Early days
He began his career at the side of Hulk Hogan in the 1976-77
time frame. At the time, the two were billed as brothers, alternately Terry as Ed Boulder, and Hulk as Dizzy Hogan. Because
of this, for many years, it was a part of pro wrestling lore that Hogan and himself actually were brothers, but there is no
real family relation between the men. He wrestled briefly in Bill Watts' Mid-South territory and also wrestled sporadically
between 1980 and '82 in the WWF before he became known as Brutus Beefcake. According to a shoot interview conducted in 2000,
his first match was with Ron Slinker against Ox Baker and Eric the Red.
World Wrestling Federation
He entered the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as a
heel under the ring name Brutus Beefcake in late 1984 with manager "Luscious" Johnny Valiant. As a singles competitor, he
would feud with David Sammartino and Hulk Hogan, who sought revenge on Beefcake after he and Valiant injured Hogan's protege
Hillbilly Jim. Later in 1985, he teamed with Greg "The Hammer" Valentine and won the Tag Team Championship from The US Express
and became known as "The Dream Team". They held the titles for eight months, losing to the British Bulldogs at WrestleMania
2. The team would break up at WrestleMania III.
Despite a win over the Rougeau Brothers at the Pay Per View,
the team had a falling-out when Beefcake was left in the ring while Valentine and Valiant left with Dino Bravo. This provided
the impetus for Beefcake -- along with having had his hair cut by Adrian Adonis in a six-man match shortly before WrestleMania
-- to turn face. Later that night, he acquired the nickname "The Barber" after Rowdy Roddy Piper's match against Adonis. Adonis
lost the match, and it was stipulated he would have to have his head shaved. Beefcake entered the ring and began to clip away
at Adonis' blonde locks.
Thereafter, he started bringing garden shears with him to
the ring (with the handles taped to resemble barber poles). He would cut off the hair of his opponents (after knocking them
out with a sleeper hold) using scissors or an electric razor. He would follow a successful sleeper hold with a strut around
the ring, "snipping" his fingers like a scissors to indicate what was about to happen, referring to his actions as "strutting
and cutting". He would then proceed to throw handfuls of hair into the air to the delight of the crowd. As a face, he would
feud with his former partner Greg Valentine, his former manager Johnny Valiant (who by the end of their feud was completely
bald thanks to Beefcake), The Honky Tonk Man, Ron Bass, Randy Savage (it was Beefcake who coined the nickname "Scary Sherri"
for Savage's then manager Sensational Sherri) and Mr. Perfect.
At WrestleMania VI, Beefcake was the first person to pin
Mr. Perfect, thus ending Perfect's lengthy undefeated streak. In 1990, a near-fatal parasailing accident put him out of action.
He was helping his parasailer friend prepare for takeoff when the driver of the boat mistakenly took a cue to take off, sending
the would-be-parasailer's knees directly into Leslie's face. His face had to be surgically repaired with metal plates and
screws, putting his WWF career on hiatus for nearly two years. It also gave him an infamous nickname among some fans in later
years: The Man With No Face.
He began making appearances again in late 1991/early 1992
in his interview segment called "The Barber Shop." To facilitate his return to wrestling, he was put in a mask and randomly
attacked heels by running in on their matches. He would hit the heel a few times, headbutt him, and escape. He never wrestled
a match in this persona and was never given a name. It is often said that the persona would have been called "The Mariner";
it is affectionately called the "Run-In Man" by fans. His injury was used in angle in early 1993, when Leslie's comeback match
ended in him being attacked by Money Inc., who tried to reaggravate his facial injuries.
This resulted in manager Jimmy Hart turning face and Hulk
Hogan returning to the WWF, forming a tag team with him (a real-life good friend). The Mega-Maniacs, as they were called,
squared off against Money Inc. at WrestleMania IX with Leslie wearing a special protective face mask, supposedly constructed
by NASA. Hogan and Leslie got their revenge but lost via disqualification. Shortly afterwards he dropped out of the picture
in the WWF, resurfacing a year later alongside Hogan in World Championship Wrestling.
World Championship Wrestling
Since the name Brutus Beefcake was trademarked by the WWF,
WCW was forced to give him a different ring name. At first, he was only referred to as Brother Bruti (pronounced: BREW-tie,
which was WWF announcer Gorilla Monsoon's longtime shorthand for his former ring name), making short appearances with WCW
World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan, who had just arrived in WCW. At Halloween Havoc 1994, following Hogan's cage match
victory over Ric Flair, Brutus was revealed as the mystery assailant who attacked Hogan just before his title defense against
Flair at Clash of the Champions XXVIII. He was subsequently billed as The Butcher. The feud between these two culminated at
Starrcade 1994 and was then abruptly dropped as fan interest was simply not there.
After this, he reappeared in a series of different gimmicks
and ring names, first as the supposedly amnesic Man with No Name. He would go on to be part of Kevin Sullivan's Dungeon of
Doom as The Zodiac, a character with black and white face paint who would only say, "Yes, no, yes, no!" In 1996, he feuded
with Diamond Dallas Page, this time as The Booty Man. He was accompanied by Page's ex-valet (and real-life wife) Kimberly
Page, whom he referred to as his "Booty Babe." His gimmick was simply that of a man who would shake his (supposedly) bare
buttocks on the way to the ring.
This, too, did not last long. When the nWo started, Booty
Man attempted to join and promptly received a beatdown from Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Hulk Hogan. His last WCW gimmick was
the bodyguard of Hollywood Hogan, The Disciple, who would help Hogan illegally in many matches throughout 1998. He was almost
unrecognizable at first with a full beard, dark sunglasses, and nWo-styled biker attire but whose identity was revealed by
Roddy Piper during his feud with Hogan. The Disciple was later "kidnapped" by the Warrior during Warrior's brief WCW run and
feud with Hogan.
After being supposedly brainwashed by Warrior, he turned
on Hogan and was the only other member (alongside his kidnapper) of the one Warrior nation.
Retirement
He until recently had been working as a manager at Planet
Fitness in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, but is now onto other things. He lives with his wife, Barbara, his daughter, and his
little dog in a nearby town. Now a born-again Christian, he is a part of the Christian wrestling group, World Impact Wrestling.
He has also started a wrestling school, He also 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. On July 28, 2007, Beefcake competed for the IAW Heavyweight Championship at Clash
at the Cove 9 against Greg "The Hammer" Valentine and Brian Costello. Beefcake and Valentine lost due to countout while they
were brawling outside the ring. However, they returned to the ring to attack Costello and the ringside announcer announced
the return of The Dream Team.
