In this screen capture from AMC.com, Jefferson County resident Travis Bagent is seen in a preview for “Game of Arms,” premiering tonight at 10 p.m. on AMC.
CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. – Travis Bagent, a former world-champion arm wrestler from Jefferson County, will be featured tonight on the premiere episode of AMC’s “Game of Arms.”
According to its website, the reality show is “a look inside the raw and highly competitive world of American arm wrestling” that follows clubs from five cities as they travel the country to compete. Bagent, an eight-time world champion, is member of a team from Erie, Pa.
In a preview of tonight’s episode made available at AMC.com, Bagent discusses how arm wrestling in West Virginia was born in Jefferson County before visiting the home of his father, Jerry Boyd, who also was a professional arm wrestler. Bagent and his father talk about an upcoming match between the Erie team and a group from Sacramento, which apparently will be featured on the episode.
“There’s not one of these businesses I can’t walk in and they’ll say, ‘Hey, the champ’s in the house,'” Bagent says during the preview, which shows him visiting Sharp as an Errol barbershop and greeting customers and employees. “I wish I was just a normal person, but I’m not. I’m a special human being, man.”
Bagent’s braggadocio continues throughout the preview.
“I’m the best arm wrestler in the world,” he says at its conclusion. “Always have been, always will be…”