James Stuart Duggan was born to be a wrestler. Even before he’d considered becoming a wrestler he’d already possessed the two most important facets of any wrestler – long hair and a large build. It was only a matter of time before he took the wrestling world by storm – or became a successful rent-to-own repo man.

Upon entering the wrestling industry he took on the stage name “Big” Jim Duggan. The depth of his gimmick was unprecedented – not only did he have a name, but also an adjective.

Wrestling had been changed forever, but “Big” Jim wasn’t done changing. It was time to reinvent himself. He would become… “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan. Adjectives were so 1979 – nouns were now.

The original Hacksaw gimmick had Duggan carrying a saw down to the ring, but the idea was scrapped when he accidently sawed  the Tonk off of the Honky Tonk Man.

It was back to the drawing board. Saws, trees… lumber. That was the key to success in the WWF – carrying freshly cut lumber to the ring.

The crowds ate it up. There’s nothing more pleasing to the eye than a well planed piece of framing 2” x 4”. He was flying high entering the first ever Royal Rumble. He’d seen a rumble in his time, but never one so regal.

Duggan would saw his way through all of the entrants on his way toward victory. It marked the high point of his entire career. The only way to go from there was liver cancer.

Doctor’s suspect it was the fresh maple sap that caused the cancer, but Duggan is convinced he got it from all the steroids he shot daily straight into his liver.

The fact remains, however, that Duggan will forever be remembered as the American ideal.

Five acres and a 2” x 4”.