Early career (1991–1993) Polchlopek was trained to wrestle by Caesar Barraza,
Blackjack Mulligan, Tim Parker and
Boris Malenko. He made his debut in 1991. In 1992, Polchlopek (wrestling as "Brett Colt") formed a tag team with
Kip Winchester in the Tampa, Florida-based International Championship Wrestling Alliance known as the "
Long Riders".
World Wrestling Federation (1993–1999) Smoking Gunns (1993–1996) Polchlopek was perhaps most famous in the
World Wrestling Federation by teaming with
Monty Sopp, with Polchlopek being named
Barry Winchester while Sopp was named
Kip Winchester. They made their debut on April 5, 1993, by defeating
Barry Horowitz and Reno Riggins. Later on, they would be rebranded as
The Smoking Gunns, with Sopp being named Billy and Polchlopek being named Bart. The team won the
Tag Team Championship three times before breaking up and engaging in a brief feud in October 1996. Bart Gunn briefly went into solo competition, his most high-profile match occurring on
Monday Night Raw, in April 1996, which he lost to
"Ringmaster" Steve Austin via the Million Dollar Dream.
Singles competitor (1996–1997) Gunn feuded with
Billy Gunn during the fall of 1996 after Billy turned his back on Bart. The feud ended after he defeated Billy on the December 16 episode of Monday Night Raw. His most notable victory was scoring an upset victory over
Triple H by disqualification on Superstars. He also participated in the
1997 Royal Rumble match being eliminated by Steve Austin. He would defeat Triple H by countout on February 17 on Raw after
Goldust chased Triple H into the crowd. Gunn would later become a
jobber in 1997 losing to the likes of
Faarooq,
Triple H,
Ahmed Johnson and
Vader. His final match in this run was on June 9, 1997, on an episode of
Raw Is War against
Rockabilly, where he was defeated. He disappeared from the roster afterward. Gunn would then have a brief stint in Pennsylvania Championship Wrestling where he won their championship from
Lance Diamond on May 3, 1997. Then he would drop the title to
Ace Darling on September 26, 1997.
The Midnight Express (1998) Under his new manager
Jim Cornette, Polchlopek recreated the
Midnight Express tag team as "Bodacious Bart" with partner
Bombastic Bob in March 1998. The team had limited success, though they did hold the
NWA World Tag Team Championship for a brief period from March to August 1998.
Brawl for All and departure (1998–1999) In July 1998, Bart Gunn participated in the WWF's
shootfight tournament, the
Brawl for All. Gunn faced tag partner Bob Holly in the first round, and was declared the winner on points. Gunn next defeated
"Dr. Death" Steve Williams, with a surprising
knockout on August 24. Utilizing his enormous brute strength, Gunn defeated
The Godfather in the semi-finals, and
Bradshaw in the finals to win the tournament. According to his interview in the
Dark Side of the Ring episode on Brawl For All, he sat home for months following this after being told by
Vince Russo that WWF creative had nothing for him at the time. Despite this, while still under WWF contract Gunn would sign with
All Japan Pro Wrestling in October 1998, wrestling there for three months up until January 1999. During this time he also worked in the independent circuit. After returning to WWF television in February 1999, the WWF sent him to be trained by Ray Rinaldi (notable for training
Marc Mero) for a
WrestleMania match against
Eric "Butterbean" Esch. His first in-ring match and appearance with the company was at a pay-per-view on November 14, going by his WWF ring name Bart Gunn. He would compete in the 1998 World Strongest Tag Determination League, teaming with
Johnny Ace, and finishing in 4th place with 8 points. He became a member of Johnny Ace's gaijin (foreign wrestlers) stable, The Movement, and the two continued to team. Both would regularly wrestle until January 22, 1999, when Gunn returned to the WWF to fulfil the rest of his WWF contractual obligations. Upon being released from the WWF after
WrestleMania XV, he would return to AJPW in May 1999, still maintaining fanfare and momentum even after the loss to Butterbean. On June 9, Gunn and Ace defeated
Kenta Kobashi and
Jun Akiyama to win the
World Tag Team Championship. They held the title for a month and a half, before losing to
No Fear on July 23. In the spring of 2000, Barton entered the
Champion Carnival, defeating
Masao Inoue in the first round but losing to
Takao Omori in the second. On June 9, Barton and Ace took part in a tournament for the vacant World Tag Team Championship, and lost in the first round to the eventual tournament winners,
The Holy Demon Army. In the summer of 2000,
Mitsuharu Misawa left All Japan to form
Pro Wrestling Noah, taking most of the native talent with him. Barton, like many of the gaijin, remained in All Japan. Johnny Ace, however, left All Japan during the split and retired from wrestling, taking an office job in
WCW and later the
WWF.
Revenge angle with Steve Williams (2000–2001) In January 2000,
"Dr. Death" Steve Williams returned to
All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where Barton was wrestling as a full-time competitor during Williams's absence. On the January 17, 2000, edition of AJPW TV, Williams defeated Barton unexpectedly in a match, with the feud continuing for a week in the house show circuit before being postponed. The
storyline would resume in the summer of 2000 at a time when Barton was teaming with
Giant Kimala and
George Hines. Barton and Williams would each win against each other on various TV episodes and house shows in 50/50 booking. In the late summer and fall of 2000, Barton and Williams found themselves in an uneasy alliance where they both had a common enemy in
Toshiaki Kawada, who was often defeating both Barton and Williams at the time on TV, as well as a common enemy with
Genichiro Tenryu. Barton would ultimately defeat Kawada in tag-team action, but come short against Tenryu in the first round of the Triple Crown Tournament. In December 2000, the storyline animosity between Barton and Williams resumed, where Williams crossed paths with Barton in a tag-team television match during the
World's Strongest Tag Determination League 2000 tournament. They were on opposite teams and Williams sought to get even with Barton for his loss in the Brawl For All in a definitive match in the
Tokyo Dome. The feud with Williams would culminate into a revenge match on a January 28, 2001, pay-per-view main event, which Williams won. After this, Barton and Williams would regularly wrestle against each other throughout the first half of 2001, before the two would eventually team with each other later that year in October.
Jim Steele and
Mike Rotunda would join them in three-way or four-way tag team matches whenever the need arose. By late 2001, Williams would be a friend of Bart Gunn, often being by his side and taking part in both backstage and in-ring skits, as well as Williams rooting for Barton in his matches. Most notably, in January 2002 the pair celebrated
Abdullah The Butcher's birthday together in the ring singing and telling jokes, as well as Williams cheering Barton on when he was facing
Genichiro Tenryu in the Champion Carnival 2002 tournament. Barton ultimately defeated Tenryu, bragging backstage to the camera about his win, where Williams was happy for Barton and they fist pumped each other shouting in excitement.
Teaming with Jim Steele (2000–2002) Following the NOAH exodus, Barton formed a new
tag team with
Jim Steele. In October 2000, Barton entered a tournament for the vacant
Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, losing in the first round to
Genichiro Tenryu. On January 2, 2001, Barton won the annual January 2 Korakuen Hall Battle Royal. In the spring of 2002, Barton entered the 2002 Champion Carnival, making it to the finals but losing to
Keiji Mutoh. On July 20, Barton and Steele won The Stan Hansen Cup Four Way against
The Varsity Club,
KroniK, and
George Hines &
Johnny Smith. On August 30, Barton and Steele challenged Kronik for the World Tag Team Championship, but lost.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2003) Polchlopek had a short stint in
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2003 only lasting a month where he wrestled one match where he lost to
Perry Saturn.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2002–2004) After leaving All Japan, Barton and Steele signed with
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Barton entered the 2002 New Japan Triathlon Series in November, teaming with Steele and
Yuji Nagata. The team made it to the finals, but lost to
Manabu Nakanishi,
Osamu Nishimura and
Yutaka Yoshie. In February 2003, Barton and Steele entered a #1 Contenders tournament for the
IWGP Tag Team Championship. They ultimately emerged victorious, defeating
Makai Club members
Tadao Yasuda and
Kazunari Murakami in the finals, but an injury to Steele prevented them from getting the title match. After Steele recovered, he and Barton returned to teaming. In October 2003, they entered the 2003 G1 Tag League. During the tournament, on October 21, the two received a shot at the IWGP Tag Team Title against champions
Hiroshi Tanahashi and Yutaka Yoshie, but came up short. Barton and Steele finished the tournament in 5th place with 6 points. Polchlopek returned to the WWE as Bart Gunn for the December 10, 2007, edition of
Raw, where he participated in the 15th Anniversary Battle Royal. He was eliminated from the match by
Steve Blackman. Afterwards, he retired from professional wrestling. ==Mixed martial arts career==