Buff Bagwell, a former WCW wrestler from 1991-2001, said Friday he plans to return to the ring after having surgery to amputate his right leg.

Bagwell, whose real name is Marcus Bagwell and was a five-time World Tag Team Champion, posted a video to his YouTube channel on Friday sharing his journey.

Appearing in the video alongside his fiancée, Stacy Brown,

Bagwell said the amputation was “the result of a five-year battle trying to save my leg” after an August 2020 car accident.

“I’m gonna be able to run and I’m going to be able to run better,” he told Maven Huff in an interview, per EW. “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.

“You don’t have to give up with something like this. This is something that I am taking by the horns, man. And I’m going to show the world that you can have just as good a life with or without a leg.”

It has been a struggle for Bagwell. He said in the five years since the accident, he fought to keep his leg and worked on his substance addiction. He is now three years sober.

Bagwell revealed he has had “39 or 40 surgeries,” including “knee replacements, flap surgeries, [and] extensor mechanism repairs.”

“I thought I was going to be able to get my leg back. I thought I was going to be able again to once fix it,” Bagwell said. “I’ve got a relationship with Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. I got a great relationship with Stacy — let’s fix this leg. And it just… it just didn’t happen.”

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.