10 WCW Stars Who Died Too Young
8. Art Barr (1966 - 1994)
Though today he is probably best remembered as Eddie Guerrerro's tag-team partner, Art Barr himself was one of the finest workers of his generation. Yet he never had a sustained run in one of the major national promotions.
Beetlejuice was one of the most popular family movies of the late '80s, and after seeing a video tape of Barr portraying a gimmick based on Michael Keaton's character from the film, WCW president Jim Herd decided to hire him in the hope of boosting their child demographic. Barr was rechristened 'the Juicer' to avoid copyright issues, and made his Atlanta debut in 1990.
Ole Anderson remained unconvinced by Barr due to his small stature, and when news surfaced of his previous rape conviction, the booker quickly garnered support to dismiss the newcomer. Barr was out the door almost as soon as he arrived.
Though the setback denied Barr national exposure, his reputation in the ring was set to grow. Pairing up with Eddie Guerrero, Barr - now known as 'The Love Machine' - starred in AAA's legendary When Worlds Collide pay-per-view, one of only sixteen PPV events in WWE's library not available on the Network. The duo's match opposite El Hijo del Santo and Octagón was contemporaneously hailed as one of the greatest pay-per-view matches of all time.
Such was his widespread acclaim that Barr was once again on the radar of North America's top promotions. However, less than three weeks later, he was found dead in his Oregon home, the result of drug-induced heart failure. As a tribute to his fallen friend, Eddie Guerrero began using Art Barr's frog splash finisher as his own.