WWE Hall of Famer Hacksaw Jim Duggan recently participated in an interview with the team at Ring Rust Radio, promoting his new role with the Global Force Wrestling brand.
Duggan talks about what he will do with GFW, his WCW and WWE experiences, winning the first Royal Rumble match, starring on WWE Legends House, his 2×4 gimmick, and much more. You can read a few excerpts, as well as listen to the interview, below:
Hacksaw Jim Duggan Talks Global Force Wrestling
I think GFW is offering an alternative to the product that’s on TV today. I think a lot of folks are tired of the show that’s on and want something different. I think GFW is going to do that as a family friendly organization, no obscene gestures, no profanity, the kind of show wrestling used to be. One that you can bring kids to and have a good time. My role is flexible at this time, but I am sure they will have me do all sorts of things. I’m excited to hook up with Jeff and be part of GFW.
What type of show GFW will present:
I think that will be something different and people are hungry for a PG type of program. Everybody is tired of pushing the envelope, the graphic violence; I think people want a traditional style show. The type of show my generation of guys did: Myself, Jake the Snake, Junkyard Dog, Macho Man Savage. People are hungry for that again and GFW is going to give them that.
Duggan Talks WCW, Why He Didn’t Join nWo Like Most Others:
I think art imitated life there, with the kliq and finger kiss and all that kind of stuff. That’s not for Hacksaw Jim Duggan. I’m not going to hook up with Scott Hall, Diesel, do finger kisses to the ring, and be part of that whole kliq. That just wasn’t my character or personality. That’s why I think it may have hurt me back then but I have been Hacksaw and doing that for so many years. I also agree with you that they involved way too many guys into the NWO. They had a unique club with the Hulkster turning heel, but they rode a good horse to death and killed it.
Birth Of The 2X4 As His Gimmick:
It started in my early days when I was Big Jim Duggan when I had the short hair and clean shaven. I broke in Texas with Fritz Von Erich down in Dallas. That’s also where I played football for Southern Methodist. I went from Big Jim to the Convict, that’s when I wore a mask working in Hawaii for the great Peter Maivia the High Chief. I came back to the States and I still didn’t know what I was doing. I went from Georgia Championship Wrestling to the Pensacola Territory where I was Wildman Dugan. I had a fur with chains on it and grew my beard real bushy but that gimmick didn’t work for me either. I then had the opportunity to go to Southwest Championship Wrestling with Joe Blanchard, Tully Blanchard’s dad. I worked with Bruiser Brody and Buck Robley who I had met while at Georgia Championship Wrestling. That’s where I evolved into Hacksaw. I was a heel down in Texas and it was a rough atmosphere before it was sport entertainment kind of stuff. They had a waiver where if you wanted to try us, sign it and step in the ring with us and we will show if its real or not you type deal. So getting to and from the ring was a challenge. You would get spit on by people, kicked by people, even punched by people. I was sitting in the dressing room covered in loogies and bruises from the fans and Brody came in and told me to carry something to the ring that I could actually use instead of those sequenced feathers and boas. So I looked and said well here’s a piece of wood; then I came out yelling with that 2×4 and it was like parting the red sea man, people scattered. I went back and forth to the ring with no problem and I have carried it ever since. It turned out to be a great gimmick for me.
