Buff Bagwell Discusses His Past Struggles With Addiction, When He Realized He Had a Problem

During a recent interview with Insight With Chris Van Vliet, former WCW and WWE star Buff Bagwell (aka Marcus Bagwell) discussed his career, his past struggles with drug addiction, and more. Below are some highlights provided by Insight:

Buff Bagwell on How He’s Currently Feeling

“I’m blessed. I’m not sure who has their leg amputated, and five months later says they’re blessed, but I am blessed. It’s been crazy, this journey I’ve been on with this thing. But it all came at me at once, like from the leg getting amputated, to my sobriety, to my relationship with Jesus Christ, to my relationship with Stacy. I have 12 grandchildren, and I love it all.”

On Being a Completely Different Person Now

“I’m a completely different person. I am sure why, God. I believe I was always a pretty good guy. Matter of fact, Marcus Alexander Bagwell in 1991 was a great guy. Everybody in the locker room loved Marcus Alexander Bagwell, and I think through drinking and pills, drinking and drugging, I lost that Marcus. I really believe that’s what happened. I believe when the drinking and drugging stopped, Marcus instantly started, slowly coming back, and now Marcus is fully back to where. When I walk in a room, it lights up again, but not just from eyes I see. It lights up inside of me.”

On When His Addictions Started

“I would say the time I feel in my head that it really started was when I got my own prescription bottles. That would have been 1998 when I broke my neck. It started legitimately with, Hey, man, I’m hurt. My neck is hurting, and I would take a pain pill, and it just climbed crazily from there.”

On How Many Lortabs and Somas He Would Take a Day

“I’m going to say something that nobody’s going to believe, but in the height of the best I ever looked, it was a case of beer a day, and 20 Lortabs, without exaggeration, 15 to 20 Lortabs, and 30 to 35 Somas every day of my life. We just a bodybuilder makes a really good drug addict or a really bad one, however you want to look at that, but it’s very organized. I had severe sleep apnea, and I wouldn’t sleep good, so when I woke up in the morning, again, I don’t feel good. I deserve this. So I would have my first party. I would take five or 10 Lortabs tabs, and eight to 10 Somas, party one and I did that kind of party on an empty stomach three times a day.”

On Realizing He Had a Problem

“I realized I had a problem through all that. I went to rehab several times. My first rehab was early 2000 right after the WWE thing and all that. I went to rehab. I went for five days. They told me it was a medical detox. That was the word, but it’s not true, it doesn’t happen that way, but that’s what they said. Day eight, I was right back, taking pills again and drinking again. So I tried, I did five, five or six rehabs throughout that journey, but the last rehab before I got sober was 2012 and I did an interview with you right after that. I’d got it under wraps. I got a little bit of grip with it. But I wasn’t sober. It was the closest I got to being sober in 2012, but when I had that car wreck in 2020 and I really had hurt myself that I couldn’t fix it, I was angry. I was so mad at myself that I couldn’t fix this problem. I’d had other wrecks and knocked my teeth out, but fixed it. I would have a bad injury, but I fixed it. I couldn’t fix this one, so I fixed it by fixing me. I got sober.”

Buff Bagwell On How Long He’s Been Sober

“Three years and five months. August 27 of 2022 is my sobriety birthday.”