| "Buffalo Jim" Barrier | |
|---|---|
| Born | James Barrier March 22, 1953 Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
| Died | April 6, 2008 (aged 55) Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. |
| Occupation | Wrestling Promoter, Television Personality, Entrepenuer |
James "Buffalo Jim" Barrier (March 22, 1953 – April 6, 2008), born in Buffalo, New York, was a local wrestling promoter in Las Vegas. His legal struggle with business owner and landlord Frederick "Rick" Rizzolo, who owned the property under Barrier's business, Allstate Auto & Marine, was covered by the media during the early 2000s.[1]
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Barrier moved to Las Vegas in 1971, at age 18, from Cleveland, Ohio. He later opened his auto repair shop on Industrial Road, which he operated until his death. In the 1980s and '90s, he owned Buffalo Jim's Professional Wrestling School and had a local paid-for TV wrestling show, "Jim Wars," that aired on Friday nights. Also, he wrote a weekly column, "Nuts and Bolts with Buffalo Jim"[2] on auto repair for the now-folded Las Vegas Mercury.
Barrier over the years met many celebrities, including Hulk Hogan and Muhammad Ali. He also had a large collection of celebrity memorabilia, from vehicles to a lock of Elvis's hair. Included in this collection were cars—a Jensen Interceptor -- that used to belong to Wayne Newton and a pink Cadillac of Kid Rock's used during the rocker's proposal to Pamela Anderson.[3]
Jim Barrier was known in Las Vegas, because of media coverage, for winning a lengthy court dispute about parking spaces[4][5] with his neighbor and landlord, Rick Rizzolo, former owner of the Crazy Horse Too gentlemen's club, located next door to Buffalo Jim's repair shop. Rizzolo was court ordered to sell the nightclub to satisfy debts. When the business did not sell, the U.S. Marshals Service seized the bar in September 2007, forcing its eventual closure.[6][7] Rizzolo was released in April 2008 after serving a year in a federal prison on a racketeering and tax evasion conviction in U.S. Federal court.[8] Because of the government taking over the property, Barrier was forced to move. He was unable to secure a new location before he died.[9]
In 2005, Barrier was voted "Las Vegas' Most Colorful Character" by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which described him as "a modern Renaissance man."[10]
He was a single father of four daughters.
Barrier's body was found on Sunday morning, April 6, 2008. According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Barrier was found in a small motel room on Boulder Highway, in an older section of town, lying face up with an empty bottle of valium in the room and his pants pulled down around his ankles. While friends and family have publicly said they believe Barrier was killed, no evidence has been uncovered to back up that premise.[11] The cause of death was ruled accidental, citing dilated cardiomyopathy as the cause of death. Also, Clark County Coroner Michael Murphy released details that cocaine found in his system was a contributing factor.[12][13] A woman in the hotel with him that night told police that Barrier had had a seizure.[14] A toxicology report revealed 20 mg/mL of GHB in his system, which the coroner said did not contribute to Barrier's death.[15]