O How the Barber has Fallen

Via 1wrestling by way of Fark:

Brutus Beefcake (Ed Leslie) caused an Anthrax scare at a Boston subway station when a white powdery substance was found that caused the evacuation of the station where he was working. The substance was found on the counter of a fare booth being manned by Leslie, who later admitted it wasn't Anthrax but was cocaine.

Leslie has been suspended and has checked into rehab.

Sadly, the cocaine is not what caught my eye. There have been too many deaths in recent years from drug and alcohol abuse in the pro wrestling world for Bruti's use of the nose candy to be all that surprising.

Though given that Brutus had his entire face reconstructed after having it smashed in a parasailing accident, I consider it a testament to modern medical science that he's able to use his nostrils at all.

Back the point, if you've seen Beyond the Mat, you've seen Jake "the Snake" Roberts high on crack after a pretty rough meeting with his family.

"Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig and Miss Elizabeth both passed away in the last year after playing with some form of illegal self-medication.

And sadly, the list goes on and on.

So hearing that Brutus is seeking help is comforting.

But here's what really caught my eye in the short news item: Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake. Working a fare booth at a Boston subway station.

The guy was main-eventing the WWF with Hulk Hogan 15 years ago, against Randy "Macho Man" Savage and Zeus (actor Tiny Lister, for the squared-circle impaired)....and travelled on Hogan's coat-tails to WCW in the mid 90's, where he became the Man of a Bajillion Gimmicks.

I guess he snorted up those bling WWF and Ted Turner funded WCW paychecks.

Still, that's gotta suck. I mean, if you're manning a fare booth for the Subway in a major metropolitan area, you have to get recognized every now and then...

An imagined meeting:

As a stout young lad buys a ticket on the line to take him to Fenway Park....

Lad: Hey! I know you! Aren't you Brutus Beefcake, one-half of the WWF Champion Tag Team The Dream Team with Greg "the Hammer" Valentine?

Brutus:Yes....Fare is $1.75, unless you have a Multi-Pass.

Lad: You were the Barber! You feuded with "the Outlaw" Ron Bass and The Honky Tonk Man! What are you doing working here?

Brutus: Umm......Coke Hab....uh...Research. For a movie. $1.75, please....

Lad: (Dubious) What's the movie called?

Brutus: I...um...The Adven...Police Academ.....Never You Mind!

Lad: Seriously, what are you doing? You're famous! I mean, you feuded with Diamond Dallas Page over Kimberly, the Diamond Doll!

And then the Barber comes through the booth at the guy.

It's gotta have happened at least once. Especially if he's coked up.

While we're on the subject of wrestlers and coke, I found the Hulk Hogan retrospective DVD at Walgreens for 5 dollars. It's pretty good, I guess, especially for a lot of the Tuesday Night Titans segments where Vince McMahon and "Awful" Alfred Hayes host a Tonight Show like show. It's a fun watch, even if I never really much cared for the Hulkster.

I bring the DVD up because there's a segment of TNT where Hogan comes in and rants to Vince and Alfred about Big John Studd and their feud. I watched this segment with wonder, as I tried to just imagine the powdery cocktail of performance enhancing drugs and whatever other stimulants that the Hulkster's gotta have in his blood just to maintain the level of nervous energy he does throughout the interview. I mean, he vibrates out of our plane of existance a couple of times, he's so buzzed....

Give it a look, wrasslin' fans.

And finally, for those keeping track, I count 15 wrestlers and managers from "Back in the Day" listed in this post.....mark it down.