Marcus Bagwell

Marcus Alexander Bagwell (January 10, 1970) is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name, Buff Bagwell. He is best known for his tenure in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) between 1991 and 2001, where he was a five time World Tag Team Champion.
==Professional wrestling career==
Bagwell is of English ancestry. Bagwell was a baseball and football player during his tenure in Sprayberry High School, and worked for his family's lumber company upon graduating as well as being an amateur boxer. When the company went bankrupt, however, Bagwell became a certified massage therapist before deciding to become a wrestler. He trained under Steve Lawler and debuted in 1990, working for North Georgia Wrestling as Fabulous Fabian. In 1991, he began wrestling with the Global Wrestling Federation as The Handsome Stranger, a gimmick suggested by Bill Eadie that saw Bagwell don a "Lone Ranger"-style eye mask.
===World Championship Wrestling (1991–2001)===
====Early years====
In 1991, Bagwell was hired by World Championship Wrestling, where he wrestled under his full name. Over the next five years he would form tag teams with Tom Zenk, 2 Cold Scorpio, The Patriot (as Stars N Stripes), and Scotty Riggs (as The American Males), and won four WCW World Tag Team Championships over that span.
====New World Order====
On November 25, 1996, Bagwell joined the New World Order after turning on his partner Riggs. He soon renamed himself to Buff Bagwell and formed a tag team with Scott Norton called Vicious and Delicious. While with the nWo, he also competed for New Japan Pro Wrestling as part of nWo Japan, the NJPW version of the nWo. When he returned to America, he began a feud with Lex Luger, which later saw Bagwell defeat him at Starrcade.
On the April 22, 1998 edition of Thunder, Bagwell suffered damage to several vertebrae and developed spinal shock syndrome after a botched diving bulldog at the hands of Rick Steiner. As planned however, Bagwell won the match with the interference of Rick's brother Scott moments before being carefully placed on a stretcher. Bagwell then needed to use a wheelchair and a neck brace for some time. He returned months later for an interview only to be viciously ridiculed by Hollywood Hogan and shoved to the entryway floor. On July 6, after recently having neck surgery, the wheelchair-using Bagwell returned to WCW in his home state of Georgia. Bagwell seemed to have a new attitude and even called out Rick Steiner to offer him his forgiveness. However, Bagwell restrained Rick while fellow nWo member Scott Steiner assaulted him with a steel chair, reaffirming his loyalty to Hogan and the nWo. Bagwell then rose from his wheelchair and helped Scott beat down Rick. In January 1999, the nWo factions merged, leading Bagwell and Steiner to side with the Wolfpac. Their alliance ended at Uncensored when Bagwell accidentally hit Steiner with a chair, costing him the World Television Championship.
====New Blood====
In June 1999, Bagwell engaged in a rivalry with WCW President Ric Flair and Vice President Roddy Piper claiming he was being held back. This led to a three-round boxing match with Piper at the Bash at the Beach, which saw Bagwell triumph. In September 1999, he feuded with Berlyn when Berlyn issued a challenge to Bagwell, but at Fall Brawl, Bagwell was late coming to the arena and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan replaced him. The next night on Nitro, Bagwell lost to Berlyn after the interference of his bodyguard, The Wall. In November, he defeated veteran Curt Hennig in a retirement match. Bagwell then feuded with Diamond Dallas Page after he made allegations about Page's wife Kimberly. Having spent much of 1999 fighting older wrestlers, Bagwell was one of the first to join Eric Bischoff's New Blood alliance, forming a tag team with Shane Douglas. Bagwell and Douglas eventually won the World Tag Team Championship from Ric Flair and Lex Luger, giving Bagwell his fifth World Tag Team Title reign and rekindling his feud with Luger from two years earlier. At Slamboree, Luger defeated Bagwell via submission with the Torture Rack.
On May 9, 2000, following a Thunder taping in Springfield, Illinois, Bagwell punched and yelled racial slurs at Darrell Miller, a WCW crew member, after he and Bagwell began arguing when Miller attempted to carry equipment through a doorway in which Bagwell was standing. On May 15, 2000 Bagwell was charged with battery by the Sangamon County, Illinois State's Attorney's office. WCW responded to the incident by suspending Bagwell for thirty days and stripping him of his half of the World Tag Team Championship.
Upon his return, Bagwell attempted to win the World Tag Team Title with Douglas once more, but failed. Bagwell, now with Torrie Wilson by his side, fought Douglas at Bash at the Beach, but lost when Wilson distracted him and sided with Douglas. Bagwell then began a feud with Chris Kanyon, who began stalking him and even harassing Bagwell's mother Judy as a psychological attack. Bagwell eventually defeated Kanyon in a match where Judy was suspended from a forklift. He rescued his mother despite the surprise interference of actor David Arquette. In August 2000, Miss Hancock, the girlfriend of David Flair, mysteriously became pregnant. Flair quickly accused the womanizing Bagwell, which led to a First Blood match at Halloween Havoc, with Flair hoping to obtain a sample of Bagwell's blood to prove he was the father of Hancock's child. Although Bagwell was victorious, Flair managed to get his blood sample when Bagwell's nemesis Lex Luger attacked him after the match. Bagwell was then revealed as not being the father, and the entire pregnancy was eventually found to have been a fabrication.
====Totally Buff====
At Starrcade, Bagwell (who at the time had returned as a backstage interviewer) betrayed Goldberg by trying to cost him his match with Lex Luger. Bagwell's efforts were unsuccessful, but he managed to hit Goldberg with a steel chair after he had pinned Luger. Despite feuding in the past, Bagwell and Luger then formed a tag team known as Totally Buff. Totally Buff would go on to defeat Goldberg at Sin after a fan maced Goldberg, allowing Bagwell to pin him. Due to a stipulation in the match, Goldberg was, in storyline, fired. In early 2001, Totally Buff joined Ric Flair's Magnificent Seven faction, and remained with them until WCW's closure.
===World Wrestling Federation (2001)===
Shortly after WCW was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation in March 2001, Bagwell was one of the first AOL Time Warner contracted wrestlers to accept the offered buy-out on his contract and sign with the WWF. On July 1, 2001, Bagwell faced Booker T at a house show and he made his WWF televised debut on the July 2 episode of Raw is War, facing Booker T for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. The match went to a no-contest after interference from Stone Cold Steve Austin and Kurt Angle. When Bagwell arrived to the Raw tapings on July 9 in Atlanta, Georgia, he was informed he was being released from his contract due to complaints about his attitude and an altercation with fellow WCW alumnus Shane Helms. There were also accusations that Bagwell faked an injury at the July 3 SmackDown! tapings after receiving a double powerbomb from the Acolytes Protection Agency. The accusations also claimed his mother Judy was calling WWF offices to request that her son get time off to heal from an injury supposedly inflicted to Bagwell from the double Powerbomb and to complain about her son's travel arrangements.
===Independent circuit (2001–2002)===
====X Wrestling Federation====
Bagwell was featured as a main eventer in Jimmy Hart's newly founded X Wrestling Federation, which taped television matches at Universal Studios Florida on November 12 and November 13, 2001.
====World Wrestling All-Stars====
In 2001 and 2002, Bagwell toured Europe and Australia with the World Wrestling All-Stars. In the autumn of 2001, he competed in the Inception pay-per-view where he won an open battle royal before losing to Jeff Jarrett in the semi-finals of the WWA World Heavyweight Championship tournament. A United Kingdom tour followed, where he mostly faced Stevie Ray and defeated him in several matches. He continued with the WWA into 2002, where in April, he took part in the Eruption pay-per-view. This time, he teamed up with his WWA rival Stevie Ray in an unsuccessful effort against Brian Christopher and Ernest Miller. In the autumn of 2002, he toured the UK and took part in the Retribution pay-per-view. During this tour, he often took part in the main event as a tag team match also involving Sting, Lex Luger and Nathan Jones. At the pay-per-view, he teamed up with Johnny Swinger to face Norman Smiley and Malice in a losing effort.
===Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002–2003, 2006)===
Bagwell made several appearances with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2002 and 2003.
Bagwell appeared on the April 27, 2006 episode of TNA Impact! as the first of Sting's possible tag team partners for Sacrifice on May 14, 2006. Bagwell also appeared on the September 28, 2006 episode of Impact! in several segments, including a press conference, a video package, and a live segment where he brawled briefly with Jeff Jarrett. At a 2008 live event in Florida, Bagwell expressed that he would like to work a deal with TNA in the near future and that he likes TNA because it reminds him of his days in WCW.
===Return to the independent circuit (2006–present)===
Since his final appearance in TNA, Bagwell has resumed wrestling on the independent circuit, most prominently for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) territory Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and Universal Championship Wrestling.
After recovering from his injuries, Bagwell resumed his wrestling career and, in early March 2013, he won American Premier Wrestling's Heavyweight Championship after defeating "Cowboy" Jeremy Young at APW's Brawl VI event.
On May 24, 2014, Bagwell competed in the JT Lightning Invitational Tournament held by Absolute Intense Wrestling, where he won his first round match against Jock Samson before losing to Ethan Page in the quarterfinals.
Buff wrestled Jerry Lawler in Memphis, Tennessee on October 19, 2017 in a free show featuring several former WWE & WCW stars.
Buff traveled to Christchurch, New Zealand in November 2017 to wrestle for Ultimate Championship Wrestling's (UCW) show Sole Survivor in a tag team match defeating the Southern Wrecking Crew.
In September 2018, under the management of Colton Menzel and Zach Salaam, Bagwell competed unsuccessfully in a UCW Heavyweight Title match against former WWE star Rob Conway at UCW's "A Tribute fit for a King" event. This was the first time Bagwell and Conway had ever faced each other.
On October 19, 2018, the nWo (Buff Bagwell, Scott Norton and X-Pac) competed against the No New Friends at the Glory Pro Wrestling #Unsanctioned event.
Bagwell frequently wrestles for the independent wrestling promotion, Universal Championship Wrestling, in his home state of Georgia.
==Media==
===Acting career===
*Day of the Warrior (1996) as The Warrior
*L.E.T.H.A.L. Ladies: Return to Savage Beach (1998) as The Warrior
*Terror Tract (2000) as Pound Dispatcher
===Television appearances===
*Charmed (2001) in episode Wrestling With Demons
*I Want a Famous Face (2005) as himself
==Personal life==
On April 23, 2012, Bagwell was seriously injured in a car accident. According to the Woodstock police report, Bagwell called his wife at 1:35 PM to tell her that he was about to suffer a seizure while driving. He was subsequently taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital in his hometown of Marietta, Georgia, where he was placed in the hospital's intensive care unit after suffering broken bones in his neck, face and jaw. On April 24, fellow WCW alumnus and former tag team partner Scott Norton released a statement via Twitter to confirm that Bagwell was going to be all right. On April 25, Universal Championship Wrestling performer and Bagwell's brother John released a statement to confirm that Bagwell's condition was improving, but that he still required breathing and feeding tubes and would undergo surgery once the swelling in his face and neck subsided. On April 28, Bagwell's mother Judy revealed to TMZ that he had been taken off the breathing tube, was able to eat solid foods, and was able to talk. Fellow WCW alumni Sting, the Steiner Brothers, and Diamond Dallas Page have also kept in contact with Bagwell since his crash. On May 3, Universal Championship Wrestling announced via Twitter that Bagwell was able to walk again, but still had a tingling sensation in his arms and hands. UCW also stated that he had four plates surgically inserted in his face and that his jaw was wired shut after surgery.
===Lawsuit against WWE===
On August 9, 2016 Bagwell filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court of Connecticut against the WWE for royalties from material he is featured in on the WWE Network. The lawsuit was dismissed in December 2017.
==In wrestling==
*Finishing moves
**Buff Blockbuster - Innovated
*Signature moves
**Arm drag
**Atomic drop
**Double underhook DDT
**Dropkick
**Neckbreaker
**Shoulder block, sometimes from the second rope
**Standing or a running splash
**Swinging neckbreaker
**Yellow Jacket Suplex
*With The Patriot
**Simultaneous vertical suplex / diving crossbody combination
*Nicknames
**"Buff"
**"Buff Daddy"
**"The Stuff"
*Entrance themes
**"Rockhouse" by Jimmy Hart and H. Helm (WCW; Used while a part of the New World Order)
**"Tear It Up" by Jimmy Hart and H. Helm (WCW; Used while a part of the New World Order)
**"Kevin Nash / Wolfpac Theme" (WCW; Used while a part of the nWo Elite)
**"Buff Daddy" (WCW / WWF; 1999–2001)
**"Devil Without a Cause" by Kid Rock (Independent circuit)
==Championships and accomplishments==
*AWA Superstars of Wrestling
**AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Patriot
*Cleveland All-Pro World Wrestling
**CAPW Unified World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*Georgia All-Star Wrestling
**GASW Television Championship (1 time)
**GASW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Chris Walker
*Great American Wrestling Federation
**GAWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*Great Championship Wrestling
**GCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – Scott Steele
*Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling
**Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
**Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Dusty Rhodes (1) and Rikki Nelson (2)
*North American Championship Wrestling
**NACW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ricky Morton
*NWA Blue Ridge
**NWA Blue Ridge Television Championship (1 time)
*Not Rated Pro Wrestling
**NRPW World Championship (1 time)
*Pro Wrestling Illustrated
**PWI ranked him #66 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1999
*Ultimate NWA
**Ultimate NWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*World Championship Wrestling 	
**WCW World Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with 2 Cold Scorpio (1), The Patriot (2), Scotty Riggs (1) and Shane Douglas (1)
**Rookie of the Year (1991)
*Other titles
**Michigan Midwest Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
**RCW (Tennessee) Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
**Gamesmaster Golden Joystick Winner (defeating The Patriot, and announced as Marcus Bagley) (1 time)
==External links==
* Profile
* Profile
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