Edward Harrison Leslie (born April 21, 1957) is a retired American professional wrestler, best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) under the ring name Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake. He later worked for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under a wide variety of names.
Leslie held nine titles throughout his career, and is a former WWF World Tag Team Champion with Greg Valentine. He also competed for major singles titles on pay-per-view and television, headlining Starrcade 1994, in a match against then-WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan. Leslie was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2019 by Hogan.
The career of Leslie is highlighted on the 44th episode (fifth season and fourth episode) of the Dark Side of the Ring.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1977–1984)
Leslie began his career at the side of Terry Bollea in 1977. At the time, the two were billed as brothers. Leslie was Ed Boulder when Bollea wrestled as "Terry Boulder", and Dizzy Hogan when Bollea became "Hulk Hogan". In a 2000 shoot interview, he recalled his first match was a tag match with Ron Slinker, against Ox Baker and Eric the Red. In later years this created confusion among fans, many of whom actually believed that Leslie and Bollea were real-life brothers. Leslie briefly wrestled in Bill Watts' Mid-South territory and in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1980. In July 1984, Leslie went to the Catch Wrestling Association in Germany/Austria and unsuccessfully challenged Otto Wanz for the CWA World Heavyweight championship.
World Wrestling Federation (1984–1993)
Dream Team (1984–1987)
Leslie rejoined the WWF as a heel named Brutus Beefcake in late 1984. Introduced in a vignette that portrayed him as a male stripper, Beefcake was a vain character who dressed in outlandish outfits. Beefcake made his WWF debut on the August 11 episode of Championship Wrestling, by appearing at ringside during a match between Ivan Putski and Ron Shaw. Two weeks later, on the August 25 episode of Championship Wrestling, Beefcake wrestled his first match in the WWF by defeating Jose Luis Rivera. After beating enhancement talents during the first weeks of his career, Leslie was joined by "Luscious" Johnny Valiant as his manager on the October 13 episode of Championship Wrestling. As a singles wrestler, Beefcake's first major rivalry began against the WWF Champion Hulk Hogan, whom Beefcake wrestled for the title on a number of occasions. Hogan sought revenge on Beefcake after he and Valiant injured Hogan's protégé, Hillbilly Jim at a show in San Diego on February 25, 1985, where Jim had appeared in Hogan's corner for a match between Hogan and Beefcake. During this time, Beefcake also feuded with David Sammartino whom he fought to a double disqualification at the inaugural WrestleMania at Madison Square Garden.
In the summer of 1985, Beefcake began teaming with Greg "the Hammer" Valentine. They became known as The Dream Team. They soon began challenging The U.S. Express (Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham) for the WWF Tag Team Championship. Initially, the U.S. Express successfully met these challenges but, on August 24 in the Philadelphia Spectrum, Dream Team defeated US Express to win the Tag Team Championship. They won the titles after Beefcake rubbed Valiant's lit cigar into Windham's eye. The title change aired live on the local PRISM network, and on the September 7 episode of Championship Wrestling via tape delay. They defended the belts for eight months, primarily against The American Express (Dan Spivey and Mike Rotunda), Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff, The Hillbillies (Uncle Elmer and Hillbilly Jim), and The British Bulldogs (Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith). At WrestleMania 2, in Rosemont, Illinois, The Dream Team lost the title to the British Bulldogs. They were unsuccessful in rematches for the title, including a two out of three falls match at Saturday Night's Main Event VII. Dream Team soon dropped to mid-card status.
The Barber (1987–1990) The Dream Team broke up at WrestleMania III. After defeating The Rougeau Brothers at the pay-per-view, the team had an argument and Beefcake was left in the ring while Valentine and Valiant left with Dino Bravo. This provided the impetus for Beefcake to turn face. In the immediate next match on the show, Beefcake helped Roddy Piper to defeat Adrian Adonis, reviving Piper after Adonis had rendered him unconscious. Per match stipulations, Adonis would have his head shaved. Beefcake undertook this task and earned the nickname "the Barber". Thereafter, Beefcake started bringing garden shears (with the handles taped to resemble barber poles) to the ring, and using a sleeper hold (hitherto a specialty of both Piper and Adonis, used heavily by both in their WrestleMania III match) as his finishing move. After a match, he would strut around the ring, "snipping" his fingers like scissors to indicate he was about to cut his defeated opponent's hair. As he did (using either his shears or an electric razor) he would throw handfuls of hair into the air for the amusement of his fans.
After coming out on top of a feud with former partner Valentine and ex-manager Valiant, Beefcake feuded with WWF Intercontinental Champion The Honky Tonk Man. Beefcake vowed to not only win the title, but put Honky to sleep and cut his duck's tail. Beefcake never made good on that vow, since Honky got himself disqualified from most of their matches (wrestling titles generally do not change hands on a disqualification). Honky often had assistance from a mysterious pig-tailed and sunglassed blonde named Peggy Sue (WWF Women's Champion Sherri Martel usually played this character during television tapings and PPV events, but at house shows "she" was Jimmy Hart in drag). Beefcake countered with a "woman" of his own: "Georgina" (George "the Animal" Steele in drag). The feud concluded at WrestleMania IV, where Honky was again disqualified, after interference from Hart. Though Honky escaped with the title and his hair, Beefcake caught Hart towards the end of the match and humiliated him with a partial haircut.
Beefcake also feuded with "Outlaw" Ron Bass in 1988, beginning when Bass attacked him after a match on Superstars of Wrestling, lacerating his head with a spur. As a result, the injured Beefcake missed his scheduled Intercontinental Championship match against Honky at the first SummerSlam event on August 29. He ultimately defeated Bass in a hair versus hair match at Saturday Night's Main Event XIX. He then had a feud with Randy Savage during 1989. On "The Brother Love Show" (an interview segment on Superstars of Wrestling), Beefcake called Savage's new manager, Sensational Sherri, "Scary Sherri," and an angered Savage attacked him and, with the help of Sherri, humiliated him with a haircut. Eventually, the feud became intertwined with one between Hulk Hogan and Zeus (based around the movie No Holds Barred). Hogan was simultaneously involved in his own feud with Savage over the WWF Championship. During his match against Savage, Beefcake was assaulted by Zeus. At SummerSlam, Hogan and Beefcake with their manager, Miss Elizabeth teamed to defeat Savage and Zeus. The rivalry resumed when, on December 27, No Holds Barred was shown as part of a pay-per-view special called "No Holds Barred: The Movie-The Match." In the match portion of the show (taped two weeks earlier in Nashville, Tennessee), Hogan and Beefcake defeated Savage and Zeus in a steel cage match.
At WrestleMania VI, Beefcake became the first person to pin Mr. Perfect on national television. During the spring and summer of 1990, Beefcake was involved in the Intercontinental Championship tournament and, along with opponent Dino Bravo, were counted-out in the first round. Beefcake was scheduled for a WrestleMania VI re-match against Perfect, for the latter's Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam.
Parasailing accident and return (1990–1993)
In July 1990, a serious parasailing accident put Leslie out of action. He was helping a parasailer friend prepare for takeoff, when the boat driver mistook a cue to take off and pulled the friend's knees hard into Leslie's face, crushing his facial skeleton. Experiencing an "unbearable" level of pain, Leslie pleaded with doctors to let him die. Over 100 feet of wire and 32 screws were required to construct a new face. Leslie lost his nasal cavity, jaw, and had no ability to breathe on his own. Leslie's wrestling career was put on hold for almost two years. As a result, Leslie missed his match at SummerSlam, and was replaced by Texas Tornado as Perfect's challenger.
For a short time in early 1991, a masked character played by Leslie appeared on television. The character would run in during matches and attack various heels (notably Rick Martel, Dino Bravo and Earthquake). He would run in on their matches, punch them a few times, throw a headbutt and immediately retreat. He never wrestled a match and was not given an official name, although the gimmick has since been branded as “Furface”. Dave Meltzer at this time reported that most wrestlers were against his return due to concerns about his safety and their ability to have quality matches while avoiding injuring him further.
On the April 14, 1991 episode of Wrestling Challenge Leslie returned as Brutus The Barber Beefcake, hosting a full-time regular interview segment called "The Barber Shop". The Rockers split up on The Barber Shop when Shawn Michaels superkicked partner Marty Jannetty and threw him through a plate glass window; this turned Michaels heel and began his singles run to stardom. The final Barber Shop segment took place in February 1992. Newly turned heel Sid Justice attacked Beefcake and destroyed the set, building heat for his feud with Hulk Hogan. After this, Beefcake disappeared once again.
Beefcake once again returned to the WWF on the February 1, 1993 episode of Monday Night Raw. Beefcake's facial injury was used in an angle with Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster). In what was billed as Beefcake's "comeback match", he defeated DiBiase on Raw by disqualification when DiBiase and IRS double-teamed him. IRS then tried to reinjure Beefcake, hitting him with a steel briefcase. Longtime heel manager (and manager of Money Inc.) Jimmy Hart turned face by trying to stop his team from hurting Beefcake, and Hulk Hogan returned to the WWF after a one-year hiatus. Hogan and Beefcake teamed for the first time since December 1989, as the Mega-Maniacs, with Hart as their manager. The Mega-Maniacs (with Beefcake wearing a protective facemask) challenged Money Inc. for the Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania IX. and, though gaining some revenge, lost via disqualification. WrestleMania IX was Leslie's final wrestling appearance on WWF television, although he remained active on the house show circuit. He teamed with Hogan in multiple matches against Money Inc. in June 1993, winning by disqualification. He also defeated Masa Saito on May 3 in Fukuoka, Japan. Following a final tour of Europe from July 9 to August 6, (defeating Terry Taylor in eight straight matches), Leslie left the WWF.
Independent circuit (1993–1997) After leaving WWF, Beefcake wrestled for a few appearances in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. On April 16, 1994, Beefcake defeated Nailz for the WWWA Heavyweight Title. Then on April 13, 1996, he defeated Jim Neidhart for IPWA. He lost to his former tag partner Greg Valentine on May 31, 1997, for Wrestling International Pro.
World Championship Wrestling (1994–1996, 1998–1999)
The Butcher; The Man with No Name (1994–1995)