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WRESTLER OF THE DAY: BRUTUS BEEFCAKE


RIPPA

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I often think the saddest part in Bret Hart's autobiography was when Hart had been told Hogan wouldn't work with him, so for his regular whiteboard drawing he drew a picture of Brutus Beefcake (post accident) with his face stuck in Hogan's ass with the caption "What out that you don't lose the screws, Brutus" (or something like that) then Beefcake came in, saw it, and quickly left and Bret felt bad because it was Hogan he was mad at and he took it out on Brutus.

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I think there's another story where he took Bret aside after a match was planned out and said "the big guy won't like that, brother". Bret looks at him incredulously, like Hogan's gonna tell him how to work HIS match.

 

Those NJPW matches had to be the pits, especially Leslie vs. Inoki (BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA). Anybody seen 'em?

 

Ugh... the Disciple.

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So, what is ol Brutai's best gimmick and worst gimmick?

 

I think the best is the Barber, which was dumb, but fun in that 80s goofball gimmick way.  The worst is the Bootyman(Though Kimberly was righteous as the Bootybabe), which is right there with The Shockmaster and The Gobbledygooker as far as completely nonsensical gimmicks. 

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The Man With No Name is clearly the right answer ffor Leslie's worst gimmick since it couples copyright infringment with Sergeo Leone's spaghetti westerns with zero fucks given about repackaging Leslie in another gimmick.

 

Fuck it, just let him go out there and wrestle in a pair a jeans.

 

If it weren't for that pinnacle of apathy, Zodiac would be your grand prize winner.

 

The Butcher was another stupid gimmick but I seem to recall him having a glorious pair of airbrushed wrestling tights.

 

I give the grudging nod to his original gimmick being the best since humiliation by hair cutting is always awesome and Brutus's high knee just destroyed guys.   His work in ring was mostly shit but he had a nice flash finisher.

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I am long on record that 1994 WCW is my favorite thing in wrestling history (and probably in my top 5 in entertainment history) but it's debatable when, exactly that came to an end.

 

Was it the day Hogan came in?  Seems logical, but the Clash and Bash at the Beach right after that are both excellent shows.

 

Was it the end of Bash at the Beach when Hogan won the belt?  Maybe, but Hogan/Flair was damn good, and Fall Brawl in September was a really good show with a great War Games main event. 

 

Was it when Flair "retired" at Halloween Havoc?  Getting closer, but there was still so much good going on.

 

 

No, the best answer is: When Brutus fucking Beefcake main evented Starcade.  Fuck him.

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Those NJPW matches had to be the pits, especially Leslie vs. Inoki (BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA). Anybody seen 'em?

Cagematch only has two matches with Brutus and Inoki listed as TV show matches.

 

Inoki/Fujinami v. Ed Leslie and Paul Orndorff

 

and..

 

Inoki/Hogan v. Ed Leslie and Sgt. Slaughter.

 

So, at least 3 of the competitors should be good. There's also Fujinami/Maeda v. Ed Leslie and Dick Murdoch and Sakaguchi/Yatsu v. Ed Leslie and Sgt. Slaughter. And Beefcake v. Masa Saito from 1993.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZySY7kLbf8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul0hvzDbUE0

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I think there's another story where he took Bret aside after a match was planned out and said "the big guy won't like that, brother". Bret looks at him incredulously, like Hogan's gonna tell him how to work HIS match.

 

I remember a similar story with Brutus telling Flair that Hogan wouldn't like Flair selling and bumping so much for Eddy.  Don't recall it in Bret's book (but that thing is a god damn phone book.)

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Those NJPW matches had to be the pits, especially Leslie vs. Inoki (BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA). Anybody seen 'em?

Cagematch only has two matches with Brutus and Inoki listed as TV show matches.

 

Inoki/Fujinami v. Ed Leslie and Paul Orndorff

 

and..

 

Inoki/Hogan v. Ed Leslie and Sgt. Slaughter.

 

So, at least 3 of the competitors should be good. There's also Fujinami/Maeda v. Ed Leslie and Dick Murdoch and Sakaguchi/Yatsu v. Ed Leslie and Sgt. Slaughter. And Beefcake v. Masa Saito from 1993.

 

 

The one I always wanted to see was Beefcake & Jake Roberts vs. Scott Norton & Hercules.  Yes, that match actually happened.

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I'm kinda ashamed to admit I still enjoy Beefcake's singles run as "The Barber".  Every other gimmick of Beefcake/Leslie can go away, however.  I'm kinda sad the Dream Team didn't end with Valentine wearing "I Broke Bruti's Leg" t-shirt.

 

Probably my favorite non-Barber Beefcake moment was the Disciple trying to join the nWo and getting beaten up for his trouble.  The "You don't wear the colors unless we say you can wear the colors" bit.  Didn't they pair him with Warrior after that?

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I don't think Brutus gets enough credit for how over he was in 1988-1989. 

 

I don't really have much else to say but that. The guy was the #2 or 3 babyface in the company. He could lead B shows if he had to, and C shows definitely. He was a draw and kids bought into him. I think that's a testament to the WWF machine, but it's not like he didn't bring anything to the table in that role. 

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I don't think Brutus gets enough credit for how over he was in 1988-1989. 

 

I don't really have much else to say but that. The guy was the #2 or 3 babyface in the company. He could lead B shows if he had to, and C shows definitely. He was a draw and kids bought into him. I think that's a testament to the WWF machine, but it's not like he didn't bring anything to the table in that role. 

 

Yeah, I've been thinking the same thing since Rippa threw up this thread.  It's easy to act like Bruti was completely useless and only ever got a break due to being Hogan's cocaine pinata road wife, but he really was hugely over as the Barber.   Barber Bruti was a really fun character and Beefcake was an effective promo.  He's not my favorite, but he'd be in the conversation (albeit, well after Rude, Perfect, etc.).

 

Dismissing  everything Beefcake did is low-hanging fruit,  It's easy, trendy, and there's a lot of truth in that argument.  But I put Beefcake in that same category as Ultimate Warrior or Bruiser Brody.  People get caught up arguing Brody was a terrible worker or Warrior couldn't apply the figure four properly.  Are the criticisms valid?  Sure, but they conveniently ignore the reality that the guy in question had the "it" factor and was hugely over.

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It was a bit more complex than that.

 

At Hog Wild, Brutus (still technically in The Bootyman gimmick) brought out a birthday cake for Hogan, and ended up getting beat up by the nWo.  (They also beat up the Nasty Boys around the same time, leading eventually to a great line from The Giant about Hall and Nash trying to recruit DDP: "Why can't we just beat him up like we do Hogan's friends?" I think it was the Nasties who were wearing the nWo shirts without permission, actually.)

 

Later, when the nWo started growing to absurd sizes, Bruti (who had been, to the best of my recollection, off tv after said beatdown) suddenly resurfaced with the beard and as The Disciple and a member of the nWo.

 

Then Warrior kidnapped him and brainwashed him or deprogrammed him or whatever and they were together until Warrior was out of the company, and I think The Disciple pretty much vanished at that point as well.

 

Brutus's mediocre but over late 80's - early 90's stuff has definitely been massively overshadowed by his "holy fucking shit this guy is awful, Hogan is the only reason he has a job and WHY THE FUCK IS HE MAIN EVENTING THE BIGGEST SHOW OF THE YEAR?!?" post accident mid-late 90's.)

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I kinda wish he had retired after the accident.  Supposedly, most of the locker room was afraid to work with him when he came back, and he did practically (literally?) nothing of note post-accident.  Pretty much everything about the WCW run is terrible.

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Brett Sawyer.  And no idea what manservants are all about.  I mean, sure I want my own mini, but a manservant is just weird.

 

BART Sawyer had a stroke that knocked him right out of the business.  That was years after he'd been forgotten by Piper and left his legitimately great mind for the business and unfortunately Crash Holly-esque body to rot in the independents.  I was friends with Bart, drove him to a buncha shows back when he was healthy.  He even mentioned me, before I knew him, on Bert Prentice's local TV in Nashville back when I was just an idiot smark writing reviews of the local show, in a killer promo where he talked about my disbelief that slumming stars like Sean O'Haire would do the job to a local guy.  I haven't spoken to him in years; last I heard, he was living with his parents.  That's what the glory of this fucking business will get you.  It's all about the dollar and taking care of yourself, Ayn Rand be praised.  

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I think a lot of the hatred is overblown, but then again the guy main evented Starrcade 94 and Summerslam 89 (and technically Wrestlemania IX) thanks to Hogan.

 

If the Beefer is widely considered Hogan's manservant, then what does that make Brian Blair?

 

A midcard tag team guy who had inexplicable runs in New Japan in 1992 and 1994?

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