Jim Barnett | |
|---|---|
.png) Barnett,c. 1983 | |
| Born | James Edward Barnett (1924-06-09)June 9, 1924 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Died | September 18, 2004(2004-09-18) (aged 80) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Chicago (PhB)[1] |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 1949–2002 |
| Organizations | |
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)[1] |
James Edward Barnett (June 9, 1924 – September 18, 2004) was an Americanprofessional wrestling promoter and executive. During his career, he was at times one of the owners of the IndianapolisNational Wrestling Alliance promotion, Australia'sWorld Championship Wrestling, andGeorgia Championship Wrestling, as well as serving as an executive with theWorld Wrestling Federation andJim Crockett Promotions/World Championship Wrestling. He also served as a member of theNational Council on the Arts during thePresidency of Jimmy Carter. Barnett was inducted into theWrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996, theNWA Hall of Fame in 2005, and theWWE Hall of Fame in 2019.
Barnett was born inOklahoma City, Oklahoma,[1] where he attendedHarding Junior High School followed byClassen High School, graduating in 1943.[1] In 1943, he enrolled in theUniversity of Chicago, studying theater and aspiring to become a playwright.[2] During his time at the University of Chicago, he served as business manager for student newspaperThe Chicago Maroon, bringing him into contact with theprofessional wrestling promoterFred Kohler. Barnett graduated in 1947 with aBachelor of Philosophy degree.[1]
In 1949, Barnett went to work for Kohler's Chicago-based professional wrestling promotionFred Kohler Enterprises, writing press releases and serving as deputy editor for the magazineWrestling as You Like It. He went on to work for Kohler as aroad agent, eventually becoming Kohler's right-hand man (in 1954, theNew York Daily Mirror jestingly described him as Kohler's "Man Saturday"). Barnett helped Kohler get hisWrestling from Marigold programsyndicated across the United States.[3][2][4][5][6]
In the mid-1950s, Barnett became a part-owner (with Kohler) of theNational Wrestling Alliance-affiliate Indiana Wrestling, relocating to Indianapolis. While in Indianapolis, Barnett pioneered the practice of recording wrestling matches in a television studio (rather than transporting recording equipment to arenas).[7] Barnett left Fred Kohler Enterprises in 1958.[1]
In the late-1950s, Barnett entered into a partnership with wrestling promoter Johnny Doyle and started to run wrestling shows on a national basis in cities includingCincinnati, Detroit, Los Angeles, andWindsor, Ontario, in some cases competing with theNational Wrestling Alliance (NWA).[8][9]
In 1964, Barnett travelled toSydney in Australia with Doyle to inspect Australia's wrestling scene. Selling his Indianapolis promotion toDick the Bruiser andWilbur Snyder and his Detroit promotion toThe Sheik, he returned to Australia with Doyle under the banner ofWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW), presenting their first card on October 23, 1964, at theSydney Stadium.[4][10] WCW's shows were broadcast in Australia onNine Network on Saturdays and Sundays; the program later also began airing in New Zealand and southeast Asia.[11] After Doyle died in 1969, Barnett became sole owner of WCW.[11] In the same year, Barnett joined the NWA.[3] In 1974, Barnett sold WCW to Tony Kolonie and returned to the United States.[11]
In 1973, Barnett became a part-owner of the Atlanta-based promotionGeorgia Championship Wrestling. After joining Georgia Championship Wrestling, he eventually became secretary-treasurer of the NWA.[3][4] Barnett used the growth of local Atlanta station Channel 17 into the national cable networkTBS to promote Georgia Championship Wrestling.[4]Tommy Rich's less-than-a-weekNWA World Heavyweight Championship reign in 1981 was one of Barnett's attempts to boost Georgia gates and secure his primacy within the promotion. During his time running Georgia Championship Wrestling, at the behest of TBS ownerTed Turner, Barnett renamed Georgia Championship Wrestling's eponymous Saturday evening television show toWorld Championship Wrestling, reusing the name of the Australian promotion he once owned.[12]
Barnett was "edged out" of control of Georgia Championship Wrestling in 1983.[12] In 1984, he brokered the sale of a majority interest in Georgia Championship Wrestling to theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF), leading to what was known asBlack Saturday, where the WWF took over the former Georgia Championship Wrestling time slot on TBS.
Barnett served as a senior vice president ofTitan Sports, Inc., the parent company of the WWF, from 1983 to 1987. While with the WWF, he negotiated the sale of the time slot on TBS toJim Crockett Promotions, as well as contributing to the first threeWrestleMania events.[4][5][13] He left the WWF in 1987 after chairmanVince McMahon demanded his resignation.[4]
In late 1987, Barnett began working forJim Crockett Promotions. When Jim Crockett sold his promotion to theTurner Broadcasting System in November 1988, Barnett stayed on as a senior adviser and a confidant of Turner.[3] The promotion was subsequently renamedWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW) after itsSaturday anchor show at Barnett's suggestion. He worked for WCW until its acquisition by the WWF in 2001.[7]
In 2002, Barnett became a consultant for the WWF, a role he held until his death two years later. During his tenure he identifiedJohn Cena to WWE executiveBruce Prichard as "your next guy".[14]
Barnett served as vice chairman of the State of Georgia Board of Medical Assistance and as a member of the Georgia Council of the Arts and Humanities.[15] He was also a board member of theAtlanta Symphony Orchestra and a trustee of theNational Symphony Orchestra.[2]
Barnett was active with theDemocratic Party.[1] He supported various politicians, includingmayor of AtlantaMaynard Jackson,RepresentativeWyche Fowler, andgovernor of GeorgiaGeorge Busbee. He donated $1,000 (equivalent to $5,526 in 2024) toJimmy Carter's successful1976 presidential campaign and $1,000 (equivalent to $3,816 in 2024) to Carter's unsuccessful1980 re-election campaign.[2] Barnett served in Carter'sOffice of Counsel to the President. In January 1980, he was successfully nominated by Carter to be a member of theNational Council on the Arts for a term expiring on September 3, 1980.[15][2][16][17][4]
Barnett was openly gay.[4][13] In the 1950s he allegedly had a relationship with actorRock Hudson.[4]
The book,Thin Thirty, by Shannon Ragland, chronicles Hudson's involvement in a 1962 sex scandal at theUniversity of Kentucky involving thefootball team. Ragland writes that Jim Barnett, a wrestling promoter, engaged in prostitution with members of the team, and that Hudson was one of Barnett's customers.[18] In 2003, former football player and wrestlerJim Wilson claimed that Barnett had sabotaged his attempts at a wrestling career after he rejected sexual advances from Barnett in 1973; Barnett denied the allegation, stating that he had sent Wilson home from a tour of Australia due to his having an affair with a stewardess whose airline sponsored World Championship Wrestling.[4]
After being dismissed from the World Wrestling Federation in 1987, Barnett reportedly attempted to commit suicide via an overdose ofsleeping pills.[4]
Barnett died ofpneumonia on September 18, 2004, at the age of 80, inAtlanta, Georgia. He had recently developed cancer and broken his arm in a fall.[4][13]
World Wrestling Federation chairmanVincent J. McMahon described Barnett in 1980 as "an outstanding promoter – probably the best in the country."[2] Barnett was identified by journalist Mike Mooneyham as "an integral part of pro wrestling's national television boom in the'50s" who "oversaw the golden age of wrestling in Australia during the'60s."[4] He was described by theCauliflower Alley Club (CAC) as "one of the most successful and controversial wrestling promoters in the history of the mat game", with CAC vice presidentNick Bockwinkel calling him "the father of television studio wrestling".[13] JournalistDave Meltzer described Barnett, alongsideEddie Graham,Sam Muchnick, and Vincent J. McMahon, as "the probably most influential men on the promotional end of the industry during the 60s and'70s".[19] Barnett was inducted into theWrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996, theNWA Hall of Fame in 2005, and theWWE Hall of Fame in 2019.[3] Writing in 2023, journalistAbraham Josephine Riesman described Barnett as "a colorful, beloved personality, a friend of celebrities, and a pathbreaker for gay men in the athletics industry".[20]
Barnett was known to his contemporaries for histhree-piece suits,horn-rimmed glasses, and expression "Oh, my boooooy". WrestlerJack Brisco described him as resembling "a character out of aNoël Coward play".[4][7]
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