Former wrestling star Marcus 'Buff' Bagwell opens up about decision to get leg amputated

NBC News

3 days ago

World Championship Wrestling alum Marcus 'Buff' Bagwell is opening up about his decision to amputate his leg after 'five years of torture.'
In a candid YouTube vide o shared Friday, Bagwell explained that he's spent five years attempting to save his right leg after injuring his kneecap in a 2020 car crash. Now, he's made the decision to undergo an above-the-knee amputation.
Sitting beside his fiancée, Stacy Brown, Bagwell shared how he was feeling just 12 hours before being admitted to the hospital for the operation.
'When I look down and see that I'm getting ready to amputate my leg, no more do I start getting depressed about it even for a second,' he said at the beginning of the clip. 'Instantly, I get overwhelmed with joy because of the last three years of my life.'
Why did Bagwell get his leg amputated?
Bagwell's decision to amputate his right leg came after he suffered an infection from another procedure on his injured knee following his 2020 car crash. He said he was given the choice between a '20% chance' of saving the leg through several surgeries, physical therapy and inserting a steel rod, or amputation.
Ultimately he chose to amputate the leg, expressing that he is 'really hoping this will bring a new chance at life.'
Bagwell reminisced on his his five-year healing journey since the car crash, where his vehicle ran into a shopping mall, causing a brick wall to collapse. He said the incident should have led him to '100% either been dead or been in prison.'
After the incident, the wrestler said he was in the hospital for 'weeks' at a time and had over 20 procedures. During that time, Bagwell said he entered the 'deepest, darkest addiction I've ever been in.'
'I was constantly drinking. It was crazy. It's just the worst,' he recalled, adding that he 'kept falling' and re-injuring his leg.
Bagwell continued: 'My leg wasn't healing and so I just was super depressed, and I did everything you hear. I isolated. I was still trying to work, but, I mean, I'd go to the gym on a walker.'
'All I know in my life is you fight to get better, you fight. Well, on this one I wasn't able to fix the problem for the first time.'
The wrestler explained that he was 'so angry at what happened, that instead of 'continuing to go into my addiction and drinking, I got sober.' Bagwell said in August 2022, he went to rehab.
Next month, on Aug. 27, Bagwell said marks his third year sober.
'I've been able to put together three of the best years of my life by putting in this order: God, Stacy and myself,' he said. 'I've been able to put together three years together of sobriety and three of the best, happiest, closest to God, best relationship — best personal — I've felt, together.'
Will Bagwell return to pro wrestling?
Fellow professional wrestler Maven Huffman documented Bagwell's experience in the hospital before and after the amputation surgery in a video shared Friday.
In the clip, a voiceover seemingly of Bagwell discusses his post-recovery plans, addressing whether he anticipates a return to pro wrestling.
'I'm going to be able to run and I'm going to be able to run better,' he said. 'I want to get back in the ring, hit the ropes, have a match. It'll show some that I've came out of the darkness with this thing, and I've turned it around all the way to being back in the ring as Buff Bagwell.'
As of Saturday, Bagwell hasn't publicly shared an update on his health. However, he has been active on his Instagram account, re-sharing well wishes and images of himself posted by other users onto his Instagram stories.
At the end of Bagwell's YouTube video, the wrestler also teased an upcoming video, which seems to follow him through the day he underwent the amputation.
In that video, Bagwell called the entire experience a 'weird dynamic.' Reframing his perception of the incident, he said, 'What cost me my leg got me sobriety.'
Prior to the surgery, Bagwell said he expected the procedure will help him get 'in the best shape in 20 years.'
'I'll be able to do cardio. I'll be able to eat at restaurants with my leg under the table. I'll be able to go to movies and church with my leg being out of the aisle,' he said.
Bagwell's mindset going into the operation was 'everything happens for a reason,' he said. 'I'm not depressed I didn't [amputate] two years ago. I fought the fight.'
'It's hard to take away five years of torture and to know that that torture is going to be cut off and I've got some hope that's going to be put on my leg, called a prosthetic," he said. "I'm trying to be excited about it. I think it's going to be a wonderful thing.'