Meeting Buff Bagwell

Living in the Fargo/Moorhead area, seeing the top pro wrestlers live and in person used to be a rare occurrence. Back when WWE was running their house show schedule, we'd see a stop in North Dakota maybe once every three or fours years. Now with the company being owned by TKO, which is drastically cutting down the live events as a cost-cutting measure, I don't know if they will ever make a stop here again.

Luckily, we have a fantastic independent wrestling organization that was started three years ago, known as Below Zero Wrestling. They run shows throughout the state, but mostly in its home base of Fargo, and I am always sure to buy a ticket to all the shows I am able to attend. The most recent one took place back in August, and they brought in as a special guest, former WCW Tag Team Champion Buff Bagwell.

(Note: Buff is also currently a member of the New World Order, because as we all know, "When you're nWo, you're nWo 4-LIFE!")

Bagwell's mobility was limited, due to complications from a 2020 car wreck that would lead to his right leg being amputated above the knee just weeks before his appearance. Any in-ring work, of course, is out of the question, but he was able to do an interaction to open the show, in support of BZW co-owner Nick Stokke against dirtbag manager Sylvester Fox and his client, BZW Champion Tommy Lee Curtis, a.k.a. "The Jacked Jesus Who Always Pleases."

At intermission, I was sure to stop by Bagwell's meet-and-greet table. I also wanted to tell him about the last time he was in Fargo. In the Fall of 1999, WCW came here for a taping of Thunder, and while we were living in Houston at the time, my dad was up here for work, and took my cousin to the show. Now, my dad knows next to nothing about wrestling, other than what it is. He's heard of Hulk Hogan, but has never heard of Kevin Nash or Scott Hall, and he thinks Sting is the bass player for The Police. To this day, though, he talks about how much this kid in the nearby seats hated Buff Bagwell and was screaming his disdain at the top of his lungs. I told this to Buff, and he laughed and said, "Oh man, I LOVE IT!" After all, what better compliment can you give a heel than a 70-year-old man still remembers your name because of how much you made a kid hate you 26 years ago!

I brought a card with me to get signed, and purchased an 8x10, along with the posed photo. He used his own purple paint pen for the signatures, which looks awesome. He took up plenty of real estate on the photo without covering up the image, and the purple really stands out against the black background. The card turned out great, too, and is a nice companion piece for the photo.

It's always a question with some of these interactions as far as how much effort an individual puts into the meet-and-greets. He was conversational, very friendly, and in great spirits. He also seemed to be in great health, too, and looked fantastic for someone who has endured his self-inflicted challenges. His struggles with pills and alcohol has been widely documented, but he has been clean since 2022, and from what I could see, sobriety seems to be serving him very well.