Barry Horowitz

Barry Horowitz (born March 24, 1959) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

Horowitz attended Florida State University, where he studied sports nutrition and wrestled.

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.

His first television appearance in the WWWF/WWF was in October 1981 as an enhancement talent named Barry Hart, losing to King Kong Angelo Mosca.

He worked with WWF until 1983.

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.

He held the title until September 2, 1985, when he lost to Kendall Windham.

He remained in CWF for two years, and was managed by heels such as Percy Pringle and Sir Oliver Humperdink.

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").

Although Horowitz's win years later over BodyDonna Skip was viewed as his first victory, he did have multiple pinfall victories during his first WWF run.

The first was in Kitchener, Ontario, on July 22, 1987, over Brady Boone.

That year he would gain three more victories, pinning Lanny Poffo, David Sammartino, and Jerry Allen.

Horowitz also gained multiple wins in tag-team action as he partnered with Lombardi.

In one house show event, Horowitz and Lombardi defeated Jerry Allen and Scott Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts on August 23, 1987.

They also defeated the team of Lanny Poffo and Scott Casey on January 26, 1988, in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

The match would later air on an episode of Primetime Wrestling on February 19, 1988.

In 1988, he registered fifteen singles victories, defeating Allen, DJ Peterson, Jose Luis Rivera, Iron Mike Sharpe, and Poffo.

Horowitz finished his initial WWF run registering fourteen victories in 1989, including an improbable pin over a young Ken Shamrock in Greensboro, North Carolina, on July 29.

Barry's final match was a loss to Mark Young in Waco, Texas on April 22, 1990, after which he departed for World Championship Wrestling.

Horowitz made his debut in WCW a little over a month later at a TV taping on May 23, 1990, at the Georgia Mountains Center in a match with Brian Pillman.

He would wrestle in over fifty matches that year, registering one victory (a pinfall of Tommy Angel at a TV taping in October).

His only pay-per-view appearance was in a dark match at Halloween Havoc, where he was defeated by Tim Horner.

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.

Horowitz then traveled to Texas, where he worked for the newly formed Global Wrestling Federation.

Along the way, Horowitz also returned to the WWF in late 1991, where he was once again used to help put talent over.

His first match back came on October 21 at a WWF Superstars taping in Fort Wayne, Indiana, when he teamed with Brian Costello to face The Bushwhackers.

For the remainder of 1991, Horowitz only appeared on televised events and came out on the losing end in matches against Legion of Doom, Greg Valentine, and then Intercontinental champion Bret Hart.

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.

He remained in the GWF for two years until it declared bankruptcy.

This continued through the first half of 1992, and Horowitz would face and lose to Kerry Von Erich, Owen Hart, Tito Santana, and others at WWF Superstars and WWF Challenge tapings.

On June 5, 1992, in Chicago, Illinois, Horowitz rejoined the house show circuit, substituting for the departed Colonel Mustafa in a series against Kerry Von Erich.

He also faced Tito Santana, coming out winless on each occasion.

In September he began teaming with Skinner in a house show program against High Energy (Koko B. Ware and Owen Hart).

Horowitz would remain winless in his WWF return until September 21, 1992, when he finally secured his first pinfall victory by defeating Brad Holman in a dark match at a WWF Superstars taping in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

It would be his only victory of the year.

In Phoenix, Arizona he teamed with Reno Riggins against The Smoking Guns on April 5, 1993, in the WWF debut of The Smoking Gunns.