by Bret Hart.
Yokozuna gave him about four more Banzai Drops off the ropes, sidelining Duggan for about four months.
Duggan returned with a new singlet style wrestling attire, and challenged then-Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels for the WWF Intercontinental Championship on May 3 edition of Monday Night Raw. Michaels ran through the crowd, and retained the title by countout. They had a rematch the following week in a Lumberjack match but Michaels retained the title again by disqualifying himself. At King of the Ring 1993, he wrestled in the King of the Ring tournament, but lost in the first round to Bam Bam Bigelow. Shortly afterwards, Duggan left the WWF.
World Championship Wrestling (1994-2001)
United States champion (1994)
Duggan signed a contract with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in late 1994.
He debuted in WCW at Fall Brawl 1994: WarGames, where he defeated Steve Austin in thirty-five seconds to win the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship, to show his respect was to the United States. After becoming champion, he quickly started a feud with Austin, and eventually defeated him in a title rematch at Halloween Havoc 1994 by disqualification. The two had a second title rematch on November 16, 1994 edition of Clash of the Champions, where Duggan retained the title again by disqualification. Duggan's reign ended at Starrcade 1994: Triple Threat, after he was defeated by Vader.
WCW Saturday Night (1995-1998)
After he lost the U.S. Craig Pittman by disqualification in Pittman's pay-per-view debut. At Bash at the Beach 1995, Duggan faced another former WWF superstar, Kamala and went on to lose the match.
In late 1995, Duggan started a feud with Big Bubba Rogers which culminated in a Taped Fist match at World War 3 1995, which Rogers won. Duggan participated in the first-ever three ring, 60 man battle royal for the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship, but was eliminated. He defeated Loch Ness at a Main Event taping before SuperBrawl VI. At Slamboree 1996: Lord of the Ring, he teamed with VK Wallstreet to compete in tag team qualifying matches to qualify for a battle royal to be crowned "Lord of the Ring".
Wallstreet and Duggan defeated Blue Bloods (Lord Steven Regal and Squire David Taylor) before losing to Dick Slater and Earl Robert Eaton. Duggan started a feud with upcoming superstar, Diamond Dallas Page to whom he lost in a Taped Fist match at Bash at the Beach 1996.
Duggan had an encounter with former Slamboree partner, VK Wallstreet on August 15, 1996 edition of Clash of the Champions, which Wallstreet won. At World War 3 1996, he unsuccessfully participated in a three ring 60 man battle royal to determine the #1 contender to the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Duggan had no major PPV match for over two years before he disappeared in 1998 after he was diagnosed with kidney cancer and eventually beat the disease.
Return from kidney cancer (1999-2001)
Duggan then returned and replaced Buff Bagwell at Fall Brawl 1999, only to lose to Berlyn. Then under the tenure of storyline writers Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara, Duggan became involved in a storyline where he became a janitor for WCW. Duggan started a feud with Revolution (Shane Douglas, Dean Malenko, Perry Saturn and Asya). At Starrcade 1999, he and his surprise partners faced Revolution in a 4-on-4 tag team match. He reunited Varsity Club (Kevin Sullivan, Mike Rotunda and Rick Steiner) and they became his partners for the match.
Filthy Animals saved Duggan from the beatings.
During this period, he found the WCW World Television Championship which had been thrown away by Scott Hall earlier and claimed it for himself. He would make title defenses exclusively on Saturday Night, and was still champion when the title was retired. During this time, Duggan lost confidence in himself as a wrestler.
On an episode of WCW Monday Nitro, Duggan was attacked by a then heel Goldberg. Duggan joined Millionaires Club and helped them in their war against New Blood.
Near the end of his career in WCW, he became involved in more major storylines, including one that involved him turning heel by abandoning the patriotic gimmick for a short time to join Lance Storm and his faction Team Canada. This was the first time Duggan worked as a heel since breaking away from the Rat Pack in Mid-South Wrestling.
Duggan missed an attack on Rection, which lead to Rection pinning Duggan to win the match. Duggan continued to cost Team Canada, many of their victories but helped Storm to defeat The Cat in a match at Starrcade 2000. On March 12, 2003 PPV of NWA: Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), Duggan made a surprise appearance and defeated Mike Sanders. Duggan made another appearance in TNA on October 29, where he lost to Jeff Jarrett.
World Wrestling Entertainment (Second run; 2005-present)
Teaming with Eugene (2005-2006)
Duggan waving the flag during his ring entrance (note he is using the Australian flag to appeal to local fans, rather than his usual U.S.
He and the other legends would end up attacking Rob Conway after Conway came to the ring and insulted them. He was also one of the "legends" available for fans to select to team with Eugene in a match at Taboo Tuesday 2005 to face the team of Conway and Tyson Tomko (Jimmy Snuka was chosen instead of Duggan). He returned to WWE again at Royal Rumble 2006, with a message from John Cena to Lita after Edge lost the WWE Championship: "HOOOOO!" Duggan and Edge began a short feud with each other which culminated in a match that occurred two weeks later on Raw. He began working on Heat but also made a few appearances on Raw with Eugene and the Highlanders.
After Cody Rhodes was eliminated, all the remaining Raw superstars attacked Cena and Orton, resulting in their disqualification. Duggan also took part in a 12-on-12 tag team preview match on March 25 edition of ECW. The match was a preview for a WWE.com exclusive match, a 24-man battle royal held just before WrestleMania XXIV went on air to determine the #1 contender for an ECW Championship match, eventually won by Kane.
In the summer of 2008, Duggan started a short feud with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase,Jr. Rhodes and DiBiase tried to convince Duggan to retire and let the young talent run the show.
Soon after, Duggan would come out and announce that he would take Rhodes and DiBiase's advice and retire, but Jerry "The King" Lawler stopped him by convincing Duggan to stay. In 1987, Duggan and the Iron Sheik (Hossein Vasiri) were pulled over by New Jersey police after a WWF event, suspecting Duggan of driving under the influence.
After a search of the vehicle and the persons, police discovered that Duggan was under the influence of marijuana and alcohol, while the Sheik was high on cocaine. The mini-scandal that erupted after two in-ring enemies were found drinking and doing drugs together led to the end of the angle, the Sheik's release, and Duggan's temporary departure from WWE.
In wrestling
Finishing and signature moves
Three-point stance clothesline
Delayed scoop slam
Old Glory (Jumping high angle knee drop to the throat)
Mounted punches
Signature foreign object
2x4
Signature taunts and catchphrases
"HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"U-S-A!!!"
"Whoa there, tough guy!"
Championships and accomplishments
Duggan poses with a fan.
International Wrestling Association of Japan
IWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) (Last)
International Wrestling Cartel
IWC Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Scottie Gash
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
PWI ranked him # 157 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003.
Texas All-Star Wrestling
Texas All-Star Wrestling Championship (1 time)
Mid-South Wrestling Association | Universal Wrestling Federation
Mid-South Louisiana Championship (1 time) (Last)
Mid-South North American Championship (1 time)(Last)
Mid-South Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Magnum T.A.
UWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Terry Taylor
World Championship Wrestling
WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
WCW World Television Championship (1 time) (Last)
World Wide Wrestling Alliance
WWWA United States Championship (1 time) (Last)
World Wrestling Federation
WWF Royal Rumble (1988) (First)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
Most Improved Wrestler (1982)
Feud of the Year (1985) vs.