Buff Bagwell had his best years in professional wrestling while employed at WCW. His career ran from 1991 to 2001. It was during those years that he honed his craft, perfected his image, and came to be known as the over the top character he is still remembered for to this day.
In professional wrestling the characters are so outlandish that really there’s a spot for any character type in the industry across the board, and Bagwell’s cocky, body centric sort of way of delivering his message to the masses from week to week garnered him a lot of attention, especially in the late nineties, when a lot of characters were a tad over the top for sure.
Regardless he established for himself a following and a career to boot, and even a membership in one of the greatest wrestling factions of all time, the nWo.
via Vampiro WCW on YouTube
His run in WWE did not go as well as the careers of many others who joined the company did after the fall of WCW (the company being purchased by Vince McMahon), and Bagwell’s career took a downward spiral after that point onward, as did his personal life.
Bagwell would sadly come to have issues with addiction and it caused many arrests over the years, the news often making tabloid headlines.
He did realize he had a problem, which is known as the first essential step in addiction, and he sought out the man that has helped so many with such issues, DDP himself.
via Bagwell on YouTube
In fact Bagwell even signed on to be part of the Change or Die series that DDP runs, but since that time, Bagwell sadly suffered a relapse. DDP announced on YouTube that Bagwell would be entering rehab. Here’s some of what he had to say:
“For the most part, (Buff) was doing really well, but a lot of times with addiction, it has everything to do with the people you hang out most with. And when he’s with us, our whole force is about positive reinforcement, a place you can be safe…
When he goes outside of that, well, those people, they don’t really care about that, or they think they do, but they really don’t … Now, because of some of the negative influences in Mark’s life, and I’m talking about people who love him and enable him…
He’s had a relapse, so we had a meeting with all of my people and Marcus, and we all agreed that it was time for him to go to a rehab facility.”
Domenic Marinelli is an author and freelance writer/journalist. His work has appeared in The Sportster, E-Wrestling News, Pro Wrestling News Hub, CFL News Hub, XFL News Hub, Ringside News, Daily DDT, USFL News Hub, Slam Wrestling, as well as other print and internet publications. He is the author of Generic V, Summer of the Great White Wolf, His Old Tapes (stories & poetry), Across a Dark River in Palermo and so many others. He lives in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. https://linktr.ee/AuthorDomenicMarinelli
