Former WCW star Buff Bagwell continues to evolve his life into something more positive in 2022 with Mr. Bagwell’s Neighborhood.
Buff Bagwell was the latest guest on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about his new Mr. Rogers persona, Bagwell said it came from doing the Change or Die docuseries with Diamond Dallas Page and Steve Yu.
“It just happened. He picked out basically in the Change or Die docuseries,” Buff Bagwell revealed. “It was like, what can we do this completely opposite of Buff Bagwell? And Steve came up with Mr. Rogers. I mean, how much more different can you get than Mr. Rogers? The R-rated Mr. Rogers. The Gigolo Mr. Rogers, so to speak.
“And so we didn’t really know we just threw it out there. And man, we put the outfit on, and I just felt like Mr. Rogers, and everybody just started laughing. So of course, you know, Steve, the camera was on, and we were taking little Muppets, little puppets came into the scene, and I’m going like this and like this, and all the Mr. Rogers stuff, and it just happened, man. It was magical. It was really magical.
“Then we went to Alaska; me and Dallas did. Of course, we still had that. But we didn’t really if they were going to open the can on it yet. And then everybody in Alaska was like; I mean top guys when we were on top said, like Scotty Too Hotty came up to me and goes, ‘Why are you not doing the Mr. Rogers thing, man?’ I go well; it’s in our back burner. We’re gonna do it. And he said, ‘Man, it was tremendous. It was great. Everybody’s laughing about it, and it’s really good.’ And so we’re going to do it.
“So this guy Danny McDevitt, MCW in Baltimore, Maryland, and he shoots Dallas this text, and Dallas just catches on fire about it. Me and Steve are like, wow, it’s unbelievable how excited Dallas is about this. He was really excited. So, of course, he knew always be ready, so he talked to me about how he wanted to do it; Danny did and everything. So the debut of Mr. Bagwell is going to be in Baltimore, Maryland, with Mr. Bagwell’s Neighborhood.”
When asked at what point he realized he needed to change from Buff Bagwell to another character entirely, Bagwell said the Buff character got him a long way in life, but it also got him in a lot of trouble too.
“Buff’s got me a long ways in life, but Buff’s also got a lot of trouble,” Buff Bagwell admitted. “I think everybody was just thinking it was time for a change. Then the show came out with Dallas, the docuseries with the Change or Die thing, and to the point, Dallas, in the get-go way early, was wanting not to call me Buff anymore. I mean, it was all about me, and that got me a long ways.
“But I think Dallas saw before anybody, and Dallas and Steve saw it before anybody, but I think Buff maybe had his run, and Dallas was like not wanting me to bring my hat out and stuff. I said, ‘Dallas, people want to wear that hat all the time.’ And he goes, ‘I know but just leave it on the table, man. Let them see it. But don’t wear it.’
“He actually said to me, and it hurt my feelings a little bit. He said I feel sorry for guys that walk in, all the older guys that are holding onto things he said, and I kind of feel sorry for you when you walk in with your top hat on. And I said I kind of feel sorry for me too. But we’re doing what we do, and the fans still love us and stuff.
“And he’s like yeah, but I just think we recreate you, man. And I’m thinking, to what? Then all of a sudden, this Mr. Rogers thing came more to life to us. And so, of course, we started messing around with it, and when Danny put the spin on it for MCW, now we’re actually doing the debut in Baltimore, Maryland, with Mr. Bagwell’s Neighborhood.”
Bagwell’s appearance at Maryland Championship Wrestling for Mr. Bagwell’s Neighborhood occurred on October 15 in a segment involving MCW talent Miami Mike Walker and Hellfire McQuire.
What do you make of Buff Bagwell’s comments? Are you happy to see the evolution of Bagwell in recent months? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit INSIGHT with a link back to this article for the transcription.
