Marcus Bagwell Talks Drug Addiction, His DUIs, Thinking He Was Paralyzed After Match, Lex Luger
As noted, recently on The Steve Austin Show – Unleashed!, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin interviewed Marcus 'Buff' Bagwell. Among other things, Bagwell talked about thinking he was paralyzed in a match against Rick Steiner, delving into drugs, his DUIs, and Lex Luger.
On the April 22, 1998 episode of WCW Thunder, Bagwell severely injured his neck in a botched diving bulldog from Rick Steiner. As Bagwell laid on the mat, he was convinced that he was paralyzed.
"At this point, I am 100% convinced, and that is a big, big statement, I'm convinced I'm paralyzed." Bagwell continued, "I swear to God, my mind went, 'you know what, you can do what Christopher Reeve is doing. You can go to schools.' I really turned a negative situation into a positive situation in a matter of seconds."
See Also: Marcus Bagwell 'Is Convinced' That Jim Ross Ruined His Pro Wrestling Career, JR Responds
Bagwell claimed that he never asked God why it was happening to him and he never cried because the situation was too surreal for him to process. Bagwell admitted that he could move his fingers and legs by the time he was loaded onto the ambulance. Eric Bischoff, Luger, and Sting rode with Bagwell in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
"We got [to the hospital] and they wheeled me out and I was all drooped over the wheelchair and as soon as I got into the waiting room, I popped up with a double bicep [pose]! And they were like, 'oh my God! What happened? Why are you okay?' and at that stage, they realized I had a bruised spinal cord."
As for Bagwell's struggles with substance abuse, he claimed that sleep apnea was the reason for his drug dependancy.
"I have severe sleep apnea. I did not know I had severe sleep apnea back in the day, so I would wake up and I felt horrible! So I would sedate to go to the gym. I would sedate to go to bed. I would sedate to get to the ring. I would sedate because I didn't feel good. The word 'sleep apnea,' nobody knew what it was back then. It wasn't a word yet, so once I got diagnosed with sleep apnea, then I was able to clean this stuff up. But back before I was able to clean it up, it created, long story short, sleep apnea created an unbelievable drug addict."
Bagwell, who had five DUIs in ten years, claimed that the DUIs were his 'come to Jesus' moment. As for his 2012 car accident, Bagwell said that it was caused when he had a withdrawal seizure.
"I had a withdrawal seizure and that's when I called 9-1-1, driving around, had a seizure, and drove around in my Jeep not knowing, and flipped my Jeep and had my wreck".
On the subject of Luger's 2005 DUI, Bagwell said that he does not feel guilty about it because he tried to stop Luger from driving that night.
"I really tried to help [Luger]. I said, 'don't leave. Please stay here.' I said, 'Judy will get us something to eat. Don't worry about that.' I said, 'don't do it' and he just refused. And when he got in the car, and he smelled those hash browns, he took a couple bites of hash browns and there it was, nodded out and [went] out."
Bagwell stated that Luger keeps a positive attitude despite being bound to a wheelchair. Bagwell admitted that it pains him to see his friend as a shell of his former self.
"[I] just talked to him. [I] just invited him to the [The Good, The Bad & The Buff: The Marc Bagwell Journey] documentary coming up and really, just God bless him. He's in a wheelchair. I mean, he [does not] even look like Lex." Bagwell continued, "and I've talked to him about this, I love him so much and I'm so proud of him. But still, it bothers me because he was, he is, 'the Total Package', Steve, and you know that. And for him not to be 'the Total Package' [anymore] bothers me and it upsets me."
During Austin's two-part interview with Bagwell, Bagwell also discussed his brief stint with WWE and claimed that Jim Ross ruined his professional wrestling career. Check out the interview by clicking here.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Steve Austin Show with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.