Brutus Beefcake Reflects on Growing Up with Hulk Hogan

CBC News recently interviewed former WWE Superstar Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, who talked about training with Hulk Hogan in their early days in the business. Below are some highlights.

Beefcake on training with Hulk Hogan: “I was training with Hulk and his friends in the gym for several years. He had a dream of being a wrestler. I didn’t.”

Beefcake on how he got into the business: “I used to watch wrestling when I was a kid … but it’s nothing I ever thought about doing. He [Hulk Hogan] asked me if I was interested, maybe, in going out, going on the road, trying to get in the wrestling business. I said ‘ah, what the hell, we’ll give it a try.’ We helped each other prepare. When we thought we were ready, we made the calls to the right people and they put us to work.”

Beefcake on how Hulk Hogan broke his ankle on the first day of training camp: “He tried to get involved with a promotion in Florida. They didn’t like him. First day in his training camp, they broke his ankle. That’s their way of saying we don’t want you, go away. After his ankle got better, he went back to the school, and I guess they let him finish. Then, basically, they wouldn’t book him in the towns. They’d book him in a town that’s 400 miles away, 300 miles away … they wouldn’t pay him anything. So he quit, he got real frustrated.”

Beefcake on how tough the business is and chasing your dreams: “The wrestling business is a very, very tough life. One in about a hundred million guys ever really make it, and that’s pretty poor odds, if you ask me. Chase your dreams, man, go after them, do what you gotta do. But you also gotta be logical and smart about this, too.”