Richard Harris (born January 30, 1948), better known by his ring name Black Bart, is an American retired

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1975–1981)

Rick Harris started wrestling in 1975. He went through several names, such as "Man Mountain Harris," "Hangman Harris," and "Hangman Ricky Harris".

Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (1981)

In 1981, Harris competed as a preliminary wrestler on the Jim Crockett Promotions "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" program as "Ricky Harris".

Georgia Championship Wrestling (1982)

From January to May 1982, Harris wrestled for Georgia Championship Wrestling.

Mid South Wrestling (1982)

From May to October 1982, Harris wrestled for Mid South Wrestling. It was during his "Hangman" Rick Harris phase, working for

Bill Watts William F. Watts Jr. (born May 5, 1939) is a retired American professional wrestler, promoter and former American football player. Watts garnered fame under his "Cowboy" gimmick in his wrestling career, and then as a promoter in the Mid-South Un ...

, that he debuted as a bounty hunter for

Skandor Akbar Jimmy Saied Wehba (September 29, 1934 – August 19, 2010) was an American professional wrestler and manager better known by his ring name Skandor Akbar, which translates as "Alexander the Great". Akbar led the villainous stable Devastation, Inc. ...

in 1982.

Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (1982–1983)

In November 1982, Harris returned to MACW. He wrestled for the promotion until May 1983.

Southeastern Championship Wrestling and All-Japan Pro Wrestling (1983)

From July to December 1983, Harris wrestled for Southeastern Championship Wrestling and All-Japan Pro Wrestling.

Championship Wrestling from Florida (1983–1984)

In December 1983, Harris joined

Championship Wrestling from Florida Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to as ...

. Harris formed a tag team called the "Long Riders" with Ron Bass in

Florida Championship Wrestling Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) was a professional wrestling promotion based on the former National Wrestling Alliance member promotion, Championship Wrestling from Florida, which operated from 1961 until 1987. From October 2007 to August ...

in 1984 and they would hold the NWA United States Tag Team Titles (Florida) and work a program with

Barry Windham Barry Clinton Windham (born July 4, 1960) is an American retired professional wrestler. The son of wrestler Blackjack Mulligan, he is best known for his appearances with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW ...

and

Mike Rotunda Lawrence Michael Rotunda (born March 30, 1958) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling in the 1980s and 1990s under the ring names Mik ...

Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (1984–1986)

In August 1984, Harris returned to Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling with Bass, where they were managed by J.J. Dillon. After splitting with Bass in 1985, Harris feuded with

Ron Garvin Roger Barnes (born March 30, 1945) is a Canadian former professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin. He is best known for his appearances with Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federatio ...

Terry Taylor Paul Worden Taylor III (born August 12, 1955) is an American retired professional wrestler better known by his ring name Terry Taylor and for his time as an in-ring performer in National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, and Wo ...

and Sam Houston over the NWA Mid-Atlantic Championship which he won and defended. During this time Black Bart developed his second-rope leg drop to a prone opponent finishing move known as the "Texas Trash Compactor".

World Class Championship Wrestling (1986–1987)

In September 1986, Bart went to

World Class Championship Wrestling World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), later known as the World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA) (1986–1991) was an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed ...

where he feuded with Chris Adams and

Kevin Von Erich Kevin Ross Adkisson (born May 15, 1957) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Kevin Von Erich. A member of the Von Erich family, Von Erich is best known for his appearances with his father's World Class C ...

over the World Class title. When Adams, who held the World Class title, left the promotion in September 1986, Bart was awarded the championship...but not before the promotion explained that Bart won the belt from Adams in a fictitious match held in Los Angeles. Bart lost the championship to Von Erich a month later in Dallas. In May 1987, like other major World Class stars, he left WCCW to join the UWF.

Universal Wrestling Federation and Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (1987–1988)

While in the Universal Wrestling Federation they would co-promote shows with the NWA. While wrestling in the NWA for

Jim Crockett Promotions Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, restarted by Jim Crockett's son and Jim Crockett Jr's brother, David Crockett. Founded in 1931, the promot ...

, he received a sizable push in the midcard, winning the

NWA National Heavyweight Championship The NWA National Championship is a professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the U.S.-based, National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The current champion is Cyon, who is in his first reign. The championship was established in January ...

and the

NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship The NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship promoted in Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), a territory- promotion governed by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Title history On October 13, 1970, t ...

. He also wrestled in the tournament for the NWA Western States Heritage Championship. Harris lost in the final match to

World Class Championship Wrestling (1988)

In March 1988 Harris returned to World Class Championship Wrestling. He remained with the promotion till the end of the year.

Professional Wrestling Federation (1989)

In early 1989 Harris went back to Florida and teamed with

Bobby Jaggers Robert Francis Jeaudoin (January 8, 1948 – September 30, 2012) was an American professional wrestler and civil engineer, also known by the ring name of "Hangman" Bobby Jaggers. Most of his renown as a wrestler came from his appearances in vari ...

and

Tony Anthony Darrell W. Anthony (born April 12, 1960) is a retired American professional wrestler, also known by his ring name Dirty White Boy. He wrestled primarily for independent promotions in the Southeastern United States. He was most active throughout ...

while feuding with

Dustin Rhodes Dustin Patrick Runnels (born April 11, 1969) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Dustin Rhodes. He is best known for his multiple tenures with WWE ...

and Mike Graham and

The Nasty Boys The Nasty Boys are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags. The team were active from the mid-1980s through the 1990s. Their gimmick was that of anti-social punks who specialized in hardcore wrestling and br ...

United States Wrestling Association (1989)

In May 1989 Bart went to Memphis and feuded with Jerry Lawler & Jeff Jarrett

World Wrestling Federation (1990–1991)

On January 22, 1990, Black Bart made his debut for the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

when he defeated Lee Peak in a dark match at a ''

WWF Superstars of Wrestling ''WWF Superstars of Wrestling'' (later shortened to ''WWF Superstars'' and to ''Sunday Morning Superstars ''), also referred to as ''Maple Leaf Wrestling'' in Canada was an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by ...

'' taping in Miami, Florida. Four weeks later Bart made his first appearance on television, when he was defeated by Tito Santana on ''

Prime Time Wrestling ''WWF Prime Time Wrestling'' is a professional wrestling television program that was produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It aired on the USA Network from January 1, 1985, to January 4, 1993. A precursor to ''Monday Night Raw'', ''Pr ...

'' on February 19. For the remainder of the year he worked mostly as enhancement talent. Bart appeared in well over one hundred matches and was featured regularly on television. He did, however, score victories over enhancement talent such as

Jim Powers James Manley (born January 4, 1958) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Jim Powers. He worked for the World Wrestling Federation from 1984 to 1994, then elsewhere until 2010. He was born in Washington Heig ...

(a five match winning streak in July), Paul Diamond, Mark Young, Jim Evans, and

Pez Whatley Pezavan Whatley (January 10, 1951 – January 18, 2005) was an American professional wrestler best known for his time with NWA Mid-America. Professional wrestling career Whatley played football and wrestled for Notre Dame High School in Chatta ...

, and even managed to get a shot at the WWF World Tag Team Titles to wrestle then-champions Demolition alongside Bart's partner for the match, Mark Ming, in a losing effort. Bart was the opponent for several wrestlers making their debuts in the WWF. On April 24, 1990, Bart was defeated by

at a dark match at a ''Wrestling Challenge'' taping in San Antonio, Texas. This was Dustin's debut. On the July 21 episode of ''WWF Superstars of Wrestling'', Bart teamed with Tom Stone to face

The Legion of Doom The Legion of Doom is a group of supervillains who originated in ''Challenge of the Super Friends'', an animated series from Hanna-Barbera based on DC Comics' Justice League. The Legion of Doom has since been incorporated into the main DC Univers ...

in their first match with the company. On July 24, 1990, he was defeated by

Shane Douglas Troy Allan Martin (born November 21, 1964) is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by his ring name Shane Douglas. He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (W ...

at a house show in Los Angeles, California. Following a series of matches in July against Jim Powers where Powers emerged victorious in every encounter, he entered a house show series in August with Pez Whatley. He then moved on a to another house show program – this time with the former Killer Bee

Jim Brunzell James Brunzell (born August 13, 1949) is an American retired professional wrestler. Best known for his successful tag teams, Brunzell performed for various wrestling promotions during his 21-year career. Early life The son of a navy pilot, Br ...

. Brunzell would win all of these encounters. In October Bart would enter a house show series with Dustin Rhodes and again would come up winless. That winter he began a series of matches with Saba Simba and Shane Douglas, coming up winless in all of those encounters. On the January 19, 1991, edition of ''WWF Superstars of Wrestling'', Bart went after the Tag-Team Championship again when he teamed with WT Jones in an unsuccessful challenge to

The Hart Foundation The Hart Foundation is the name of several derivative tag teams and stables composed primarily of members and close friends of the Hart wrestling family. The name originated in the World Wrestling Federation in 1985 with the original Hart Foundat ...

. This would be his final WWF match, as he returned to WCCW shortly thereafter.

World Championship Wrestling (1991)

Less than a month after his final televised WWF appearance, Black Bart signed with

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nati ...

. He made his first appearance at house show in Jacksonville, FL on February 15, 1991. Teaming with

Dan Spivey Daniel Eugene Spivey (born October 14, 1952) is an American retired professional wrestler best known under the ring names "Dangerous" Dan Spivey, Dangerous Dan The Left Hand Man, Danny Spivey, Mr. America, and Waylon Mercy, and initially worked ...

and

Buddy Landell William Fritz Ensor (August 14, 1961 – June 22, 2015) was an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name "Nature Boy" Buddy Landel. He was best known for his work in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) territories. Early lif ...

, the trio mounted an unsuccessful challenge to WCW Six-Man Tag-Team Champions

Junkyard Dog Sylvester Ritter (December 13, 1952 – June 1, 1998) was an American professional wrestler and college football player, best known for his work in Mid-South Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as the Junkyard Dog (or JYD), a nickname ...

Ricky Morton Richard Wendell Morton (born September 21, 1956) is an American professional wrestler, currently performing on the independent circuit. He is the current GCW Television Champion, after pinning Matt Cardona at GCW Say You Will. For most of his care ...

, and

Tommy Rich Thomas Richardson (born July 26, 1956) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Tommy “Wildfire” Rich. He is a one time former National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Champion and Smoky Mountain Wrestling ...

. That spring he renewed several rivalries, as he faced Sam Houston and Dustin Rhodes on the house show circuit. WCW created a stable known as "the Desperados" consisting of

Dutch Mantell Wayne Maurice Keown (born November 29, 1949) is an American professional wrestling manager, booker and retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Dutch Mantel (also spelled Dutch Mantell). Keown debuted in 1972, as Wayne Co ...

, Black Bart, and

Deadeye Dick ''Deadeye Dick'' is a novel by Kurt Vonnegut originally published in 1982. Plot summary The novel's main character, Rudy Waltz, or "Deadeye Dick", commits accidental manslaughter as a child when he shoots a gun out of a window and fatally strike ...

. The Desperados were packaged with the gimmick of being three bumbling cowboys looking to meet up with

Stan Hansen John Stanley Hansen II (born August 29, 1949) is an American retired professional wrestler. Hansen is known for his stiff wrestling style, which he attributes to his poor eyesight. He is also known for his gimmick as a loud, violent cowboy who w ...

to go to WCW and become a team. Over the course of a few months, they were promoted through a series of vignettes by which they would be beaten up in saloons, searching

ghost towns Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by Alle ...

, and riding horses. The Desperadoes entered the ring for the first time at house show in Charlotte, NC on May 12, 1991, where they (Bart and Dutch Mantell) were defeated by

The Young Pistols The Southern Boys - also known as The Wild-Eyed Southern Boys and The Young Pistols - were a professional wrestling tag team active between 1987 and 1991 in Championship Wrestling from Florida, Southeastern Championship Wrestling, and World Champ ...

. Bart made his first WCW PPV appearance seven days later at

SuperBrawl I SuperBrawl was the inaugural SuperBrawl professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The show took place on May 19, 1991 and was held at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida. The ma ...

, when he substituted for Larry Zybysko in a match against Big Josh. Later that month Bart began teaming regularly with Deadeye Dick in house show matches against Ricky Morton and Dustin Rhodes. The full Desperadoes trio entered the ring for the first time on July 3, 1991, in East Rutherford, NJ at the start of the 1991 The Great American Bash tour, where they were defeated by The Freebirds and Badstreet Brad Armstrong. On July 14 he wrestled Junkyard Dog in the dark match of the Great American Bash PPV. He later appeared as a lumberjack in a match between Big Josh and

Black Blood William Albert Haynes III (born July 10, 1953) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Billy Jack Haynes. Professional wrestling career Early career (1982–1984) Haynes started wrestling in 1982 at the ag ...

. While the Desperadoes angle continued and the trio was shown as late as the June 29 WCW Power Hour program still looking for Stan Hansen, the former AWA champion reportedly wanted no part of the storyline and left for Japan, never to return to wrestle in North America. Without Hansen, the group were pushed into service as jobbers and were dissolved as a stable before the end of the year. Bart's final match was on August 24, 1991, on the WCW Power Hour, when he teamed with

Richard Myers Richard Bowman Myers (born March 1, 1942) is a retired four-star general in the United States Air Force who served as the 15th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As chairman, Myers was the highest ranking uniformed officer of the United Stat ...

against

The WCW Patriots ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

Late career (1991–2002, 2006)

Two months after departing from WCW, Bart re-emerged in

Global Wrestling Federation Global Wrestling Federation was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Dallas, Texas. It started in June 1991 and folded in September 1994. At one time its shows were presented on the ESPN television network. Often the promotion pr ...

. Teaming with Tug Taylor he faced Chris Walker and Steve Simpson. During his tenure he won the Bass Knuckles title, as well as the Tag Team Titles 3 times, including once with John Hawk. Harris returned to WCW on November 26, 1995, when he participated in the 60 man, three ring battle royal at World War 3. Wrestling as "Big Train Bart", he was eliminated. He next appeared on

WCW Saturday Night ''WCW Saturday Night'' is an American weekly Saturday night television show on TBS that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Launched in 1971 initially by Georgia Championship Wrestling, the program existed through various incarn ...

on November 30, where he faced

Disco Inferno "Disco Inferno" is a song by American disco band the Trammps from their 1976 fourth studio album of the same name. With two other cuts by the group, it reached No. 1 on the US ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs chart in early 1977, but had limit ...

. Harris wrestled in the independents for the rest of his career before retiring in 2002. Harris resurfaced in 2006 wrestling on some independent shows in Texas. Harris has also appeared at many NWA reunion events.# As a trainer, his most famous pupil to date has been

John Bradshaw Layfield John Charles Layfield (born November 29, 1966), better known by the ring name John "Bradshaw" Layfield (abbreviated to JBL), is an American retired professional wrestler and football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on t ...

. Harris once ran a professional wrestling school at the

Dallas Sportatorium The Sportatorium, located in downtown Dallas, Texas, was a barn-like arena used primarily for professional wrestling events. The building, which stood at 1000 S. Industrial Blvd, or the intersection of Industrial Boulevard and Cadiz Street (near ...

Personal life

A diabetic, Harris had heart bypass surgery in 2015. In July 2016, Harris was named part of a

class action A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...

lawsuit filed against WWE which alleged that wrestlers incurred traumatic brain injuries during their tenure and that the company concealed the risks of injury. The suit was litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against WWE. US District Judge

Vanessa Lynne Bryant Vanessa Lynne Bryant (born January 27, 1954) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. Early life Bryant was born in Queens, New York, and graduated from Howard University wit ...

dismissed the case in September 2018. In September 2020, an appeal for the lawsuit was dismissed by a federal appeal court.

Championships and accomplishments

*ACTS Wrestling Alliance **ACTS Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

** NWA Brass Knuckles Championship ''(Florida version)'' ( 1 time) **

NWA Florida Tag Team Championship The NWA Florida Tag Team Championship is the primary tag team title in NWA Florida Underground Wrestling. It started out in 1968 as the main tag team title in Championship Wrestling from Florida Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was ...

(

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) – with

(1) and

(1) ** NWA United States Tag Team Championship ''(Florida version)'' ( 3 times) – with Ron Bass * Continental Wrestling Association **

CWA Heavyweight Championship The CWA Heavyweight Championship was a major professional wrestling title defended in the Championship Wrestling Association. It was created through the unification of the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight, AWA Southern Heavyweight and CWA/AWA Intern ...

(

) *

** GWF Brass Knuckles Championship ( 1 time) **

GWF Tag Team Championship The GWF Tag Team Championship was the tag team title in the Global Wrestling Federation in Texas. The title existed from 1991 until 1994, when GWF closed. The title was featured on the promotion's show that aired nationally on ESPN. It is known a ...

( 3 times) – with Bill Irwin (1), Johnny Mantel (1) and John Hawk (1) *

** NWA Brass Knuckles Championship ''(Mid-Atlantic version)'' ( 1 time) **

( 1 time) **

NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship The NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship was a tag team title defended in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Mid-Atlantic territory. The championship was originally created in the summer of 1968 and was originally named the NWA Atlantic Co ...

( 1 time) – with Ron Bass **

( 1 time) *''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'' **PWI ranked him #348 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003 *

Southeastern Championship Wrestling Continental Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Dothan, Alabama from 1985 until 1989, owned by Ron Fuller. The promotion evolved out of the NWA-affiliated Southeastern Championship Wr ...

NWA Alabama Heavyweight Championship The NWA Alabama Heavyweight Championship was created in October, 1962. Since its creation, the championship has been defended in a number of NWA territories throughout the decades. Initially, the title was a part of Gulf Coast Championship Wrestl ...

(

) * Texas Wrestling Hall of Fame **Class of 2013 *

World Class Wrestling Association World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), later known as the World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA) (1986–1991) was an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed ...

WCWA World Heavyweight Championship The WCWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area–based World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA). The championship was originally created in ...

( 1 time)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Black Bart 1948 births American male professional wrestlers Living people People from Fayetteville, North Carolina Professional wrestlers from North Carolina 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers GWF Tag Team Champions NWA National Heavyweight Champions NWA Florida Tag Team Champions NWA Brass Knuckles Champions (Florida version) NWA United States Tag Team Champions (Florida version)