Sometimes in wrestling, you get these cases where a wrestler signs with a promotion that might not seem like the best fit—and you’re right. That wrestler in that promotion doesn’t seem to make sense, they’re out of place with the product, they don’t fit the in-ring direction, or whatever other reason. Sometimes, it’s a mix of things.
“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan was always my pick for the “Wrestler Who Should’ve Asked for Directions” award when it came to his WCW run. The Atlanta company just seemed like an odd home for Duggan but he was there from 1994 until the company closed in 2001.
Jim Duggan Arrives in WCW
When I started watching wrestling, Hacksaw was at the end of his WWE run in 1993. I didn’t follow wrestling as a fan until 1995 and now Duggan was there. This was pre-internet wrestling community and online wrestling news. Unless you had a subscription to WON, you wouldn’t know that Duggan was heading to WCW.
It had to be like he just popped up similar to when Hulk Hogan arrived. Going on their WWE work, neither seemed like the best fit for WCW. If anything, a wrestler from Duggan’s era that would’ve worked in 1994 would be Curt Hennig or Scott Hall.
Sure, they had Hall and didn’t do much with him but the younger guys in that late 70s-early 80s wave of talent are the guys that could’ve benefited WCW years down the line. I honestly don’t know what was planned with Jim Duggan.
He was just out of place in the company as 1995 rolled around. Also, if there was a plan for Duggan, it doesn’t seem to have materialized. Jim Duggan had an eventful first year and even won the U.S title from Steve Austin in a squash.
That would’ve made sense ten years earlier but Austin was a young talent who hadn’t even hit the good years of his in-ring work and promos. Austin was being pushed and there was some plan there. There was really very little on the books for Duggan.
After Hacksaw lost the belt to Vader, you mainly saw Jim Duggan on the B-shows spanking wrestlers. He made for a good Hogan ally in WCW if they needed another one but beyond that, he was just on the roster. That isn’t to say that he did nothing but he was in midcard or lower for the remainder of his run in the company.
Most of the 90s were spent in minor feuds and PPV matches that should’ve been up Hacksaw’s alley but weren’t at all. He would become relevant in the company via a storyline with Team Canada in 2000. It was a return to what made Jim Duggan fun in WWE at a time when the patriotic babyface had grown stale as a gimmick.
What Didn’t Work for Duggan in WCW
The main thing here is that Duggan’s gimmick was super-dated by 1995. When he came in it was fine as Hogan and Savage hit WWE with the same gimmicks. However, the patriot gimmick has a lousy shelf life and it would be a constant job freshening it up for a new generation of fans.
It also didn’t help that Duggan had been doing the gimmick since 1988 and rolled into WCW as part of that Hogan wave.
Once the Hogan wave was over and Hulk went Hollywood, most who came in during that period drowned while a few reinvented themselves in full or in part. Savage is definitely the best example out of those former WWE talents who changed with the times while remaining the Macho Man.
Dugan didn’t really change it up until late into the second act of WCW. By that time, it was a little too late unless WCW had a time machine in the tuck to fix booking issues retroactively.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkSvSYLqT-g
