America’s Tough Guy and WWE Super Star ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan to Be Inducted into Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame

famous for carrying a 2x4 into the ring while yelling out his trademark "Hoooo!"

WATCH: America’s Tough Guy and WWE Super Star ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan is a Professional Wrestling Icon.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: The Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame selection committee announced that the 2025 induction ceremony will occur on Saturday, May 24, at Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne. This will be the first in-person induction since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. To make a reservation for the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony, e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com or call 321-323-4460. CLICK HERE to see the 2025 Class of the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame.

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2025 SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – If you were a fan of pro wrestling in the late 1980s, you know the name “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan.

The then Titusville, Florida, resident joined what was then called the WWF in 1987 and two years later rose to become the federation’s champion.

A big-time star in the 1980s during the WWE’s first boom period, Duggan became famous for carrying a 2×4 into the ring while yelling out his trademark “Hoooo!” and leading “U-S-A!” chants.

He was the winner of the initial Royal Rumble in 1988, and following his run with WWE, he moved to WCW, where he became a WCW United States and WCW Television Champion.

Duggan grew up in Glens Falls, New York, where he became a star athlete in high school, while his father was the Chief of Police for the City of Glens Falls.

WATCH: If you were a fan of pro wrestling in the late 1980s, you know the name “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan. A big-time star in the 1980s during the WWE’s first boom period, Duggan became famous for carrying a 2×4 into the ring while yelling out his trademark “Hoooo!” and leading “U-S-A!” chants.

He was a letterman in football, track, wrestling, and basketball, and won the New York State High School wrestling championship in the unlimited weight class division.

Duggan was recruited by Ohio State University, but would instead choose to play football at Southern Methodist University, where he played both ways and was selected as team captain.

After college, Duggan was signed by the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League but was released after being plagued by knee injuries.

Duggan broke into the professional wrestling business thanks in large part to wrestler Fritz Von Erich. The two met while Duggan was on a recruiting trip to SMU.

Duggan’s first professional match was in 1979 against Gino Hernandez, marking the beginning of his career as a villain. Training at the Sportatorium in Dallas, Texas, as well as with Samoan wrestling promoter Peter Maivia, Duggan gained the attention of Vince McMahon Sr. and the World Wrestling Federation.

Duggan was signed to the WWF in January 1987, making his first major appearance with the WWF at WrestleMania III, where he also made his pay-per-view debut.

In the weeks preceding WrestleMania, Duggan began his first WWF feud with Nikolai Volkoff.

At the event, he ran to the ringside before a match between The Killer Bees and The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff and interrupted Volkoff’s pre-match singing of the Russian national anthem.

After the WCW was purchased by the WWF in March 2001, Duggan began wrestling in the independent circuit.

After spending a year wrestling independents throughout the Northeast and a tour of Austria for Catch Wrestling Association, Duggan signed a contract with World Championship Wrestling in the summer of 1994.

In 1998, Duggan was diagnosed with advanced kidney cancer. Within a week of the diagnosis, he was on the operating table. Miraculously, he not only beat the disease but was back in the ring months later, as if nothing had happened.

On April 2, 2011, Duggan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by fellow inductee “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase.

Duggan returned to wrestling in WWE with an appearance at the 2012 Royal Rumble and entered the Royal Rumble match.

In 2017, Duggan released the first issue of a biographical comic book miniseries through Squared Circle Comics, entitled Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

In 2018, Duggan’s trademark “Hooooo!” shout was used in Tuxedo and Zapp’s song “Shy” in live performances and on TV appearances.

Duggan has had numerous TV and movie appearances, mostly as himself, and has launched a comedy club tour where he shares stories from his wrestling days.

He has been married to his wife Debra since 1989, and they have two daughters, Celia and Rebecca. The Duggans now reside in South Carolina.

Offering professional wrestling fans a ringside seat into his adventurous life, Duggan recounts key moments and legendary bouts both inside and outside the ring in his book “Hacksaw: The Jim Duggan Story,” which can be purchased HERE.

THE 2025 SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME Banquet and Induction Ceremony will occur at Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne on Saturday, May 24. FOR INFORMATION about the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame, or to make a reservation, e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com or call 321-615-8111.

CLICK HERE TO SEE MEMBERS OF THE SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME

The Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame induction dinner and ceremony is presented by Tom and Suzie Wasdin

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA—The Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame selection committee announced that the 2025 induction ceremony will occur on Saturday, May 24, at Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne. This will be the first in-person induction since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame induction dinner and ceremony, presented by Tom and Suzie Wasdin, will be held on the evening of May 24. The Meet-and-Greet will begin at 6 p.m., and the dinner and program will start at 7 p.m.

Tom and Suzie Wasdin are longtime Brevard County entrepreneurs, community supporters, and philanthropists. Tom, an NCAA Final Four basketball coach and Brevard Sports Ambassador, was inducted into the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.

The meet-and-greet will include an opportunity to talk with the area’s sports royalty. Dinner and the induction proceeding, which will include compelling video tributes to each inductee, will follow.

The Brevard County High School Breakfast of Champions recognition awards will be held Saturday, May 24, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., also at Eastern Florida State College.

During the Breakfast of Champions, more than 40 awards will be presented to the best of the 2024-2025 male and female high school student-athletes in each sport. For sponsorship information, call 321-323-4460 or e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com.

Both the Breakfast of Champions and the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame events will be streamed live on Space Coast Daily TV.

Health First, Erdman Automotive, Eastern Florida State College, All Points, Clear Choice Health Care, Brevard Public Schools, Space Coast Office of Tourism, EDC of the Space Coast, 4Ever Young Merritt Island, and Savings Safari sponsor the 2025 Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame induction event and the Brevard County High School Breakfast of Champions recognition awards.

To make a reservation for the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony, e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com or call 321-323-4460.

INDUCTEES SELECTED IN FOUR CATEGORIES

Nominees are chosen in four categories: professional sports, college sports, high school sports, and amateur sports. Special honorary recognition is also bestowed upon individuals and groups that have made significant contributions to sports on the Space Coast.

SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2025

■ PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY INDUCTEES: Jamel Dean, Football; Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Wrestling; Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Football; Randy Pobst, Auto racing; Juwaan Taylor, Football

■ COLLEGE CATEGORY INDUCTEES: Paulette King, Basketball, Dylan Lewis, Soccer; Steve Freeman, Soccer; Bryan Cook, Baseball

■ PREP CATEGORY INDUCTEES: Lexy Denaburg, Volleyball; Andi Sellers, Soccer; Kaira Simmons, Track & Field; Jayvan Boggs, Football

■ AMATEUR/RECREATION CATEGORY INDUCTEE: Alli Penovich, Free Diving; Peter Blount, Track & Field; Caylor Williams, Wrestling

■ COACHING CATEGORY INDUCTEES: Doug Butler, Cross Country and Track; Gerald Hodgin, Football; Jim Oler, Basketball; Don Smith, Basketball

• SPORTS OFFICIAL INDUCTEES: Ted Ruta

• SPORTS JOURNALISM INDUCTEES: Steve Vaughn

• SPORTS DEVELOPMENT INDUCTEE: Loren McClanahan

■ LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT INDUCTEES: Larry Garrison, Clint Hurdle

■ SPORTS AMBASSADOR AWARD INDUCTEE: Rusty Buchanan

■ CHALLENGER AWARD INDUCTEE: Joshua Dillon

■ TEAM OF THE YEAR: Cocoa Tigers Football

■ LEGACY CHAMPIONS: Merritt Island Baseball, 1999-2000

■ SPECIAL TRIBUTE: Tim Wakefield

Space Coast Daily created the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame in 2011 and has inducted over 200 of Brevard County’s most outstanding athletes, coaches, and sports personalities. Eastern Florida State’s Titan Fieldhouse on the Melbourne Campus hosts the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame. Portraits of the Hall of Famers are displayed on the wall in the building’s main hallway, which runs parallel to the gym and outside the athletic department offices.

To make a reservation for the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony, e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com or call 321-323-4460.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE MEMBERS OF THE SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME

CLICK HERE FOR BREVARD COUNTY NEWS

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