• Look Back In History
• Pmessages
• Quiz
• Stump The Staff
• Top Fifty
• Close

Two Cents Worth, Special Edition: Michael Barry: Mr. Saturday Night?not so special anymore

Posted: Jun 9th 2010 By: mikeiles

At one time, ?Mr. Saturday Night? Michael Barry was at the top of the ladder in the Maximum Wrestling Alliance, as the MWA Heavyweight champion. However, as of late, the top dog has seemed like nothing more than a mere puppy, as he has been in a downward spiral, racking up loss, after loss, including losing his coveted MWA Heavyweight title to ?The Human Action Figure? Jeff Starchild. Brief looks at these tumultuous months for Barry are as follows:

October 9, 2009
Michael Barry defeated Bobby V in a very tough outing, but he was able to defend his MWA title. However, Jeff Starchild, a relative unknown in the MWA at the time, came to the ring and pinned Barry in an impromptu match, in less than a minute.

November 6, 2009
Michael Barry defended his title against Jeff Starchild, but had to resort to cheating tactics, in order to overcome the young star. Then, in a match against Bao Nguyen, the time limit expired before Barry could defeat his opponent, thus raising questions about Barry?s ability as a fighting champion.

December 4, 2009
Barry teamed with his Excellence Personified mates, The Jet Setters (?Darling? Dustin Heritage & ?Handsome? Jack Legacy), and the trio lost, once again, to Jeff Starchild, who teamed with the (then-current) MWA tag-team champions, Old School Express (?Space Cowboy? Jason Jones & ?Big Country? Jake Boulder).

January 2010
Luckily, due to the weather at the time, the MWA cancelled their scheduled show, therefore, Barry was safe from further embarrassment.

February 5, 2010
Barry, once again, had to face Jeff Starchild, this time in a lumberjack match. And, once again, Barry tried to resort to cheating tactics, but this time found himself on the losing end of the encounter, as he was disqualified.

March 5, 2010
Barry and Starchild faced each other for the final time (as of this writing), and this time the MWA heavyweight championship was on the line in a steel cage. There was also a special enforcer in the form of ?Third Generation Superstar? Max McGuirk. Barry did fight hard in this match, and though McGuirk did slam the cage door in Barry?s face while Mr. Saturday Night was trying to exit, Barry needs only to blame himself, as he provoked McGuirk. As a result, Starchild was able to relieve Barry of the MWA heavyweight title.

April 9, 2010
Barry was in a 28-man gauntlet battle royal to name a new #1 contender for the MWA heavyweight title. The odds were, once again, against him, as he was one of the first two competitors in the match. However, the other competitor was his fellow EP member, ?Handsome? Jack Legacy. Rather than utilize their 2-on-1 advantage for every other opponent in the battle royal, the two simply tried to mock the crowd. Barry was later eliminated by Max McGuirk, and one could argue that he had little chance to win, since he was one of the first two men in the ring. However, Legacy was also one of the first two men in the ring, and he actually did win the battle royal.

May 7, 2010
After ruining the MWA Hall of Honor induction of Leroy McGuirk, Barry was forced to team with ?Terrific? Tim Rockwell in a tag match against Leroy McGuirk?s grandson, ?Third Generation Superstar? Max McGuirk, and his friend ?Poster Boy? Blake Albright. Rather than capitalize on an opportunity to win the match, Barry turned his attention to former WWE ring announcer, Mike McGuirk, allowing her son, Max, to get the pin on Barry.

June 4, 2010
Continuing a feud that had been on-going for a while, Barry was pitted in a singles match against Max McGuirk. Once again, Barry could not overcome his adversary, and earned, yet, another tally mark in the ?loss? column.

Barry has also had a similar lack of success in other promotions around Oklahoma, against former MWA Max-Division champion, ?Mr. Endurance? Sugar Shane Morbid. If the trend continues for this great star, will we see Barry slip into relative obscurity? My money says that the multi-promotional champion will be able to overcome this long slump and rise to greatness once again. However, Mr. Saturday Night needs to wake up and realize?the weekend is over?now it?s time to get back to work.

But then again?that?s just my two-cents worth,
J.W. McGillicutty

Tags: Michael Barry, MWA, Jeff Starchild, Bobby V, Excellence Personified, Jet Setters, Dustin Heritage, Jack Legacy, Old School Express, Jason Jones, Jake Boulder, Max McGuirk, Leroy McGuirk, Tim Rockwell, Blake Albright, WWE, Mike McGuirk, Shane Morbid