10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (July 14)
7. Brutus Beefcake Thought His Barber Gimmick Was A Rib
Brutus Beefcake's autobiography is the kind you'd be forgiven for missing when it was released last year. Thankfully for Brother Bruti, Bruce Prichard's recent podcast on his career shone a spotlight on the book, and it also included some sweet stories.
One of the best was the fact that Brutus believed his "Barber" gimmick was an elaborate rib played so Pat Patterson could get his rocks off. Seriously, that's what Beefcake thought when the character was presented to him in 1987.
He thought the WWF only wanted a musclebound dude to play the gimmick because Pat's real-life partner Louis was a stylist and it'd tick off one of Patterson's fantasies. That's somehow equal parts insulting and hilarious.
Prichard said that Patterson had nothing to do with the barber gimmick. It was Vince McMahon's idea, not anyone else's, and it wasn't pitched because Pat wanted to see Beefcake carry around a pair of gardening shears or talk about "strutting and cutting'".