‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan has opened up on Vince McMahon’s retirement and his relationship with his former employer.
WWE Hall of Famer ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan was a household name in WWE for many years. The veteran first joined the company in 1987 and continued to make appearances throughout the years even after his full-time in-ring career had ended, all with Vince McMahon at the helm.
In an exclusive interview with Wrestling Inc. Duggan discussed his relationship with McMahon:
“Oh, I don’t talk to Vince too much, I never was an office guy. I never went to Bill Watt’s house, I never went over to Fritz’ house, I’ve never been to Vince’s house – I’m not an office guy. The last thing I would want to be was an agent for WWE.”
Duggan also discussed his former boss’s departure from the WWE, commenting on how much McMahon loved the business:
“I knew Vince really loved the business and who knows what goes on at that level – that’s far removed from me, but it would have to take something like that to get Vince out of office. That guy, he’s like Flair – he is the business, he loves the business, the ring is his whole deal. I think he’d be there to the very end since Vince was one of the first guys at the building and one of the last guys to leave when the shows were done.”
The first-ever winner of the Royal Rumble continued, praising Vince McMahon’s work ethic. Duggan recalled a time he was doing voiceovers when suddenly he heard Vince offering advice:
“Vince was one of the first guys at the building and one of the last guys to leave. I was doing the voiceovers for something at one o’clock in the afternoon, and I had the headset on, and all of a sudden on the headsets, “No, Jim, that’s not right.” I’m [thinking], holy smokes, he’s here listening to rehearsals! The guy was a workaholic. Now is he a puppet master? Yeah, of course. But I don’t hate Vince McMahon like a lot of other people hate Vince, they spit on the ground.”
Despite his extensive career in the territories, WCW, and the independents, Duggan says fans still want to talk about the era of the late eighties/early nineties:
“At 68 years old, I wrestled for 40 years, I do appearances, I’ll do this one up in Iowa, what will people talk about? The WWF. That was the golden age, and I was lucky enough to be part of it. And that was Vince McMahon.”
Jim Duggan has recently given fans an update on his condition following his second battle with cancer, urging everyone to get regular physicals as early detection can save lives.