Josh Barnett

USA TODAY Sports

WWE Hall-of-Famer Hacksaw Jim Duggan has two historical distinctions when it comes to the Royal Rumble.

Duggan won the initial event in 1988 in Hamilton, Ontario. The show was on the USA Network before it became a staple of WWE's pay-per-view calendar.

He was in the Royal Rumble in 1991 and '92 and then returned in 2009 - the gap of 17 years is the longest between appearances for any performer (at least so far). He also took part in 2012.

"Something I'm most of proud of is that from the WWF heyday when I was wrestling Ted DiBiase and Bob Orton and Dusty Rhodes, I came back and wrestled DiBiase's kid, Orton's kid and Dusty's kid. I beat up the old man and then I beat up the kids," he said, laughing about his return.

And yes, even at 62, Duggan is still getting in the ring, making appearances at independent shows.

"I don't think anybody transcended generations like I did, and went out with the flag and got the fans to chant 'USA, USA,' " he said. "People ask me, 'Hacksaw, don't you get tired of it?' Tired of it? It remains the thrill of a lifetime to come through that curtain, everybody chanting 'USA' and going, 'Hooooo!!!' It keeps me young."

The 30th edition of the Royal Rumble is Jan. 29 in San Antonio with a crowd of nearly 60,000 expected. The four-hour show begins at 7 p.m. ET on WWE Network with the 30-man Royal Rumble match as the highlight. WWE has marked the occasion with a new DVD, "The True Story of the Royal Rumble."

That story begins from the mind of Pat Patterson, who created the concept that initially was dubbed by WWE boss Vince McMahon as "stupid." But when TV executive Dick Ebersol loved it, the Royal Rumble was born.

Versions of the Royal Rumble concept had been tried on house shows previously, but never televised.

And that takes us back to that night in Copps Coliseum in Ontario. Twenty men were in the initial match, with a new participant coming in every two minutes. Bret Hart and Tito Santana were the first two.

"There's always questions about anything new that had never been tried," Duggan recalled. "Battle royals were common. We had them inside cages and things like that, but it was never something when guys were coming in at different times. It was a unique idea.

"Back then, we were working so much we came in from a show the night before, did the Royal Rumble, got in the car and headed to another show in the next town. I don't think anybody realized how big it would become. In turn, I don't think anybody realized how big WWE would become as the powerhouse around the world that it is.

"I've been to every state, every province in Canada and 30 countries. It's amazing that I've been able to wrestle around the world. That's all due to WWE and a big part of that is winning the first Royal Rumble."

Duggan entered the ring at No. 13 and would eliminate the massive One Man Gang nearly 15 minutes after Duggan entered. Gang charged a prone Duggan and Duggan pulled the rope down, leading Gang to topple over and out.

"It was huge for me," he said. "My character never won any belts. I was never the heavyweight champion or the Intercontinental champion or a tag team champion. But my character could win the Royal Rumble. I don't care if I win the match as long as I win the fight, tough guy. It's great to have something like that to hang my hat on."

The Rumble has endured and grown since. Virtually every major name in the company in the last 30 years has participated. The Rumble has now become the kickoff to the Road to WrestleMania.

"That's probably why I'm not in the (WWE) office," Duggan said, laughing when asked why the Rumble has thrived. "They bring an old-timer or two back and that gets a unique pop. The winner goes on to go for the belt and main event at WrestleMania, which didn't happen at that first one.

"You might see a new guy come in from TNA or Ring of Honor or House of Hardcore and that's surprising for fans. Like any entertainment endeavor, the element of surprise is important. Who will be the next one out? Who will last the longest? And there are all kinds of records, who was in the shortest ever or the longest? Who won the most often? Who eliminated the most guys? There's so much history and statistics. …

"I get to be the answer to the big trivia question, 'Who won the first Royal Rumble?'"

The often self-deprecating Duggan spoke with For The Win about his career, his famed 2 x 4 and Hoooo! phrase, and surviving cancer.

You turn 63 next month and you still wrestle. What keeps you going?

"I still go to the ring, although I don't know if you'd call what I do wrestling. I have no physical attributes left, but I still know how to entertain the crowd. … That's something I try to get across to the young guys when I work at the WWE Performance Center. It's about telling a story and connecting with the crowd. This is a learned profession. … It's not just doing the moves.

The performance center is a different way to learn the business than the way you learned in the 1970s in Dallas.

I think people say, 'Well, guys are only learning one way to work at the performance center.' It's not like back in the territory days when you traveled and took pieces from everyone. But then again, when people are critical of the product today, there will still be 100,000 people at WrestleMania so somebody is watching and likes what they are seeing.

You've said that you started carrying the 2 x 4 early in your career because it was safer for a heel to have something to carry if he was attacked by the crowd on the way to the ring. But did you carry the same 2 x 4 from place to place?

Back in the day, I used to use it like a rifle and throw it in the air and all sorts of things. In this country, I would find one when I walked into the arena, but when we traveled overseas, I'd bring my own board. The ones over there were different size because of the metric system. My father-in-law, God rest his soul, made me this beautiful 2 x 4 case so I could take it over to Europe and around the word. Sometimes it made it tough to get through customs.

One of my lines in my stand-up act is the story of how we were going to Italy and the customs guy opened the case and said, "What do you do with board?" I thought I'd joke around and said that I was building a house piece by piece. He said, "Sit over there." Three hours later, I had learned my lesson: you don't joke with customs people.

Wrestling has two non-word catchphrases that are synonymous with the person who said them. One is you and "Hooooo!"; the other is Ric Flair and "Woooo." So, figuring you're partial, but which is better?

I just saw Ric. He's a good buddy and we were doing an appearance at the Jacksonville Jaguars game. My old joke was always, "Ric, are your trunks too tight or what?" I like Hoooo a little bit more than Woooo even though when anyone does a chop in wrestling you hear, Woooo. But at Christmastime, you've Hooo, Hooo, Hooo! Anytime anybody sees me, I'll hear it.

Where does Hoooo! Comes from?

I usually say that I got a splinter in my thumb from the 2 x 4 and that I started yelling, Hoooo! But I was interacting with the folks back when I was a bad guy early in my career. They were yelling at me and I was yelling back. Hoooo developed as a way to save my voice instead of using words. People starting hooing and then I became a good guy and it grew from there. You know, I won the Slammy for best vocals. I don't think Flair won no Slammy. I gotta remind him of that.

On a more serious note, another milestone is coming as you are nearing 20 years as a cancer survivor.

It was the most devastating time in my life. I had two young girls who were 3 and 4. I was passing a little blood. My wife wanted me to go to the doctor and I said it was just from a bad bump. But I went. I was joking with the doctor, flirting with the nurses, having a good time. The doctor comes in and says, "Jim, it's cancer."

I fell back in my chair. I was terrified. It put everything in perspective as far as what's important - the job, money. I was going to survive because I didn't want my daughters growing up without a dad. There was a lot of crying and praying. Through the grace of God and early detection, I had surgery and it saved my life. It's almost 20 years and I thank God.

I do a lot of work with the American Cancer Society. I was scared and didn't want to go to the doctor. But even if you are scared, go see a doctor. It can save your life if you can catch it early and get treatment.

You can find Duggan's schedule of appearance on Twitter @officialhacksaw or Facebook via HacksawJimDuggan.