10 Wrestlers Who Got Much Worse (But WAY More Over)
3. Hacksaw Jim Duggan
Jim Diggan is one of the good ones. A rare endearing figure about whom nothing bad has ever been said, he generally seems to have a grand old time, post-retirement, doing the convention circuit. He’ll even go sightseeing to make the most of these trips, even in British towns that are best viewed, if at all, out of one’s hotel window.
In the WWF, Duggan was a living cartoon. He loved America and was an ally of the working man, as exemplified by his 2x2 prop of choice. To use modern parlance, Duggan very much “understood the assignment”. In the Fed, you didn’t have to blade or bust a gut. Duggan sensed this. It wasn’t easy work, bumping on that glorified concrete ring canvas, so he didn’t make it harder for himself.
Instead, in tandem with his daft, outsized brand of wholesome, he would shout “Hoooo!” and stick up a thumb as the crowd roared it back to him.
Duggan was actually an incredible, rugged babyface in Mid-South Wrestling. Grizzled and authentic, his method of manipulating the crowd was far more effective on an emotional level than his New York pantomime.
Obviously far bigger on a national level in the WWF than the now-UWF, Duggan knew that the best wrestlers work for a specific audience.