Barry Windham: Thoughts?

[Micah]

I started watching WCW around 91' and I vaguely remember Barry Windham from 91-94.


To me he wasn't a superstar, definitely wasn't a jobber... looked out of shape physically but I always considered him a tough son of a bitch with a temper that no other wrestler should piss off.


Any old school guys care to break down Barry Windham for me ...maybe how he was in the 80's ...I don't even remember him in the WWF or his return to WCW in the late 90's.







*Side Note: As a young buck coming up in the early 90's I remembered WCW pumping up Larry Zbyszko, and every time he wrestled I was wondering what this old guy was doing wrestling ...the announcers would remind me of how "technical" he was ....I thought Larry Z sucked as a wrestler but loved his whit and smart ass comebacks as an announcer.

 

[deezy]

Barry had it all, the looks, the charisma, the work rate, just not the drive to remain on the top of the card.

He joined the Horsemen and was fine with being in the midcard.

 

[sleepwalk]

I wasn't watching WCW at the time but most of the Horsemen fans that I talk to consider the lineup with Barry as their "big man" to be THE Horsemen.

 

[Big Burly]

When he started in Florida, may not have been his first stop, but he hit it big by being the babyface up-and-comer with a pedigree. Harley was world champ, and he put Barry over big and made him look like a million bucks.

He was very skinny when he started. With his height, he looked comical, but he had the work-rate and promo skills to pull it off. Then he thickened up a bit.

If he had more "fire" he would have had a good run with the WCW world belt. He just didn't want to work that hard. He also had a chronic knee problem that would sideline him periodically.

I was a big Barry Windham fan. He really had it all going for him, like David von Erich, but he didn't have the push or the drive of David.

 

[Frank23]

Barry Windham had a ton of talent. However, he didn't have the drive to be the best.

 

[Count Zero]

Gonna be so weird to look back at these historical reviews for performers whose ascent, prime, and decline we witnessed live, around a decade or so after they've retired for proper perspective.

Even just a decade is pushing it to really see the broader picture

 

[My Spot]

One of the best workers of all time until he got injured and lazy.

 

[TennBJJ]

Second generation guy with about as much God given talent for the wrestling biz as anyone has ever had. Incredible athlete, handsome and had a good body without ever working out.

Looking back, he lacked some charisma on the mic, but my vision of that may be skewed since we was sharing screen time with all time great talkers like Naitch and Dream.

A great worker who never drew a deep breath, could wrestle big guy or small guy "style" like a Scott Hall, and make either size opponent look great. Had the Ricky Morton factor, where the women went nuts, and fans went batshit when the heels would have Barry down and out.

Seemed to lose a lot of his fire in the late 80s and got lazy, getting by purely on talent and history

 

[Rav7n]

great worker, i agree with the guys above he was absolutely one of the best back then, and if things were different and folks who got titles through status ie flair hogan and sting, he would have been a awesome champ.
Im sure i remember a few decent matches with a young 'natural' dustin rhodes..

 

[ThunderL1ps]

You missed his peak.

In 1987 he used to do 90 minute matches with Flair after they had done 60 minute bouts.

 

[Protegejoe296]

One of my all-time favorites.