Former WWE Star Skinner Comments On Shooting Barry Windham Accidentally
Steve Keirn wrestled for WWE as Skinner for many years and in reflecting back on his career, he shared a story about shooting fellow wrestler Barry Windham with a 9mm pistol.
Keirn made a name for himself in the indy scene in the 1970s into the 1980s and he won the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship for CWF five times. Keirn had a lot of success as part The Fabulous Ones tag team with Stan Lane including 14 times holding the AEW Southern Tag Team Titles.
In 1991, Keirn debuted in WWE after nearly 20 years in the pro wrestling business using the name Skinner. He was an alligator hunter. It turned that Keirn actually did some accidental hunting of his own too.
During a recent appearance on the Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw show, Keirn told the WWE Hall of Famers a story about how he shot Barry Windham by accident.
“That was really an accident. I didn’t mean to shoot him.”
“I always had a gun. I always loved shooting guns. One time me and Barry were coming back from a town and and I have no idea where it was or when it was. But at the same time we got out, and Barry’s standing right beside me, I mean he wasn’t in front of me at all. It was gun safety at its best.”
“I was unloading, and we were freaking out over the fire coming out of this 9mm pistol I had, and it shot 15 rounds. So I’m shooting the sign, a highway sign, so ‘I’m Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!’ That’s awesome! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Then all of a sudden I see Barry rolling down in the ditch. And I look over to my right and he’s done rolled out of sight. We’ve got alligators, and all kinds of stuff that I was always messing with, and I said ‘Barry be careful man, there’s snakes and alligators and you might get bit.’ And he’s going, ‘You shot me! You shot me!’”
Keirn thought that maybe the bullet didn’t hit Windham, but it did. Apparently the bullet ricocheted off a sign and hit Windham.
Keirn’s run as Skinner lasted from 1991-1994 with a mild push for the veteran wrestler. There were times when he also competed as Doin as well, especially when there were two Doink’s at various moments. Keirn also had a brief run in WCW as well.
After his wrestling career was over, Keirn became a trainer. In June 2007, WWE opened the developmental territory called Florida Championship, which is a place where a lot of current WWE stars got their start in pro wrestling until FCW closed in August 2012. Two of the most well-known FCW competitors were the current WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and WWE Champion Big E among many others. After FCW folded, WWE opened NXT opened in 2013 and the rest is history.
H/T Inside The Ropes for the transcript