Stone Cold screw Hacksaw Jim Duggan?

[stonecoldhell]

I've heard many people talked about this.

That Austin screwed Hacksaw Jim Duggan and didn't wanna job and pass the torch and never wanted to do the job, so he lose quickly 30 second match.

Hacksaw was pissed of as hell, on Austin.

Any people knows about this story?

I searched on Stone Cold politics and find another wrestlingforum but I don't know if I can link from another forum.

 

[Pratham]

Yeah, I actually have never seen anyone talk about this, except Jim Duggan. I dont know how true it is, but the story I heard from Jim Duggan was that Austin was actually NOT happy about the short match and wanted a longer match before losing to Jim Duggan. Even Austin has spoken about how he wanted a longer match with Jim Duggan.

As for Austin not being happy with losing to Jim Duggan, I could definitely see that happening and I could also see Jim Duggan making the whole thing up, because well, he's Jim Duggan.

It's possible that Austin was unhappy, but I dont see the big deal about it. People get unhappy with finishes all the time. A young talented guy with potential being unhappy with losing in 30 seconds to a guy clearly past his prime isn't surprising or out of the ordinary.

Also, I think the guy who made this thread is a troll. Will someone please look into it.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

It was pitched at the time that Austin was seriously injured in the match and quoted that he "slipped on Duggan" which got quite a lot of heat. I never had any reason to doubt that it was a legit injury but that while he was out his relationship deteriorated with Bischoff and WCW... Austin pretty much never wrestled in WCW again so it is possible that his either "refusal" to accept a shorter match or an insistence on a longer one did for him...

 

[klunderbunker]

If this is true it's not something I've heard of. Austin losing to Duggan made me roll my eyes, but if he was injured that's a different story. However, it's interesting that whoever came up with this theory seems to forget that there was a rematch at Halloween Havoc that ran about eight minutes. As for Austin, he did wrestle in WCW again as he was in a tournament for the vacant US Title in early 1995, losing to Randy Savage.

Also the story doesn't make a ton of sense. If he wanted to screw Duggan over, wouldn't the solution be to have a bad match with him? Duggan beating a champion in 30 seconds makes Duggan look good more than anything else. If you want to see someone screwing up a newcomer's push, look no further than Duggan himself against Berlyn at Fall Brawl 1999.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

Why would Austin, a youngster, not want to 'pass the torch' to a veteran? He didn't have a torch to pass!!

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Bear in mind the injury story was a mix from the sheets of the day and the PWI/Apter mags... so there was perhaps a smaller injury than painted. Bischoff has said it was once Steve "got home" that his attitude changed and it was clear he "wanted out", culminating in the famous "tell him i'm out" phone call.

He did the odd shot for them but after that loss he wasn't really a regular... It's probably fair to say his motivation was destroyed, not by the jobbing to Duggan but the disheartening way that push, like the Blondes had been killed off for nothing... the US title picture didn't improve under Duggan, WCW didn't flourish until Luger and Nitro, then Hall and Nash...

I can imagine this feeding into the Brock situation later in WWE and a nerve being touched that led to his walkout... I can imagine Steve thinking, though not now wanting to admit.. "F This.. I did this for Duggan back then and now they want me to do it for Brock on free TV? AND Coach... No way..."

 

[FlairFan2003]

Yeah, it makes no sense to "bury a guy" by losing to him in 30 seconds like he's a monster bad a#@.

Austin may not have been happy about being pushed aside for an over the hill career mid carder at a time he should have been rising up the card. Duggan was Hogan's buddy and got that match based on that alone. In terms of national recognition at that point Duggan wasn't much bigger than Austin (and not near as relevant to current fans at the time). Flair, Arn, Sting, Vader, they were all bigger stars than Duggan, they just weren't Hogan's buddies is all.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

I would be more surprised if Austin was happy about having to drop the title to a years past his prime Duggan simply because he was a friend of Hogan and he'd once worked in the WWF. That decision right there probably confirmed for him that he wasn't going anywhere in WCW, and attributed to Bischoff later saying that he wanted out. Can't really blame him either. It was a bad, backwards booking decision. Someone like Hacksaw at that point in time should have been used to put over guys like Austin, who were the future of the company. Austin shouldn't have been fed to Hacksaw Duggan. It wouldn't surprise me if Austin decided to make it a quick match like that because he didn't want to have to be out there any longer than necessary. He just didn't give a shit.

 

[justtxyank]

Lots of misinformation in here.

Austin returned from an injury in 94 and worked nearly 50 matches for WCW in 1995. He was still a regular performer. He got hurt AGAIN in 95 and that was when his relationship with WCW came to an end.

As for the theory he was hurt in the Duggan match at Fall Brawl, that's just not true, at least not a major injury. He continued wrestling Duggan, not just at pay-per-views but throughout the house show circuit. Now, their Clash of the Champions rematch was about a 17 second match and he was injured there, so maybe that's where some of this story comes from? That was hardly a match and he took time off after that until returning to the circuit in February of 1995.

Austin certainly didn't screw Jim Duggan though, who had been an established midcarder and upper midcard gatekeeper for years by that point and had never really moved much at all. Beats lower guys, loses to guys that the company wants to move up the card and to guys that need a win on tv. Austin also did the job for Duggan on a nightly basis on the house shows.

I'm not a Duggan hater like many IWC guys are. He was still a good brawler at this point and had value. I don't even mind him getting the US title if you have a story to use him in that makes sense.

It's also easy for people to look back and judge booking decisions made by a company when you know how everyone turned out. BUT, keep in mind that in 94 WCW was a DISTANT 2nd in the wrestling business in the US and Turner had already considered shutting it down by this point. The star of WCW had fallen a long way from the 80s when JCP was a real challenger to the WWF. You look back and you think "how did this company let Stone Cold lose to Jim Duggan!" but at the time this was a company trying to get audiences to start watching their programs again and they thought the way to do that was to put names you were familiar with in prominent positions.

 

[smizzy]

I've heard many people talked about this.

That Austin screwed Hacksaw Jim Duggan and didn't wanna job and pass the torch and never wanted to do the job, so he lose quickly 30 second match.

Hacksaw was pissed of as hell, on Austin.

Any people knows about this story?

I searched on Stone Cold politics and find another wrestlingforum but I don't know if I can link from another forum.

God damn, dude. What is your first language? If it's anything other than English then I applaud you for the valiant effort, but it still has a ways to go.

And like KB said, this story doesn't make any sense. Old speculation is not worth hammering out, especially this; it's not even close to being newsworthy, much like all of your other Pro Stone Cold threads. It's one thing to talk about a past event of significance, but it's another thing whenever there's no substance and not worth anyone's time, other than to scratch your clearly overwhelming Steve Austin itch.

 

[Christian Faith]

I was young at the time and thought Duggan as US champ was a good idea given his patriotic gimmick. I didn't know the story behind it and rarely watched WCW anyway.

Looking back now sure it sucks that Austin dropped the belt to him in 30 seconds or whatever but lets not forget this was "Stunning" Steve Austin and not Stone Cold.

 

[The Boss]

Also, it's not like Austin was burried. During the entire time he and HOLLYWOOD HULK HOGAN were in WCW, Austin was either defending, challenging for, or winning the U.S. championship. The fact that he got injured twice was out of their hands.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

Unfortunately, by 1994 Hacksaw was not the Wrestler he was in the 1980s, or very early 1990s. Duggan was a great and exciting brawler in the earlier 1980s- but his persona in WWF scaled that back. He was an exciting entertainer in his day. But the match with Austin was a joke; Austin was a very exciting wrestler and could have been made to look ultra competitive before losing to duggan; who was past it.

 

[The Boss]

Unfortunately, by 1994 Hacksaw was not the Wrestler he was in the 1980s, or very early 1990s. Duggan was a great and exciting brawler in the earlier 1980s- but his persona in WWF scaled that back. He was an exciting entertainer in his day. But the match with Austin was a joke; Austin was a very exciting wrestler and could have been made to look ultra competitive before losing to duggan; who was past it.

And let's not forget that neither Austin nor Duggan was supposed to have the U.S. title for that event. The match was brought about because Steamboat was injured and had to retire. They played it off as if the title was just going to be handed back to Austin but then the surprise of him having to face (and ultimately losing the title to) Duggan made for a great crowd pop.

If they had a full match it wouldn't have been as climactic as Duggan was not the wrestler/brawler he once was. WCW knew this and kept his reign short. After a few defences against Austin he dropped the title to Big Van Vader. Was having Duggan defeat Austin in 30 seconds the ideal match? No. But under the circumstances it was good booking to create a quick exciting high point to make up for the great Steamboat/Austin match that had to be scrapped.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

And let's not forget that neither Austin nor Duggan was supposed to have the U.S. title for that event. The match was brought about because Steamboat was injured and had to retire. They played it off as if the title was just going to be handed back to Austin but then the surprise of him having to face (and ultimately losing the title to) Duggan made for a great crowd pop.

If they had a full match it wouldn't have been as climactic as Duggan was not the wrestler/brawler he once was. WCW knew this and kept his reign short. After a few defences against Austin he dropped the title to Big Van Vader. Was having Duggan defeat Austin in 30 seconds the ideal match? No. But under the circumstances it was good booking to create a quick exciting high point to make up for the great Steamboat/Austin match that had to be scrapped.

To be fair WCW had also just lost Rude, which was FAR more damaging to them, although the reality is that once Hogan signed he would have been straight back to WWE and feuding with Bret for the belt... Rude doesn't get hurt in Japan, he headlines Mania 11 guaranteed...

Losing 2 major talents doesn't really play in this though, Bischoff had already decided on Austin by this point... either something between then didn't gel or more likely he genuinely didn't "see the potential" just like he didn't with Jericho or in truth even Giant/Big Show... all he saw in 1994 was Hogan and making him happy, signing his buddies and pushing them so that the new "golden goose" kept laying.... to be fair it DID work... as creatively bankrupt as that period was it got WCW turning a profit so they could go after Nash and Hall...

With hindsight it wasn't "horrible" Duggan was never a bad talent, just never used right after the UWF... and that then became his "default" setting, being the crowd pleasing, 3 move, HOOOO guy rather than what he would have been if he had driven with someone other than Shiek that one time... Bossman was the same, it was interesting to hear Steve Austin's podcast recently where he talked with Cornette about "Bubba" and how fondly that guy was thought of, but 94 WCW turned him to shit too... basically anyone not a "Hogan Guy" was given the shaft...