Brutus Beefcake

[2.0] "One of my least-favorite personas and wrestlers ever. The work was not interesting, the character, costume, promos ... I didn't like any of it. The fact that he was pushed makes absolutely no sense at all. I mean, look at all the names he has on here! Just forgetful characters over and over and over. Brutus was a big miss for me."

[3.0] "In fairness to Beefcake, he did get over on his own without any on screen interactions with Hogan. It was only after that he started teaming with him. He wouldn't have had a career of any kind in WCW without being Hogan's buddy."

[6.0] "The 3-something rating is just silly. I understand modern fans sometimes might put the "he was Hulk Hogan's best friend" as the reason he even had a career, but Brutus was a decent wrestler at the time for us fans. He had charisma, he could put on a fairly decent match, and The Barber gimmick was over. I give him a 6 as I think he was above average (which for me is a 5) in the ring, and got over in the WWF/E. Now, I will say, his run in WCW sucked, and his friendship with Hulk absolutely got him a job there, but it's WCW, half the guys who went there stank."

[3.0] "One of the very worst in ring wrestlers, I've seen in over 30 years of watching. I am giving him 3 only because he was briefly over, with his silly gimmick in wwf. Wwf always loved that sort of stuff and pushed any nonsense hard. I do believe, it could have been anybody in his place. I feel sorry for his horrible accident, I am glad he made it, but sorry, he was incredibly bad as a wrestler. All those wcw gimmicks were just pathetic. When he came back as the Disciple, just standing there, holding the belt - he looked great, physique-wise. He was in a tremendous shape. Unrecognisable (which is a very good thing in this case). Otherwise, he had zero skills - overly animated, he made Hulk Hogan's wrestling skills look like Rey Mysterio's in comparison."

[3.0] "Original Comment left on March 8th 2022, nothing is changing but I am opting to go the math route to come to a more conclusive numerical rating: Before the WWF run he was Dizzy Hogan, which was very not good (2.75). Then he became Brutus Beefcake and teamed with Greg Valentine- which was very good! I liked The Dream Team, everybody should like The Dream Team! Let's not mince words though he was carried by Valentine (9). Then he became Brutus the Barber, which *groans in displeasure*. The Barber gimmick had some serious growing pains when they went heavy handed with the "stylist" element to start, and it didn't help that he was shoe horned into the limelight with Hogan far too often (ever at all was too much). However, rewatching uncovers the undeniable fact that he was OVER and I legitimately enjoyed his Survivor Series showings (all of them) (5). Then he almost lost his life in a terrible and horrific tragic parasailing incident. Post horrifying accident that he somehow lived through: he hosted the Barbershop which was kinda cool! We got some fantastic angles out of that show, including the monumental splitting of The Rockers (5). But then he wanted to wrestle again and that very last WWF run was historically wretched (1). His WCW run was an EMBARRASSING MESS to say the least. He was fine as The Butcher (4), and he had a good look as The Disciple. But, sheesh. The Zodiac & The Booty Man - take your pick which is worse(Double Zero! ). The aforementioned Disciple was yet another Hogan boot licker (2). Disasters across the board. Had he remained a heel and maybe called himself "Butcher Leslie", there might have been a saving grace period at the end of a long paragraph of Wrestlecrap. but. Yup. I love The Dream Team n all but let's see where math takes us...3.19. HAH! so the score didn't change. Poor Ed Leslie, he sucks."

[5.0] "Brutus Beefcake, also known as Ed Leslie, made a significant impact in the professional wrestling world with his charismatic personality and in-ring skills. He was renowned for his ability to captivate audiences with his exceptional promo work, using his gift of gab to both entertain and engage fans. Beyond his mic skills, Beefcake was also a master of the sleeper hold, a classic submission move that he employed with precision and finesse in the ring. As a fixture in the wrestling industry during the '80s and '90s, Beefcake carved out his own niche as a household name in Midgard professional wrestling. His larger-than-life persona and distinctive in-ring style set him apart from his peers, making him a standout performer in various promotions. Whether he was playing the role of a heel or a fan-favorite, Beefcake had a knack for connecting with the audience and leaving a lasting impression on all who watched him compete. What truly set Beefcake apart was his versatility as a performer. He could seamlessly transition between roles, adapting his character to fit the storyline and entertain fans in new and exciting ways. Whether he was teaming up with a partner in tag team action or going solo in singles competition, Beefcake always brought his A-game to the ring, delivering memorable matches that showcased his talent and passion for the sport. Beyond his in-ring accomplishments, Beefcake's legacy continues to endure in the hearts of wrestling fans around the world. His influence on the industry can still be felt today, as newer generations of wrestlers draw inspiration from his work ethic, dedication, and commitment to his craft. From his memorable feuds to his championship victories, Brutus Beefcake will always be remembered as a true legend of Midgard professional wrestling, a master of the promo, and a skilled practitioner of the sleeper hold."

[3.0] "I think people genuinely forget that the Brutus Beefcake gimmick was actually over at the time. Obviously he was never going to be a top guy, but he was certainly upper-mid carder in the 80s who did have some decent matches, especially paired with the right people. But, of course, most people know him for being able to get a gig anywhere as long as Hulk Hogan was there too. Basically after his WWF career, he was beyond the shits. The fact he headlined fucking Starrcade in 1994 to fight for Hogan's title is batshit insane. The amount of gimmicks he went through in WCW and being involved in every absolute god awful storyline like he was a collector. From Dungeon of Doom to OWN, from Zodiac to Booty Man to Disciple, jesus his career just got worse as time went on. Yeesh."

[3.0] "Ed Leslie is perhaps the greatest example of somebody with no discernible talent whatsoever getting steady employment because he was friends with the top star. He owes every fucking dollar he's ever earned in this business to Hulk Hogan because without him, he'd have been a complete nobody. He never had one good gimmick in his entire career and he's had a million fucking gimmicks. Never drew a dollar, never sold a ticket. He just rode Hogan's coattails."

[5.0] "Brutus was never the greatest in the ring but he was passable for the time period. As the Barber he got over with the crowd. He has several bad gimmicks in WCW that his charisma couldn't get over. Had mic skills and charisma as the Barber but failed basically any other gimmick he was given."

[3.0] "Hulk Hogan's Best Friend was both the beneficiary and victim of pure dumb luck. Hulk Hogan's Best Friend managed to break into the business at the right time and at the elbow of the right person, and actually managed to get himself pretty over in the mid-late 80's. Then again it was Rock N Wrestling and literally anything they put on TV during the time got over but I digress. But just as fortune favored Hulk Hogan's Best Friend in getting started, she turned a cold shoulder and literally broke Hulk Hogan's Best Friend's face in a freak accident. Hulk Hogan's Best Friend was eventually able to make a full recovery, but by then the momentum was lost. This didn't stop Hulk Hogan's Best Friend from parlaying his friendship into a fucking *Starrcade main event match*, which was, surprise, absolutely terrible. This was followed up with two decades of awful gimmick after awful gimmick after awful gimmick, and popping up in random indie feds as a "legend". Oh and of course let's not forget attaching himself at the hip to whatever other project Hulk Hogan was doing at the time, causing an anthrax scare, and getting kicked out of a public building while trying to promote a sandwich chain. Perfectly cromulent wrestler who, in case I haven't made it abundantly clear by now, only achieved any modicum of success because of who he ran with."

[6.0] "Yeah, his in ring skills are pretty terrible, but Beefcake was INSANELY over with crowds, especially once he developed the fun barber gimmick and shaved people's heads after defeating them in the ring. Also involved in quite a few fun storylines of the era."

[5.0] "Time has not been kind to Brutus Beefcake. Brutus was actually one of the most popular faces in the WWF from 1987-1990, up there in the top 5 for a short time, but the parasailing accident literally destroyed his career. By the time he came back in 93, the fans weren't popping for him like they used to and people were getting sick of Hogan so Brutus being a tag along was annoying people too. Went to WCW with Hogan and went through a series of bad gimmicks just to collect a paycheck which further annoyed the anti Hogan crowds. The stories about him over the years haven't endeared the smarks to him either. I will still give Brutus a 5 out of 10 for his time in the WWF as the Barber. Honestly that gimmick could have only worked in the cartoony 1980's WWF where they had nobody jobbers to sacrifice to him for hair cuts. Brutus had the look, the charisma and was decent enough on the mic, and his ring work was coming along, but again he was not very good post injury."

[4.0] "Got ridiculously over in the WWE as Brutus Beefcake, and had a powerhouse style, but wasn't anything to write home about. good look, good size, and still was ridiculously over with he WWE crowd."

[3.0] "Beefcake never did much for me, being mostly remembered for being Hulk Hogan's friend. His best work in my opinion was as a member of Dream Team, where he had some of the best matches of his career alongside his partner Greg Valentine, who was technically superior. His most popular work was as "The Barber", but I'm personally not a fan of that. However, I don't deny that he was very popular during that time and got some pretty good reactions on a regular basis. Everything after that, though... no, just no. Absolutely terrible and everything circled around the cheesy "friend to the end" crap with Hogan (good god almighty...). After leaving WWF, he went to WCW and even main evented Starrcade against Hogan (SHOCKING, I know! ), but the least said about that the better. At the end of the day, Beefcake was once a popular babyface due to his unique gimmick and he deserves praise for that, but I could do without his presence just fine."

[2.0] "A mediocre wrestler who got by entirely on being best buds with Hulk Hogan? And literally nothing else. His work as the barber was admittedly ok in that campy, WWF 80's sort of way, and the Rockers breaking up justified the entire existence of the Barber Shop but that's literally all he had going for him. He was pretty much just? There. He filled a space and that's it. For fucks sake this guy main-evented Starrcade of all things just because he was friends with one guy."

[7.0] "Well, a lot of people think that Edward achieved his success in wrestling carrer thanks to Hulk Hogan. And hard to argue with this, they were very good friends and for a while, in the 70s, people even really believed that they were brothers. But I don't think Edward would have achieved much success if he didn't have talent himself. He was lucky with connections, yes, but he made efforts to become better himself. Leslie was frankly bad after his return in 1993, after his terrible injury when he almost lost his life, but still returned to the business that he sincerely loved. His matches have become more slow, and gimmicks are one worse than the other. But he agreed to everything and tried to make something not that bad out of even the most absurd garbage. Whether he succeeded or not, everyone is free to decide for himself. Although as the Disciple he was very transformed and this period was the best in his whole WCW carrer. Until that time, he was a fan-adored face in WWF's mid-card. As everybody know, gimmicks associated with working professions are most often obviously failed. But Leslie was able to succeed by becoming a barber, which, I think, is a good indicator that he really loved what he did and trying to get better, not just working out a check. In the mid-eighties, he was a member of just great at that time tag team division, and it was then that he showed the best matches in his career. He was a charming villain, being a handsome narcissist who teamed up with a tough man's man Greg Valentine. There was chemistry between them and they often reunited on the independent scene after many years. Edward was not an outstanding wrestler or a particularly good speaker - I followed his career from the seventies to his matches on indies and he mostly used basic moves and read standard not bad promos (although in his early years his ability to speak was just terrible). But he understood psychology of the match, understood what he must do, and was able to show a very good show with right opponent. And he really tried. Absolutely not a great wrestler whose matches can be reviewed years later. But not deserving of such a low rating. I think 7 points is a more fair rating."

[6.0] "Nothing overly special about Beefcake, but I did enjoy watching him wrestle back in the day. I've said this for a few guys now, but I choose this dude over Hogan any day of the week."

[6.0] "This guy mostly just gets a bad rap because he was friends with Hogan, if anyone watches any of the tag matches he had when he was in The Dream Team then you can see that he wasn't as bad as his rating suggests. Yer the barber gimmick was awful but he was over as hell and unfortunately he gets his bad rating because of backstage politics"

[2.0] "Not entirely sure I need 100 characters when 'he was shit' would suffice. Just look at the amount of gimmick changes he had."

[4.0] "He actually improved quite a bit and developed into a pretty solid worker right before the accident in 1990. After that, it's all downhill for him. Countless of failed gimmicks over the year didn't help either. Got to give it to him for getting the Barber gimmick over at least."

[2.0] "I think it's fashionable to beat up on Ed Leslie and I'm a slave to fashion. Ed Leslie was kind of bad."

[4.0] "Relatively enjoyable in the late 80s WWF work he did, but then he went on a gimmick rollercoaster in WCW and suddenlys howed up as "The Disciple"?"

[3.0] "He was not great. Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake was not a bad Gimmick. His entrance had more energy than his matches. Every single one if numerous gimmicks in WCW was awful."

[1.0] "If in the future somebody who didn't live through the 80's will ask you "Just how big was Hulk Hogan? ", show him any Ed Leslie match where the Hulkster is at ringside cheering for his friend. Yes, Hulk Hogan was so big he could get a crowd to cheer for an Ed Leslie match. To say that Ed Leslie was a bad wrestler is akin to say table salt is not particularly sweet. It barely scratches the surface. As Ed Boulder he was basically your standard bland late 70's/early 80's musclehead many Japanese promoters loved to feed their top talent to make them look better when they beat such imposing physical specimen. One point for making a living that way and riding the usual "good in Japan but Western audiences don't get him". And another point for the amazing collection of memorably absurd gimmicks he collected over the years: I mean, this guy has been the Booty Man. And the Zodiac. And the Disciple. And The Butcher. At least Hector Guerrero stopped at two. And one less point because the guy is a bloody idiot: remember the 2004 "Anthrax Panic Incident"? He makes Matt Sydal look like a paragon of common sense by comparison."

[1.0] "This nobody is just known for being friends with one of the worst ever Hulk Hogan, and Beefcake was almost as bad as him"

[5.0] "I know Brutus get a bad rap now for being a Hogan leech, but I don't remember him being THAT terrible. The Barber gimmick had its moments. Although I do admit that everything in WCW was groan inducing."

[3.0] "It pays to have friends in high places, because without his association with Hulk Hogan, Beefcake would have had a mediocre career, one befitting a mediocre talent"

[4.0] "While there's little doubt Beefcake's longevity in the wrestling biz can largely be attributed to his status as a Hogan associate/hanger-on, he was not without his moments. As "The Barber" he was certainly a colorful character and his Barbershop segment played host to several notable moments, including the split of the Rockers. He'd previously had a good tag run with Greg Valentine, including a lengthy reign as WWF Tag Champs and probably represented Bruti's best work from an in-ring standpoint. By the time he got to WCW he was fated to play a string of varied gimmicks often memorable at least for their goofiness, including Zodiac and the Booty Man. Amazingly continued to pop up on the indy circuit well into the 2010s."

[8.0] "Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake is someone I'd compare to "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. They were very well liked and popular during this era but decades later they're not well regarded. "The Barber" is a more effective gimmick than a wrestler but he definitely ranks in my second tier of wrestlers from the era of "good but not great" wrestlers."

[0.0] "One of the worst ever. A mediocre wrestler on his best day, much more often he was downright bad. Failed under countless gimmicks and unable to make it into most promotions without a heavy dose of help from his friend for life Hulk Hogan. One of the worst hangers on in wrestling, a real chore to watch."

[1.0] "He never really was that good as a wrestler. he was only good at entertaining the fans with his Barber Shop. As a wrestler he was crappy. His gimmicks in WWF and WCW were cheesy and even the Disciple gimmick was horrible. He is well remembered for being in the movie NO Holds Barred, Greg Valetnine's tag partner and Hulk Hogan tag partner and good friend. I give him a one for entertainment and overcoming his challenge with the ski incident. He was boring to watch and never was interested in him. Brutus should retire now as he is no good. He is a jerk to his fans as he only cares about the money and has zero interaction with fans. He is a self centered asshole."

[4.0] "Beefcake's career can be divided into two halfs: Pre-and post-facial injury. Before it, he was an engaging, but limited gimmick wrestler who could be led to a fun, entertaining match. After it, he was just, just terrible, As such, I decided to more or less split the difference and give him a 4."

[6.0] "Brutus Beefcake may not be a great technical wrestler but his gimmick as The Barber got him over, that and he was good friends Hulk Hogan which I'm sure helped a lot. I think his ski accident also reduced his work. He's just really mediocre at best, although his Barber Shop segment left a lot of great memories."

[2.0] "To this very day, I still don't understand how this guy got over. He couldn't work and he couldn't cut a promo. It must've been those gigantic hedge clippers cause that's the only thing I can honestly remember standing out."

[4.0] "Saw him live in a 6 Man Tag at DWA. Didn't did too much, maybe because he can't take it anymore. And it's sad to see... But let's remember the Brutus that had The Barber Shop and was giving people haircuts.. That was unique and he will always be remembered for that. Still came back after a serious car accident. All respect to Mr. Leslie (AKA Beefcake) but I think he served his time in the Business and the only place we should see him is the Comic Con conventions with his ''Best friend'' Hogan. Peace."