Man the talent the NWA had from 1983-1988 was unreal. How many stories are similar to Barbarian and Warlord leaving because of pay disputes or booking. Barbarian seems like a great guy and business man. Can’t wait to see more clips.
The rise of the WWF was the big problem for the NWA. Vince offered more $ and exposure, and guys were willing to accept. Jim Crockett had to pay guys more than he wanted to to keep them from going North.
Barbarian and Warlord were two of the wrestlers who genuinely looked mean and scary. They and Psycho Sid (as a heel) were my top three scariest, followed by the Road Warriors and the Samoans (any version).
For me as a kid was also King Kong Bundy and Piper as a heel. When Piper and orton got the Haiti Kid and cut his hair, I was both horrified and hated Piper a bunch. I wish I didn't know anything about wrestling just like when I was a kid. Its more fun thinking its real.
You could tell him that though, because he was the type that would hug you. One old school wrestler, I can’t remember who, said in an interview that Barbarian would get drunk and hug on you saying “I love you buddy”. He also mentioned that Samoans are lovable, unless you piss them off. Then they’re deadly😂
Loved you in my childhood! So great to see you so many years later. You and Haku were such good bad guys, but strong as nobody else! Wish you great health and life ahead. God bless you!
I've been into martial arts for almost forty years, and I've meet about thirty pro wrestlers. I've been around a lot of badasses in my day(not saying I'm one, I've just met a lot). I can honestly say that The Barbarian and Ron Simmons are the two most unintentionally frightening humans I have ever met. Both are super nice men, but you couldn't pay me to get on their bad sides. When you stand next to them you can "sense" it.
There was no reason to have scaffold matches. Let the Warriors and POP settle their feud in a cage. Not sure why Dusty was so insistent on scaffold matches.
I'm surprised that those guys were nightly pay and didn't even have a contract in crockett. They made the right choice though. Guys at their size should no way ever take any of those scaffold match bumps.
Good for you Barbie I'm glad you left. You was always a great guy to watch. I use to train at the Powerhouse gym near Baltimore when you use to come to town. I remember they had a 200 Pound hand dumbbell that only got used when you and Haku were there. No one else could lift those things. True powerman.
Alot of wrestlers can be glad that the barbarian was a gentleman , if he had the attitude of someone like Tom billington or jbl he would have been terrifying to work with .
William Davies I think a lot of wrestlers thanked God that Haku and Barbarian were two of the nicest guys you’d ever meet,really humble,respectful,you can see Barbarian here shows that
He is one cool dude - I wish when I seen him at the Gym in Winnipeg in the early 90s to approach him - but he was a quiet type did not want to interrupt him and his workout !
Not to be “that guy” but in 1988 prior to the Great American Bash Tour, Barb and Warlord left and were replaced on the tour by Ivan Koloff and the Russian Assassin(Dave Sheldon)...not the Midnight Express. In fact in that same tour Bobby & Stan were finishing their program with the Fantastics in handicap bunkhouse matches before moving on to a program with Arn & Tully. So to sum up, it was in fact Uncle Ivan and The Russian Assassin who took the Powers of Pain’s place in those scaffold marches during that Bash 88 tour.
The Barbarian and warlord had all my respect . Great big men , very good interview And what a down to earth gentleman ! They deserved way more push than they got !
Correct Timeline for anyone interested who wants to watch on the network as it was a really good and well done angle. Feb 6 1988 ...Road Warriors vs Powers of Pain in weightlifting challenge. The Warriors would have been off TV for a while so that Animal could heal ..not sure entirely how long he was out but since the scaffold matches were supposed to happen at the Great American Bash 88 he must have been out at least a month. Also the scaffold watches still happened with Ivan Koloff and the Russian Assassin 👍
The scaffold matches were more hype than anything. Now I know Hannibal your a wrestler and a bump from ladder climbing up to the scaffolding will hurt, and the hang jump from underneath the scaffolding will hurt. But the whole hype behind the scaffolding matches was that we were going to see a full on wrestling war on the top of the structure and somebody was going to come flying off the top of it to the ring below, that never happened. In those matches they crawled around on top of the thing throwing punches and kicks and hanging around the ladder until somebody fell from a somewhat safe distance. I can understand why WWE has never held one of these matches because they were unsafe and you had to work it a certain way so it's not really worth it to put on this type of match. I still go back and watch these matches occasionally because the hype still gets me, however the matches aren't very good.
This man should have been world champion. I was amazed at , for a wrestler of his size and strength, the amazing moves he was always able to perform in every match.
I always liked his King Konga, Barbarian gimmick & was a massive character, but hearing how humble, & what a quality down to earth person he is good to hear...weird how sometimes the guys we rooted for were jerks in real life, & the guys we booed were actually gentleman outside the ring is a mind twist.
Powers of pain were misused in wwf and nwa. Barbarian and warlord were a great beasts. I don't blame the powers of pain leaving the nwa abruptly. They were too big to fall off a scaffold.
The fans all loved Demolition and so they became the babyfaces in the WWF. Powers looked menacing but lacked the charisma to be the new two-man Hulk Hogan they were being touted as in July '88 and Vince soon realised that, so had them selling once again for Ax and Smash (and the Bolsheviks and other heel opponents)
I remember this like it was yesterday. Paul Jones did an article in The Wrestler (magazine) that The Powers of Pain was afraid of the scaffold match. I hated the Powers of Pain for hurting Animal at the power lifting contest
I remember that article to ...I thought the scaffold matches still happened with Ivan Kolloff and Russian Assassin at Starrcade but it looks like these didnt happen till the following Bash.
@@johngallagher72. The feud was spring of 88. They had the Clash of Champions match. They left summ of 88. The Powers of Pain wrestled at the First Summer Slam. Ivan and the Russian replace the power of pain at Bash 88. I still have my VHS's and magazines from back then
The last Skywalker match should have been at Starrcade '86. Unfortunately, Dusty kept using it all throughout his tenure in JCP and even used it at GAB '91.
My bad looks like hes right that a midnight rock and roll scaffold match replaced a Warriors POP one. The warriors did wrestle a series of scaffold matches against Ivan Koloff and the Russian Assassin but these terrible matches didnt happen till the next Great American Bash. Sorry for the confusion below . I was basing my recollection on reading PWI religiously and ordering the tapes in the magazine rather than being able to see it first hand. We didnt get much NWA in Toronto On Canada at the time. You could find it but you really really had to search for it /put the work in which made Crockett 84 to 88 that much more mysterious and appealing despite the fact that this period is probably one of the top five periods for a promotion in wrestling history. 👍👍👍
I had chance to meet him at a couple Indy shows a few years ago and he is cool as cool can be. Super friendly and fun to chat with. Just like this vid.
I got mad respect for the Powers Of Pain for leaving the NWA over that stupid Scaffold Match Dusty Rhoads wanted to put on . I've always been a big fan of Warlord & Barbarian. In the 1980s I've always admired wrestlers with facepaint and big muscles , but now I have a newfound respect for the Powers Of Pain. Please make more videos of Barbarian telling the truth and telling it like it is. Hats off to both you guys for leaving the NWA and Dusty Rhoads for Vince McMahon's WWF ! ! !
If I'm not mistaken the Road Wartiors Midnight Scaffold was the year before. Cornette did get hurt during them though. Pretty sure by the time Powers of Pain and Road Warriors scaffold came up that Bossman was already in WWF.Also pretty sure that they played it that Powers of Pain were afraid of Road Warriors and again almost pretty sure that it was make shift team of Ivan Kolloff and Russian Assain who replaced P.O.P
@@LittleBigKid707b A lot of ideas were taken from Memphis ..Auston Idol v Jerry Lawler in a hair v hair cage match was probably the first Hell in the Cell or at least this is where Vince got the idea .
I didn't understand this. Barbarian says that he and Warlord left because of a scaffold match with Road Warriors and replaced in match by Midnight Express. Midnight Express/Road Warriors on scaffold was at Starrcade '86. Warlord and Barbarian didn't leave NWA for WWF until 1988 or 89. First Clash of Champions was March/April of 1988, when they attacked Road Warriors during benchpress challenge.
This is not quite accurate. The Powers of Pain left in 1988. The Midnight Express-Road Warriors scaffold matches took place in 1986-87. The team of Ivan Koloff and The Russian Assassin (Angel of Death aka Dave Shelton) took the Powers of Pain's place in the 1988 scaffold matches. I saw one on July 11, 1988, the day after the Great American Bash pay-per-view, in Salisbury, Md. … That said, Sione and Terry definitely made the right call to leave and not work those matches.
Interesting..I didnt know the Russian Assassin was the Angel Of Death . Was this the same guy who was Angel of Death in the other territories He was here in and Stampede in Canada at one point and looked like he had solid potential.
@@bluedevil71 interesting..I wonder why he never got a bigger shot ..he was really good in Stampede and seemed to fit in in a main even program with Owen Hart Davey Boy Smith Bad News Allen etc ..didnt he even have a very brief run and tryout with WWF?
Mr. Deel Hard to believe that happened even at a house show the Mulkeys were squash jobbers that rarely put up resistance that they would beat 2 big guys like P of P would have been exposing the business
Those scaffold matches were not safe back then. Can't blame them for saying NOPE. One of them could have died. Barbarian is the guy. He deserved better in his career. If only he had Heenan, when Heenan, was still Heenan (RIP Weasel). He had Baron Von Rasche as a mgr in WWF w/ Warlord & before that, #1 Paul Jones. Jesus Christ!! Glad to see Barb & Warlord looking healthy. Its a shame to say, but I'm glad they're alive smh
I love how he and Haku refer to their wives as "Mama"! Such a nice guy, who wouldn't love to sit and talk with him for awhile? On Nikita Koloff's site there is a GREAT picture of Nikita and Barbarian from some wrestling show, from not too many years ago, they are both smiling and it is a great picture!
Dont see the point of the scaffold matches. Just do a steel cage or falls count anywhere match where the guys can actually wrestle and beat each other up.
4:53 Not true, the Powers spent their last week in JCP beating Ronnie Garvin and Mighty Wilbur, occasionally in six man tags with Ican Koloff on their side and Kendall Windham on the jobber to the stars side. Their last match was a win over Garvin and Wilbur 11th June in Baltimore. Eight days later they debuted for the WWF with Tito Santana as manager, no-selling their way to a countout victory over Demolition in South Bend Indinana: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lsMDe57UcRw.html then beating two jobbers later that night. Also it was Ivan Koloff and the Russian Assasin who replaced Warlord and Barbarian in the scaffold match and took the scaffold bumps (Koloff twice in some matches as he would grab his chain and climb back up.)
By the tail end of the first Demos/Powers series (eg the Philly Spectrum 23rd July on the Philly network) the Powers were selling for the Demos and it felt more like the first post Survivor Series Demos/Powers matches where the Demos were the babyfaces.
@@VelvetMetrolink Yea, cause everyone recognizes a Tongan accent. His genuine accent sounds considerably more convincing than Nikita, Ivan, Jim Nelson, Korchenko or Petrov.
Love Barbarian but hes way off with some of these stories. Cornette blew his knee out taking the scaffold match bump in 1986, 2 years before POP left the NWA. Theres also no record of the POP jobbing to Rocky King & a Mulkey on the way out. In fact they won their final NWA match at house show on June 11, 1988 vs Mighty Wilbur & Ron Garvin in Baltimore. A week later they debuted on WWF shows.
I'm sorry I have to side with Barbarian here in what universe would the Mulkey Brothers win a match against Warlord and Barbarian and fans smark or not, would believe that, the only way that would happen is if Warlord and Barbarian knock themselves out and the Mulkey's won via countout.
I'll never get what the big deal was with these scaffold matches. First of all, they looked stupid as hell. 2nd, they were boring as hell, because there was very little one could do on those things & thus you were limited on a lot of your offensive moves during the course of the match. And lastly, all you would really see out of it, were great talents simply just lumbering on the scaffold praying they didn't take one wrong step. In short, IMHO those matches were snooze fest. I say that now, but I still book em from time to time in my NWA tabletop rasslin game. lol
