David Barry (born June 2, 1970) is a retired Canadian professional wrestler, trainer, and booker, best known by his ring name Quinson Valentino, who was a star on the independent circuit in eastern Canada and the Maritimes during the late 1990s and 2000s. He also formed successful tag teams with Jerry Martell, Derek St. Holmes, and Cody Deaner, and is widely considered to be one of Ontario's best "heel" performers.
In his career, Barry wrestled for various wrestling promotions: All World Wrestling League, Great Lakes Championship Wrestling, MainStream Wrestling Entertainment, Pure Wrestling Association, Rage Wrestling Entertainment, Rough Wrestling International, and World Class Canadian Wrestling. In the US, he has also made appearances for AWA Superstars, specifically AWA Brew City Wrestling in Wisconsin and AWA Mid-Atlantic in North Carolina, and the National Wrestling Alliance. He has also made brief guest appearances for World Wrestling Entertainment, in addition to a considerable number of other independent wrestling promotions in the Great Lakes region.
Early life David Barry was born in Chatham, New Brunswick. He was involved in physical contact sports at an early age, particularly martial arts, and started kickboxing at age 19. He had a total of 13 amateur fights and 4 professional fights before leaving the sport. Though he had an undefeated record, he later cited the negative attitude necessary to have when facing opponents was the major reason for giving up professional fighting.
Professional wrestling career
Early career in the Ontario independents After giving up kickboxing, Barry turned to pro wrestling. He spent five months in the gym lifting weights and working on his conditioning before walking into a wrestling school. Barry originally trained under Ernie "The Executioner" Moore in Burlington, Ontario, but later studied with Steve Keirn and Tom Prichard in the United States. After eight months of training he made his pro debut July 4, 1999, at the Leander Boat Club in Hamilton. He and his opponent, Jerry Martell, later formed a tag team called the East West Connection 2K1.
It was in the Hamilton-based Empire Wrestling Federation where Barry made his debut as "Quinson Valentino", a cocky egotistical star from Beverly Hills, California. EWF promoter Bob Woods had planned a different "gimmick" for Barry, however, the young wrestler disliked the idea and improvised his own ring character on the fly. A childhood fan of Jesse Ventura, Ric Flair, Bruiser Brody, Rick Rude and Randy Savage, Barry incorporated some of their personalities and wrestling styles into his new in-ring persona. His finisher, for example, was a modified version of Rude's "Rude Awakening" neckbreaker. These creative differences, as well as a disagreement over the direction of his career, caused a real-life falling out between the two men and resulted in Barry leaving the promotion.
Great Lakes Championship Wrestling Shortly after leaving the EWF, Barry joined Scott Chase's Great Lakes Championship Wrestling in Brantford, Ontario. He helped Chase as a booker during its first few months but decided to leave the position, around the time he won the promotion's heavyweight championship, so as not to create a bad atmosphere among the roster.
Barry won the GLCW Heavyweight Championship in late-2003 and spend the next several months feuding with the top babyface Scott Chase. Their feud extended to other Ontario-based promotions as well with Barry challenging Chase for the Canadian Grand Prix Wrestling heavyweight title in Cornwall on March 5, 2004. Another highlight in their feud occurred one week later when Barry teamed up with "The Real Deal" Magnus and "As Seen On TV" Notorious T.I.D. in a 6-man tag match to face Scott Chase, JQ Publik and "Mr. USA" Tony Atlas in Chase's hometown of Brantford. His time in GLCW established himself as one of the top heels on the Ontario independent circuit and was one of several GLCW stars to go to World Wrestling Entertainment.
Camp Martell While working for GLCW, he and Jerry Martell, Flexx Falcone, Morgan Storm started "Camp Martell", a wrestling school associated with their home promotion. In August 2002, Barry was involved in a car accident with other members of Camp Martell. Though he himself was not injured, he was traveling in a second vehicle and witnessed the accident in his rear view mirror. Barry later helped the injured wrestlers, Flexx Falcone, DWK, and Luke Slater, get medical assistance in Moncton.
Barry and Falcone eventually took over the school after Martell and Morgan Storm decided to leave GLCW. It was later renamed the Wrestlecorps Pro Wrestling Academy and had the involvement of other Ontario independent wrestlers.
Elsewhere in Canada Over the next two years Barry worked for various of independent promotions in Ontario and the Maritimes including Powerslam Wrestling Extreme, MainStream Wrestling, Canadian Independent Wrestling Alliance, and Canadian Professional Wrestling. He also received tryout matches with World Wrestling Entertainment appearing on the November 3rd edition of WWE Raw in Cleveland, Ohio, and November 6 edition of WWE Smackdown in Buffalo, New York. He later described his positive experience in the WWE locker room, including making a valuable connection with Hurricane Shane Helms, in interviews with SLAM! Sports and other Canadian websites.
In August 2003 Barry returned to the Maritimes where he headlined a live event for Canadian Pro Wrestling with Chi Chi Cruz, Scott Savage, Tony Armstrong, and The Highlanders (Robbie and Rory McAllister). Barry was one of several wrestlers who criticized the promotion for its overuse of backyard wrestlers.
Valentino in the United States By the end of 2003, Barry began expanding beyond eastern Canada and into the United States making appearances in the All World Wrestling League (Michigan), Ultimate Championship Wrestling (Michigan), WOW Wrestling (Wisconsin), Cleveland All-Pro Wrestling (Ohio), World Wrestling Alliance (Indiana), World Wrestling Alliance (Massachusetts), and NWA East (Pennsylvania). His travels brought him as far as North Carolina where he competed for Southern Championship Wrestling and Alternative Championship Wrestling, winning the latter promotion's heavyweight title. He remained ACW Heavyweight Champion until the company merged with CWF Mid-Atlantic; he lost to CWF Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion Ric Converse in a Triangle unification match, also involving Corey Edsel, in Seagrove, North Carolina, on January 31, 2004. Several months later at a television taping for "CWF Championship Wrestling", Barry lost to GeeStar in an intergender match, her first title defense as the first female CWF Mid-Atlantic Television Champion.
As several Canadian promotions often operated on a seasonal basis, Barry periodically returned to Ontario. In March, he toured with MainStream Wrestling Entertainment for its annual tour of the Maritimes. On May 18, he and The Missing Link wrestled to a double-disqualification at a show for the Canadian Independent Wrestling Alliance at Peterborough's Club Vibe. He also continued to wrestle for Pro Wrestling Xtreme at various times during the year.
Barry found early success in Michigan's All World Wrestling League. At a "Big Time Wrestling TV" television taping for Lansing's ABC53 Studios, he won the vacant AWWL Television Championship by defeating Thurston Brooks, Gutter, and Big Jake in a Fatal Four Way elimination match on August 23, 2004. On June 10, 2005, Barry defeated Ricky Stryc9 for the AWWL Heavyweight Championship at "War Games II" in Mason, Michigan. The match was not without controversy, however, as Barry was helped by outside interference from promoter Ed Farhat, Jr. and his henchman Medicine. He surrendered the television title at a subsequent show and defeated Ricky Stryc9 in a rematch at "War Games 4" in Ionia on August 12, 2005. Similarly, he enjoyed a championship reign in NWA All-Star Championship Wrestling winning the heavyweight title in a 2-day tournament; he eliminated TC Washington in the opening round, Silas Young in the semi-finals, and Mason Quinn in the finals to win the belt. He dropped it to J-Cash in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in September after four-month run. Earlier that year, Barry also participated in a special fundraiser, "Smackdown on Cancer", for Championship International Wrestling at Hillsdale High School in Hillsdale, Michigan.
That summer also saw Barry make a return to World Wrestling Entertainment. He first appeared in a backstage segment on WWE's Judgment Day pay-per-view where he was questioned by Booker T in a dressing room with Shannon Moore, Hardcore Holly, and Charlie Hass on the whereabouts of Kurt Angle. That same week, he wrestled at TV tapings for WWE RAW (May 23) and Smackdown! (May 24); Barry's Smackdown! opponent, Booker T (with Sharmell), pinned him following a scissors kick.
Return to Canada Barry was also wrestling in Canada during this period. In the summer months, he worked shows for Pro Wrestling Xtreme and Chuck Simpson's Rough Wrestling International. On May 14, 2005, Barry lost to Elian Habanaro in a 3-way match also involving Eddie Osbourne at a Pro Wrestling Xtreme show in Goderich, Ontario. On October 23, 2005, Barry and Cody Deaner won the GLCW Tag Team Championship from Models Inc. (Flexx Falcone and Sean Spears) in Brantford, Ontario. The two continued to defend the belts until GLCW merged with Pure Wrestling Attitude in March 2006. Their last official title defense was at the March 12th "GLCW vs. PWA" show in Brantford where they defeated PWA Tag Team Champions Phil Latio and Pantalone in a unification match; due to a pre-match stipulation Latio was forced to retire. Their championship reign was brief, however, as they lost the belts to the South Side Stranglers (Southside Strangler #1 and #2) later on in the show. At a follow-up show, "The PWA/GLCW War", Barry wrestled L’Artiste who was widely believed to be the supposedly retired Phil Latio.Laidlaw, Gordo. "Gordo, the wizard of id, Reviews: PURE WRESTLING ASSOCIATION, The PWA/GLCW War April 30/06, J’s Place – 7 Erie Ave Brantford, Ontario." Declarationofindependents.net. Ed. Sean McCaffrey. N.p., Apr. 2006. Web. Jan. 27, 2012. <www.declarationofindependents.net/doi/pages/GORDOpwaglc2430.html>.
In the spring of 2006, Barry toured across Ontario with the Canadian Independent Wrestling Alliance, making stops in Brantford, Havelock, Oshawa, Peterborough, and Sault Ste. Marie. On June 3, he and "The Sniper" Randy Vahn defeated Blackjack Phoenix and Thorn in a non-title match for the AWA World Tag Team Championship at Eastdale High School in Welland, Ontario. It was originally supposed to be a title bout but Thorn's regular tag team partner was unable to make the event and Phoenix was substituted in his place.Laidlaw, Gordo. "Gordo, the wizard of id, reviews: Rough Wrestling International, 03 June 06 @ Eastdale High School, Welland Ontario." Declarationofindependents.net. Ed. Sean McCaffrey. N.p., Jun. 2006. Web. Jan. 27, 2012. <www.declarationofindependents.net/doi/pages/GORDOrwi.html>.
That fall, he and several Canadian indy stars were present with "Mr. USA" Tony Atlas, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, and Koko B. Ware at a wrestling event held at the Pickering Markets on September 30-October 1. It was around this time that Barry returned to the States to join Daryk St. Holmes in AWA Brew City Wrestling as one-half of The Aristocrats (replacing Danny Scott). The team feuded with The Soul Shooters ("Poison" Appollo Starr and Drew "The Don" Johnson) over the BCW Tag Team Championship and eventually lost the belts to them in Waukesha, Wisconsin, the following year.