November 13, 20159 yr comment_5709823 Art's best quality was the ability to draw massive amounts of heat. I wish more of his work from Mexico was up but the guy seriously could get people to really hate him. In ring, he was just as good if not better than Eddie during their tag run, I'm sure most people have seen the Worlds Collide match. He's he star there in my opinion. Great seller and bumper as well. I want to share more of his work and let it speak for itself.
November 13, 20159 yr Author comment_5709832 I was actually shocked he didn't have a thread already. I was a huge mark for The Juicer gimmick as a kid (god help me) and I like the glimpses of him in Portland we have as a completely unique (for that promotion) high flyer. Obviously if people are going to vote for him it'll be based on the Lucha run. I'm honestly not sure there is enough there to merit it, but he fits into the category of a true heatseeker, who was excellent at injecting his character into his matches. In that regard I'd argue he was a more dynamic Gino Hernandez which is kind of funny because there is someone I nominated today who I think is sort of on the opposite end of the Gino spectrum.
November 13, 20159 yr comment_5709862 Definitely has a shot, but I want to watch more so that I honestly believe that opinion and it's not based mainly on nostalgia.
November 14, 20159 yr comment_5709942 Art's biggest knock was being an unfinished story. Similar to Gino. The worlds collide match and his mask vs mask match against Blue Panther are probably his most regarded matches. I'd like to see more of his PNW matches. It would be awesome if someone like Matt Farmer could make that available.
November 15, 20159 yr comment_5710088 If anybody wants to see an awesome Art Barr match from Mexico I strongly recommend the 7/23/93 trios where he puts on the Santo mask and attacks Eddy.
May 4, 20232 yr comment_6003902 Couldn't help but think of Barr when re-nominating Pillman. Barr has the shortest career of anyone I'm strongly considering but I think his peak run is so great that I'll probably end up finding a spot for him. One of the great heels of his generation.
May 5, 20232 yr comment_6003962 A short career with an amazing peak but I think that a 7 year career isn't enough unless you were the best wrestler in the world for at least one of them. Maybe I'm being too harsh here, his AAA run was great. He was gone too soon, RIP Art Barr. An interesting what if in wrestling history.
January 25, 20241 yr comment_6016830 I've never been a believer in Barr, even his lost potential in the States. He was small by US standards and wasn't an impossible to overlook athlete like Mysterio, Benoit and Guerrero, and he didn't have an in-ring mind like those three either. He got tons of heat as an anti-Mexico heel in AAA, but what did that prove? It never translated to anything for Ken Timbs. He could be a giant pain in the ass for promoters as well. I think to avoid getting lost in the shuffle he would have needed to demonstrate a knack for creating and refining a memorable character the way that Jericho and Pillman did, and I don't know if I'd bet on him having that ability. Even if he somehow survived 1994 and cleaned up, it would have been fairly likely, IMO, that he'd have ended up going back to AAA trying to recreate his 1993-94 run to diminishing returns every time. Maybe he'd have gotten a shot in the WWF lightheavy division.
Create an account or sign in to comment