WWF Coliseum Video Collection: Hacksaw Jim Duggan (1989)

WWF Coliseum Video Collection: Hacksaw Jim Duggan (1989)

Coliseum Video compilation. The front cover features Jim Duggan making love to a 2x4

Sean Mooney hosts from the control center

WWF Intercontinental Champion Ultimate Warrior warns us about the dangers of smoking

Jim Duggan cuts a generic in front of a green screen American flag, a la Patton. Why is he so sweaty?

Jim Duggan video package

We get clips from one of Duggan’s first appearances in early 1987 (perhaps even his debut) where he rants about Nikolai Volkoff singing the Soviet national anthem 

Next up, WrestleMania III, where he comes out to make the same complaint in front of 93,000 people

Flag Match: Jim Duggan v Boris Zhukov: From Saturday Night's Main Event on November 26 1988 (taped November 16) in Sacramento California. Winner's flag gets raised. Duggan clears the ring with the 2x4 at the bell, but Zhukov doesn't back down. Slugfest goes Jim's way with an atomic drop, and he adds a big clothesline to send Boris bailing for the outside. Back in, Zhukov manages a knee when Hacksaw tries a backdrop, and he adds a kneedrop. Jim no-sells, however, and he manages to outsmart Zhukov when he tries another knee, but Duggan misses an elbowdrop. More random no-selling, and the three-Point Stance finishes Zhukov off at 2:27. Positives: it was energetic. Negatives: it happened. ¼*

Jim Duggan offers his thoughts on royalty. “Harley Race wears that crown on that big bucket head of his.” Thank God for closed captioning, because I swear he said ‘fucking head of his.’

Jim Duggan v Tiger Chung Lee: From Superstars of Wrestling on October 24 1987 (taped October 6) in Milwaukee Wisconsin. Harley Race is hanging around at ringside following his own match, and Duggan gets in his face, wanting him to vacate the area. Harley refuses, so Jim nails him with the 2x4, and the crowd pops big for it. Crowds in this era were outstanding. Lee attacks from behind, but Duggan quickly fights him off with a backdrop, and delivers a kneedrop for two. Jim with a turnbuckle smash and a ten-punch count, and a bodyslam follows, as Race tries getting back to the ring area. Duggan with a three-point stance to finish at 1:03. Race pushes through the gang of referees to get back to the ring and confront Duggan, and he brings a chair in to try and counter the 2x4, but Duggan wins the exchange, and steals Harley’s crown and cape. DUD

A few weeks later, Duggan comes out for an interview, and he’s still got Race’s crown and robe. That draws Bobby Heenan out to call him a thief, which allows Race to sneak attack, and give Hacksaw a proper beatdown

Next up, the 1987 Slammy Awards, which sees Duggan presenting Best Apparel, which Race wins, triggering a massive brawl

Jim Duggan v Harley Race: From a live event in New York City on January 25 1988. I never liked when Duggan would wear the black or navy blue tights. The bright blue look was his best. I also didn’t dig when he took that bright blue gear a step further with the flag on it later on. And speaking of gear, why was Race’s crown always off center? It’s one thing when Bret Hart did it (since the heart was aligned with his actual heart), at least that made sense, all this does is make Race look goofy. Maybe he had the same wardrobe person Ted DiBiase had in 1994. Lots of stalling from Harley early on, and Jim knocks him around. Duggan works a front-facelock, but a shoulderblock backfires on him, and Harley delivers a headbutt drop to the knee. Race with a belly-to-belly suplex for two, and a piledriver for two. Duggan barely sells it all, so Race tries punching, but Jim gets fired up, and knocks him silly. Kneedrop, but Race rolls out of the way. That puts the hurt on the knee again, so Harley goes to work on it, but a headbutt drop on the floor misses. Inside, Duggan looks for a comeback, but Race manages to backdrop him over the top to cut it off. Race follows to bash his head into the apron, so Jim goes underneath the ring, and comes out the other side to sneak attack. Duggan goes on the comeback trail, so Race makes a last ditch effort with a flying bodypress, but Jim rolls through at 10:49. This was fun, and it was nice getting all the buildup behind it. * ½ 

Clips of Andre the Giant costing Duggan a WWF Title Tournament match to Ted DiBiase at WrestleMania IV

Andre the Giant v Brian Costello: From Superstars on April 2 1988 (taped March 9) in Winston-Salem North Carolina. Andre wrecks the dork before the bell even rings, dumping him to the outside, and leaving him for dead. That draws Jim Duggan out to get in his face (or, well, his chest), and he challenges the Giant to a match. Andre responds by choking him out, and he throttles Hacksaw so badly that Jim just starts pouring blood out of his mouth. Duggan manages to fight him off with the 2x4, but he’s badly battered. Good segment. They used to be really good at this sort of thing

Jim Duggan v Andre the Giant: From a live event in Boston Massachusetts on June 4 1988. Andre with an extended stall to start, refusing to get in and engage. Booking Andre to play a coward is certainly a choice. I know that is was more the result of his immobility by that point, but it just feels so strange, like when they did the same thing with Sycho Sid in 1995. You have a monster, book a monster! The first contact doesn’t come until five minutes in, when Andre finally gets into the ring, and Duggan knocks him into the ropes. Duggan unloads, but makes the mistake of headbutting him, and that backfires in dramatic fashion. Andre tries to railroad him into the corner, but Jim keeps fighting back, so Andre grabs the 2x4. Duggan knocks it away from him, but Andre keeps control, and delivers a series of turnbuckle smashes. Andre works a nervehold, then into an illegal choke, but Duggan fights free. Andre tries a big boot, but misses (he could barely even get his leg up high enough for it), allowing Jim the three-point stance. He charges, but Andre lifts his boot in the corner to block, and hooks a leveraged pin at 9:21. That may be the one and only time I’ve ever seen Andre the Giant using a leveraged pin. -¾*

Duggan cuts a green screen logo promo on Dino Bravo

From SummerSlam ‘88, it’s the Brother Love Show, with Jim Duggan. Just like when I was ten, Brother Love is an automatic fast-forward. So Love makes the mistake of questioning Duggan’s patriotism, and gets kicked off of his own show

A few weeks later, another episode of the Brother Love Show, with Duggan as the guest again. Love should really have a talk with his producer. Why would he book Duggan again after what happened the last time? So, more of the same, with Love questioning Duggan’s patriotism, but this time Dino Bravo comes out to back Brother up, and he tells Duggan that both he and America stink, and you can guess how that goes over

Flag Match: Dino Bravo v Jim Duggan: From a live event in New York City on December 30 1988. Winner gets to raise their flag. Duggan cleans house, and Bravo stalls on the outside for a while. It’s fine when it’s him, he’s not Andre the fucking Giant after all. Inside, Hacksaw takes him to the mat in a hammerlock, but a corner charge hits boot, and bless Duggan with his big time selling. He’s not a great worker, but he could dramatically sell big moves, and it comes off great. Bravo with a series of turnbuckle smashes, but Duggan no-sells. Backdrop, but Bravo blocks, cutting off the comeback effort. Dino with an inverted atomic drop from there, and he works a chinlock, but Duggan fights free. Bravo responds by hammering him in the corner, but a whip into the ropes gets reversed, and Hacksaw delivers a ten-punch count. Cross corner whip sets up a clothesline on the rebound, and it’s three-point stance time, but Frenchy Martin hooks the ankle. That allows Dino to clobber him for two, and a bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop for two. Sidewalk slam looks to finish, but Duggan is in the ropes at two. Martin responds by grabbing the flagpole, but it backfires, and Jim scores the pin at 7:26. *

BUExperience: What I really liked about the profile tapes from this period is that, even if the subject wasn’t the best worker, the selections actually told stories, as opposed to the later ones, that had great subjects like Bret Hart or Razor Ramon, and it was just ‘here’s a random match I had with Adam Bomb’ with no context whatsoever. 

A good addition to your Coliseum Collection.