Wrestling Legend Gets Leg Amputated

Yahoo

3 days ago

Marcus Bagwell, better known by his wrestling moniker Buff Bagwell of the World Championship Wrestling promotion company founded by CNN founder Ted Turner, has sadly had his leg amputated above the knee.
Bagwell's close friend, Steve Stasiak, shared the devastating news Friday on Facebook, saying that the operation happened Thursday morning after a years-long battle to avoid this exact outcome.
"I've known Buff a long time. I've seen him in the spotlight, I've seen him behind the scenes, and I've seen him fight through things most people never even hear about. This one… this is hard. For him. For everyone who knows and loves him," Stasiak shared. "The injuries from his 2020 accident never fully healed. He gave it everything he had to avoid this outcome—but that fight led him here. And now begins a whole new kind of battle."
He continued, "Buff was one of the brightest stars of a wild era in wrestling. He made you look. He made you care. But it's who he is as a person—past the lights, past the persona—that I hope people think about today. If you're reading this, I just ask that you send a little love out into the world for Buff. No grand gestures. Just something real. A thought, a prayer, a moment."
Some 12 hours ahead of the life-altering surgery, Bagwell took to his YouTube channel and shared what led to this outcome.
While sitting alongside his fiancée, Stacy, Bagwell shared that this was "the result of a five-year battle trying to save my leg."
Bagwell shared that he had a terrible accident in August 2020, when he crashed his Chevy Tahoe into a structure. Nobody was in the structure. The accident, he says, happened while he was still recovering from surgery on his foot. He had also recently had his knee scoped from a minor meniscus tear.
Bagwell said part of the building collapsed, and it severely injured his knee cap, resulting in a seven-week hospital stay and 21 surgeries that led him "into the deepest, darkest addiction I've ever been in," the addiction being alcohol.
Bagwell, who competed in the WCW from 1991 to 2001, went on to share that he went to rehab in August 2022. He'll celebrate three years of sobriety on Aug. 27.
Wrestling fans flooded the comments section with an outpouring of support.
"New gimmick- Bionic Buff!! You are going to feel better and be more mobile once you lose that leg and get a kickass prothesis. Just follow the cleaning instructures to the letter to prevent infection from the incision and STAY SOBER. No pills. Love ya," one fan commented."
Another wrote. "Marcus, this isn't something the average person would be so confident about. You're talking about it like someone discussing the weather. It's completely admirable. I'll be praying for a speedy recovery for you."
Wrestling Legend Gets Leg Amputated first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 18, 2025
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