Fall '09 - SUNY New Paltz
Dan Barry in his full wrestling gear (photo courtesy of Dan Barry)
In his final semester at SUNY New Paltz, Dan Barry spends the majority of his weeks studying in the library and his weekends falling through tables, getting hit with metal chairs and forcing blood out of his face for the entertainment of others.
Aside from studying TV and radio production at New Paltz and maintaining a 3.8 grade point average, Dan Barry wrestles professionally every weekend for multiple independent leagues throughout the northeast. Unlike Olympic-style wrestling, the winner of a professional wrestling match is fixed, but the pain is very real.
“If I jump off the top rope and land with my back in someone’s chest – there’s no way to fake that – it’s going to hurt,” said Barry.
Over the course of his nine year wrestling career Barry has broken his jaw, had teeth knocked out, broken multiple ribs, dislocated his hip and suffered multiple concussions alongside many more injuries he could not remember.
Barry started wrestling when he was 18-years-old. He grew up watching the WWF (now WWE) and WCW on television and after coming upon extra money he decided to take lessons at a local wrestling school in Hicksville Long Island.
“I always imagined myself as a professional wrestler. I guess I’m that kind of daydreamer,” said Barry. “… So when I had the money I signed up and got my butt kicked.”
The first year was the hardest for Barry. His coach, well-known professional wrestler “Mikey Whipwreck” did everything in his power to try to make Barry quit. Barry believed that if he could make it through the first year of conditioning, learning how to fall and developing a humble perspective, he could make it as a pro wrestler.
According to tag-team partner and longtime friend Ken “Scampi” Burger, Barry has progressed greatly and is a natural at the sport.
“His repertoire of moves has gotten wider and wider over the years,” said Burger. “He is one of the most talented guys I’ve ever worked with.”
Although Barry has years of training, spent countless hours in the gym and developed an understanding of how minimize harm to opponents, wrestling takes a toll on his physical health. The folding chairs wrestlers hit each other with are purchased from office supplies stores and the tables that they fall through are made of particle board.
Like the weapons, blood in wrestling matches is real. “Blading,” as it’s known in the industry, is when a wrestler cuts himself with a hidden razorblade during a match and forces blood to drip from the open wound. Normally hidden under wrist-tape or sweat bands, the razor is kept safely tucked in until the predetermined point in a match when the wrestler discretely cuts his own face.
To make the blood more obvious, Barry prepares before a match by practicing a few industry standard techniques.
“One trick is drinking a few beers before a match, it thins the blood. Some guys take a couple of Asprin too,” Barry said.
He tries his best to keep his wrestling life and his academic life separate, but every weekend he cannot avoid them colliding.
“On a Saturday when I should be working on a project I’m driving to the middle of nowhere Massachusetts to wrestle in a show,” said Barry. “Then I’ll spend Sunday laid up in bed recovering.”
Barry does not wrestle for the money primarily because he only makes about $100 per show. According to ProWrestling.com, an all encompassing informative Web site about the culture of professional wrestling, even some of the most unknown televised wrestlers make over $50,000 per year. Barry wrestles because he loves it and, as Burger explains, wrestling is like a drug.
“The boys call it ‘the itch,’” he said. “Wrestling gets under your skin and you can never really quit.”
Barry’s teacher for example, “Mikey Whipwreck” is now in his late 30’s and is currently scheduled for his fourth retirement match.
Of the four major televised professional leagues, (WWE, ECW, TNA and ROH) there are over 200 professional wrestlers. However, Barry is one of the thousands of up and coming athletes supported by one of the hundreds of independent leagues around the world.
Barry’s form of wrestling is misunderstood by some and written off as “fake” by many. After hearing about what Barry puts himself through every weekend, 21-year-old New Paltz student Melissa Kaiser said that she “could never imagine why anybody would do that to themselves.”
When asked why he still chooses to wrestle considering the toll it takes on his body, Barry explained that regardless of his rationale, people who don’t understand the sport will not believe him.
“If you don’t like pro wrestling, no explanation will ever do. If you like pro wrestling no explanation is ever necessary,” Barry said.
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