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Barry Darsow Victim of Identity Theft... He Thinks

Says He's "Not Really Sure" Who He Is Anymore

May 23, 2005

TAMPA, FL--Barry Darsow, the professional wrestler from the 1980s and 1990s, was a recent victim of identity theft, he thinks.  The Tampa resident isn't quite sure, he said, because he doesn't really know who he is anymore.

"You should see the mail I get," said Darsow.  "In the span of a week, I receive bills and letters addressed to Repo Man, Demolition Smash, Blacktop Bully, and Krusher Kruschev.  It's like I don't even exist anymore.  And if I do, I exist as 5 people."

Darsow, who played those gimmicks in his careers with the NWA, WWF, and WCW, has used more ring names than perhaps anyone else in wrestling. 

Barry Darsow in two of the many gimmicks he used throughout his career.

According to Darsow, suspicious charges have been showing up on his credit card statements, and his bank account has been dwindling thanks to dozens of ATM (automatic teller machine) transactions that he swears he never authorized.  But when police discussed the matter with him and attempted to rectify the charges, they ran into problems.

"Barry isn't Barry anymore," said Officer Frank Martinez of the Tampa Police Department.  "He thinks he's Barry one minute, then he thinks he's Repo Man, then he thinks he's Demolition Smash.  We can't proceed until he gets a grip on himself."

And when police questioned Darsow's neighbors, they discovered that his identity crisis was not something new.

"Barry and I were having a BBQ in my backyard, real relaxed and everything," said neighbor Jim Wilson, who has known Darsow for about 5 years.  "I started telling him how I just got laid off from my job, and how I haven't been able to make my car payments in months.  The next morning, he repossessed my car."

While Wilson did not see the incident, other neighbor teenagers claimed they saw Darsow don a black mask that covered his face, and walked around Wilson's house at midnight in a sneaky manner and hunched over posture.

Barry allegedly donned his Repo Man gear to repossess his neighbor's car.

"I knew about his Repo Man past, but I figured it was just a gimmick," said Wilson.  "And now I not only have no job, but I have no car.  My life is ruined."

Darsow's father, who lives three blocks away, has also noted a change in his son's behavior.

"I'm retired now, with lots of time to read the paper and get political," said Mr. Darsow.  "And sometimes I debate foreign policy with my son.  The other day, I told him how I feel Russia has not been supportive in the war against terror.  He agreed with me.  But then a week later, he called me out of nowhere and cursed me in Russian."

Mr. Darsow choked back tears as he continued the story.  "He came to the house, weilded a big chain, and spray painted "USSR" across my garage door.  He was so enraged, he didn't even realize that the USSR doesn't even exist anymore.  When my wife and I tried to confront him, he swung the chain and nearly took out his mother's eye.  He showed no remorse and kept screaming about "Uncle Ivan" and "Nikita."  It was horrible."

Krusher Kruschev, yet another Darsow gimmick circa 1986 (seen here with Ivan Koloff)

Patrick Benjamin, who just celebrated his 12th birthday, was nearly assaulted by Darsow last month.  At Benjamin's birthday party, he and his friends decided to play a friendly trick on Darsow and toilet-paper his house. 

"It was clean fun, nothing more," explained Benjamin.  "We were gonna clean it up the next morning, just to be good sports."

But when he and his friends came over to clean, they were met by an angry Darsow.

"I couldn't believe my eyes," relayed Benjamin.  "Mr. Darsow, or Barry as I call him, burst through the front door with crazy face paint, spiked shoulder pads, and leather studs.  He kept screaming how he was gonna 'Kick our stinking teeth in,' and 'Knock our teeth down our throats.'  It was crazy.  He had this older gentleman with him, who had on silver face paint and yelled with a raspy voice and also dressed like Barry."

It was later in the afternoon when the boy's father explained to him that Darsow was once in a tag team called Demolition with partner Axe (Bill Eadie, formerly known as the Masked Superstar). 

Darsow, dressed up as Smash, scared one neighborhood child.

Police have suspended all inquiries into credit card fraud, and instead are focusing their investigation on Darsow.  A psychiatrist has been consulted, and the Tampa Police are contemplating registering Darsow at the local mental hospital.

"He's a nutcase, that much is for sure," elaborated Officer Martinez.  "All those years of different gimmicks have driven him mad.  Barry, or Repo Man or Blacktop Bully, whatever his name is... he's gonna be under 24-hour supervision from now on.  We went through this with Ed "Brutus Beefcake" Leslie, and we're not gonna go through it with Darsow.  These wrestlers, you gotta watch out for 'em."