Bob Starr

Robert A. "Bob" Starr (born September 24, 1971) is a semi-retired American professional wrestler, trainer, and manager who has competed in numerous independent promotions throughout the United States since his debut in 1988. He is especially well known in the Mid-Atlantic region where he has competed for The Bad Crew's Eastern Wrestling Federation, Eastern Championship Wrestling, Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation, National Wrestling League, and the Virginia Wrestling Alliance. Starr also wrestled as a preliminary wrestler in both World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation throughout the 1990s.

One of the most dominant wrestlers in the MEWF's history, Starr was among the original wrestlers who helped create the promotion, serving as its booker in later years, and was widely considered "the face" of the company; Fantasia, and Ruckus. In recent years, he has been associated with Maryland Championship Wrestling as a referee and manager. In 2010, MCW's second annual "Legends of Maryland" supercard, he was inducted into the MCW Hall of Fame.

Career

Early career (1988–1990) Originally from Malibu Beach, California, Starr moved with his family to Baltimore where he would spend most of his childhood. Baltimore was a major wrestling town at this time with monthly visits from the "Big 3", the American Wrestling Association, the National Wrestling Alliance, and the World Wrestling Federation. It was during the mid-1980s, searching for cartoons to watch while snowed in at his home, that Starr came across a televised wrestling match of Paul Orndorff and Roddy Piper "[beating] the hell out of each other". He soon became an avid wrestling fan and, while attending Dundalk High School, began training to be a pro wrestler after meeting "Bad Boy" Ricky Lawless. He would be part of the same class that produced Axl Rotten and Joey Maggs.

WWF and WCW (1990–1991) In 1990, Starr joined the World Wrestling Federation

In July 1991, Starr also made his debut in World Championship Wrestling against Nikita Koloff in Salisbury, Maryland. With the exception of occasional appearances in the WWF (his last tour was in 1994), he would continue wrestling for the company making over 250 television appearances and countless house shows for the next 6 years. He wrestled Morgus the Maniac on its first card held in Pasadena, Maryland on August 2, 1991 He would remain one of the promotion's top stars for much of its 12-year history, considered the "face" of the company by the late-1990s, and later became involved in helping Burke run the promotion behind-the-scenes as a booker and in other roles.

On May 21, 1993, Starr teamed with Joey Maggs in a losing effort against the Cole Twins (Kent and Keith Cole) at the Philadelphia Civic Center. Though both Starr and Maggs were familiar stars in the region, WCW drew its lowest-ever crowd in the "hardcore mecca" of Philadelphia with only 600 fans in attendance. Nearly a year later he returned to Philadelphia to make a one-time appearance in Eastern Championship Wrestling, due in part to Axl Rotten, teaming with "The Extreme Shah" Hack Meyers in his ECW debut against The Bruise Brothers (Don and Ron Bruise) at the ECW Arena.

That same year, he also formed a successful tag team with Lucifer called The Hollywood Hunks. Starr wrestled in a tag team match with Barry Horowitz against The Headshrinkers (Fatu & Samu) at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center on September 27 and, in a singles match, against Adam Bomb at the Westchester County Center the following night. This was his last year touring for the company. He also wrestled bouts against Mike Khoury and Doink the Clown during this time facing Doink and Dink in a mixed tag team match at the end of the year. and WCW Main Event respectively. It was on the former show, WCW Saturday Night, that he would become a mainstay during his 6-year run with the company. In the next three years alone, he would wrestle Ice Train, The Shockmaster, Marcus Bagwell, "Jungle" Jim Steele, Thunder and Lightning, The Guardian Angel, Randy Savage, Alex Wright, The Renegade, Kamala, Johnny B. Badd, Rockin' Rebel, Road Warrior Hawk, and Eddie Guerrero.

Though primarily used as a preliminary wrestler, there were several occasions in which he had a memorable role. On April 20, 1994, in his match against WCW International World Champion Sting at Atlanta's Center Stage Theatre, he was pinned in 36 seconds following a Stinger Splash. Afterward, in a rare show of sportsmanship, the champion helped Starr to his feet. The following year, he and Scott D'Amore took on Big Van Vader in a handicap match. Scott Norton, and Chavo Guerrero Jr. He also appeared on the short-lived WCW Prime in matches against The Renegade, One Man Gang, The Shark, The Nasty Boys, and The Blue Bloods ("Lord" Steven Regal and "Earl" Robert Eaton).

Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation (1996–1998) Still a top contender in the MEWF, Starr wrestled stars such as Mad Dog O'Malley, "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka, Abuddah Singh, and Pat Patterson Jr. on MEWF's weekly television show in 1996. He also briefly formed a tag team with Cat Burglar, teaming up to take on Darkside (Glen Osbourne and Rockin' Rebel) in Baltimore on August 11, 1996, and feuded his old tag team partner Lucifer. Four months later, he lost to Joey Maggs in a match for the vacant MEWF Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship. Starr began teaming with Joe Thunder and together defeated Marvelous Inc. (Jimmy Jannetty and Ramblin Rich Myers) for the MEWF Tag Team Championship in Baltimore on September 18, 1998, but lost the titles a few weeks later to The Bad Crew (Bad Crew #1 & Bad Crew #2). Prior to Hulk Hogan's heel turn at Bash at the Beach, Starr's nickname was changed by the promotion to "Playboy" so as to avoid confusion between the two.

In his last run with WCW, he was earning $500 a night and was one of several wrestlers who brought in "crews" of preliminary wrestlers along with David Sierra (Tampa) and Scott D'Amore (Ontario). D'Amore had initially been part of Starr's "crew" and later brought in his own group of wrestlers from his native Canada which included Edge and Rhyno. and was among several who served as a booker. On June 9, 2002, he won the MEWF Mid-Atlantic Championship for the second time after defeating Drew Pain in Baltimore. Though losing the title to Barry Horowitz on September 22, in a three-way dance with Hack Meyers, at Baltimore's North Point Flea Market, he regained it from Horowitz a month later.

Despite the loss, Starr was able to win back the title, which had become vacant, by defeating Chad Bowman in Northpoint on September 7, 2003. He lost the title to Romeo Valentine in Dundalk on January 11, 2004, in a Triple Threat match with Buzz Stryker, ending his fifth and final title reign.

His last appearance for the company was on March 28, 2004, at a house show held at Dundalk's Northpoint Flea Market where Starr teamed with Davey Boy Schitz against Chris Clow and a mystery partner which turned out to be Earl the Pearl, a match which Starr and Schitz lost. Also scheduled to be on the card was Reckless Youth, Danny Doring, Romeo Valentino, Chris Chetti, Chad Bowman, and The Bruiser.

In April, Starr sent out an e-mail to a number of people, including internet "dirt sheet" writers, declaring the promotion "dead". The letter was prompted by the sudden cancellation of the promotion's show earlier that month. MEWF founder Tim Burke denied this claiming "the MEWF was strong as ever", however, internal problems in the MEWF locker room had long been apparent since the split between MEWF and MCW as well as rumors of Burke's "personal issues" earlier in the year. In early-2005, Starr was one of several wrestlers signed to Dan Selsky's short-lived Maryland Wrestling Alliance. He appeared on its debut show, “Inaugural Bash”, on March 2, 2005, where he was pinned by Dino Devine. In October 2005, he suffered a serious knee injury with kept him out of action for four or five months.

Maryland Championship Wrestling (2006–2008) In 2006, Starr joined MEWF's one-time rival Maryland Championship Wrestling, which had reopened that same year, serving as the promotion's senior referee. After being appointed by MCW Commissioner Jim Christian, he officiated a number of important events including Jason Static defeating Norman Smiley for the vacant MCW Rage Television Championship in November 2006. A year later Starr appeared at MCW's "Monster Mash" supercard on November 14, 2007, as the manager of The Headliners (Jimmy Jannetty & Ramblin Rich) which saw the team defeat The Best of Both Worlds (Doyle Day & Buck Chyld). At that year's "Holiday Homecoming", The Headliners attacked Ryan McBride & Teddy Stigma prior to their match against then MCW Tag Team Champions The Ghetto Mafia (2-Dope and Sydeswype) and took their place in the match. They were unable to win the championship, however, and all three men attacked special guest referee (and MEWF alumnus) Earl the Pearl who Starr blamed for the loss. The Headliners were then scheduled to face McBride and Stigma, with Earl the Pearl in their corner, at the 2008 MCW Anniversary Show in Dundalk, Maryland, on February 24, 2008. The winners were also to receive a title shot at the MCW Tag Team Champions.

Recent years (2009–) Starr's employment in the Maryland Department of Corrections limited his ring schedule, wrestling mainly on the weekends, though he continued to make regular appearances on the independent circuit, primarily for NWL/HOPWF in Hagerstown and MCW in Baltimore. As of 2010, he had competed in an estimated 100 regional and independent promotions throughout the continental United States. In addition, he worked part-time as a concert photographer for Kenny Chesney, Brett Michaels, Mötley Crüe, and Sugarland when performing in the Baltimore area. In January 2010, Starr managed Brian Hardy, the son of Barry Hardy, in his match against Gillberg at ACW Destiny. He had previously managed Hardy in a match against Buddy Landell for ACW Wrestling and also worked as an instructor at Gillberg's Pro Wrestling Academy in Severn, Maryland.

On October 30, at MCW's "Legends of Maryland 2" supercard, Starr teamed with "Mad Dog" Buzz Stryker against former student Ruckus and Cat Burglar. He was also inducted into the MCW Hall of Fame along with The Goodfellows (Rip Sawyer and Dino Casanova). A year later, he participated in an RF Video "Legends Q&A Session" in Baltimore with Terry Funk, Manny Fernandez, and Axl Rotten.

Championships and accomplishments AWA Superstars AWA World Television Championship (1 time, current) All Star Wrestling Federation ASWF Television Championship (2 times) East Coast Wrestling Association ECWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Lucifer Maryland Championship Wrestling MCW Hall of Fame (Class of 2010) Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation MEWF Heavyweight Championship (2 times) MEWF Mid-Atlantic Championship (6 times, first) MEWF Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Lucifer (2) and Joe Thunder (1) Pro Wrestling Illustrated PWI ranked him #454 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1998 Virginia Wrestling Alliance VWA Television Championship (1 time) Other titles Global Television Championship (1 time)