Jim Duggan

James (Jim) Duggan (born January 14, 1954 in Glens Falls, New York), better known by his ring name "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, is an American professional wrestler, currently working for World Wrestling Entertainment, for its RAW brand, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling. His best known gimmick is that of an American patriot.

Duggan is a former WCW United States Champion and is one of the most instantly noticeable wrestlers among fans. His trademarks include bringing an American flag (dubbed "Old Glory") and a 2x4 plank of wood with him to the ring. His trademark rallying cry of "Ho!" is also well known. Duggan is also known for starting "U.S.A." crowd chants before and during his matches.

Career

Duggan grew up in Glens Falls, where he became a star athlete in high school. He was a letterman in football, track, wrestling and basketball. 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.

Duggan is a survivor of kidney cancer, an illness he was diagnosed with during his employment 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. His right eye is afflicted with strabismus.

It is reported that he got the idea of carrying a 2x4 plank of wood to the ring from the 1973 movie Walking Tall, in which the lead character carries a 2x4 around as a weapon. Duggan himself seldom used the object in the ring as a weapon after 1988, though as a perpetual face (good guy character), his 2x4 was at times used as a weapon against him when various heels got their hands on it.

Duggan was arrested for drunk driving and marijuana possession in 1987.

Duggan has claimed to have wrestled in all 50 States in America as well as in the foreign countries Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Bermuda, Canada, Dominican Republic, England, France, Germany, Guam, the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Poland, Scotland, Spain and Switzerland.

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. Duggan's first professional match was in 1979 against Gino Hernandez. Duggan began his career as a heel. Training at the Sportatorium in Dallas, Texas as well as with Hawaiian wrestling promoter Peter Maivia (grandfather of The Rock), Duggan gained the attention of Vince McMahon Sr. and the WWF (the precursor to WWE).

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. He then worked for Mid-South Wrestling from 1982 to 1986, and at one time he belonged to a heel stable called the Rat Pack with Ted DiBiase, Matt Bourne, and Mr. Olympia. After DiBiase aligned himself with Skandor Akbar, Duggan refused to go along and turned babyface for the first time in his career. 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

Duggan was signed to the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE), in 1987. Although he did not win any major titles in the promotion, for 7 years, he was a consistent fan favorite with his patriotic gimmick. During his time in the WWF, he feuded with the likes of Harley Race, Haku (whom he beat to earn the title of "King of Wrestling") and André the Giant. Duggan also claims to be the only wrestler to "knock out" André the Giant in a WWF wrestling match. Duggan won the first Royal Rumble matchup in 1988 (though he did not receive a title shot for his efforts).

He also feuded with Nikolai Volkoff in 1987. Three years later, after Volkoff's face turn, Duggan and Volkoff joined forces in tag team matches.

Duggan was fired from the World Wrestling Federation after getting caught in the same car with his (kayfabe) rival, The Iron Sheik. They were charged with possession of cocaine and marihuana and were both fired from the WWF.

World Championship Wrestling

Duggan signed with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1994. In one of his first matches with the company, he won the WCW United States Championship from Steve Austin in less than one minute. For most of his tenure with the company he was seldom used in major storylines but often appeared on the company's minor wrestling show WCW Saturday Night (WCWSN). Duggan later claimed Saturday was "his night" as a way explaining why he appeared almost exclusively on WCWSN.

Duggan disappeared during 1998 after he was diagnosed with kidney cancer. He went into remission, and returned to WCW in late 1999. Under the tenure of storyline writers Vince Russo and Ed Ferrera, Duggan became involved in a storyline where he became a janitor for WCW, though during this period, he found the WCW World Television Championship and claimed it for himself. He would make title defenses, and was still champion when the title was retired.

Near the end of his career in WCW, he became involved in more major storylines, including one that involved him abandoning the patriotic gimmick for a short time to join Lance Storm and his heel faction Team Canada. This was the first time (and, to date, last) Duggan worked as a heel since breaking away from the Rat Pack in Mid-South Wrestling.

World Wide Wrestling Alliance

Duggan made frequent appearances in the World Wide Wrestling Alliance promotion formally known as, NWA Ohio. He was later listed as co-owner of the promotion, but disclaimed any affiliation on his official website, saying that, despite making a few appearances with the company, he has never signed a contract with them, and that he "has nothing to do with the WWWA or NWA Ohio."

World Wrestling Entertainment

Duggan appeared at WWE Homecoming on October 3, 2005 along with several other WWF and WWE alumni. 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 on November 1, 2005 to face the team of Conway and Tyson Tomko (Jimmy Snuka was chosen instead of Duggan). He returned to feud with Edge and Lita, before becoming mentor and tutor to Eugene.