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Stone bold: Pro wrestling experience helps man stand out on Steve Austin's reality show

Posted: Aug 31st 2014 By: Joe Hadsall - JoplinGlobe.com

Oklafan Editor's Note: Barry Linduff is the real name of pro wrestler Michael Barry.

Barry Linduff kept his cool, but it was hard.

He was standing with a group of others near a mountainous area outside Los Angeles with a group of other guys when a blue '79 Dodge Ramcharger pulled up, leaving a thick dust cloud behind its oversized wheels. A black Labrador sat in the passenger seat.

As the door opened, a loud song by AC/DC blared. And when "Stone Cold" Steve Austin emerged, looking and acting exactly like the WWE wrestler Linduff used to watch as a teen, it was hard to contain his excitement.

"He steps out and yells, 'How the hell are y'all,'" Linduff said. "And I'm like, that's the guy I saw on TV. It wasn't an actor playing a role. It was truly him."

The moment happened on the first day on set, before cameras started rolling, for the current season of "Steve Austin's Broken Skull Challenge," a reality-TV show that debuted on CMT in July. Linduff, a graphic designer from Quapaw, Oklahoma, is one of 72 competitors engaging in physical battles for the show. Linduff's part in the show debuts tonight.

And though Linduff had the energy and excitement of a teen boy raging inside and dying to get out and go crazy over getting to meet an idol, he said he kept it cool.

"I could think about how cool it is to work with him and how I got to work with him," Linduff said. "But it's best for me to not think about it too much. I could get lost mentally where I'm at, so it's better to stay centered."

Early influence

Linduff has gotten to work with plenty of his idols over the past few years. The graphic designer for CDL Electric Company and Wilhite Signs has also worked as a graphic designer for The Joplin Globe. His business card has his name spelled out.

But he works under another name: "Mr. Saturday Night" Michael Barry. Under that name, he enters the ring as a professional wrestler and hits opponents with his finishing move, the Saturday Night Special.

He joined up with Traditional Championship Wrestling in 2012 and has traveled across the country matches that have been featured on TV stations worldwide. He's also wrestled as extra talent for WWE and TNA and gotten to meet many other wrestlers -- including ones he idolized as a kid, like Diamond Dallas Page, Bobby Eaton and Scott Steiner.

He never got the chance to wrestle with Austin, however, who retired from wrestling before Linduff got involved.

When Linduff was just watching and dreaming as a kid, he said Austin was on a special level. Regarded as one of wrestling's biggest stars, Austin had a rough-and-tumble ring presence that involved plenty of one-fingered gestures, coarse language and cans of beer.

Linduff said Austin was wrestling's first anti-hero and added a level of coolness by shedding traditional black-or-white roles.

"His character was more influential than his wrestling style," Linduff said. "In the '80s, good-guy wrestlers were all 'Say your prayers, take your vitamins' guys, and that got boring. The '90s were different, where everyone was angry and had an edge. Austin stood up for what was right, but he did it his way."

Networking's net result

As Linduff progressed with wrestling, he made contacts and connections in the wrestling world -- shortening his "Kevin Bacon steps" to big names and important people.

"When you reach a certain level, everyone kind of knows everyone," Linduff said. "You may have never met, but they know if you're good and if they want to work with you."

One of those connections helped him land the spot on CMT's show. He has been working with a former marketing director for TNA on a reality show based on how he is a graphic designer by day and a wrestler by night.

Footage of the show concept was shot, showing Linduff as a working man during the week and a wrestler on the weekend, and it ended up in the hands of another producer. Then Linduff got a call from CMT.

About a Steve Austin project.

Linduff said he thought it was a drop-in-the-bucket chance, but he took that chance and signed up through the application process. About two months later, he got another call requesting a Skype interview. He agreed to every step but never thought he'd get a shot.

"I kept working on the other show, thinking there was no way I'd get picked for it," Linduff said. "Then one night, I'm watching wrestling with my wife and I got a call. They said ?Here's a plane ticket; can you get to L.A.?"

Grueling work

With less than a week's notice and an understanding boss, Linduff in April caught that flight and stayed in Los Angeles for seven days of carefully controlled activity. Upon his arrival at 3:15 a.m., he reported to a production assistant who became a sort of guard.

"I turned over my room key to him and had to let him know where I was at all times," Linduff said. "It was equivalent to a blue-collar prison. I watched 'Anchorman 2' on pay-per-view too many times."

The competition was grueling as well. Set on a rugged California mountain, the environment treated competitors to a range of harsh temperatures, from the frosty chill of the mornings to brutal heat of the afternoons.

"You're standing in the hills of a California mountain, and you're being sandblasted by dirt and wind," Linduff said. "Once the sandblasting has taken off several levels of skin, the sun beats down and burns that."

Combined with intensely physical competitions, that made this slice of TV glory particularly grueling, he said. While some are races, others are forms of direct physical competition. One event involves a form of tug of war where competitors try to yank a rope out of the others' hands; another involves carrying a sandbag to an opponent's bell and ringing it while the opponent uses any means necessary to prevent the ring.

In a promo for the show, Linduff is shown battling against another competitor in an event called Trench Warfare. Two opponent in a water-filled trench have to get past each other and ring a bell at the opposite end -- all while trying not to get their bell rung by the other guy.

Wresting edge

When it comes to Linduff's wrestling style, Austin's edge has been a big influence for Mr. Saturday Night, who is a brash, confident character fully engulfed in the belief that his know-it-all jerkitude is saving the world. That attitude served Linduff well, he said -- well enough to land in the promo that CMT used to advertise this week's episode.

The promo shows Linduff turning on the attitude, taunting his competitor before the contest begins.

Linduff said he was inspired by reading body language of the directors recording promos that weren't exactly inspiring. Seizing opportunity, he realized that he was brought on the show for a reason and that it was a chance to show the world what he had.

"Some of these other guys were talking about how they were in peak physical condition by sounding like Ben Stein," Linduff said. "When my time came, I embraced the antagonistic side. Let's just say that over 10 years of being moderately successful as a wrestler, that came natural."

Whether the tactic worked will be revealed in tonight's episode. Linduff said he was prohibited from saying how many episodes he appeared in.

But no matter the result, the show has been a rewarding experience for him and his career, he said. Appearing on the popular show will bring even more opportunities. He's maintained relationships with the producers and kept working on his other reality-TV project.

The wrestler he used to idolize is now on his Twitter feed -- Linduff said Austin follows him and they talk to each other every so often. And his priorities have changed since he got started wrestling -- he has a wife and daughter, and being in his 30s his him being more protective of his physical condition.

"I'm not necessarily looking for a full-time gig," he said. "What you want in your 20s may not work out, but when you could care less, that's when things come calling. I'm very happy where I'm at with life and work."