Bill Irwin (wrestler)

Barney William Irwin (born September 17, 1954) is an American former professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Wild" Bill Irwin. Irwin is also known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation as The Goon in 1996.[1] He is the brother of the late Scott Irwin.

For the comic book, see The Goon. For the 2011 film, see Goon (film).

Bill Irwin
Birth nameBarney William Irwin
Born (1954-09-17) September 17, 1954[1]
Pecos, Texas
ResidenceDuluth, Minnesota[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Bill Irwin[1]
Super Destroyer No. 1[1]
The Goon[1]
Billed height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[1]
Billed weight250 lb (113 kg)[1]
Billed fromPecos, Texas
(as Wild Bill Irwin)
Duluth, Minnesota
(as The Goon)
Trained byScott Irwin[1]
Verne Gagne
Debut1979[1]
Retired2012

Professional wrestling career

Mid South beginning of The Super Destroyers/The Long Riders (1979–1982)

Trained by his brother Scott Irwin & Verne Gagne, Bill Irwin began wrestling in 1979 in the National Wrestling Alliance's Central States territory and in Mid South Wrestling and World Class Championship Wrestling, winning the NWA Central States Tag Team Championship in 1979. He wrestled for a short period in MSW in 1982 and was teaming with his brother Scott Irwin as the masked tag team The "Super Destroyers" with manager Skandor Akbar, and would later become known as The Lone Riders, in NSW.[1][2]

Irwin then moved on to Jim Crockett Promotions and the American Wrestling Association where he and his brother wrestled as the "Long Riders" and won several tag team titles together.[3][4] Their tag team ended in 1987 when Scott died from a brain tumor.

World Class Championship Wrestling (1982–1984)

Working in both the Mid South and also the WCCW in 1981, he would leave the Mid South in 1982 for WCCW, and now going by the name Wild Bill Irwin, he won the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship off Al Madril and then having become a member of H & H Ltd tagging with Bugsy McGraw to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship (Texas version) then Vacate the NWA Texas Heavyweight belt owing to a match between him and David Von Erich by 1983s after blaming McGraw for losing them the Tag belts then, after a light feud, began teaming with King Kong Bundy becoming North American Tag Team Championship which he would do another 4 times with his brother Bill as both original tagteam named The Super Destroyers not the ECW later version and their last run was as The Lone Riders; also in that year, he won the WCCW Television Championship to complete his total of 7 times.

Making a late return in 1983 to WCCW as Super Distroyer No. 2 with his brother Scott and managed again by Skandor Akbar and recent NWA North American Tag Team Champions for the first time.

Irwin later provided extensive commentary on the WWE's "The Triumph and Tragedy of WCCW" video retrospective of World Class Championship Wrestling, regarding his time in Texas, what it was like to wrestle in the Dallas Sportatorium, and his fateful trip with David Von Erich to Japan.

Independent circuit/World Championship Wrestling (1987–1996)

Irwin stayed in wrestling in the independents and resurfaced in the NWA during 1989. Later he would form a tag team with Black Bart in the Global Wrestling Federation from 1991 to 1992.[5] Irwin, as "Wild" Bill Irwin, also appeared sporadically in World Championship Wrestling, including in a loss to Davey Boy Smith in Smith's WCW debut at SuperBrawl III.[6]

World Wrestling Federation (1996–1997, 2001, 2007)

In 1996, Irwin wrestled in the World Wrestling Federation as The Goon, a hockey character who was "kicked out of every league he ever participated in." He made his TV debut on the July 20, 1996 episode of Superstars. The gimmick did not last long, as he left a few months after arriving.[7]

In 2001, Irwin returned to the WWF for one night, resuming the gimmick of "The Goon" for the gimmick battle royal at WrestleMania X-Seven.

On Raw XV, the 15th-anniversary WWE Raw special on December 10, 2007, Irwin, wrestling as "The Goon" once again, and sporting a thick moustache, participated in the 15th Anniversary Battle Royal. He was eliminated by the Repo Man.

Return to the independent circuit and retirement

Upon leaving the WWF in 1996, Irwin wrestled on the independent circuit for a short time, his most prominent match being against Shockwave the Robot in September 2012.[8]

Championships and accomplishments

References
  1. "Barney Irwin profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved September 5, 2009.
  2. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "WCWA World Tag Team Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. p. 268. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  3. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "NWA National Tag Team Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. pp. 145–146. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  4. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "Canadian International Tag Team Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. p. 358. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  5. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "GWF Tag Team Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. p. 280. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  6. "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts". Wrestling's Historical Cards SuperBrawl III. Kappa Publishing. 2007. p. 140.
  7. RD Reynolds and Randy Baer (2003). "Moonlighting". Wrestlecrap – the very worst of pro wrestling. ECW Press. pp. 157–180. ISBN 1-55022-584-7.
  8. "Bill Irwin - Matches". CAGEMATCH. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  9. "PUROLOVE.com". www.purolove.com. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  10. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  11. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "NWA Central States Tag Team Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. pp. 254–255. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  12. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "AWA Southern Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. pp. 189–191. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  13. >Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2006) [2000.]. "(Memphis, Nashville) Tennessee: Southern Tag Team Title [Roy Welsch & Nick Gulas, Jerry Jarrett from 1977]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, Ontario: Archeus Communications. pp. 185–189. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  14. "Southern Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  15. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "GWF Brass Knuckles Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. p. 380. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  16. "N.W.A. American Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  17. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "NWA Texas Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. pp. 268–269. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  18. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "NWA Texas Tag Team Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. p. 269. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  19. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). "Texas: WCWA Television Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 396. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  20. "World Class Television Title". Wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  21. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "UWF World Tag Team Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. p. 234. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
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