RONNIE GARVIN

Whether you know him as "Rugged," "Hands of Stone," or "One Man Gang," you know that all of these monikers fit Ronnie Garvin's wrestling persona.  Born Roger Barnes in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Ronnie achieved great fame and tremendous success as a professional wrestler.

After being trained for professional wrestling by Pat Gerard, Ron's first match was in 1960 when he was 15 years old; however, he did not get paid for it.  The match was in the gymnasium of a church and all of the proceeds went to the church (hence, no pay days).  Ronnie wrestled in the church once a week for two years.  His first professional match, though, was in 1961 and was for a small promoter and he remembers getting paid "$5 or $10" for it.   Ron went from Canada to Boston and wrestled as "Golden Boy Richard" and then went on several years later to form a tag team with his "brother," Terry (another Montreal native) and won several tag team titles.  They would later wrestle under the guidance of their manager, "brother" Jimmy Garvin (who is Ron's stepson).

After splitting from Terry and Jimmy, Ron wrestled throughout the southern United States in the late 1970's, including a stint as a minority partner and wrestler in Angelo Poffo's "outlaw" ICW where he feuded with both Randy Savage and "Pistol" Pez Whatley.  Perhaps Ron's most famous angle in ICW, though, was when he relived a famous piece of business by knocking Ox Baker's dentures out of his mouth and stomping on them (Youtube video).  Ronnie had previously done this angle with Boris Malenko in Knoxville and Malenko had done it previously with Eddie Graham in Florida.  Ronnie provided another memorable ICW moment when Randy Savage couldn't make a scheduled house show match  and Ronnie, as the story is told, went to the ring with a broomstick and actually had a pretty entertaining match against the broom.  Alas, Ronnie ended up being defeated and pinned by the tough-as-nails "opponent."  People talk about different guys being able to carry a broom to a good match; however, Ronnie actually did it!

Ron later went back to Georgia where he held the NWA World Television Title five times.  Continuing his career in the NWA, Garvin feuded with Jake Roberts, Tully Blanchard and Black Bart among others.  Garvin started a series of matches against NWA World Champion, Ric Flair, culminating on September 25, 1987 when Ron defeated Flair to become the new NWA World Champion.  Garvin held the title for two months before dropping it back to Flair.

Ron went on to have a short-lived heel run by turning on Dusty Rhodes during a US Title match against Barry Windham.  After leaving Jim Crockett Promotions, Ron next appeared in the AWA, also as a heel, feuding with Greg Gagne while making trips to Puerto Rico to battle Carlos Colon.

Garvin went on to the WWF where he wrestled until 1990, when he retired at the age of 45.  Ron now holds a pilot's license and works part-time as a private pilot, occasionally returning to the ring as a referee for Tennessee Mountain Wrestling.  Ronnie spends his time hunting and fishing and he's in the process of building a cabin.  He attends the Gulf Coast Wrestler's Reunion every year and will be attending his first CAC Reunion in 2008.

The Cauliflower Alley Club is proud to honor Ronnie Garvin.

Click here to visit the Ronnie Garvin Photo Gallery.