10 Forgotten Pro Wrestling Scandals

9. Art Barr

The second-generation son of wrestler-cum-promoter Sandy Barr, Art Barr’s career seemed to be on the up in his father’s Portland territory during the late 80s thanks to adopting the gimmick of Beetlejuice. 

On July 6, 1989, however, Barr had a sexual encounter with a 19-year-old in the stairwell of an empty armoury following a show in Pendleton, Oregon. The woman later told police it was not consensual in nature and Barr was duly levied with a severe charge. 

Much to the consternation of local press sympathetic to his alleged victim’s plight, Barr (as Beetlejuice) continued to be featured on television as a heroic babyface who danced around the ring with children. 

On the day his trial was set to begin in July of 1990, Barr pleaded down to a lesser charge, avoiding a prison sentence but being hit with a $1,000 fine, paying for his victim’s medical and counselling bills, 180 hours of community service and two years of probation. 

Hounded out of his home territory in the wake of his conviction, Barr soon resurfaced in WCW as ‘The Juicer’. 

The negative press followed him there, however, with a concerted media campaign effectively causing his dismissal after just a few months.