Arthur Leon Barr (October 8, 1966 – November 23, 1994) was an American professional wrestler. While he wrestled briefly for World Championship Wrestling, he found his greatest success in Mexico's Asistencia Asesoría y Administración promotion.
Early life
While growing up, Barr became friends with Roddy Piper during Piper's stint in the Oregonian Pacific Northwest Wrestling. While attending Oregon State University, Barr became an accomplished amateur wrestler, having become a four-time district champion and a two-time state champion. However, he later dropped out of college to tend to his wife when she became pregnant.
Barr had three brothers: Jesse, who was also a wrestler, JR, and Sean. His father, Sandy, was also involved in wrestling as a wrestler, referee and promoter. Sandy died on June 2, 2007.
Professional wrestling career
Pacific Northwest Wrestling (1987–1990) After leaving college, Barr began working in a steel mill during the day while he began receiving training to become a wrestler from his father Sandy, his older brother Jesse Barr, and Matt Osborne at night. On April 2, 1987, Barr debuted in the Pacific Northwest Wrestling territory. About a year and a half later, at the suggestion of Roddy Piper, he began wrestling as "Beetlejuice", based on the title character of the 1988 movie. The character, wearing face paint and flour in his hair, was a cartoonish fan favorite.
World Championship Wrestling (1990–1991) After the trial, Barr's license to wrestle in Oregon was not renewed, stemming from a previous conviction for possession of cocaine that he did not disclose on his license application. About this time, a tape of Barr as Beetlejuice was sent to the offices of WCW president Jim Herd. WCW was even with WWF in adult demographics, but was losing badly among the child demographics. Herd decided to hire Barr, even though booker Ole Anderson thought Barr was too small to work in the company. Barr joined World Championship Wrestling in 1990 and was renamed "The Juicer" in order to avoid copyright conflicts, but he retained his character. Due to a faxing campaign, his sexual assault conviction followed him, which along with his small stature in a wrestling world then dominated by large wrestlers, he lost support and was soon released.
After his release, Barr worked a few spot shows for the Pacific Northwest Wrestling promotion in Washington state, as he was banned from working Oregon by the state's commission.
Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre (1991–1992) After leaving WCW, Barr was brought into Mexico's Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre promotion by Konnan. He initially wrestled under a mask as "The American Love Machine", and was very successful. A year after entering EMLL, the American Love Machine faced off against another masked wrestler, Blue Panther, in a mask versus mask match. 18,000 fans sold out the 17,000 seat Arena México in Mexico City and another 8,000 fans watched on big screen TV in the parking lot to see the card. The match ended when American Love Machine performed a piledriver (Martinete in Spanish) against Blue Panther, an illegal move in Mexican wrestling, thus losing his mask.
Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (1992–1994) Soon afterward, Barr left EMLL to join Konnan's newly formed Asistencia Asesoría y Administración promotion. As "The Love Machine" Art Barr, he debuted in AAA as a villain, and formed the tag team "La Pareja del Terror" (The Pair of Terror) with Eddie Guerrero. The pair were highly successful, as they would go on to win the World Tag Team Championship and become arguably the most hated tag team in lucha libre history. Barr and Guerrero expanded their tag team into a faction after being joined by Konnan, Black Cat, Madonna's Boyfriend, Jake Roberts, Misterioso, Chicano Power and King Lion. Together, the faction became known as Los Gringos Locos (The Crazy Americans).
Despite both the acclaim and the financial success he received, Barr's time in Mexico took a toll on him, as he was reportedly homesick (his wife and son remained in Oregon while he was working in Mexico). Eventually, he turned to alcohol and drugs for solace, despite the concern of his friends in the business.