Brian Damage

When most wrestling fans think about the wrestler known as ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan, they immediately identify him with his trusty 2 x 4 and carrying around the American flag. He had an extremely patriotic gimmick and would loudly scream out “Hooooo” before, during and after matches. While Duggan spent most of his career as an American loving babyface, he did have runs as a brutal heel…mainly in the Mid South territory. Then there was that time that WCW turned him heel…

In the late 1990’s, like several other former WWF stars, ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan was brought into World Championship Wrestling to help give it “star power.” Duggan signed a lofty contract making roughly 200,000 dollars a year. When WCW began losing badly in the Monday Night Wars to its rival WWF in 1999, the WWF’s former head creative writer Vince Russo was hired. Russo was all about crash TV with more emphasis on quick matches, backstage skits, sex and pushing younger talent.

Unfortunately, Duggan simply did not fit into Russo’s vision of what WCW was going to be and was seen less and less on television. According to Duggan, Vince Russo wanted to get out of Duggan’s hefty contract and looked for ways to get Duggan to quit the company. First, Duggan wasn’t booked on shows and that didn’t work because he was essentially collecting paychecks for doing nothing at all. So Russo decided to start booking Duggan in ridiculous and embarrassing storylines to get him to walk away.

Duggan was given the gimmick of being WCW’s janitor and would be forced to clean toilets and mop floors for work. Russo tried to make the once proud wrestler into a running gag. The thing was, Duggan wasn’t about to quit WCW and give up that money he was making, so he made the best of the situation. The janitor gimmick started to get over with fans and that apparently agitated Russo who dropped the angle.

Vince Russo then decided to do something that he thought would really get under Duggan’s skin. He approached Jim and told him he was turning the longtime babyface hero into a heel and not only that, but betray his own country. Duggan recalled thinking it was a stupid idea and wouldn’t work at all, but was still willing to play along and not quit. At the Fall Brawl pay per view in 2000, Duggan was the special enforcer in the United States title match between the champion General Hugh G Rection and challenger Lance Storm. Duggan would help the Canadian heel Storm win the match and the title and join forces with Storm.

Duggan would no longer carry an American flag, but Canada’s. He would also sing O’ Canada before every match. He was also told to cut his hair and shave off his beard. Duggan said that WCW management would scold him about acting too much like his old character and requested to be more like a statue behind their star Lance Storm. While Duggan admitted this period was aggravating for him, he did confide his frustrations in his friend Jimmy Hart and Hart said it was like being on the Titanic (WCW), refusing to get off and just enjoying the ride.

With Duggan refusing to waver and not quit the company, WCW began booking the now heel Duggan as a stumbling idiot that consistently cost Storm and other members of Team Canada matches. Lance ultimately would have enough of Duggan’s screw up and was kicked out of the faction. Jim Duggan would became a babyface character again and briefly feud with Storm. Thus ending the ill fated heel turn run of Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Russo would end up getting fired and Duggan was shelved for the majority of his remaining time with the company. Duggan said that while it was sad to see WCW fold, it was a great time in his life to get paid a lot of money to sit home and do nothing.