KERSHAW COUNTY, S.C. — “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan did not have his trademark 2-by-4 nearby, but he summoned his years of experience as a professional wrestler to intimidate a foe.
This time, Duggan did not toss anyone over the top rope, as he did when he won the inaugural WWF (now WWE) Royal Rumble in 1988. But a handgun came in handy and the intruder learned that you don’t mess around with Jim.
Duggan, 68, thanked the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Department for their help in subduing an intruder at his South Carolina home on Dec. 8, WCIV-TV reported.
Thank you to the @KershawCountySC Sheriff's Office and thank you to my fans and friends for the well wishes!https://t.co/DtR7TcnI9V pic.twitter.com/Jek2eVLjzx
— "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan (@RealHacksawJim) December 17, 2022
Duggan, who was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011, said a man climbed over a fence at his home in Kershaw County, ran through the yard to the front door and banged on the glass doors, according to the television station.
“We live way out in the country in South Carolina, probably 200 yards off the main road, down a dirt road. It was totally dark. My wife was the only one who had Christmas lights on in the whole street. I’m watching TV, she’s making the bed. And all of a sudden there’s this huge pounding on our door,” Duggan said Wednesday on “Fox & Friends First.” “We have glass doors. Our yard is all fenced in. It’s 70 yards from the road. As I run to the foyer, the guy comes in but trips over our step and falls in. I switch on ready to grab him and he goes, ‘No, no, help me, help me.’ And I’m like, ‘What?’ And I grab him and I threw (him) out onto the porch and I’m thinking it’s a home invasion and this guy is just a diversion.
“So as my wife is watching him, I grab my gun. It just happened to be a .44 Magnum -- the old ‘Dirty Harry’ gun, which is a pretty intimidating weapon,” Duggan said. “I had that in my hand, waiting for someone else to come. No one else showed up.”
Duggan thanked the sheriff’s department and fans in a tweet on Saturday.
“Thanks to everyone for the concern and well wishes!” Duggan tweeted.
In August, Duggan celebrated the completion of his 39th and final radiation treatment for prostate cancer by ringing a bell, with nurses and hospital personnel at The Cancer Center at South Carolina Oncology Associates in Columbia cheering him on, according to Bleacher Report.
Duggan, who first announced he had prostate cancer in an Instagram post in October 2021, said he was cancer-free two months later. However, in May 2022 he said the cancer had returned. That led to radiation treatments five days a week for eight weeks.
Duggan was a fixture in the WWF from 1987 to 1993 during the promotion’s “golden era.” The Glens Falls, New York, resident touts himself as “a legendary professional wrestler and a true American patriot” on his website.
With his trademark “Hoooooo!” catchphrase and hard-hitting style, Duggan was a fan favorite among pro wrestling fans.
After leaving WWE, Duggan competed in WCW from 1994 through 2001, according to Bleacher Report. He returned to WWE for a four-year run beginning in 2005.
Duggan said he was glad the situation did not escalate.
“Thank goodness I didn’t shoot him or anything because it would’ve been a horrible thing to live with, but the guy did break into our house,” Duggan told “Fox & Friends First.”
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