Edward Leslie
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| Brutus Beefcake | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Eddie Golden Ed Boulder Dizzy Hogan Brutus Beefcake Brother Bruti Brute Force The Butcher The Man With No Name Zodiac The Booty Man E. Harrison Leslie The Disciple The Clipmaster Stuart "Beefcake" Healey |
| Billed height | 6 ft. 3 in. (191 cm) |
| Billed weight | 273 lb. (124 kg) |
| Born | April 21, 1957 Tampa, Florida |
| Resides | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Billed from | San Francisco, California Parts Unknown |
| Trained by | Hulk Hogan Ivan Koloff |
| Debut | 1978 |
Edward Harrison Leslie (born April 21, 1957) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake. He later worked for World Championship Wrestling under a variety of names, mainly as "The Disciple" of real-life best friend Hulk Hogan. He is a former WWF World Tag Team Champion.
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[edit] Career
[edit] Early days
Edward Leslie began his career at the side of Hulk Hogan in the 1976-1977 time frame.[1] At the time, the two were billed as brothers, alternately Ed as Ed Boulder and Dizzy Hogan, and Terry as Terry Boulder and Hulk Hogan. Because of this, for many years, it was a part of pro wrestling lore that Hogan and Leslie actually were brothers, but there is no real family relation between the men.
Leslie wrestled briefly in Bill Watts' Mid-South territory and also wrestled sporadically between 1980 and '82 in the WWF before he became known as Brutus Beefcake. According to a shoot interview conducted in 2000, his first match was with Ron Slinker against Ox Baker and Eric the Red.
[edit] World Wrestling Federation
Leslie entered the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as a heel under the ring name Brutus Beefcake in late 1984 with manager "Luscious" Johnny Valiant. As a singles competitor, he would feud with David Sammartino and Hulk Hogan, who sought revenge on Beefcake after he and Valiant injured Hogan's protege Hillbilly Jim.
Later in 1985, he teamed with Greg "The Hammer" Valentine and won the Tag Team Championship from The US Express and became known as "The Dream Team". They held the titles for eight months, losing to the British Bulldogs at WrestleMania 2.[2]
The team would break up at WrestleMania III. Despite a win over the Rougeau Brothers at the Pay Per View, the team had a falling-out when Beefcake was left in the ring while Valentine and Valiant left with Dino Bravo.[3] This provided the impetus for Beefcake -- along with having had his hair cut by Adrian Adonis in a six-man match shortly before WrestleMania -- to turn face. Later that night, he acquired the nickname "The Barber" after Rowdy Roddy Piper's match against Adonis. Adonis lost the match, and it was stipulated he would have to have his head shaved. Beefcake entered the ring and began to clip away at Adonis' blond locks.
Thereafter, following a trend started by World Class wrestlers Chris Adams and Gino Hernandez, Beefcake started bringing garden shears with him to the ring (with the handles taped to resemble barber poles). He would cut off the hair of his opponents (after knocking them out with a sleeper hold) using scissors or an electric razor. He would follow a successful sleeper hold with a strut around the ring, "snipping" his fingers like a scissors to indicate what was about to happen, referring to his actions as "strutting and cutting". He would then proceed to throw handfuls of hair into the air to the delight of the crowd.
As a face, he would feud with his former partner Greg Valentine, his former manager Johnny Valiant (who by the end of their feud was completely bald thanks to Beefcake), The Honky Tonk Man, Ron Bass, Randy Savage (it was Beefcake who coined the nickname "Scary Sherri" for Savage's then manager Sensational Sherri), and Mr. Perfect. At WrestleMania VI, Beefcake was the first person to pin Mr. Perfect in a televised match, thus ending Perfect's lengthy undefeated streak in most fans' eyes.[4]
He was scheduled to win the WWF Intercontinental title twice, each time at SummerSlam, but unable to wrestle due to injury (in kayfabe the first time, legitimately the second time). His replacements, The Ultimate Warrior and Kerry Von Erich, went on to win the title.
In 1990, a near-fatal parasailing accident put Leslie out of action. He was helping his parasailer friend prepare for takeoff when the driver of the boat mistakenly took a cue to take off, sending the would-be-parasailer's knees directly into Leslie's face. His face had to be surgically repaired with metal plates and screws,[1] putting his WWF career on hiatus for nearly two years. It also gave him an infamous nickname among some fans in later years: The Man With No Face. In early 1991, to facilitate his return to wrestling, he was put in a mask and randomly attacked heels, notably Rick Martel and Earthquake, by running in on their matches. He would hit the heel a few times, headbutt him, and escape. He never wrestled a match in this persona and was never given a name. It is often said that the persona would have been called The Mariner; it is affectionately called "Fur Face" or the "Run-In Man" by fans. He began making appearances as Brutus Beefcake again in late 1991/early 1992 in his interview segment called "The Barber Shop."
His injury was used in angle in early 1993, when Beefcake's comeback match ended in him being attacked by Money Incorporated, who kayfabe tried to aggravate his facial injuries. This resulted in manager Jimmy Hart turning face and Hulk Hogan returning to the WWF, forming a tag team with Beefcake -- their real-life friendship was mentioned. The Mega-Maniacs, as they were called, squared off against Money Inc. at WrestleMania IX with Beefcake wearing a special protective face mask, supposedly constructed by NASA. Hogan and Beefcake got their revenge but lost via disqualification.[5] Shortly afterwards he dropped out of the picture in the WWF, resurfacing a year later alongside Hogan in World Championship Wrestling.
[edit] World Championship Wrestling
Since the name Brutus Beefcake was trademarked by the WWF, WCW was forced to give Leslie a different ring name. At first, he was only referred to as Brother Bruti (pronounced: BREW-tie, which was WWF announcer Gorilla Monsoon's longtime faux Latin shorthand for Leslie's former ring name), making short appearances with WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan, who had just arrived in WCW.[1] At Halloween Havoc 1994, following Hogan's cage match victory over Ric Flair, Brutus was revealed as the mystery assailant who attacked Hogan just before his title defense against Flair at Clash of the Champions XXVIII. Leslie was subsequently billed as The Butcher. The feud between these two culminated in a WCW World Heavyweight title match at Starrcade 1994 and was then abruptly dropped as fan interest was non-existent.
After this, Leslie reappeared in a series of different gimmicks and ring names, first as the supposedly amnesic Man with No Name. He went on to be part of Kevin Sullivan's Dungeon of Doom as The Zodiac, a character with black and white face paint who would only say, "Yes, no, yes, no!"
In 1996, Leslie feuded with Diamond Dallas Page, this time as The Booty Man. He was accompanied by Page's ex-valet (and real-life wife) Kimberly Page, whom he referred to as his "Booty Babe." His gimmick was simply that of a man who would shake his (supposedly) bare buttocks on the way to the ring. This, too, did not last long. When the nWo started, Booty Man attempted to join and promptly received a beatdown from Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Hulk Hogan.
Leslie's last WCW gimmick was the bodyguard of Hollywood Hogan, The Disciple, who would help Hogan illegally in many matches throughout 1998. He was almost unrecognizable at first with a full beard, dark sunglasses, and nWo-styled biker attire but whose identity was revealed by Roddy Piper during his feud with Hogan. The Disciple was later kidnapped by the Warrior during Warrior's feud with Hogan. After being brainwashed by Warrior, he turned on Hogan and was the only other member (alongside his kidnapper) of the One Warrior Nation.
[edit] Retirement
Leslie until recently had been working as a manager at Planet Fitness in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, but is now onto other things. He lives with his wife, Barbara, and his daughter in a nearby town. Now a born-again Christian, he is a part of the Christian wrestling group, World Impact Wrestling. He has also started a wrestling school.[6] He also made an appearance at Pro Wrestling Syndicate's debut show in Garfield, New Jersey on June 24, 2007.[7] He has appeared at several Memphis wrestling shows, including the 2007 Ultimate Clash of the Legends. On July 28, 2007, Beefcake competed for the IAW World Heavyweight Championship at Clash at the Cove 9 against Greg "The Hammer" Valentine and Brian Costello. Beefcake and Valentine lost due to countout while they were brawling outside the ring. However, they returned to the ring to attack Costello and the ringside announcer announced the return of The Dream Team.
[edit] In wrestling
- Finishing and signature moves
- Apocalypse (Stunner) - As Disciple
- Barber's Chair (Swinging sleeper hold) - As Brutus Beefcake
- Figure four leglock
- Running high knee strike
- Atomic drop
- Delayed vertical suplex
[edit] Championships and accomplishments
- Southeastern Championship Wrestling
- NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Ken Lucas (2) and Robert Fuller (1)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked him # 173 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003.
- PWI ranked him # 94 of the 100 best tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Greg Valentine in 2003.
[edit] Personal life
Leslie made news headlines on February 8, 2004 for causing an anthrax scare at one of Boston's MBTA stations, Downtown Crossing, where he was working at the time. He had been found to be in possession of a white powder, which turned out to be cocaine. He promptly checked into a drug rehabilitation facility after admitting that the cocaine found at the station was his. As a result, no charges were filed against him. [8]
Leslie married a woman named Kirsten Georgi on July 1, 1987; the couple divorced in 1991. His second marriage is to Barbara McGondel on October 1, 1994. Together they have one daughter named Alana.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Leslie Profile at OWW
- ^ "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts", Wrestling’s Historical Cards, Kappa Publishing, 2007, pp. 85.
- ^ "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts", Wrestling’s Historical Cards, Kappa Publishing, 2007, pp. 85-86.
- ^ "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts", Wrestling’s Historical Cards, Kappa Publishing, 2007, pp. 88.
- ^ "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts", Wrestling’s Historical Cards, Kappa Publishing, 2007, pp. 91.
- ^ Beefcake Wrestling School Website.
- ^ PWS Official Site
- ^ "Beefcake busted in Boston" SLAM Sports.
- ^ There, he spends the bulk of his time with his wife Barbie, and 10-year-old daughter Alana, who happens to be an equestrian in training.
[edit] External links
- WWE.com - Catching up with Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake. By Brett Hoffman: February 28, 2007
