THE ART OF WRESTLING WITH COLT CABANA – EPISODE #269
HOST: COLT CABANA
GUEST: “HACKSAW” JIM DUGGAN
RELEASE DATE: SEPT. 24, 2015
DIRECT LINK TO STREAM OR DOWNLOAD EPISODE
Report by Chris Davidson, PWPodcasts.com reporter
HOT TOPICS
“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan talks steroids, cancer, “infamous” arrest, and the origin of the 2×4
Colt Cabana talks about recent trip to Russia
TOPICS COVERED (w/Time Stamps)
0:00 – Introduction
10:30 – Song of the week
10:54 – “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan Interview
13:23 – Duggan talks his athletic career
15:55 – Duggan talks his early career
18:30 – Duggan talks wrestling in Hawaii
21:50 – Duggan talks working different territories and the origin of the 2×4
28:13 – Duggan talks making wrestling a career
39:36 – Duggan talks steroids and cancer
45:18 – Duggan talks “odd jobs” and going to WWF
51:02 – Duggan talks drug bust
55:00 – Duggan talks the future
59:15 – Colt wraps up the show
1:02:27 – Colt plays a clip from Nickelodeon
RECAP OF SHOW
0:00 – Introduction – Colt introduced “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan and said that he’s a “kid at heart.” Colt praised Duggan for an appearance on a previous live podcast and talked about Duggan approaching him to do another episode. Colt talked about his time wrestling in Russia last weekend and said that the fans and wrestlers in Russia seem to enjoy independent wrestling. Colt said he got a standing ovation for taking a girl’s phone away because she was texting during his match.
7:27 – Song of the week – The song of the week this week is “Jim Duggan” by Race Card.
10:54 – “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan Interview – Colt and Duggan talk about Duggan’s fun loving nature. Duggan credited “Legends’ House” with helping fans see a different side of his character. Duggan said he enjoyed rejoining WWE under a talent contract so he could wrestle Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and Ted DiBiase Jr. so he could wrestle his friends sons. Duggan joked that he’s old, but Hogan and Flair still call him kid so he doesn’t care. Duggan playfully demanded Jake Roberts show him a birth certificate to prove he’s younger than Duggan.
13:23 – Duggan talks his athletic career – Duggan talked about being a champion amateur wrestler in high school, as well as still holding a state shot put record. Duggan said he was recruited by Southern Methodist University to play football, where he knew he could succeed, as opposed to another school where he would “just be a number.” Duggan briefly talked about getting cut by the Atlanta Falcons and playing for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League, until knee injuries stopped his football career.
15:55 – Duggan talks his early career – Duggan said his dad knew Arnold Skaaland, and introduced them after Duggan’s football career ended. Duggan had already started wrestling in Dallas, but Skaaland put him on TV as enhancement talent for the then WWWF as “Big” Jim Duggan. Duggan said Vince McMahon Sr. and Skaaland called him in and told him he might have a future if he changed his gimmick and got rid of the gold bath robe he had been wearing. McMahon sent Duggan to Hawaii to learn the business.
18:30 – Duggan talks wrestling in Hawaii – Duggan said he wrestled in Hawaii as a masked wrestler named “The Convict.” Colt asked Duggan if he was the original developmental talent, which Duggan had never considered. Duggan said that Pearl City, Hawaii was the only place he’d ever been knocked out while being a heel. Duggan said there was a wrestling riot after a match in which the crowd rushed the ring and Duggan tried to fight. Duggan said he learned you don’t fight the crowd, you fight your way through the crowd. Duggan said other wrestlers got their tires slashed, stabbed, or sprayed.
21:50 – Duggan talks working different territories and the origin of the 2×4 – Duggan said after Hawaii he wrestled in Georgia and then for Ole Anderson and NWA. Duggan then went to Florida as “Wild Man” Duggan in chains and furs before he went to work with Bruiser Brody in San Antonio, which is where carrying a 2×4 came from. Duggan said after he got roughed up by a crowd, Brody told him to carry something to the ring he could use, and grabbing a 2×4 allowed him to part the crowds with no issue. Duggan briefly talked about all the animals wrestlers carried in WWF, and said PETA would be all over the wrestlers partying with their animals. Colt asked about Haku, who Duggan previously mentioned was his best friend. Duggan confirmed to Colt that Haku was one of the toughest guys he knew. Duggan said Haku got in a lot of bar fights, back when you would get kicked out of town and no one got sued. Duggan mentioned Shawn Michaels as someone who women would flock to in bars and their boyfriends would get mad at Shawn.
28:13 – Duggan talks making wrestling a career– Colt asked if there was a moment when Duggan knew he liked wrestling. Duggan said it took a long time because he didn’t grow up in the business like a lot of his friends, and he was a stiff wrestler since he didn’t know what he was doing. Duggan said he isn’t sure why he wasn’t “weaseled out” of wrestling and said that there’s no one way to get into wrestling/WWE, you just have to be in the right place at the right time with the right gimmick. Duggan said it clicked for him working with Ted DiBiase in Mid-South Wrestling. Duggan gave himself four years to make money before he would get out of wrestling. Duggan said he doesn’t know why WWE hasn’t made a video about him yet, but they have all the video they would need. Duggan started to make a career wrestling in Georgia, where he also started partying, having come from an extremely conservative background where he didn’t smoke or drink. Duggan told a story about wrecking the head booker’s car into Michael P.S. Hayes car his first week.
39:36 – Duggan talks steroids and cancer – Duggan said he’s very lucky to have a good family, to have never been to rehab or to have been arrested for a felony. Colt said Duggan is known as a clean cut, fun loving baby face, but that he’s not afraid to speak his mind and said Duggan seems to get a pass when he makes comments that might be controversial. Duggan believes he gets a pass because he enjoys the people and performing. Colt mentioned that Duggan has said in the past that wrestlers did steroids. Duggan said no one knew what steroids were in the 80s, and they were being passed out by doctors. Duggan then talked about getting kidney cancer and thinking he had taken a bad bump that caused him to have blood in his urine. Duggan said he didn’t care about going back to wrestling, he just wanted to beat cancer to be there for his daughters. Duggan said they operated right away and the cancer was all in his kidney, so he lost a kidney but avoided chemotherapy. Duggan has since hosted some golf tournaments to raise money for cancer research, and he talked about his other charity work.
45:18 – Duggan talks “odd jobs” and going to WWF – Duggan talked going on the “Bruise Cruise” for WCW and acting on the “Harry and the Hendersons” TV show. Duggan also said he did a lot of shows on Nickelodeon. Duggan then talked about getting the feeling Vince Russo was trying to get him to leave WCW by giving him a janitor gimmick and making him clean toilets. Duggan said he embraced the gimmick and made it work for him. Colt asked Duggan how he got involved with WWF in the ’80s. Duggan said he approached WWF and they told him to put in notice with Bill Watts and they would bring him in. Colt asked if Duggan was worried about burning a bridge with Bill Watts, but Duggan said he was a big enough star he could find somewhere to work. Duggan also talked about his early push and success in WWF.
51:02 – Duggan talks drug bust – Colt asked if Duggan wanted to work his way up in WWF, but was stopped by getting busted with the Iron Sheik, having marijuana, cocaine, and alcohol in their car. Duggan joked that the worst part is that people think he is friends with the Iron Sheik, even though that was the only time he gave him a ride. Duggan said all of his success came crashing down when the media reported the arrest, but it’s not the worst thing that has ever happened to him, and was harder on his family than him. After a few weeks, Duggan was told to lay low and he would be brought back and taken care of, which he was. Duggan said he wasn’t back in the main event, but he was content in his spot.
55:00 – Duggan talks the future – Duggan is still wrestling, and joked he wants a walker made out of 2x4s. Duggan said he’s still getting in the ring even though he’s not really able to take bumps and be physical, but he can still get the crowd going. To close, Colt asked who was a mentor to Duggan, who said Stan Hansen and Bruiser Brody. Duggan talked about the movie “Pro Wrestlers vs. Zombies” and his book “Hacksaw: The Jim Duggan Story,” which he called a positive look at wrestling. Colt and Duggan signed off with a loud “Hooo!”
59:15 – Colt wraps up the show – Colt talked about how Duggan always thinks Colt is wearing his t-shirt, but it’s usually one from prowrestlingtees.com and he talked briefly about Duggan winning the Royal Rumble that was free on USA Network. Colt thanked his fans, Duggan, and his sponsors, plugged his upcoming appearances and signed off.
1:02:27 – Colt plays a clip from Nickelodeon – Colt played a clip from “Super Slopamania II” which was an episode of Nickelodeon’s “Double Dare” featuring Duggan and Mr. Perfect.
SCORE & REVIEW
7 out of 10: Colt Cabana and Jim Duggan have good chemistry, as is true with most guests on The Art of Wrestling. Duggan didn’t break any new stories, but he was engaging and more than willing to talk with Colt about any topic brought up, proving he isn’t worried about speaking his mind. It was interesting to hear about some of his stories, and it was refreshing that he speaks his mind. This episode, while being very good and featuring a lot of fun stories from the territories and 80s WWF, isn’t likely to be a must listen except to the most diehard of 80s wrestling and Duggan fans.
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