Sometimes a little reinvention is a good thing.
Dan Barry, a talented veteran of New York independent scene, had an idea — reinvent himself as Detective Dan Barry — a Hawaiian shirt clad wrestler who believes he’s an actual cop. The idea would not be complete with a partner, though. So he recruited former WWE developmental talent “Big” Bill Carr to don aviators and wield finger guns as Team Tremendous.
The reinvention of his character allowed for Barry’s (and Carr’s) natural comedic talent to meld with his terrific in-ring set. This one-two punch has allowed for Barry, who hinted at retiring from the ring, to become a beloved new member of the Irish independent wrestling scene, as well as also an in-demand performer for this coming ‘Mania weekend’ and beyond.
We caught up with Barry a few weeks ago to discuss the birth of Team Tremendous, how to properly work comedy into a match, being a stand-up comic, his Irish renaissance, and what the future holds for him and his team. He’s also a terrific Twitter follow, check him out at @TheDanBarry
In 2013, you formed Team Tremendous with Bill Carr (or so Wikipedia says), which without a shadow of a doubt, is one of the funniest tag teams in wrestling today. Can you tell us about how the team came together, and where the idea of this team — two guys pretending to be cops — came from?
I became friends with Bill at a random indie show in Long Island. He was walking around mildly confused — so I offered to take him to get food. He became one of my best friends fairly quickly. Once Bill was released from WWE, I pitched the idea of wanting to team with him. I decided we should do something completely different, so I pitched becoming this “fake cop” tag team idea and here we are.
In the same vein, you had been wrestling for a while prior to the formation of the team. Was comedy always a part of your in-ring style? If not, when did you decide to incorporate into your arsenal?
I always enjoyed more serious wrestlers — Regal, Malenko, Nagata. But I always tried to include my personality in my character. I wouldn’t even say I’m a big comedy wrestler, I just tend to do weird stuff.
How difficult is it to incorporate comedy into a wrestling match? Is trying to balance actual wrestling — which guys are extremely good at — with comedy difficult? Or is everything improvised?
Incorporating comedy is all dependent on the audience. Some crowds will take to it more than others. Knowing your audience, both in pitching the idea and selling to the crowd is the most important.
One of my favorite matches of 2018 was Team Tremendous vs. The Anti-Fun Police at Progress. I have watched that match with tears in my eyes so many times. When you’re doing comedic spots like you did in that match — how difficult is it to not completely lose it and crack up in a match?
The moment where the fans started chanting “We saw nothing” almost broke me. [Editor’s Note: This occurred when a ring crew member was “shot and killed” via finger gun by one of them members of the match. The “gun” was discarded and all four men walked away like nothing happened, which evoked the chant] I think a lot of the best parts of that match were the crowd’s reaction to the ridiculous things we tried. We just all got along so well that I was happy the match turned out as fun as it did.
Outside of Team Tremendous you’ve made a home away from home at OTT in Ireland. How’d you get to become “the adopted son of Ireland” and such a beloved member of that roster so quickly?
I have no idea. Honestly, I went to my first OTT show simply because I was already in town. I wanted to make a good impression- but I had no idea the response I would get. The OTT roster and office have been so great to me and I honestly just love being apart of everything.
During Scrappermania V over St. Patrick’s Day weekend, I saw the reaction you got from the fans — can you put into words the feeling of a couple thousand people chanting your name?
No. I can’t. It’s one of those things that just startle me. It had been a rough week up until I got to Ireland, and the fans made me forget all of it.
You’re also a stand-up comedian. How does being a pro wrestler help you in the stand-up world, and vice versa?
There are a lot of similarities between pro wrestling and comedy. I am glad I paid my dues in wrestling, because it helped me know what was coming backstage with comedy.
You’ve been wrestling since 2003 — that’s a lot of wear and tear on the body, a lot of traveling, and a lot of sacrifice. So my final question is this — what is it that you love about pro wrestling that has kept you in the ring for as long as you have?
I actually started in 2000 with my first match being in 2001. So even more wear and tear. I love the art of professional wrestling, I love the emotion you can draw from fans, I love the creativity, I love the performance, I love the people. Wrestling has given me my favorite memories and has always been the one constant in my life.
You can see Dan Barry wrestle Mania weekend at the following shows…
Wednesday: WrestlePro’s Funny = Money – 8pm, Rahway, NJ
Thursday: Interspecies Wrestling’s Balls Out Boner Jam IV – 7:30pm, Jersey City, NJ
Friday: Joey Ryan’s Penis Party- 8pm New York, NY
Saturday: Pro Wrestling Revolver’s Pancakes & Piledrivers – 11am- New York, NY
