Barry Orton

Barry Orton

Born: May 28, 1958
Died: March 21, 2021
in Amarillo, Texas, United States
Randal Berry Orton was an American professional wrestler and actor. He was a son of professional wrestler Bob Orton, brother of professional wrestler "Cowboy" Bob Orton Jr., and uncle of professional wrestler Randy Orton.

Early life

Randal Berry Orton was born in Amarillo, Texas, to professional wrestler Bob Orton and his wife Rita. He was named after professional wrestler Wild Red Berry. The family moved to Kansas City, Missouri, three days after his birth. He was a musician and performed in nightclubs, playing in many prominent club bands over the country. Disappointed by a "near miss" record deal in 1976, Orton switched to professional wrestling.

Professional wrestling career

Orton made his professional wrestling debut in 1976, trained by Bob Orton, Bob Roop, and Tully Blanchard. During his career in wrestling he competed in WWE as Barry O (1985–1988, 1990–1991), ICW, WOW, the NWA, the IWF and Stampede Wrestling (where, while appearing as the masked Zodiac, he managed Jason the Terrible) he was mainly used as an enhancement talent. In 1984, Orton wrestled for around three months under a mask as the Assassin #3 with Jody Hamilton. Orton was a replacement for Hercules Hernandez who had recently been unmasked by Jimmy Valiant. In a 2005 interview with Slam! Sports, Orton said "I was always struggling because I wanted to be a musician. I never saw myself as a professional wrestler."

His career was affected in 1986 when he was driving under the influence and his female passenger died. WWE would not allow him to wrestle until the matter was settled, and Orton went to Stampede Wrestling in Calgary as the masked Zodiac. Then in 1988 he worked for New Japan Pro-Wrestling as Barry Gasper teaming with Bob Orton as Billy Gasper. He returned to WWE in 1990 and also worked for Universal Wrestling Federation (Herb Abrams), Herb Abrams's promotion for a couple of appearances. Orton retired from wrestling in 1991.

Orton came out of retirement in 2011 for one night for Pro Wrestling Guerilla participating in a battle royal which was won by Roddy Piper.

Acting career

In the 1990s, Orton made a transition from wrestling into movies, appearing in minor roles. He went to New York and began studying classical theatre, spending a year there studying with Robert Patterson. In 1991, he appeared in the role of 'Wild Thing' in the local Vegas TV show 'Vegas Rocks', which led to a local commercial along with a part in Honeymoon in Vegas. He starred in a film called 'Tweak the Heat', based on crystal meth awareness.

Movies for Barry Orton...

The Best of the WWF: volume 16 Around the World
Title: The Best of the WWF: volume 16 Around the World
Character: Barry O
Released: July 27, 1988
Type: Movie
The best of WWE action from across the globe!
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Title: WWF Wrestling Challenge
Character: Barry O
Released: September 6, 1986
Type: TV
WWF Wrestling Challenge was a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It was syndicated weekly and aired from 1986 to 1995. The show became simply known as WWF Challenge in 1995. The show featured matches, pre-match interviews, and occasionally, summarized weekly events in WWF programming. Matches primarily saw top tier and mid-level talent versus jobbers. At times, there was a "feature" match between main WWF talent. As with other syndicated WWF programming, the show promoted WWF event dates and house shows in local media markets.
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The Best of the WWF: volume 5
Title: The Best of the WWF: volume 5
Character: Barry O
Released: January 1, 1986
Type: Movie
Wendi Richter defends her title against Leilani Kai. Island Fury! The Magnificent Muraco vs. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. Great Tag Team action! The British Bulldogs - send tremors through the squared circle! The Killer Bees - their sting can paralyze any opponent!