Jim Duggan James Edward Duggan , Jr . ( born January 14 , 1954 ) , better known by his ring name Hacksaw Jim Duggan , is an American professional wrestler . He is signed with World Wrestling Entertainment in a Legends contract . His best known character is that of an American patriot , which sees him use a 2x4 length of wood as a weapon , the battle cry " Hooo ! " and the U - S - A ! cheer . Duggan is a survivor of kidney cancer , an illness he was diagnosed with during his time with WCW . Duggan has claimed to have wrestled in all 50 American states and in Australia , Austria , the Bahamas , Belgium , Bermuda , Canada , the Dominican Republic , El Salvador , England , Scotland , Ireland , Wales , France , Germany , Guam , the Netherlands , Italy , Japan , Poland , Spain , and Switzerland . In the WWF , Duggan was the winner of the first ever Royal Rumble match in 1988 and in WCW , he was a one time United States Heavyweight Champion and a one time ( and the final ) World Television Champion . Early life and career . Duggan grew up in Glens Falls , New York , where he became a star athlete in high school . His father was the Chief of Police for the City of Glens Falls . Duggan was a letterman in football , track , wrestling , and basketball . In wrestling , he won the New York State High School wrestling championship , unlimited weight class division - the first wrestler from Glens Falls to do so . Upon graduating from high school , he was recruited by Ohio State University , but would instead choose to play football at Southern Methodist University , where he was eventually voted team captain . Duggan earned his bachelors degree in applied plant biology . After college , Duggan was signed by the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League , but was released after being plagued by knee injuries . Professional wrestling career . Jim Duggan broke into the professional wrestling business thanks in large part to wrestler Fritz Von Erich . The two met while Duggan was on a recruiting trip to SMU . Duggan ' s first professional match was in 1979 against Gino Hernandez . Duggan began his career as a villain . Training at the Sportatorium in Dallas , Texas as well as with Samoa n wrestling promoter Peter Maivia , Duggan gained the attention of Vince McMahon , Sr . and the World Wrestling Federation . After a brief stint with the WWF , Duggan began to work regularly for Georgia Championship Wrestling . During this time , Duggan was known by two in - ring aliases : in the United States as " Big " Jim Duggan and in Hawaii as The Convict , a masked wrestler . After wrestling for a Birmingham , Alabama - based promotion , Duggan began wrestling in a promotion based in San Antonio , Texas where he adopted his well - known " Hacksaw " nickname . Mid - South Wrestling / Universal Wrestling Federation ( 1982 – 1986 ) . In 1982 , Duggan made his debut in Mid - South Wrestling . Upon debuting as a villain , Duggan soon became a member of the Rat Pack faction , alongside Ted DiBiase , Matt Bourne , and Mr . Olympia . After newcomer " Hacksaw " Butch Reed debuted within the promotion , Duggan and Reed had a personal feud for a time over who would be the true " Hacksaw " . The Rats also feuded with stars such as Reed , Magnum T . A . and the Junkyard Dog . During this time , Duggan interfered in a DiBiase / JYD match while wearing a gorilla suit , causing JYD to lose a " Loser Leaves Town " match in New Orleans , Louisiana . After DiBiase aligned himself with Skandor Akbar , Duggan refused to go along with him and became a fan favorite for the first time in his career . At this time , Duggan began carrying his iconic 2x4 . Duggan soon became one of the most popular wrestlers in the UWF . As a fan favorite , he won the Tag Team Championship with Magnum T . A . and later won the North American Heavyweight Championship . After the Mid - South North American Title was retired when Mid - South became the Universal Wrestling Federation in 1986 , Duggan lost to Terry Gordy in a tournament final to determine the first World Heavyweight Champion . Duggan then teamed up with Terry Taylor and won the World Tag Team Championship for the second time . After losing a Loser Leaves Town match to the One Man Gang , Duggan left the UWF for the World Wrestling Federation . During his time with Mid - South , Duggan would get into a confrontation with a fan and fracture the orbital floor of the fan ' s eye socket . The fan sued and was awarded $ 25 , 432 . World Wrestling Federation ( 1987 – 1993 ) . Debut ( 1987 ) . Duggan was signed to the World Wrestling Federation in January 1987 , making his first major appearance with the WWF at WrestleMania III , where he also made his pay - per - view debut . In the weeks preceding WrestleMania , Duggan began his first WWF feud with Nikolai Volkoff . At the event , he ran to ringside prior to a match between The Killer Bees and the Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff and interrupted Volkoff ' s pre - match singing of the Russian national anthem . Duggan had previously done this on TV matches leading up to the event . Although he did not win any major titles in the promotion , for seven years he was a consistent fan favorite with his patriotic gimmick . His character was mainly comical , as he rarely was in major contention for titles . His first major WWF match was at the first - ever Survivor Series pay - per - view in 1987 , when he participated in the first Survivor Series match and was a member of the winning team . Royal Rumble winner and mid - card ( 1988 – 1989 ) . Duggan participated in the first - ever Royal Rumble match in 1988 , where he was the 13th of twenty entrants . He won the match after he last eliminated One Man Gang . After that , he received a push . He then started a feud with King Harley Race , whom Duggan defeated several times in both televised and non - televised shows . At WrestleMania IV , he participated in a 14 - man tournament for the vacant WWF Championship , where he lost to Ted DiBiase in the first round after interference from André the Giant . Duggan and André started a feud with each other , and attacked each other several times . André interfered in Duggan ' s match against Hercules on the April 30 edition of " Saturday Night ' s Main Event " . Duggan also claimed to be the only wrestler who knocked out André in a WWF ring . Duggan earned a shot at the Intercontinental Championship against The Honky Tonk Man in July 1988 , but Honky Tonk got himself disqualified , thus retaining the title . Duggan then began displaying traits of an American patriot by feuding with several foreign villains in the fall of 1988 . He got involved in a feud with Dino Bravo , and the two were on opposing sides as Jake " The Snake " Roberts ' team fought André the Giant ' s at the 1988 Survivor Series . Duggan was disqualified after he used his 2x4 on Bravo . Duggan ' s team eventually lost the match . His next feud was with Russia n Boris Zhukov , whom he defeated in a flag match on the November 26 edition of " Saturday Night ' s Main Event " . He restarted his feud with Dino Bravo , and at the 1989 Royal Rumble , Duggan and The Hart Foundation ( Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart ) defeated Bravo and The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers ( Jacques and Raymond ) in a two out of three falls match . He was involved in a brutal rivalry with Bad News Brown , which culminated in a match at WrestleMania V where both men fought to a no contest . American patriot ( 1989 – 1992 ) . In mid - 1989 , he started a feud with King Haku , who was awarded the crown on the July 9 , 1988 edition of Superstars when Harley Race was forced to vacate the crown due to injuries sustained in a match against Hulk Hogan on the March 12 , 1988 edition of Saturday Night ' s Main Event . Duggan defeated Haku to win the crown and earn the title of " King of the Ring " on the May 13 , 1989 edition of Superstars . On the May 27 edition of " Saturday Night ' s Main Event " , Duggan earned a shot at the Intercontinental Championship against " Ravishing " Rick Rude . Duggan won the match by countout , and Rude retained the title , as a title cannot change hands via countout or disqualification . At SummerSlam , Duggan teamed with Demolition ( Ax and Smash ) in a six - man tag team match and defeated André the Giant and the Twin Towers ( Akeem and Big Bossman ) . He eventually lost his crown to " Macho Man " Randy Savage , who began calling himself " Macho King " , and started a feud with Savage . At Survivor Series , he captained a team dubbed " The 4x4 ' s " against Savage ' s team , " The King ' s Court " . Duggan ' s team went on to lose the match . Duggan started a feud with Big Bossman in the fall of 1989 , which culminated in a match at the 1990 Royal Rumble , which Duggan won by disqualification . He faced his former rival , Randy Savage again on the January 27 edition of " Saturday Night ' s Main Event " . Duggan faced another former rival , Dino Bravo at WrestleMania VI and went on to win the match . He began teaming with his former rival , Nikolai Volkoff and started a feud with The Orient Express ( Tanaka and Sato ) , whom they beat at SummerSlam . At Survivor Series , he competed on the Hulkamaniacs team captained by Hulk Hogan . Duggan was eliminated but the Hulkamaniacs went on to win the match . At the 1991 Royal Rumble , he participated in the Royal Rumble match , but was eliminated by Mr . Perfect . He began a short feud with WWF Champion Sgt . Slaughter and faced Slaughter for the title on the February 1 edition of " The Main Event " . Slaughter retained the title by getting himself disqualified . Duggan also served as commentator for the opening match at WrestleMania VII . On the April 27 edition of " Saturday Night ' s Main Event " , he participated in a battle royal , won by Intercontinental Champion Mr . Perfect . In late 1991 , he patched up things with Sgt . Slaughter , who had turned babyface , and the pair formed a tag team . At Survivor Series , the duo joined the Texas Tornado and Tito Santana in an elimination match to defeat a team led by Col . Mustafa . At the 1992 Royal Rumble , he participated in the Royal Rumble match , which was for the vacant WWF Championship . Ric Flair went on to win the match . On the February 8 edition of " Saturday Night ' s Main Event " , Duggan and Slaughter defeated the Beverly Brothers ( Blake and Beau ) . At WrestleMania VIII , he teamed up with Virgil , Sgt . Slaughter , and Big Bossman against The Nasty Boys ( Jerry Sags and Brian Knobs ) , The Mountie , and Repo Man . Slaughter eventually left active wrestling and Duggan continued to pursue his singles career again . Undercard and departure ( 1992 – 1993 ) . In mid - 1992 , Duggan was moved to undercard status . In early 1993 , he was involved in a feud with the then near 600 pound Yokozuna , who was the number one contender to the WWF Championship . Manager Mr . Fuji was bad mouthing America and Duggan challenged his protégé to a match . The match was promoted by claiming that no one had knocked Yokozuna off his feet , even though Yokozuna had been knocked off his feet shortly before , during the 1993 Royal Rumble match by the " Macho Man " Randy Savage . The stipulations to the match were if Duggan knocked Yokozuna off his feet , Duggan would win . On the February 6 edition of " Superstars " , Duggan won the match after knocking Yokozuna down completely and then was manhandled by the much bigger Yokozuna after the match . Yokozuna gave him about four more Banzai Drops , sidelining Duggan for about four months . During this time Duggan took part in the UK Rampage tour involving a match against Lex Luger on 11th April which was broadcast live in the UK on Sky Sports . However , after the broadcast finished Duggan continued to fight with Yokozuna who had interrupted the match and got his revenge in front of the crowd only by bodyslamming him . Sadly this footage was never broadcast and isn ' t included on the VHS release either . Duggan returned with a new singlet style wrestling attire , and challenged then - Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels for the title on the May 3 edition of " Monday Night Raw " . Michaels ran through the crowd , and retained the title by countout . They had a rematch the following week in a Lumberjack match . Duggan was holding his own in the match and nearly pinned Michaels on several occasions , but was incapacitated after Yokozuna , who was serving as one of the lumberjacks , hit him with a legdrop on the outside of the ring . Duggan ended up losing the match by disqualification after Mr . Perfect , who also was serving as a lumberjack , entered the ring and attacked Michaels while he was pinning the fallen Duggan . At King of the Ring , he wrestled in the King of the Ring tournament , but lost in the first round to Bam Bam Bigelow . Duggan would continue to appear on WWF programming until the summer , when he left the company after losing several pre - Summerslam matches to Yokozuna . World Championship Wrestling ( 1994 – 2001 ) . United States Champion ( 1994 ) . Duggan signed a contract with World Championship Wrestling ( WCW ) in late 1994 . He debuted in WCW at Fall Brawl , where he defeated Steve Austin in a squash match lasting thirty - five seconds to win the United States Heavyweight Championship to show his respect was to the United States After becoming champion , he quickly started a feud with Austin , and eventually defeated him in a title rematch at Halloween Havoc by disqualification . The two had a second title rematch on the November 16 edition of " Clash of the Champions " , where Duggan retained the title again by disqualification . Duggan ' s reign ended at Starrcade , where he was defeated by Vader . Mid – card ( 1995 – 1998 ) . After he lost the U . S . Title to Vader , Duggan moved to the mid - card division and began wrestling on " Saturday Night " , where he would later claim that Saturday was " his night " , as a way explaining why he appeared almost exclusively on that show . He defeated Bunkhouse Buck at SuperBrawl V . He faced former WWF rival Meng ( known as Haku in WWF ) in a martial arts match at Uncensored , which Meng won . At The Great American Bash , he defeated Sgt . Craig Pittman by disqualification in Pittman ' s pay - per - view debut . At Bash at the Beach , Duggan faced another former WWF superstar , Kamala and went on to lose the match . In late 1995 , Duggan started a feud with Big Bubba Rogers , which culminated in a Taped Fist match at World War 3 , which Rogers won . Duggan participated in the first - ever three ring , 60 man battle royal for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship , but was eliminated . He fought Loch Ness to a double disqualification at a " Main Event " taping before SuperBrawl VI . At Slamboree : Lord of the Ring , he teamed with VK Wallstreet to compete in tag team qualifying matches to qualify for a battle royal to be crowned " Lord of the Ring " . Wallstreet and Duggan defeated The Blue Bloods ( Lord Steven Regal and Squire David Taylor ) before losing to Dick Slater and Earl Robert Eaton . Duggan then started a short feud with upcoming superstar Diamond Dallas Page , to whom he lost in a Taped Fist match at Bash at the Beach . Duggan had an encounter with former Slamboree partner VK Wallstreet on the August 15 , 1996 edition of " Clash of the Champions " , which Wallstreet won . At World War 3 , he unsuccessfully participated in a three ring 60 man battle royal to determine the # 1 contender to the WCW World Heavyweight Championship . Duggan had no major pay - per - view matches for over two years before he disappeared in 1998 after he was diagnosed with kidney cancer . Return from kidney cancer ( 1998 – 1999 ) . After successfully beating his cancer , Duggan returned to wrestling and replaced Buff Bagwell in a match against Berlyn at Fall Brawl , which Duggan lost . Soon after , Duggan became involved in a storyline where he became a janitor for WCW . Duggan then started a feud with the anti - American stable the Revolution ( Shane Douglas , Dean Malenko , Perry Saturn , and Asya ) . At Starrcade , he and his surprise partners , the newly reunited Varsity Club ( Kevin Sullivan , Mike Rotunda , and Rick Steiner ) , faced the Revolution in a losing effort after the Club turned on Duggan . As a result of losing , the next night on " Nitro " , Duggan was forced to denounce the U . S . flag but he refused to do so . In response , the Revolution attacked him and began beating him until the Filthy Animals , who were also feuding with the Revolution , saved Duggan . World Television Champion , Team Canada and departure ( 2000 – 2001 ) . During this period , he found the World Television Championship in a trash can , which had been thrown away by the previous champion Scott Hall earlier and claimed it for himself . He would make title defenses exclusively on " Saturday Night " , and remained champion until the title was deactivated . During this time , Duggan lost confidence in himself as a wrestler . On an episode of " Nitro " , Duggan was attacked by a then heel Goldberg . Duggan then challenged Goldberg to a match and suffered a classic Goldberg beatdown before falling victim to the spear and Jackhammer . After WCW was rebooted and the nWo storyline ended , it was replaced by two new factions in WCW called the Millionaire ' s Club and the New Blood , which began feuding with one another . The Millionaire ' s Club consisted of veterans and the New Blood consisted of young wrestlers of the 1990s . Duggan joined the Millionaire ' s Club and helped them in their war against the New Blood . Near the end of his career in WCW , he became involved in more major storylines , including one that involved him turning heel by abandoning the patriotic gimmick for a short time to join Lance Storm and his faction Team Canada . This was the first time Duggan worked as a heel since breaking away from the Rat Pack in Mid - South Wrestling . This angle began when Duggan started working with the Misfits In Action ( MIA ) but at Fall Brawl , he turned on MIA ' s leader U . S . Champion General Rection during Rection ' s title defense against Team Canada ' s Lance Storm . Duggan was the special guest enforcer for the match , and helped Storm in winning the match . During this time Duggan shaved his trademark beard , didn ' t bring his trademark 2x4 to the ring , and sang " O Canada " ( badly ) . At Halloween Havoc , Duggan and Storm teamed up against General Rection in a handicap match for Storm ' s U . S . Title . Duggan missed an attack on Rection , which led to Rection pinning Duggan to win the match . Duggan continued to unintentionally cost Team Canada many of their victories , but he helped Storm to defeat The Cat in a match at Starrcade . However , after the match , Team Canada turned on Duggan , who then began feuding with Team Canada , and at Sin he was the special guest referee in a Penalty Box match between Team Canada and the Filthy Animals . Despite Duggan ' s role as the referee , Team Canada won the match after Storm forced Kidman to submit . Independent circuit and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( 2002 – 2005 ) . After WCW was purchased by the WWF in March 2001 , Duggan began wrestling in the independent circuit . On December 5 , 2002 , Duggan defeated Krusher Kong at LWE Xplosion . On the March 12 , 2003 pay - per - view of NWA : Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( TNA ) , Duggan made a surprise appearance and defeated fellow WCW alum Mike Sanders . Duggan made another appearance in TNA on October 29 , where he lost to Jeff Jarrett . Return to WWE ( 2005 – 2009 ) . Teaming with Eugene ( 2005 – 2006 ) . Duggan appeared on the October 3 , 2005 edition of " Raw " , dubbed " The Homecoming " along with several other WWF / E alumni . He and the other legends would end up attacking Rob Conway after Conway came to the ring and insulted them . He was also one of the " legends " available for fans to select to team with Eugene in a match at Taboo Tuesday to face the team of Conway and Tyson Tomko ( Jimmy Snuka was chosen instead of Duggan ) . He returned to WWE again after Royal Rumble , with a message from John Cena to Lita after Edge lost the WWE Championship : " HOOOOO ! " Duggan and Edge began a short feud with each other which culminated in a match that occurred two weeks later on " Raw " , which Edge went on to win after Lita provided a distraction . After feuding with Edge and Lita , he became mentor and tutor to Eugene and the two feuded with the Spirit Squad . He began working on " Heat " but also made a few appearances on " Raw " with Eugene and The Highlanders . On the November 6 edition of " Raw " , Duggan and Eugene faced the Spirit Squad in a match with the stipulation that the losing team would disband and never team up again . After Duggan was caught off guard after the other Spirit Squad members interfered and then pinned for the win , Eugene snapped and attacked " Hacksaw " , signaling Eugene ' s first heel turn in WWE . He started a feud with Eugene , and three weeks later , the two had a match with each other , which Eugene easily won . On the December 18 edition of " Raw " , Duggan participated in a number one contender ' s battle royal with the winner facing WWE Champion John Cena in the main event for the WWE Title , which was won by Duggan ' s former rival Edge . Raw ( 2007 – 2009 ) . At New Year ' s Revolution , Duggan teamed with Super Crazy in a tag team turmoil match to determine the number one contenders to the World Tag Team Championship , in a losing effort . On the January 15 edition of " Raw " , Duggan was dragged out by Rated - RKO ( Edge and Randy Orton ) and was beaten to a pulp . Edge and Orton feared Duggan would help out Shawn Michaels in a handicap match ( referencing , without explanation for viewers , the fact that both Duggan and Michaels were in Mid - South Wrestling together 20 years earlier ) and wanted to set an example for anyone else backstage that wished to do the same . On the March 5 edition of " Raw " , he faced Chris Masters in a Masterlock Challenge , but was unable to break the hold . After months of wrestling on " Heat " , Duggan returned to " Raw " in July , teaming up with The Sandman and feuding with Carlito and William Regal . This team was short lived as Duggan soon returned to " Heat " and Sandman was soon released from his contract with WWE . On the August 6 edition of " Raw " , Duggan was a contestant in the " WWE Dating Game " , a parody of " The Dating Game " . However , Duggan lost when Maria chose Ron Simmons . On September 17 , Duggan suffered a knee injury . On December 31 , he lost a 2008 Royal Rumble qualifying match to the returning Umaga . After that , he began primarily appearing on " Heat " once again , defeating locals and teaming with Super Crazy . On the March 17 edition of " Raw " , he participated in a 17 - on - 2 handicap elimination tag team match as part of the 17 members of the " Raw " roster against John Cena and Randy Orton . After Cody Rhodes was eliminated , all the remaining " Raw " superstars attacked Cena and Orton , resulting in their disqualification . Duggan also took part in a 12 - on - 12 tag team preview match on the March 25 edition of " ECW " . The match was a preview for a WWE . com exclusive match , a 24 - man battle royal held just before WrestleMania XXIV aired to determine the # 1 contender for an ECW Championship match . The match was eventually won by Kane . In the summer of 2008 , Duggan started a short feud with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase after Rhodes and DiBiase tried to convince Duggan to retire and let the young talent run the show . Soon after , Duggan would come out and announce that he would take Rhodes and DiBiase ' s advice and retire , but Jerry " The King " Lawler stopped him by convincing Duggan to stay . Duggan and Lawler then wrestled Rhodes and DiBiase on the August 25 , 2008 edition of " Raw " , but lost the match . On the October 20 edition of " Raw " , Duggan confronted Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix during one of Marella ' s tirades against his three possible opponents at Cyber Sunday ( Roddy Piper , Goldust , and The Honky Tonk Man ) . Upset at being interrupted , Marella took off his clothes , getting ready to fight Duggan . Yet before a fight could begin , Marella instructed Phoenix to throw the clothes in Duggan ' s face , a move that temporarily distracted Duggan . Marella then smashed a guitar over Duggan ' s head , ending the segment . In 2009 , Duggan appeared in the 2009 Royal Rumble match , entering at # 29 and setting a record for the most years between Royal Rumble appearances . He was eliminated from the match by The Big Show . Since then , he was involved in the WWE . com exclusive show , " Top Rope Theater " , which ended when Cryme Tyme was drafted to SmackDown in 2009 . After " Top Rope Theater " , Duggan began wrestling on Raw house shows but never reappeared on television . On the August 10 episode of " Raw " , Duggan made his final televised appearance as Sgt . Slaughter had him come out in place of Bret Hart , due to the episode taking place in Canada , when he introduced " The best there was , the best there is , and the best there ever will be " in order to mock the Canadian fans . Independent circuit ( 2009 - 2010 ) . Since appearing on that edition of Raw , Duggan took another hiatus and eventually left WWE . He then resumed wrestling on the independent circuit . He recently appeared on Pro Wresling Ohio ' s " Wrestlelution 3 " where he defeated " The Megastar " Marion Fontaine . He is expected to appear at Bodyslam Wrestling ' s " BWO Meltdown " in Elmwood Park , NJ on June 15 , 2012 Duggan also appeared on WWE ' s " Old - School " RAW on November 15 , 2010 . He came out with 2x4 in hand , and went against the Iron Sheik and Volkoff . Return to WWE ( 2011 - present ) . On April 2 , 2011 , Duggan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by fellow inductee " The Million Dollar Man " Ted DiBiase . Duggan returned to wrestling in WWE with an appearance at Royal Rumble and entered the Royal Rumble match as the # 19 entrant and was eliminated by Cody Rhodes . On the February 3 , 2012 episode of " SmackDown " , Duggan teamed with Santino Marella in a losing effort against the WWE Tag Team Champions Primo and Epico . On April 10 , 2012 , Duggan made an appearance on " SuperSmackDown LIVE : Blast from the Past " , where he lost to Hunico by disqualification . Later that year , he appeared on the July 3 " SuperSmackDown LIVE : The Great American Bash " event , teaming with Sgt . Slaughter and Santino Marella to face Hunico , Camacho , and Drew McIntyre Jim is due to wrestle in Aberdeen for Wrestle Zone ' s 5th anniversary show . Other media . It has been confirmed that Duggan will appear on a reality TV show , with other WWE Legends on WWE Network ' s WWE Legends ' House which is currently in production . Personal life . Duggan and his wife Debra have two daughters , Celia and Rebecca . In 1987 , Duggan and the Iron Sheik ( Khosrow Vasiri ) were pulled over by New Jersey police after a WWF event , suspecting Duggan of driving under the influence . After a search of the vehicle and the persons , police discovered that Duggan was under the influence of marijuana and alcohol , while Vasiri was high on cocaine . Small amounts of cocaine were also found in the vehicle . Duggan received a conditional release while Vasiri was placed on probation for a year . The scandal that erupted after two in - ring enemies were found drinking and doing drugs together led to the end of the angle , the Sheik ' s release , and Duggan ' s temporary departure from WWF . Duggan soon returned to wrestling .