John R. Barend (March 27, 1929 – September 20, 2011), better known as "Handsome" Johnny Barend, was an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

Early life

Born in 1929 in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, Barend started wrestling as an amateur at the age of eight. After graduating from Thomas Jefferson High School in Rochester in 1944, he served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and wrestled while in the service.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1949–1962)

He was trained to wrestle professionally by Ed Don George and made his professional debut on November 1, 1949, defeating Faro Rinaldi. In 1956, he started teaming with Gene Dubuque, who was wrestling under the name, Magnificent Maurice. Barend's original manager was Ernie Roth, then using the name Mr. Kleen. Roth would gain fame in the WWWF as the Grand Wizard of Wrestling during the 1970s. Barend and Maurice went on to win many tag-team championships. Barend first appeared in Hawaii with

50th State Big Time Wrestling 50th State Big Time Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Hawaii or Mid-Pacific Promotions) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Haw ...

in September 1955.

Capital Wrestling Corporation / World Wide Wrestling Federation (1962–1963)

In 1962–1963, Barend was a regular tag team partner with NWA/WWWF world champion Buddy Rogers. The duo won the Capital Wrestling Corporation's United States Tag Team Championship on July 5, 1962, holding it for 245 days. Barend would hold the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship a number of times with a variety of partners as well as the San Francisco version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship.

NWA Upstate (1963–1965)

Barend left the WWWF in September 1963. The following month, he returned to the New York-based NWA Upstate promotion. Over the following months, his regular opponents included Hans Schmidt, Ilio DiPaolo, Karl Von Hess, and Moose Cholak. Barend left NWA Upstate in mid-1964 to wrestle for 50th State Big Time Wrestling in Hawaii. He returned to NWA Upstate in January 1965. During 1965, Barend regularly faced

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, and Christine. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), Nigerian autho ...

and

John Tolos John Tolos, nicknamed "The Golden Greek", (April 5, 1931 – May 28, 2009) was a Canadian professional wrestler, and professional wrestling manager. Professional wrestling career Tolos was born on April 5, 1931, in Hamilton, Ontario to G ...

, as well as opponents such as Hans Schmidt, Johnny Powers, and The Beast. In December 1965, Barend left NWA Upstate once again to return to Hawaii.

50th State Big Time Wrestling (1964, 1966–1972)

Barend wrestled

Dory Funk, Jr. Dorrance Earnest Funk (born February 3, 1941), known professionally as Dory Funk Jr., is an American professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. The son of Dory Funk (Dorrance Wilhelm Funk) and brother of Terry Funk, he was the promoter of the ...

in 1969 for the

NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA World's Heavyweight Championship is a men's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professiona ...

. He retired from wrestling in 1972.

Professional wrestling style and persona

Barend usually played the part of the "heel" or bad guy. He would enter the ring wearing his customary hat and sunglasses an unlit cigar gracing his lips and would goad fans with his soliloquies. During his time in Hawaii, he came up with the phrase, "Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat" which was later "borrowed" by

Jesse Ventura Jesse Ventura (born James George Janos; July 15, 1951) is an American politician, political commentator, actor, media personality, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), he ...

Personal life

Barend married Annie Lum in 1967 in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

. The ceremony took place during a wrestling show at Honolulu International Center with Jim Hady serving as Barend's

best man A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be selected. From his groomsmen, the groom usuall ...

. The two men wrestled in a tag team match together later in the show, with Annie at ringside.

Death

Barend died on September 20, 2011, in Avon, New York. He reportedly died peacefully in his sleep from natural causes after refusing a visit to the hospital as suggested by his doctor.

Championships and accomplishments

NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship The NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and was defended in the US state of Hawaii. The title, which began in 1935. From February 1940 through 1942 the titl ...

( 2 times) ** NWA North American Heavyweight Championship ''(Hawaii version)'' ( 2 times) ** NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship ( 7 times) – with Sandor Kovacs (1), Ripper Collins (2), Hans Mortier (1), Jim Hady (1), Magnificent Maurice (1), and Billy Robinson (1) ** NWA United States Heavyweight Championship ''(Hawaii version)'' ( 1 time) *American Wrestling Alliance (Indiana) **AWA Indiana World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Magnificent Maurice * Capitol Wrestling Corporation/World Wide Wrestling Federation ** WWWF United States Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Buddy Rogers ** WWWF United States Heavyweight Championship ( 2 times) *Midwest Wrestling Association (Ohio) **MWA Ohio Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **MWA Ohio Eastern States Heavyweight Championship (2 times) **MWA Ohio Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Magnificent Maurice * NWA Detroit ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Detroit version)'' ( 1 time) – with Magnificent Maurice *

NWA Hollywood Wrestling NWA Hollywood Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Los Angeles) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Los Angeles, California in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Southern California. It ...

** WWA International Television Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with Bill Melby *

NWA San Francisco NWA San Francisco was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in San Francisco, California in the United States. Founded in 1935 by "The Utica Panther" Joe Malcewicz (1897–1962), the promotion joined the National Wrestling Alliance in ...

** NWA World Tag Team Championship (''San Francisco version'') ( 1 time) – with

Enrique Torres Enrique Torres (July 25, 1922 – September 10, 2007) was an American professional wrestler, the oldest three Torres brothers in wrestling. One of the biggest stars in Southern California in the 1940s and 1950s, Torres held the Los Angeles ver ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barend, Johnny 1929 births 2011 deaths American male professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from New York (state) Sportspeople from Rochester, New York United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers WWWF United States Tag Team Champions WWWF United States Heavyweight Champions