Hacksaw Jim Duggan: Knocking out Andre in ’88 made me a main eventer
In a recent online radio interview on the Wrestling Observer website, Hacksaw Jim Duggan remembered his feud with Andre the Giant in 1988 as the biggest point of his career. The start of the program occurred when Duggan KO’d Andre with his 2×4 on TV.
“Knocking out Andre with a 2×4 elevated me from a mid-card guy to a main event guy.” Duggan said. “I went down there and I challenged Andre, and when he went to grab me, his thumb hit me in the lip and almost tore my lip off. So my blood was cascading down my chest.”
Duggan said he was proud that he main evented Madison Square Garden in July 1998 for a lumberjack match with Andre (which Andre won) and considered the bout one of his most memorable matches (thanks to the History of WWE website for the details of the match).
Duggan also told a funny story about his former persona before he was Hacksaw, when he went by the name Big Jim Duggan with short hair and no beard, wearing a long golden bathrobe. As Big Jim Duggan, he recalled walking to ring in the old Boston Garden wearing his golden robe while in the WWWF (this likely occurred in 1980).
At one point during his WWWF stop-over, former manager Arnold Skaaland pulled Duggan aside. Skaaland told him, “Kid, you might have a future, but come up with something better than big Jim and get rid of that gold bathrobe.”
Duggan has a new autobiography out with co-author Scott Williams called Hacksaw: The Jim Duggan Story.
Boston Garden Balcony 
Looking back on this era I found Hacksaw Jim Duggan entertaining and blah at times. The 2×4 angle was a real pick me up for The Hacksaw’s career. Of course his thrust into main event status with the Andre angle certainly helped his career. But for pure wrestling enthusiasts he was a man of limited potential. He certainly capitalized on the wild “entertainment” venture the WWF went on during the late 80’s into the 90’s. But like so many others in their day he made his mark on the fans and left. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed his matches and his “thumbs up” schtick, but he always seemed to leave me craving a little more of the 2×4 at the end. Needless to say, I will be picking up a copy of his book.