EDWARD LESLIE

'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.

Contents

Career

Early days

World Wrestling Federation

World Championship Wrestling

Retirement

Wrestling facts

Championships and accomplishments

Personal life

References

External links

Career

Early days

Edward Leslie began his career at the side of Hulk Hogan in the 1976-77 time frame.^[1] At the time, the two were billed as brothers, alternately Terry and 'Ed Boulder', or Hulk and 'Dizzy 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.

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 (Raymond and Jacques Rougeau) 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.^[2] 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 from heel to 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' blonde locks.
Thereafter, he 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 babyface, 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, thus ending Perfect's lengthy undefeated streak.^[2]
In 1990, a near-fatal parasailing accident put him 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, putting his WWF career on hiatus for nearly two years. It also gave him an infamous nickname among smarks in later years: 'The Man With No Face'. He began making appearances again in late 1991/early 1992 in his interview segment called "The Barber Shop." To facilitate his return to wrestling, he was put in a mask and randomly attacked heels 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 the Run-In Man by fans.
His injury was used in angle in early 1993, when Leslie's comeback match ended in him being attacked by Money Inc., who (kayfabe) tried to reaggravate his facial injuries. This resulted in manager Jimmy Hart turning face and Hulk Hogan returning to the WWF, forming a tag team with Leslie (a real-life good friend). 'The Mega-Maniacs', as they were called, squared off against Money Inc. at ''WrestleMania IX'' with Leslie wearing a special protective face mask, supposedly constructed by NASA. Hogan and Leslie got their revenge but lost via disqualification.^[2] Shortly afterwards he dropped out of the picture in the WWF, resurfacing a year later alongside Hogan in World Championship Wrestling.

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 shorthand for Leslie's former ring name), making short appearances with WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan, who had just arrived in WCW. At Halloween Havoc, 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 at Starrcade 1994 and was then abruptly dropped as fan interest was simply not there.
After this, Leslie reappeared in a series of different gimmicks and ring names, first as the supposedly amnesic 'Man with No Name'. He would go 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 brief WCW run and feud with Hogan. After being supposedly brainwashed by Warrior, he turned on Hogan and was the only other member (alongside his kidnapper) of the one Warrior nation.

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, his daughter, and his little dog 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].And 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. For a while, he was working as a token collector for Boston's subway system. His abandoned bag of cocaine at work caused an anthrax scare. He later confessed that the cocaine was his.

Wrestling facts

★ '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

★ 'Managers'
:
★ Miss Elizabeth
:
★ The Booty Babe
:
★ Jimmy Hart

★ 'Quotes'
:
★ I'll Be Cuttin' And Struttin' When I'm Done, Baby!"

Championships and accomplishments

★ 'National Wrestling Alliance'

★ 'Regional'
:
★ NWA Southeast Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Ken Lucas (1) 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 best tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Greg Valentine.

★ 'World Wrestling Federation'
:
★ WWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Greg Valentine

★ 'Other titles'
:
★ SAW Tag Team Championship (1 time)
:
★ WWWA Heavyweight Championship (3 times)

Personal life

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.
Leslie married a woman named Kirsten Georgi on July 1, 1987; the couple divorced in 1991. His second marriage is to Barbara McGonde on October 1, 1994. Together they have one daughter named Alana.^[8]

References

1. Leslie Profile at OWW
2. Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents: 2007 Wrestling almanac & book of facts
3. Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents: 2007 Wrestling almanac & book of facts
4. Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents: 2007 Wrestling almanac & book of facts
5. Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents: 2007 Wrestling almanac & book of facts
6. Beefcake Wrestling School Website.
7. PWS Official Site
8. 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.

External links

★ WWE.com - ''Catching up with Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake. By Brett Hoffman: February 28, 2007''