 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Steven Stewart (1965-11-30)November 30, 1965 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | September 12, 2023(2023-09-12) (aged 57) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Bart Sawyer[1] Steve Sawyer |
| Billed height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 225 lb (102 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | Portland, Oregon[1] Kansas City, Missouri |
| Trained by | Bob Geigel[2][3] |
| Debut | April 22, 1988[2][4] |
| Retired | 2004 |
Steven Stewart (November 30, 1965-September 12, 2023),[1] known by his ring nameBart Sawyer, was an Americanprofessional wrestler,color commentator, and occasional actor. He was best known for his time inChampionship Wrestling USA and theUnited States Wrestling Association during the 1990s.[5][6] In his career, Sawyer also wrestled forExtreme Canadian Championship Wrestling,House of Pain Wrestling Federation,Memphis Wrestling,NWA Georgia,NWA Main Event,NWA Worldwide,World Xtreme Wrestling andW*ING. Additionally, he competed as apreliminary wrestler inWorld Championship Wrestling and theWorld Wrestling Federation.
Trained byBob Geigel, Stewart began his professional wrestling career in theWorld Wrestling Alliance. He emerged as a popular "fan favorite" inPacific Northwest Wrestling in the early-1990s, whose gimmick was modeled afterBart Simpson,[6] and engaged in feuds withAl Madril,[7]Colonel DeBeers,Matt Borne and Buddy Wayne. Sawyer later became a "rulebreaker" himself when he relocated to the Southern United States. Throughout his career, Sawyer won several championships including theChampionship Wrestling USA Television Championship four times, theNWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship once, theNWA North American Tag Team Championship (withChris Michaels), and theUSWA World Tag Team Championship (with Doug Masters andFlex Kavana) three times.[5] He was forced to retire in 2004, following a mild stroke,[1] after nearly 18 years in the ring.
Stewart trained underBob Geigel[2][3] atMemorial Hall inKansas City, Missouri. The first wrestler he ever faced as a student wasCurtis Hughes. Stewart made his pro debut as "Steve Sawyer" on April 22, 1988.[4] He initially wrestled for Geigel'sWorld Wrestling Alliance inKansas City, Missouri. After the WWA's close, Stewart made brief appearances for theUnited States Wrestling Association andWorld Class Championship Wrestling.
Stewart joinedPacific Northwest Wrestling in the fall of 1990, as Bart Sawyer, a hyperactive and mischievous young wrestler. The character was modeled afterBart Simpson from the American animated seriesThe Simpsons. Sawyer's nickname (The Bartman) derived from the 1990 parody song: "Do the Bartman". He also cut his hair so as to more closely resemble the cartoon character.[6] Stewart scored wins overBrad Anderson andRicky Santana during his first year in the promotion and became a popular "fan favorite" feuding withAl Madril.[7] On October 20, 1990, Stewart won a $5,000 Battle Royal at the Portland Sports Arena. A match withSteve Doll against Anderson andThe Hood for theNWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship ended in a no-contest and the title was declared held-up. Sawyer and Doll were defeated by Anderson and The Hood in Portland on February 16, 1991, however, The Hood was unmasked as Ricky Santana.[8][9]
Later that year, Stewart traveled across the country to theUnited States Wrestling Association inMemphis, Tennessee. He formed a partnership with Doug Masters and the two quickly climbed the ranks of the tag team division.[5] On November 4, 1991, they defeatedRobert Fuller andJeff Jarrett for theUSWA World Tag Team Championship. Stewart and Masters' championship reign was short-lived, however, as they lost the belts to Fuller and Mike Mitchell weeks later.[10][11][12] The two men soon had a falling out and were feuding by early 1992. On January 13, Sawyer and Masters battled to a double-disqualification in a lumberjack strap match. The following week, Sawyer unsuccessfully challengedEric Embry for theUSWA Southern Heavyweight Championship. On the same event, Sawyer took part in an 8-man "strap battle royal" which was also won by Embry and includedTony Falk,Tom Pritchard, CJ,Miss Texas,Tony Anthony, and Doug Masters. On February 2, Sawyer and Tony Williams lost to Masters andBrian Christopher at the Mid-South Coliseum.[13]
On August 22, 1992, Sawyer defeatedRon Harris in a tournament final to win theChampionship Wrestling USA Television Championship. His first reign as champion lasted nearly two months before losing the title to Mike Winner on October 10, 1992.[14]
That fall, Sawyer returned to the USWA and won victories against Randy Rhodes and Mike Miller at theMid-South Coliseum. His winning streak was stopped byJeff Gaylord on November 9, 1992. The next week, Sawyer and Miss Texas beat Mike Miller and Lauren Davenport in a mixed tag team match.[13]
On January 9, 1993, Sawyer defeated John Rambo to win the Championship Wrestling USA Television Championship. He feuded withColonel DeBeers over the title before finally dropping the belt to DeBeers on February 27, 1993.[14] Later that year, Sawyer made a one-time appearance inWorld Championship Wrestling facing off againstMaxx Payne onWCW Main Event.[15]
Between 1993 and 1994, Stewart made several trips to Japan appearing forW*ING. On May 27, 1993, he andKiller Kyle wrestled Mitsuhiro Matsunaga and Shoji Nakamaki at W*ING Dog in the Box. On June 18, 1993, he facedMr. Pogo in a Scramble Bunkhouse Death match atKorakuen Hall.[16] On February 11, 1994, Stewart wrestled Kazumi Masasaki in aFalls Count Anywhere match. Four days later, he battledJason the Terrible in a Barbedwire Baseball match.[17][18]
Sawyer also made a brief stop in the USWA, with wins over Tony Falk,Reggie B. Fine and Leon Downs,[19] before moving back to the Pacific Northwest. In the spring of 1995, Sawyer joined Richard Small's short-lived Pacific Coast Wrestling promotion. On March 4, 1995, Sawyer and Bruiser Brian Cox defeated Buddy Wayne and Lou Andrews in Portland to become the inaugural tag team champions.[20]
In early 1995, Stewart started working forWorld Championship Wrestling as apreliminary wrestler. Stewart made his first WCW television appearance on the May 13th edition ofWCW Worldwide where he wrestledArn Anderson (withRic Flair) for theWCW Television Championship. A semi-regular onWCW Worldwide andWCW Saturday Night, subsequent opponents includedDiamond Dallas Page,Disco Inferno,Lex Luger,One Man Gang,Shinjiro Otani, andV.K. Wallstreet. He also facedThe Blue Bloods (with T.A. McCoy andLeroy Howard),Harlem Heat (with Ron Thompson), andThe Stud Stable (withBobby Walker). On the January 13, 1996 episode ofWCW Pro, Sawyer andBuck Quartermaine were defeated byChris Benoit andBrian Pillman. Sawyer's team lost when his partner was pinned by Benoit following a dropkick / dragon suplex combination. The following night onWCW Worldwide, he wrestledKensuke Sasaki for theWCW United States Heavyweight Championship. Despite a strong showing, Sawyer lost via submission with a standing armbar.[21] Sawyer made his final WCW appearance on the May 12th episode ofWCW Worldwide where he andManny Fernandez lost to Men At Work (Mark Starr andChris Kanyon).
After his run in WCW, Sawyer briefly returned to Championship Wrestling USA. On February 18, 1996, Sawyer and Sumito wrestled Buddy Wayne andColonel DeBeers inVancouver, Washington. During the match, Wayne accidentally pinned DeBeers, thenChampionship Wrestling USA Television Champion, and was awarded his partner's title.[14] He also began making regular appearances forExtreme Canadian Championship Wrestling in neighboringBritish Columbia. A protege and longtime friend ofRoddy Piper,[22] Sawyer adopted a similar "bad boy" persona during this period.[23] He appeared in two films starring Piper,Masked Man (1996) andSea of Fire (1996), as well as afight choreographer.[2] Sawyer used theHighland Sleeper finisher as a tribute to Piper.[3]
After a two-year absence, Sawyer made his return to theUnited States Wrestling Association.[24] The USWA had a talent sharing agreement with theWorld Wrestling Federation at this time. On March 10, 1996, Sawyer defeatedThe Brooklyn Brawler in adark match onWWF Superstars.[25] On June 15, Sawyer lost toBrickhouse Brown in a match for theUSWA Television Championship.[26] Two days later, Sawyer won the then vacantUSWA World Tag Team Championship withFlex Kavana[5] after defeating Brickhouse Brown and Reggie B. Fine in a tournament final.[24] The team also wrestled the opening match at the last-ever event held at the historic Mid-South Coliseum.[27][28] The team Sawyer and Kavana were then involved in a feud withJerry Lawler andBill Dundee. They lost the title to Lawler and Dundee on July 1 but regained them the following week. Kavana put up his hair for the team to receive a rematch.[23] The team's second and final title reign ended a week later when Sawyer and Kavana dropped the belts to Brickhouse Brown and Reggie B. Fine on July 15, 1996.[10][11][29]
Sawyer went back to Championship Wrestling USA at the end of the year. On December 15, 1996, he defeated Buddy Wayne to win theChampionship Wrestling USA Television Championship a record fourth time. Sawyer's reign was brief, however, as he quickly lost the belt back to Wayne the following week. On April 13, 1997, Sawyer took part in a 10-man steel cage match for theChampionship Wrestling USA Heavyweight Championship. The title was thrown into the ring and the wrestler who managed to escape the cage with the belt would be declared the new champion. Sawyer was the only wrestler to climb to the top of the cage with the championship but threw it down to Matt Borne who was waiting outside. He remained in the area wrestling on the local independent circuit for another year.[24] In late 1997, Sawyer worked for Ivan and Jeff Kafoury's Portland Wrestling. On November 1, 1997, Sawyer defeatedMatt Borne to win the promotion's then vacant heavyweight championship.[20]
With few options in Portland, Sawyer traveled to the Mid-Atlantic United States. On July 12, 1998, Sawyer teamed with Blackhawk, John Rambo, andDoink the Clown to defeat The Grungers (Skagnetti and Skank) andThe Bad Crew (Bad Crew #1 and Bad Crew #2) forWorld Xtreme Wrestling's Sportsfest '98 supercard inAllentown, Pennsylvania. On July 18, 1998, Sawyer defeated Gutterboy inHagerstown, Maryland for the vacantHoPWF Heavyweight Championship.[30][31]
By 1999, Sawyer had found success with theNational Wrestling Alliance-affiliated promotions in the Southern United States specificallyNWA Georgia,NWA Main Event andNWA Worldwide. Soon after entering NWA Worldwide, Sawyer began feuding with fellow USWA alumni Brickhouse Brown.[32] In early 1999, Sawyer feuded withThe Colorado Kid over theNWA North American Heavyweight Championship. At one point, Sawyer stole the title, after knocking out The Colorado Kid with a steel chair, and made title defences as the self-proclaimed champion. After one of their bouts, Sawyer assaulted referee Jimmy Rivers blaming the official for his recent loss. This incident led to a bout between Sawyer and The Colorado Kid at theNashville Fairgrounds on March 20, 1999, withEddie Marlin asspecial guest referee.
In May 1999, Sawyer entered a championship tournament for theNWA Georgia Junior Heavyweight Championship after the NWA decided to revive the long abandoned title.[33] He defeated but lost to Air Paris in the finals. On June 27, 1999, Sawyer defeated Silky Boom Boom inStockbridge, Georgia to win theNWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship.[34][35] A week later, he teamed with Chris Michaels to win theNWA North American Tag Team Championship from Frenchy Riviera and Shane Eden inNashville, Tennessee.[36][37] On August 19, Sawyer and Terry Lawler challenged Shane Young and David Young for theNWA Georgia Tag Team Championship inLoganville, Georgia but were unsuccessful.[38][39] The NWA North American Tag Team Championship was declared vacant that same month,[37] when the team failed to defend the title within 30 days,[36] and Sawyer was stripped of the NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship in October 1999.[34][35]
Although Sawyer was based in Nashville's NWA Main Event by 2000, he continued wrestling throughout the United States. Around this time he was publicly challenged by NWA ECCW's Michelle Starr.[3] In September 2000, the two men were scheduled to wrestle in a tag team match at theRoseland Theater against Bruiser Brian Cox and a mystery partner later revealed to beTony Anthony. When neither of their opponents were able to appear, the two men began fighting each other. On February 9, 2001, Sawyer was in attendance at the 35th annualCauliflower Alley Club reunion in Las Vegas withRoddy Piper[40] as one of his bodyguards.[41] On November 3, 2001, Sawyer was the last man eliminated by Kevin White in a 10-man battle royal to crown the first NWA-USA Main Event United States Heavyweight Champion.[42][43]
On October 12, 2002, Sawyer wrestledHoPWF Cruiserweight Champion Fumar inMartinsburg, West Virginia as part of a four-way match also including Hyjinx and Aidean.[44] On February 14, 2003, Sawyer defeated masked wrestler Parts Unknown (Larry Huntley) andRobbie Ellis at a Maine Event Wrestling show inNorway, Maine, as part of a television taping for the promotion's weeklyMidnight Madness TV series.[45] He also worked for Coliseum Championship Wrestling inEvansville, Indiana, twice winning the CCW Heavyweight Championship, and served on its booking committee.[46] That same year, Sawyer retired as an active competitor for Bert Prentice's USA Championship Wrestling in favor of becoming acolor commentator for its weekly TV show.
On February 4, 2004, Sawyer teamed with Big Bully Douglas againstShane Douglas andMichael Shane at the Nashville Fairgrounds for aNWA: Total Nonstop Action weekly pay-per-view event. A few weeks later, Sawyer was part of aMemphis Wrestling tournament to crown the firstMemphis Wrestling Southern Heavyweight Champion. Sawyer defeated Bad Boy #2 in the opening round but was replaced by Bill Dundee who ended up facingMabel in the tournament final. Sawyer made a second NWA: TNA pay-per-view appearance on June 9, 2004, when he andShane Matthews took onMonty Brown andAbyss.[47]
Stewart suffered a mild stroke on November 22, 2004. He remained in a coma for several days as well as suffering paralysis in the left side of his body.[48] Doctors in Nashville subsequently discovered a blood clot in Sawyer's right arm that required surgery. Although Sawyer recovered,[1] he was forced into retirement.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Marked Man | [2][3] | ||
| 1996 | Sea of Fire | [2][3] |
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