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.
World Wrestling Federation (1984–1993) Dream Team (1984–1987) Leslie rejoined the WWF as a
heel named Brutus Beefcake in late 1984. 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. 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
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. 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) Three Faces of Fear and various gimmicks In 1994, Leslie debuted in
World Championship Wrestling (WCW). At first, he only made short appearances with Hulk Hogan, who referred to him as Brother Bruti (as he did when they were WWF tag team partners in 1989 and 1993). At that year's
Halloween Havoc, following Hogan's
cage match victory over
Ric Flair, Leslie was revealed as the masked man who had attacked Hogan just before his title match with Flair at
Clash of the Champions XXVIII. Leslie subsequently became The Butcher, and formed
The Three Faces of Fear with
Kevin Sullivan and
Avalanche.
Later career (2000–2016) In May 2000, Beefcake wrestled for the Extreme Wrestling Federation, in a match against Rex Diamond. He made an appearance at Pro Wrestling Syndicate's debut show in
Garfield, New Jersey, on June 24, 2007. He has appeared at several Memphis wrestling shows, including the 2007 Ultimate Clash of the Legends. Leslie was a coach on ''
Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling''. On January 26, 2008, Leslie was inducted into the XWF Hall of Fame by Jack Blaze. After it became the LPW Hall of Fame, Blaze honored Beefcake again, on March 26, 2010, in
Wheeling, West Virginia. On July 24, 2009, Leslie competed in "
Celebrity Boxing 10" in Philadelphia, losing in the first round to local competitive eater
Bill "El Wingador" Simmons. He took part in the
Hulkamania: Let The Battle Begin tour in late 2009, wrestling across Australia, including
Perth and
Sydney. On August 28, 2010, Beefcake wrestled for Dynamic Wrestling Alliance, based in
Middletown, Ohio. On November 28, 2015, he participated in a match to be the #1 contender for the AML Title, which he lost. Being his last match to date, he quietly announced his retirement from professional wrestling. In June 2016, Beefcake made appearances in Montana for the Big Time Wrestling event. April 6, 2019, Leslie was inducted into the
WWE Hall of Fame class of 2019 by
Hulk Hogan; he later acknowledged that the induction ceremony was the last time he ever spoke to Hogan. He made his first appearance on Boca Raton Championship Wrestling in 2022 and later in 2023, Leslie became a commissioner for BRCW. == Other media ==