{{Short description|American professional wrestler}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}} {{Infobox professional wrestler | name = Jimmy Jack Funk | birth_name = Ferrin Barr Jr. | image = Jesse Barr NWA US Tag Team Championship 1985 (cropped).png | caption = Barr, {{circa|1985}} | names = The Assassin<ref name=accel>{{cite web|url=https://www.accelerator3359.com/Wrestling/bios/jjfunk.html|title=Jimmy Jack Funk|access-date=October 4, 2011|publisher=The Accelerator}}</ref><br />Jesse Barr<br />Jimmy Jack Funk<br />JJ Funk | height = {{height|ft=6|in=0}}<ref name=en154>{{cite book|title=WWE Encyclopedia|author=Shields, Brian and Kevin Sullivan|publisher=DK/BradyGAMES|year=2009|isbn=978-0-7566-4190-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/wweencyclopediad0000shie/page/154 154]|url=https://archive.org/details/wweencyclopediad0000shie/page/154}}</ref> | weight = {{convert|242|lb|kg|abbr=on}}<ref name=en154 /> | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1959|4|14}}<ref name=iwd>{{cite web|url=http://www.profightdb.com/wrestlers/jesse-barr-1084.html|publisher=IWD|title=Jesse Barr|access-date=October 4, 2011}}</ref> | birth_place = Portland, Oregon, U.S.<ref name=iwd /> | family = Sandy Barr (father)<br />Art Barr (brother) | billed = Double Cross Ranch, Amarillo, Texas<br />(as Jimmy Jack Funk)<ref name=en154 /> | trainer = Sandy Barr | debut = March 1980 | retired = September 2016 }} '''Ferrin Barr Jr.''' (born April 14, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Championship Wrestling from Florida under the ring name '''Jesse Barr''' and with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name '''Jimmy Jack Funk'''. He is the son of wrestling promoter Sandy Barr and the elder brother to wrestler Art Barr.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/2007/06/02/4229912.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916093306/http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/2007/06/02/4229912.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 16, 2016|publisher=SLAM! Wrestling|access-date=February 20, 2010|title=Northwest mainstay Sandy Barr dies|first=Greg|last=Oliver|date=June 2, 2007}}</ref>
== Professional wrestling career == ===Early career (1980–1986)=== Barr made his debut in March 1980 for Portland Wrestling. He later worked for Mid-South Wrestling. Barr was one of the top villains in Florida in the mid-1980s, winning the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship from Scott McGhee in October 1984. He lost the belt to Brian Blair before regaining it and eventually losing it for good to Hector Guerrero in late April 1985. Barr teamed with Rick Rude to hold the United States Tag Team Championship for three months before turning. He went to the World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico having feuds with Super Medico 1 and Carlos Colon in figure 4 vs figure 4 leg lock match and later came back to Florida as a fan favorite, and in early 1986 he feuded over the Southern Heavyweight Championship with a young Lex Luger.
=== World Wrestling Federation (1986–1987) === After leaving Florida, Barr arrived in the WWF in April 1986 in a Lone Ranger-style mask as Jimmy Jack Funk, the storyline younger and unstable brother of Terry and Dory "Hoss" Funk,<ref>{{cite book|first=RD|last=Reynolds|author2=Blade Braxton|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HFBTUhnc9DwC&pg=PA111|title=The WrestleCrap Book of Lists|page=111|publisher=ECW Press|year=2007|isbn=978-1-55022-762-8}}</ref><ref name=en107>{{cite book|title=WWE Encyclopedia|author=Shields, Brian and Kevin Sullivan|publisher=DK/BradyGAMES|year=2009|isbn=978-0-7566-4190-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/wweencyclopediad0000shie/page/107 107]|url=https://archive.org/details/wweencyclopediad0000shie/page/107}}</ref> with whom he had previously worked in Florida. In addition to his mask, he also wore a noose around his neck to the ring.<ref name=en154 /> According to his storyline, he was a former amateur wrestler who lost his mind after he missed out on the chance to compete in the 1980 Summer Olympics due to the United States' boycott.<ref name=en154 /> With Jimmy Hart as his manager, Barr debuted to a decent push, but Terry Funk's exit from the WWF in early June caused Hoss and Jimmy Jack to fall down the card as a tag team under Hart. Their most notable match together (and Dory's last in the WWF for almost a decade) was a loss to The Killer Bees in the opening match of The Big Event, a supercard at the Canadian National Exhibition Stadium in Toronto on August 28.<ref>{{cite video|title=WWF The Big Event|medium=VHS|publisher=Coliseum Video|date=1986}}</ref>
As the only remaining "Funk" in the WWF (and without Hart in his corner), Barr quickly became an aimless enhancement talent, losing regularly to the likes of Tito Santana, Koko B. Ware, Hillbilly Jim and Blackjack Mulligan and teaming with a series of journeymen with whom he had no previous storyline connection.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ring Results: 1986|url=https://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/86.htm|publisher=The History of WWE|first=Graham|last=Cawthon|access-date=February 20, 2009}}</ref> He remained in the WWF in this capacity until June 1987, but was released following a backstage incident with Haku. Despite rumors that one of his eyes had been gouged out during the fight,<ref>{{cite web|title=Ring Results: 1987|url=https://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/87.htm|publisher=The History of WWE|first=Graham|last=Cawthon|access-date=February 20, 2009}}</ref> Haku himself definitively stated that the rumors were untrue and that he deliberately avoided injuring Barr.<ref>{{cite web|title=Former WWE wrestler Haku on a legendary shoot fight with Jimmy Jack Funk|url=https://www.prowrestling.net/artman/publish/WWE/article10021733.shtml|publisher=prowrestling.net|access-date=December 31, 2016}}</ref>
===Later Career (1987–1997, 2010, 2016)=== After the WWF, Barr wrestled in Continental Wrestling Association, feuding with Jerry Lawler.<ref>{{Citation|last=cheapheattv|title=Jerry 'the King' Lawler vs. Jimmy Jack Funk- CWA Title Match|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3dReXBuEho |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/p3dReXBuEho| archive-date=December 12, 2021 |url-status=live|access-date=December 24, 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> During one interview, Barr referred to Terry Funk as his "cousin" (not brother, see above), a claim that he would repeat backstage during a lightly attended show outside of Portland, Oregon in late 1991. Then Barr joined World Class Championship Wrestling, where he was a villain at first but turned into a fan favorite in 1989 after parting ways with manager Skandor Akbar after he took offense to the derogatory things Akbar had said about Texas. Barr and Chris Adams were involved in a tag-team feud with King Parsons and Brickhouse Brown for several months with no clear resolution. After World Class, Barr returned to Portland, where he finished his career. While there, he won the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship while teaming with Steve Doll on June 12, 1991. The title reign lasted eight days, as the team dropped the championship to The Harris Brothers on June 20.<ref name=pnw />
Barr retired in 1997, aside from a one-night return for NWA Carolinas in 2010. His last match was in September 2016 in North Carolina. Barr now works in the construction business in Portland, Oregon.<ref name=WCM>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldclasswrestling.info/2013/07/faq-current-whereabouts-and-final.html|title=World Class Memories: FAQ: Current Whereabouts and Final Resting Places|access-date=February 4, 2015|archive-date=November 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108005203/http://www.worldclasswrestling.info/2013/07/faq-current-whereabouts-and-final.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Personal life== In July 2016, Barr was named part of a class action lawsuit filed against WWE which alleged that wrestlers incurred traumatic brain injuries during their tenure and that the company concealed the risks of injury. The suit was litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against WWE.<ref>{{cite web|title=WWE sued in wrestler class action lawsuit featuring Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka, Paul 'Mr Wonderful' Orndorff|url=https://www.foxsports.com.au/what-the-fox/wwe-sued-in-wrestler-class-action-lawsuit-featuring-jimmy-superfly-snuka-paul-mr-wonderful-orndorff/news-story/079fbd7db16f9cd71b7b569672baa4a5|work=FoxSports.com|date=July 18, 2015|access-date=July 20, 2016|publisher=Fox Entertainment Group (21st Century Fox)}}</ref> US District Judge Vanessa Lynne Bryant dismissed the lawsuit in September 2018.<ref>{{cite web|title=Piledriver: WWE uses 'Hell in a Cell' as springboard to future shows|url=https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/sports/2018/09/22/wwe-uses-hell-cell-springboard-future-shows/1394073002/|work=Montgomery Advertiser|last=Robinson|first=Byron|date=September 22, 2018|access-date=May 17, 2019}}</ref>
== Championships and accomplishments == * '''Championship Wrestling from Florida''' ** NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (2 times) ** NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship ''(Florida version)'' (1 time)<ref name=Jan15F4W>{{cite web | url=https://www.f4wonline.com/other-wrestling/daily-pro-wrestling-history-0115-big-john-studd-wins-1989-royal-rumble-301781 | title=Pro wrestling history (01/15): Big John Studd wins 1989 Royal Rumble | date=January 15, 2019 | access-date=January 18, 2019 | work=Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online | first=Brian | last=Hoops}}</ref> ** NWA United States Tag Team Championship ''(Florida version)'' (1 time) – with Rick Rude * '''Championship Wrestling USA''' ** CWUSA International Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Ryuma Go<ref name="Titles">{{cite book |author=Royal Duncan & Gary Will |title=Wrestling Title Histories |publisher=Archeus Communications |year=2000 |edition=4th |isbn=0-9698161-5-4 }}</ref> * '''Continental Wrestling Association''' ** NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship (1 time) * '''Pacific Northwest Wrestling''' ** NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Steve Doll<ref name=pnw>{{cite book|first=Royal|last=Duncan|author2=Gary Will|title=Wrestling Title Histories|publisher=Archeus Communications|chapter=(Oregon & Washington) Portland: NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title|pages=317–320|year=2006|isbn=0-9698161-5-4}}</ref> *'''''Ring Around The Northwest Newsletter''''' **Tag Team of the Year (1993) <small>with Ryuma Go</small><ref name=KM-RATN>{{cite web |url=https://www.kayfabememories.com/Regions/pnw/pnw16-2.htm |title=Regional Territories: PNW #16 Page #2 |author=Rodgers, Mike |date=2004 |website=KayfabeMemories.com }}</ref> **Wrestler of the Year (1993)<ref name=KM-RATN/> * '''World Class Wrestling Association''' ** WCWA Texas Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with John Tatum<ref name=WCWATexasTagBook>{{cite book| last1=Will | first1=Gary | first2=Royal | last2= Duncan | title=Wrestling Title Histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present | publisher=Archeus Communications | year=2000 | location=Pennsylvania | chapter=Texas: WCWA Texas Tag Team Title [Von Erich] | isbn=0-9698161-5-4 | page=277}}</ref><ref name=WCWATexasTagWeb>{{cite web | url=https://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tx/wccw/wcwa-tx-t.html | title= World Class Wrestling Association Texas Tag Team Championship | work=Wrestling-Titles | access-date=December 26, 2019}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist|2}}
== External links == * {{professional wrestling profiles}} {{NWA Mid-America championship}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Funk, Jimmy Jack}} Category:1959 births Category:20th-century male professional wrestlers Category:20th-century American professional wrestlers Category:American male professional wrestlers Category:Living people Category:Masked wrestlers Category:NWA Florida Heavyweight Champions Category:NWA Southern Heavyweight Champions (Florida version) Category:NWA United States Tag Team Champions (Florida version) Category:NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Champions Category:Professional wrestlers from Oregon Category:Professional wrestlers from Portland, Oregon