Former WCW and WWE star Buff Bagwell has recounted the day he decided to have his leg amputated.
Back in July 2025, Bagwell appeared on Maven’s YouTube channel and broke the news that he had chosen to have the life-altering surgery. Following the amputation, Marcus “Buff” Bagwell is now adjusting to living with only one leg.
While speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Bagwell recounted the series of events that led up to the surgery, noting that a car crash and multiple surgeries first led to the doctor making the suggestion:
“Absolutely. So in 2020, I had a car wreck where I was under the influence of pills and alcohol, and I drove through a bus station, it’s a bus station bathroom, men’s and women’s and nobody was in it, thank God. In that car wreck, my right knee cap exploded. So with it exploding, 40 surgeries over the next 3 or 4 years trying to fix it. Infections in and out. Knee replacement, I think it was 41 surgeries total. Then I was just going to deal with this leg that didn’t bend anymore, and it got infected again. And the doctor goes, ‘Let’s cut it off.’ And I went, Whoa, wait a minute, brother, we did 40 something surgeries. Let’s try to fix it one more time. I can’t just cut my leg off. So I went to that appointment to see what it was like to save my leg. In that appointment is where I stopped the doctor, as he was explaining, he was talking about pulling a skin graft off of this shoulder to close it up. I said, Whoa, what? So it was so devastating what I was hearing. I said, What’s the percentages of all that working? And he said, about 20%. I said, let’s cut it off.”
When asked if he was able to come to peace with that decision, Bagwell admitted that while he was devastated at first, he should havehad the surgery years ago:
“No, not at all. I was devastated. I did not, and you cannot see this. I tried to see it, but I just don’t think you have the eyes to see this part of it. The truth is, I should have done this two years earlier. I really believe if it would have been proposed to me two years ago, I would have thought they were crazy. Now, I’d have said no, no, no, like I did this time. But if I would have done it, I’d have been two years ahead. So this has been with my situation of the leg I had, this is unbelievably good what happened to me, but you just don’t see that when you’re going through it.”
Will Buff Bagwell Wrestle Again?
In subsequent videos following the surgery, the 56-year-old pro wrestler has gone on record that he would like to get back in the ring despite his limitations. When asked about the possibility, Bagwell confirmed that using the ring steps to get into the ring is a major challenge for him as he continues to get used to his prosthetic leg, which cost $135,000. However, Bagwell remained optimistic that it could be possible:
“I know I could wrestle again, another match or two, but if I can’t do it, I’m not going to do it. And I’m not sure that’s possible. I don’t want to be ugly. If it’s ugly at all, I’m not going to do it. So, for example, this $135,000 leg. Because of this, there’s no way to make [using the ring] steps look good. So that will be the first thing you got to conquer, is getting in [the ring] or sliding in and getting up fast. But again, if I can’t do those things without them being I’m not going to do it, but I think I can. I think I can do it where it’s not ugly. I just don’t know yet, so we’re definitely going to, in the next couple of months, I’m going to get in the ring and just see what I can do. But I really do think no matter what I will do one match just because that’s one of my goals.”
Best known for his time in WCW, Bagwell captured the Tag Team Championships 5 times. Following the WWE buyout of WCW, Bagwell was one of the first wrestlers seen as part of the Invasion storyline. In one of his more infamous matches, Bagwell challenged Booker T for the WCW World Championship in the main event of Raw. The match was not well-received by fans, and Bagwell was released shortly afterwards.
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Featured image: WWE
