Barry Horowitz

For the fictional character, see Barry Horowitz (True Blood).
Barry Horowitz
Birth name Barry Horowitz
Born (1960-03-24) March 24, 1960[1]
St. Petersburg, Florida, United States[2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Barry Hart[2]
Barry Horowitz[3]
Brett Hart[3] (also used by Bret Hart)
Jack Hart[2][3]
The Red Knight[3]
Major Yates[3]
Billed height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Billed weight 221 lb (100 kg)[2]
Trained by Boris Malenko[2]
Debut 1979

Barry Horowitz (born March 24, 1960) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation.

Early life

Horowitz attended Florida State University, where he studied sports nutrition and wrestled.[4][5]

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1979–1987)

Horowitz trained as a professional wrestler under Boris Malenko in Tampa, Florida for 18 months and debuted in 1979 on the Floridian independent circuit. He went on to work for the World Wide Wrestling Federation, Jim Crockett, Sr.'s NWA Mid-Atlantic promotion, and promotions in Canada and Puerto Rico.

Horowitz eventually joined Championship Wrestling from Florida as Jack Hart. On July 23, 1985 in Tampa, he defeated Mike Graham in a tournament final to win the vacant NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship.[6] He held the title until September 2, 1985, when he lost to Kendall Windham.[6] He remained in CWF for two years, and was managed by heels such as Percy Pringle and Sir Oliver Humperdink.[2]

World Wrestling Federation (1987–1989)

After wrestling in Memphis as "Stretcher" Jack Hart, Horowitz joined the World Wrestling Federation in 1987. Wearing suspenders and a vest with an outline of a handprint on the back, which he patted as a self-congratulatory measure, he spent three years in the WWF as an enhancement talent (primarily against up and coming babyfaces). Horowitz occasionally teamed with another preliminary wrestler, Steve Lombardi ("The Brooklyn Brawler") during Horowitz's stint in the WWF. Although Horowitz's win years later over BodyDonna Skip was viewed as his first victory, he did have several pinfall victories during his first WWF run. The first was in Kitchener, Ontario on July 22, 1987 over Brady Boone.[7] That year he would gain three more victories, pinning Lanny Poffo, David Sammartino, and Jerry Allen. In 1988, he would register eleven victories on house shows, defeating Jerry Allen, DJ Peterson, Jose Luis Rivera, Mike Sharpe, and Lanny Poffo.[8] Horowitz finished his initial WWF run registering seven victories in 1989, including an improbable pin over Ken Shamrock in Greensboro, NC on July 29.[9] Barry's final match was a loss to Mark Young in Waco, TX on April 22, 1990,[10] after which he departed for World Championship Wrestling.

World Championship Wrestling (1990)

Horowitz made his debut in WCW at a TV taping on May 23, 1990 at the Georgia Mountains Center in a match with Brian Pillman.[11] He would wrestle in over fifty matches that year, registering one victory (a pinfall of Tommy Angel at a TV taping in October). His last appearance came on December 7 at a house show in St. Joseph, Missouri, where he wrestled twice, losing to The Juicer and Sam Houston in subsequent matches.

Global Wrestling Federation (1991–1993)

Horowitz then traveled to Texas, where he worked for the newly formed Global Wrestling Federation. Competing in the light-heavyweight division, Horowitz (billed as Barry "The Winner" Horowitz) won the GWF Light Heavyweight Championship on two occasions within the space of a month in 1992, defeating Jerry Lynn on February 7 and Ben Jordan on February 28 in Dallas, Texas.[12] He remained in the GWF for two years until it declared bankruptcy.

Return to WWF (1991–1997)

Along the way, Horowitz also returned to the WWF in late 1991, where he was once again used to help put talent over. During this run, Horowitz would occasionally team with other preliminary wrestlers, including his old partner, Steve Lombardi, as well as Reno Riggins.

Horowitz made his pay-per-view debut under a mask at the 1993 Survivor Series as The Red Knight, teaming with Shawn Michaels (who was substituting for Jerry Lawler) and the Black and Blue Knights to lose to Bret, Owen, Keith, and Bruce Hart.[2]

Despite his status as a jobber, Horowitz would occasionally wrestle in matches of greater promince. He was instrumental in starting the feud between reigning tag team champions, The Quebecers, and the “1-2-3” Kid. The Quebecers were set to defend their titles against Horowitz and Reno Riggins but Horowitz brought in the Kid as a last-minute replacement partner. Though the Quebecers prevailed in the match, the Kid would continue to challenge for the tag team titles, albeit with changing partners and without Horowitz. On the March 13, 1995 episode of Monday Night Raw, Horowitz received a shot at Jeff Jarrett's Intercontinental Championship. It was a competitive match, but Horowitz lost via submission to Jarrett's figure-four leg lock.

In the summer of 1995, Horowitz received the first push of his WWF career, beginning with pinning Bodydonna Skip on the July 9, 1995 airing of The Action Zone, leading to commentator Jim Ross shouting "Horowitz wins! Horowitz wins!" into his microphone in disbelief. Horowitz faced the vengeful Skip in a rematch at SummerSlam 1995, which he also won.[2] These wins led to Horowitz becoming a popular underdog with WWF fans. During this time, the WWF played up Horowitz's Jewish heritage, introducing a Star of David on his wrestling trunks and making his entrance theme an upbeat version of the Jewish folk song "Hava Nagila". The character was also developed with the portrayal of Horowitz as a stereotypical nerd when not wrestling, showing Horowitz with large glasses, dress shirts buttoned up all the way, and a pocket protector. Horowitz formed a tag team with the newly turned face Hakushi–whom he attempted to Americanize (as shown in a series of vignettes with Horowitz describing American culture and institutions to Hakushi) after beating him in another upset. At the 1995 Survivor Series, they teamed with Bob Holly and Marty Jannetty in a loss to Skip, Rad Radford, Tom Prichard, and The 1-2-3 Kid. Horowitz also appeared in the 1996 Royal Rumble match, as the 25th entrant, where he was eliminated by Owen Hart. In Summer 1996, Horowitz went back to being a heel jobber before leaving in April 1997.

Return to WCW (1997–2000)

Horowitz's contract was not renewed by the WWF in 1997, and he joined World Championship Wrestling in October 1997, wrestling Disco Inferno on WCW Saturday Night.[13] He signed a two-year contract and wrestled primarily on WCW Saturday Night. His final match was against Jim Duggan at the last taping of the venerable Saturday night show on March 29, 2000 in Beaumont, Texas. He then left WCW in 2000 and returned to the independent circuit.

Return to the independent circuit (2000–present)

As of June 2005, Horowitz was working as a nutritionist in Florida, while occasionally wrestling for local independent promotions. He was featured on the (renamed) WWE's website "Where Are They Now?" column on October 22, 2008.

Popular culture

Horowitz is the subject of a song by rapper Action Bronson,[14] though Horowitz has indicated that Bronson did not get permission to use his name or likeness.[15]

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Intelius
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "Barry Horowitz's profile". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 22 June 2009. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Barry Horowitz". Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  4. ↑ World Wrestling Insanity: The ... May 28, 2006. Retrieved July 25, 2011.
  5. ↑ I'm Next: The Strange Journey of ... Retrieved July 25, 2011.
  6. 1 2 "Florida Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  7. ↑ http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/87.htm
  8. ↑ http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/88.htm
  9. ↑ http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/89.htm
  10. ↑ http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/90.htm
  11. ↑ http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/wcw90.htm
  12. ↑ "GWF Light Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  13. ↑ http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/wcw97.htm
  14. ↑ Action Bronson - 'Barry Horowitz' on YouTube
  15. ↑ Herzog, Kenny (2014-01-07). "Don't Call Me a Jobber: Barry Horowitz Has Beef With Action Bronson". rollingstone.com. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  16. 1 2 "The Official RSP-W Finishing Moves List". Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  17. ↑ "Bruno Lauer's profile". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 28 June 2009. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  18. ↑ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  19. ↑ "Independent Wrestling Results – September 2002". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved July 6, 2008.
  20. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Award Winners Inspirational Wrestler of the Year". Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on 16 June 2008. Retrieved July 27, 2008.

References

External links

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