A sad day for indie wrestling fans, particularly longtime fans of Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), as one of its earliest stars, Z-Barr, has passed away. The cause of death is currently unknown, but he was only 38-years old. He had retired from pro wrestling in 2012.
CZW is saddened to learn of the passing of Tom 'Z Barr' Hirshman. Our deepest condolences go out to his loved ones. #RIPZBarr
— CZW: Combat Zone Wrestling (@combatzone) July 21, 2020
Tom Hirshmann, the man who would become Z-Barr, began his foray into the world of pro wrestling in 1999, when he was trained at the CZW Dojo at the age of 17. He made his CZW debut that summer and almost immediately entered the title picture for the CZW Iron Man Championship. During his time with CZW, he was part of a viral video that saw Z-Barr get covered in hundreds of chairs at the hands of Zandig and “Sick” Nick Mondo.
Z-Barr continued to work with CZW until 2009, but also worked in various other US indie promotions, most notably Philadelphia’s Pro Wrestling Unplugged (PWU), NWA Wildside in Georgia, New Jersey’s National Wrestling Superstars (NWS), and Florida’s IPW Hardcore Wrestling. He was a 2x tag team champion alongside Nick Berk in The Softcore Connection, winning the IPW and NWA Florida Tag Team Championships. In 2007, he captured the PWU Television title.
In 2002, he made his debut in Japan with a tour for Big Japan Wrestling (BJW), and in 2003 appeared for TNA/IMPACT Wrestling in a tag team match on TNA Xplosion against David Young & Glen Gilbertti (Disco Inferno). He competed for Vintage Wrestling in Florida in 2012, before retiring from the business.
Last Word on Pro Wrestling sends our deepest condolences to the Hirshmann family, as well as his friends, peers, and colleagues in the pro wrestling community. Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.
very sad to learn of the passing of #TomHirshman, better known as #ZBarr. His cause of death is not known at this time. He was 38 years old.
He retired from wrestling in 2012. pic.twitter.com/ByOmQ8CqyA— pwguru (@pwguru65) July 21, 2020
