A WWE Hall of Famer has explained the part Hulk Hogan played in the creation of his legendary gimmick.
By the time he joined the then-WWF in 1984, Ed Leslie had already been wrestling around the world for seven years and had won titles in the NWA.
When he signed with the WWF, Leslie was given a makeover with a new name and gimmick. Following a series of vignettes, Leslie debuted with a male stripper character known as ‘Brutus Beefcake’, the character he uses to this day.
Hulk Hogan and Linda McMahon helped come up with Brutus Beefcake character
During a recent appearance on Talk is Jericho, Leslie recalled how his name came about, crediting the surprising team of Hulk Hogan and Linda McMahon for the moniker.
“Vince’s wife [Linda McMahon] thought up the name ‘Beefcake,’. So that’s how it went. Hulk and Vince sat in the office … [and] Hulk says, ‘What about Brutus? What about Brutus Beefcake?'”
While Leslie wasn’t particularly enamoured with the name, he realised it was one “nobody could forget”.
As Brutus Beefcake, he teamed up with Greg ‘The Hammer’ Valentine for several years as The Dream Team, managed by Johnny Valiant. The pair went on to win the Tag Team Championships for an eight-month reign.
At WrestleMania 3, the duo defeated The Rougeau Brothers, but an argument ensued following the bout leading Valentine and Valiant to walk out on Leslie. In the following bout, he helped Roddy Piper defeat Adrian Adonis in a ‘Hair vs Hair’ match and then shaved his Adonis’ head bald.
This was the birth of ‘The Barber’, which Leslie explained he came up with to stand out from other stars.
“I had to get real creative. Nobody’s ever been a barber in our business, you know? So it’s like, okay, what can I do?
“Alright, well every time I wrestle a guy, I’ll put him to sleep. I’m going to cut his hair off. That’s definitely never happened in our business before, and hasn’t really happened since.”
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the above transcription.