“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan recently joined AdFreeShows for a watch-along of the 1988 Royal Rumble pay-per-view event. Duggan was the first Rumble winner, though in 1998, the event was shown on the USA Network instead of pay-per-view and featured only 20 men. Duggan shared some stories from his Hall of Fame career, and you can read highlights below:
On his character getting more cartoonish over the years: “I think as my career went on, the character got a little crazier and sillier as it went on, but, folks, you don’t last 40 years in the ring chopping meat.”
On Heenan telling him to use an eagle when he was King Duggan: “When I was the ‘King of Wrestling’ I had the cape, the crown, the flag, the board, the thumb, the tongue, the ‘ho,’ cross eyes, and Bobby Heenan’s like, ‘You know, Vince [McMahon], Duggan needs an eagle! We should get Duggan an eagle!’ I’m like, ‘Bobby, shut up! He’ll get me an eagle as a rib!’ But yeah, the character did change over the years as it evolved.”
