Early career (1962–1984) Barnes started wrestling in 1962 under his birthname. In the mid-1960s he adopted the ring name "Ron Garvin" and formed a
tag team with
Terry Garvin, who was billed as being his brother. The pair competed together in the late 1960s and early 1970s, taking home multiple regional tag team titles. They were managed by their other "brother,"
Jimmy Garvin (actually Ron's stepson in real life). In the mid 1980s, Ronnie and Jimmy had a heated feud with the Rougeaus in International Wrestling in Montreal, Garvin's hometown. He made a name for himself as a singles wrestler in the
Georgia,
Alabama,
Kentucky, and
Tennessee territories in the late 1970s after splitting with Terry and Jimmy. Garvin wrestled in the
Ron Fuller (Welch)-owned Knoxville promotion (Southeastern Championship Wrestling) where he (in)famously threw the championship belt off of the Gay Street Bridge. He later wrestled in
Angelo Poffo's
International Championship Wrestling promotion where he was best known for his heated rivalries with
Randy Savage and
Pez Whatley. One of Garvin's best-known ICW moments was where he knocked
Ox Baker's
dentures out of his mouth, after which Garvin stomped on the dentures. Irate at Garvin's antics, Valentine asked that Garvin be reinstated so that he could get his hands on him. For the next four months the two had house show matches all over the country, trading victories in the process. The two then battled at the
1990 Royal Rumble in a
Submission match, which Garvin won to end the feud. At
Survivor Series (1989), Garvin competed in a 4-on-4 Survivor Series elimination match where he was a member of The 4x4s (Jim Duggan, Bret Hart, Garvin and Hercules) but they were defeated by The King's Court (Randy Savage, Canadian Earthquake, Dino Bravo and Greg Valentine). After his feud ended with Valentine, Garvin was about to feud with
Rick Martel. They cut promos on each other, but a televised match between the two never happened. They did, however, wrestle at house shows, with Martel winning most of the encounters. Garvin left the WWF in November 1990.
Later career (1991–2014) Garvin returned to WCW in a house show in Knoxville, Tennessee, on March 8, 1991 when he lost to
Rick Steiner, but was not given a contract. He thus returned to the World Wrestling Council in 1991 and reignited his feud with Carlos Colon over the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship, winning it for a second time on February 2, 1992. He moved onto
Jim Cornette's Smoky Mountain Wrestling promotion where he feuded with
Paul Orndorff and
Kevin Sullivan, among others. From 1995 to 2001, Garvin ran his own promotion in Knoxville, Tennessee, called Tennessee Mountain Wrestling. In 2001 he sold it to former SMW associate Tony Anthony and Bob Orton Jr., who ran it for two more years He continued making appearances for independent promotions on a semi-retired basis well into the 2000s. In 2011, he competed in a legends battle royal at a
Juggalo Championship Wrestling event. On September 20, 2014, he wrestled a tag team match for Bruiser Wrestling Federation in his last recorded match at 69. == Post-wrestling career ==