Being on the road for two-thirds of the year, burning the midnight oil for hundreds of miles between cities is a tough way to bring home the bacon. Perhaps that's why WWE has decided to bring the world's toughest pig farmer, Henry Godwinn, back into the fold. WWE.com caught up with the native southerner, who was happier than a pig in, um, slop to discuss his upcoming return.

Godwinn cracked his C7 vertebra on a 1998 episode of Monday Night RAW, when he found himself on the wrong end of a Doomsday Device from the Road Warriors. He was advised to lay flat on his back and take about 15 weeks off before returning to activity, but Godwinn was back to driving and working out in less than half that time.

"You know how the Superstars are," Godwinn chuckled.

Unfortunately, Godwinn found out the hard way that he should have listened to the doctors' initial advice. He herniated the injured vertebra and pinched a nerve in his spine six months later, necessitating the same spinal fusion procedure that Stone Cold Steve Austin underwent around the same time.

A run of bad luck in 2003 dashed Godwinn's spirits, but ultimately served as the inspiration and extra motivation he needed to get himself back to where he always belonged: the WWE stage.

"I lost my 14-year-old son and then I lost my dad two months after that," Godwinn remembered. "I had been wanting to get back into it and I'd healed up pretty good, and it was just rough trying to get through that. Then I just decided, I've got to do it. I've got to do it for me and my son I lost and the son I still have."

After an encouraging meeting with WWE officials, Godwinn says "everything just sort of fell into place."

Today, the former World Tag Team Champion is feeling like his old self, ready to get back into the ring and dish out some good old fashioned country-fried ass-whoopin.' A recent visit to SmackDown rejuvenated the spirit and the rush that comes only with WWE Superstardom.

"It was nice seeing all the guys again," Godwinn remarked with his familiar baked bean grin. "I know the business has changed a lot, but we've all changed in certain ways. I just want to make an impact. Henry Godwinn's coming back with a vengeance. I'm representing the South, and I'm gonna do it right."

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