PodcastOne: Brutus
0:00 – Intro
Austin opens the show wishing everyone a Happy Holidays. He’s in Nevada visiting his in-laws. He talks about getting himself a birthday/Christmas present, a new Kawazaki Brute Force 750 four wheeler. Coming up on the show will be Brutus ‘The Barber’ Beefcake. Austin says they crossed paths but never really spent any time in a territory together. Austin says Beefcake was a good worker, had a great body, could sell and loved his gimmick.
Austin mentions Beefcake was part of the first six WrestleManias, which they will get into during the course of the podcast. Austin says he was a big fan of Beefcake and felt he was one of the top guys during his time. Austin mentions Beefcake’s new book (Struttin’ and Cuttin’) which is available on Brutus’ website and plugs Brutus’ Twitter (@brutusbeefcake_).
7:57 – Ed Leslie aka Brutus ‘The Barber’ Beefcake
Austin welcomes Beefcake to the show. Beefcake says he’s feeling great and is currently weighing 280lbs. They talk a little about life on the road, specifically about how challenging it can be to maintain weight and dieting.
Austin mentions Beefcake’s book called Struttin’ and Cuttin’ and asks him how the process of writing has been. Beefcake says it has been a long road. He started working on the book a few years ago with a person by the name of Scott Epstein who passed away. Scott’s wife would not give anyone access to Beefcake’s note so Beefcake had to start over. Austin asks how Beefcake’s recall was during the process since losing all the notes. Beefcake says it was brutal but said it helped talking to certain people like Greg Valentine, which helped him put things into order.
During his research, Austin found out that Brutus enjoyed hunting. Beefcake says he’s been into hunting since he was 10 or 11. He had a neighbour whose dad used to do bird hunting, who he had an impressive gun collection and would let Brutus shoot from time to time. Austin says he can’t see Brutus in the woods hunting. Brutus says when he was growing up in Florida back then, it wasn’t so developed so he and his friend would spend time in the woods with their guns hunting.
Austin read that Brutus played baseball and asks if Brutus was into any sort of contact sports. Brutus says he went to Catholic school, which had no football, so it was only baseball and basketball. When he got to highschool, he tried football but screwed up his knees during summer practice and eventually lost interest. Beefcake says that he loved baseball and used to play catcher.
They switch gears and Austin asks about getting into wrestling living in Florida. Beefcake mentions his oldest sister was a tomboy who convinced him to go to the wrestling matches at the Armoury in Tampa. They also went to the TV Tapings in Tampa where they would watch The Great Malenko, Dusty Rhodes, Johnny Valentine, and Wahoo McDaniel.
Beefcake says he fell in love with the business when he was 8 or 9 years old and at 19 got into the business. Austin asks how long Beefcake trained for before getting in the ring. Beefcake says he never got formal training. He started working in the ring with the boys before shows and taking bumps then got thrown into a tag match. Beefcake says he learned mainly from making mistakes in the ring. He says it was a brutal but a great way to learn. Austin asks who smartened him up to the business. Beefcake mentions the old Portland territory and names Buddy Rose, Rick Oliver, Stan Stasiak and even Curt Henning. It was a good crew of wrestlers which helped prepare him for later territories. Austin asks who would call a match between a young Henning and Beefcake. Brutus says he would call the match as he was the heel.
Austin asks how Beefcake was in front of a crowd and how the crowd affected him. Beefcake said the crowd had him pretty nervous early on until he figured out how to ‘forget the crowd’ and was able to relax.
Austin asks how long it took before getting the call to the WWF. Brutus said he went through the New York territory in 1979 for a short while and got to know a bunch of the people there. After that he wrestled in a number of other territories to get more seasoning. He talks about some of the older veterans who were willing to still help younger guys such as Bobby Duncam and Ivan Koloff. In 1983 after Hogan had won the WWF belt, he stopped in the territory and Hogan suggested he go overseas to work with Otto Wanz. Initially Otto wasn’t happy with this ,however, things went well and they had a good match. When Brutus got back, he got the call to come back to New York to talk business with Vince Jr. Hogan was there as well and they both brainstormed the Brutus Beefcake gimmick.
Austin asks about how he came up with the name Brutus Beefcake which Vince wasn’t initially fond of. The Beefcake part, came from Linda McMahon who had the idea for a Baron Beefcake character who would wear a top had and have a butler. Hogan came up with the name Brutus. Beefcake had some initial reservations about the name and thought people were going to laugh at him however, it turned out to be one of the greatest names ever. Beefcake just had to learn to step up into the name. Austin asks how far the Brutus Beefcake character was from Ed Leslie. Brutus says not that far off.
Brutus tells the story of when he first started. They didn’t have a gameplan with his character and he says it was him just going out there and ‘winging it.’ Vince got hooked on the character when he saw the reaction from the people and the crowd.
Austin talks about Brutus’ work and says he liked his fire as a babyface and asks when Brutus became aware of how to fire up. Brutus says he worked hard on this over his career and learned how to show emotion in order draw the people in.
Austin asks how competitive the locker room was back in the day in the WWF. Brutus says it was different than today. He says it was light and fun and nobody was worried about losing their spot. Everyone was glad to be there and happy to be working.
Austin talks about Wrestlemania I and asks how Vince described the magnitude of this event to the talent. Beefcake said that all the wrestlers knew they had to knock this out of the park and make it the greatest day in the business. Austin asks about Beefcake’s match with David Sammartino. Beefcake says he was honored and proud to be part of that match. Austin says that Bruno Sammartino had taken a liking to Brutus which Beefcake confirms. He also talks about working with Bruno and how over Sammartino was with the crowd.
more note here: WRITTEN PODCAST RECAP: The Steve Austin Show (network friendly) w/ Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake on his new book, memories of working with Savage, Rude, and, Hennig, the surprising person who came up with "Beefcake" - PWPodcasts
0:00 – Intro
Austin opens the show wishing everyone a Happy Holidays. He’s in Nevada visiting his in-laws. He talks about getting himself a birthday/Christmas present, a new Kawazaki Brute Force 750 four wheeler. Coming up on the show will be Brutus ‘The Barber’ Beefcake. Austin says they crossed paths but never really spent any time in a territory together. Austin says Beefcake was a good worker, had a great body, could sell and loved his gimmick.
Austin mentions Beefcake was part of the first six WrestleManias, which they will get into during the course of the podcast. Austin says he was a big fan of Beefcake and felt he was one of the top guys during his time. Austin mentions Beefcake’s new book (Struttin’ and Cuttin’) which is available on Brutus’ website and plugs Brutus’ Twitter (@brutusbeefcake_).
7:57 – Ed Leslie aka Brutus ‘The Barber’ Beefcake
Austin welcomes Beefcake to the show. Beefcake says he’s feeling great and is currently weighing 280lbs. They talk a little about life on the road, specifically about how challenging it can be to maintain weight and dieting.
Austin mentions Beefcake’s book called Struttin’ and Cuttin’ and asks him how the process of writing has been. Beefcake says it has been a long road. He started working on the book a few years ago with a person by the name of Scott Epstein who passed away. Scott’s wife would not give anyone access to Beefcake’s note so Beefcake had to start over. Austin asks how Beefcake’s recall was during the process since losing all the notes. Beefcake says it was brutal but said it helped talking to certain people like Greg Valentine, which helped him put things into order.
During his research, Austin found out that Brutus enjoyed hunting. Beefcake says he’s been into hunting since he was 10 or 11. He had a neighbour whose dad used to do bird hunting, who he had an impressive gun collection and would let Brutus shoot from time to time. Austin says he can’t see Brutus in the woods hunting. Brutus says when he was growing up in Florida back then, it wasn’t so developed so he and his friend would spend time in the woods with their guns hunting.
Austin read that Brutus played baseball and asks if Brutus was into any sort of contact sports. Brutus says he went to Catholic school, which had no football, so it was only baseball and basketball. When he got to highschool, he tried football but screwed up his knees during summer practice and eventually lost interest. Beefcake says that he loved baseball and used to play catcher.
They switch gears and Austin asks about getting into wrestling living in Florida. Beefcake mentions his oldest sister was a tomboy who convinced him to go to the wrestling matches at the Armoury in Tampa. They also went to the TV Tapings in Tampa where they would watch The Great Malenko, Dusty Rhodes, Johnny Valentine, and Wahoo McDaniel.
Beefcake says he fell in love with the business when he was 8 or 9 years old and at 19 got into the business. Austin asks how long Beefcake trained for before getting in the ring. Beefcake says he never got formal training. He started working in the ring with the boys before shows and taking bumps then got thrown into a tag match. Beefcake says he learned mainly from making mistakes in the ring. He says it was a brutal but a great way to learn. Austin asks who smartened him up to the business. Beefcake mentions the old Portland territory and names Buddy Rose, Rick Oliver, Stan Stasiak and even Curt Henning. It was a good crew of wrestlers which helped prepare him for later territories. Austin asks who would call a match between a young Henning and Beefcake. Brutus says he would call the match as he was the heel.
Austin asks how Beefcake was in front of a crowd and how the crowd affected him. Beefcake said the crowd had him pretty nervous early on until he figured out how to ‘forget the crowd’ and was able to relax.
Austin asks how long it took before getting the call to the WWF. Brutus said he went through the New York territory in 1979 for a short while and got to know a bunch of the people there. After that he wrestled in a number of other territories to get more seasoning. He talks about some of the older veterans who were willing to still help younger guys such as Bobby Duncam and Ivan Koloff. In 1983 after Hogan had won the WWF belt, he stopped in the territory and Hogan suggested he go overseas to work with Otto Wanz. Initially Otto wasn’t happy with this ,however, things went well and they had a good match. When Brutus got back, he got the call to come back to New York to talk business with Vince Jr. Hogan was there as well and they both brainstormed the Brutus Beefcake gimmick.
Austin asks about how he came up with the name Brutus Beefcake which Vince wasn’t initially fond of. The Beefcake part, came from Linda McMahon who had the idea for a Baron Beefcake character who would wear a top had and have a butler. Hogan came up with the name Brutus. Beefcake had some initial reservations about the name and thought people were going to laugh at him however, it turned out to be one of the greatest names ever. Beefcake just had to learn to step up into the name. Austin asks how far the Brutus Beefcake character was from Ed Leslie. Brutus says not that far off.
Brutus tells the story of when he first started. They didn’t have a gameplan with his character and he says it was him just going out there and ‘winging it.’ Vince got hooked on the character when he saw the reaction from the people and the crowd.
Austin talks about Brutus’ work and says he liked his fire as a babyface and asks when Brutus became aware of how to fire up. Brutus says he worked hard on this over his career and learned how to show emotion in order draw the people in.
Austin asks how competitive the locker room was back in the day in the WWF. Brutus says it was different than today. He says it was light and fun and nobody was worried about losing their spot. Everyone was glad to be there and happy to be working.
Austin talks about Wrestlemania I and asks how Vince described the magnitude of this event to the talent. Beefcake said that all the wrestlers knew they had to knock this out of the park and make it the greatest day in the business. Austin asks about Beefcake’s match with David Sammartino. Beefcake says he was honored and proud to be part of that match. Austin says that Bruno Sammartino had taken a liking to Brutus which Beefcake confirms. He also talks about working with Bruno and how over Sammartino was with the crowd.
more note here: WRITTEN PODCAST RECAP: The Steve Austin Show (network friendly) w/ Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake on his new book, memories of working with Savage, Rude, and, Hennig, the surprising person who came up with "Beefcake" - PWPodcasts