WWE Legend Hacksaw Jim Duggan Wrestled a Home Intruder to the Floor and Held Him at Gunpoint. Then the Story Gets Weird.

Gilbert Carrasquillo. Getty Images.

"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan is a product of what is, to me personally, pro wrestling's Golden Age. That era from the mid-80s on where the Sport of Kings elevated itself beyond just Saturday morning cable to front and center of the nation's zeitgeist. Crossing over onto MTV, prime time and pay per view events. Wrestlemania, for one. And a few years later, the Royal Rumble, which saw Hacksaw as it's first champion. 

If you saw him in his prime, no explanation is necessary. If you didn't, none will suffice. But here's a small sampling of the magic he brought to the ring as well as the behind the scenes plot lines:

And so it was that Duggan emerged this week with a wild story about an intruder breaking into what sounded like one of the worst homes to invade in America:

But as it turns out, that intruder is the luckiest son of a bitch in the home invasion business. Because ending up in the home of a man who's worn a WWE belt may have saved his life: 

Source - Duggan told Wrestling Inc. that his home was broken into by an intruder on at around 6:45 p.m. on Thursday, December 8, and that the individual, a man in his mid-20s, entered through the front door of his Kershaw County, South Carolina, home. Duggan claimed he took the man down by himself before grabbing his .44 caliber pistol and holding the intruder at gunpoint.

Duggan and his wife, Debra, noted that after the man entered, they heard other people yelling in their neighborhood. Duggan, concerned that more people might be headed his way, had his Christmas lights turned off and told the intruder to be quiet. The intruder, who the Duggans described as hysterically frightened, claimed that people from a nearby home were coming after him to kill him, after which Duggan kept his gun on his lap and his hand on the intruder's back until the police arrived.

According to Duggan, the intruder was fleeing individuals related to a separate legal matter … before climbing over the Duggans' fence and entering through their unlocked door. Duggan did not press charges when asked. …

"Thank God we didn't shoot him," Duggan said.

Thank God, indeed. But then again, the Almighty would give that credit where it's due, squarely on the 2X4 of Hacksaw Jim. Who, after all, was just being the hero he was back when he was battling The Honky Tonk Man for the Intercontinental title, staring down Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase, or defeating Boris Zukhov in a Flag Match. A roving gang of toughs looking to settle a score with some terrified criminal on the run is child's play when you've beaten a Russian in the height of the Cold War. And let me remind that gang chasing this guy, Duggan beat a real gang, THE One Man Gang, to win that historic first Royal Rumble. 

So let this be a lesson to all you kids who grew up on your The Rocks and your Stone Cold Steve Austins. When the WWE was at its pinnacle, these guys didn't have to play at being heroes. Hacksaw Jim Duggan just reminded us all they were true heroes in every sense of the word.