Randal Barry Orton, the brother of Bob Orton Jr. and uncle of current WWE star Randy Orton, has died at the age of 62.
The news was reported Saturday with no cause of death revealed yet.
Orton began his career in 1976 after being trained in Tampa by Bob Roop and Tully Blanchard. Throughout his career, he would wrestle under various names including Barry Orton, Barry O, and The Zodiac in Stampede Wrestling.
In May 1979, wrestling in Los Angeles, Orton won the Americas tag team titles with Hector Guerrero from The Twin Devils and held them for a week losing to Jonathan Boyd & Coloso Colosetti.
Later that year, he teamed with brother Bob Orton Jr. to win the Southeastern tag titles in the ICW promotion, eventually losing the titles to Bob Roop & Terry Gibb in early 1980.
After wrestling for Mid-South in the first half of 1984, he made his way to the World Wrestling Federation in 1985 as an enhancement talent working as Barry O. He wrestled for the WWF until 1987 when he moved to Stampede Wrestling as The Zodiac, a tribute to his father Bob Orton Sr., who used the moniker. This was his most high-profile position as a main event player teaming with Jason the Terrible.
His career was put on hold in the late ‘80s when Orton went to prison for nearly two years. In a 2006 interview with SLAM Wrestling, Orton stated he was in a car wreck after he had been drinking and that someone died.
After making parole, he would resume his career and return to the WWF in 1990 and lasted with the company until early 1991.
He would gain national attention during the ring boy scandal of the early ‘90s including an appearance on The Phil Donahue Show. Orton shared the details of a 1978 car ride with Terry Garvin, who was dismissed by the WWF in early 1992 following accusations made against him. Orton stated when he was 19, he was on a car ride from Amarillo to Albuquerque, New Mexico and Garvin made repeated advances at Orton to perform oral sex on him, which Orton turned down.
This is when his wrestling career ended, and he attempted to move into acting. He struggled with drug addiction and was very candid about his usage when speaking to SLAM Wrestling fifteen years ago.
Our condolences go out to the family and friends of Randal Barry Orton.
Notes Courtesy:
– Barry O Breaks His Silence (SLAM Wrestling, Jan. 4, 2006)
– Barry O: Scandal, Drugs, Recovery (SLAM Wrestling, Jan. 5, 2006)
– The Phil Donahue Show (March 16, 1992)
