Mike Polchlopek

history

|weight= |birth_date= |death_date= |birth_place=Eddyville, Kentucky |resides=Melbourne, Florida |billed=Austin, Texas |trainer=Caesar Barraza
Blackjack Mulligan
Boris Malenko |debut=1991 |retired= }} Michal Burton "Mike" Polchlopek, Jr. (born December 27, 1965) is an American professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, also known by the ring names Bart Gunn and Mike Barton. He is perhaps best known for his six-year tenure in the World Wrestling Federation.

Career

World Wrestling Federation

Polchlopek was famous in the World Wrestling Federation as one-half of the tag team The Smoking Gunns with his kayfabe brother Billy Gunn. The team were WWF World Tag Team Champions three times before breaking up and engaging in a brief feud.

Polchlopek then recreated the Midnight Express tag team as "Bodacious Bart" with partner "Bombastic" Bob Holly. The team had limited success, though they did hold the NWA World Tag Team Championship for a brief period in 1998.

When the WWF announced a shoot tournament called the Brawl for All in which the competition would be real and winners would not be predetermined, Bart Gunn participated. Gunn actually drew partner Bob Holly in the first round but was declared the winner by the complicated point system. When Gunn fought Steve Williams, many were surprised when he won by knockout. He won the tournament with a victory over the Godfather in the semi-finals and Bradshaw in the finals.

Afterward, Gunn feuded with both Holly and Williams, the pair angry at having been beaten in the tournament, the latter masking himself and pushing Gunn off a stage. To continue capitalizing on the impressive Brawl for All showing, the WWF set up a Brawl for All match between Gunn and heavyweight boxer Eric "Butterbean" Esch at WrestleMania XV. Esch knocked out Gunn within 30 seconds. Polchlopek was soon released by WWF.

Japan and Mixed Martial Arts

After leaving the WWF, Polchlopek found success wrestling in Japan (due to the fame of Steve Williams in Japan and his knockout pushing him as tougher than Dr. Death) with New Japan and All Japan Wrestling under the ring name Mike Barton. He also had a short stint in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2003.

Polchlopek made his mixed martial arts debut on June 17 2006, defeating Wesley "Cabbage" Correira at Rumble On The Rock: Beatdown in less than two minutes by technical knockout on the basis of a cut suffered by Correira. In his most recent match, Polchlepek faced Ikuhisa "The Punk" Minowa on the PRIDE Bushido 13 card, losing via unanimous decision to Minowa.

On the RAW 15th Anniversary Spectacular on December 10, 2007, Gunn participated in the 15th Anniversary Battle Royal and was eliminated by Steve Blackman.

Personal life

On December 19 2007, Polchlopek's son Michael Polchlopek III died at the age of nineteen as the result of an accidental shooting five days earlier.

In wrestling

  • Nicknames
    • "Bodacious"
    • Bart "The Hammer" Gunn
    • "Lefty"

Championships and accomplishments

  • International Wrestling Federation
    • IWF World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Kip Winchester

  • Panama Championship Wrestling
    • PCW Americas Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

  • Pro Wrestling Illustrated
    • PWI Ranked him # 377 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003.

Mixed Martial Arts

Mixed martial arts record

{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1" style="font-size:85%; text-align:left; width:100%;" |- !style="border-style:none none solid solid; background:#e3e3e3;"|Result !style="border-style:none none solid solid; background:#e3e3e3;"|Record !style="border-style:none none solid solid; background:#e3e3e3;"|Opponent !style="border-style:none none solid solid; background:#e3e3e3;"|Method !style="border-style:none none solid solid; background:#e3e3e3;"|Event !style="border-style:none none solid solid; background:#e3e3e3;"|Date !style="border-style:none none solid solid; background:#e3e3e3;"|Round !style="border-style:none none solid solid; background:#e3e3e3;"|Time !style="border-style:none none solid solid; background:#e3e3e3;"|Location !style="border-style:none none solid solid; background:#e3e3e3;"|Notes |- |Loss |1–1 |align='left'| Ikuhisa Minowa |Decision (Unanimous) |align="left"|PRIDE - Bushido 13 | |align="center"|2 |align="center"|5:00 |align='left'| Yokohama, Kanagawa | |- |Win |1-0 |align='left'| Wesley Correira |TKO (Cut) |align="left"|ROTR - Beatdown 1 | |align="center"|1 |align="center"|1:46 |align='left'| Hawaii | |}

References

External links

home | This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. See full license termsIt uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mike_Polchlopek ". | compliance | March 21st 2010