Bart Batten

Bartley Alan Batten was born on 8 September 1958 in New Martinsville, West Virginia, minutes apart from identical twin Bradley Jay Batten. Their parents were Jack Batten and Marjorie "Mort" Hayes Batten, whose large musical Hayes family left a mark on relatives including cousin Dana Smith. The twins were featured in The Charleston Daily Mail in 1969 for playing little-league baseball as look-alike brothers. Both played football from junior high through college. Bart attended West Virginia State University as a wide receiver while Brad went to Glenville State College as a running back. The schools' rivalry meant they often opposed each other without lining up on the same play. Bart later taught school and played two seasons of semi-pro football for the West Virginia Rockets.

Beyond college football and teaching, Bart's wrestling education began in the early 1980s under Angelo Poffo, Randy Savage, and Lanny Poffo in International Championship Wrestling. Living in St. Albans, West Virginia, the twins trained until each weighed about 210 pounds and experimented with the era's common weight-gain practices. Bart's high-school wrestling background helped him reverse Lanny Poffo's front facelock on the first day of training, after which the Poffos accelerated their preparation. They debuted after only a few sessions, a fast track that reflected how rare marketable identical twins were in the territory era.

From 1983 to 2005 Bart's career was inseparable from Brad's. In ICW he won tag gold with Johnny Wilhoit while Brad recovered from a knee injury suffered during their signature jumping high-five. In Memphis they worked Jarrett's CWA. In NWA Central States they became four-time tag champions, feuding with The Midnight Express, The Midnight Rockers, and Sheik Abdullah's cohorts. WCCW billed them as the U.S. Express. In Puerto Rico's WWC they captured World and Caribbean tag titles and became major heels after an early babyface run. They passed through SMW, WCW enhancement matches, and later Southern independents, collecting titles in SSW, ACCW, NCW, MSWA, CPW, and elsewhere. Peers such as Downtown Bruno argued bigger national offices underused them. They retired after a 2005 West Virginia tour that featured Bart's son Brent.

Bart married Tama Stapleton Batten on 20 March 2015 and settled with her in Stambaugh, Kentucky. He had two sons, Brandon (a Master Sergeant, with wife Melinda) and Brent, both of St. Albans, West Virginia, and four grandchildren. He was preceded in death by parents Jack and Marjorie, twin Brad (2014), and brother Jeff. After Brad's death Bart spoke publicly about both brothers separately becoming born-again Christians on the same day without knowing the other had done so. He remained close to Appalachian wrestling as a commentator and host after retiring from full-time ring work.

In his January 2015 podcast interview Bart described a shared born-again Christian conversion with Brad and spoke critically of modern wrestling economics, blaming Vince McMahon for dismantling the NWA territory system that had given twins like them steady work. He defended remaining in Puerto Rico after Bruiser Brody's murder as a family-support decision and said Brad believed Brody would have understood. The brothers framed retirement as refusing to become aging performers risking serious injury for diminishing returns.

The Batten Twins stand as one of the last classic identical-twin tag teams of the territory era, bridging Central States, World Class, Puerto Rico's WWC stadium scene, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, and Appalachian independents. Their record four Central States tag reigns and multiple WWC titles document sustained drawing power. Wrestlers and historians including Jim Cornette have revisited their matches and booking. Online World of Wrestling, Wikipedia, and DVD releases of WWC Aniversario bouts keep their work available. Bart's later commentary work and 2018 farewell match kept him visible to West Virginia fans until his death in 2026, twelve years after Brad.

As a team the Batten Twins won the NWA Central States Tag Team Championship (three times together, plus additional reigns involving each brother with other partners), WWC World Tag Team Championship (four times), WWC Caribbean Tag Team Championship (twice), AWF World Tag Team Championship, ACCW Tag Team Championship, BTW Ohio Tag Team Championship, CPW Tag Team Championship, MSWA Tag Team Championship, NCW Tag Team Championship, and SSW Tag Team Championship (three times). Bart also held the ICW United States Tag Team Championship with Johnny Wilhoit and the NCW Mid American Championship. Pro Wrestling Illustrated ranked Bart No. 336 and Brad No. 327 in the 1992 PWI 500.

The brothers appeared on Memphis and Central States television, WCCW and SMW programming, and WCW Main Event and Power Hour. A CWA "New Generation" music video later circulated widely after Jon Stewart aired a related Memphis clip on The Daily Show. They appeared on The Jerry Springer Show in 2001. Match footage from Texas Championship Wrestling, WWC, and Central States circulates on YouTube. Bart discussed the team's career on the 2015 World Domination podcast and was covered by PWInsider, Galion Inquirer (on Brad), and Online World of Wrestling.

Wrestling Observer editor Dave Meltzer reported in 1988 that some in the U.S. industry may have had hard feelings toward the Battens for leaving a U.S. promotion to work Puerto Rico around the time of Bruiser Brody's murder, while also noting most peers understood wrestlers needed to earn a living. Bart later said they were Brody fans and friends from Central States and WCCW and that Brad believed Brody would not have held the bookings against them. No criminal allegations involving Bart appear in major obituaries.

Bartley Alan Batten died on 1 October 2026 at his residence in Stambaugh, Kentucky, at age 68. Jones-Preston Funeral Home in Paintsville published the obituary, noting no visitation and a memorial service to be held later. PWInsider's Mike Johnson reported the news on 2 October after Bobby Fulton announced it. Online World of Wrestling updated its Batten Twins profile the same day. English Wikipedia records the death date. Cause of death was not made public in the funeral home notice or major wrestling reports.