The Mega-Maniacs
Encyclopedia
The Mega-Maniacs was the World Wrestling Federation
tag team
of Hulk Hogan
& Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake
that had two distinct runs as a team, one in 1989 and another one in 1993.
, an actor who had starred as Hulk’s enemy in the WWF financed film No Holds Barred
. Zeus teamed up with “Macho Man” Randy Savage
in hopes of destroying Hulk Hogan. Faced with overwhelming odds, Hulk Hogan turned to his best friend Brutus Beefcake to even the odds.
At SummerSlam 1989
, Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake teamed up to take on Randy Savage and Zeus in the main event, a clash that saw Hulk Hogan pin Zeus after his trademark Leg drop
. Hogan and Beefcake would once again team up after being attacked in the locker rooms during the closing moments of the 1989 Survivor Series PPV by Savage & Zeus.
It was decided that the feud had to be settled in a steel cage match, which was featured on a “Mini-PPV” as a double feature with the movie “No Holds Barred”. Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake were successful in the cage, after which Zeus was not seen in the WWF. After the steel cage match, Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake both went back to working singles matches.
accident that forced him to retire from in-ring competition. After an aborted comeback attempt in late 1991/early 1992, Brutus Beefcake finally felt he was ready to get back inside the squared circle in 1993.
On February 1, 1993 (shown on Television February 15), Brutus Beefcake faced off against “The Million $ Man” Ted DiBiase
with his Money Incorporated
partner Irwin R. Schyster
and manager Jimmy Hart
at ringside. IRS would interfere in the match with Money, Inc. double teaming Beefcake, even going so far as to hitting him in his surgically reconstructed face with a metal briefcase. The actions of Money, Inc. were so horrible that lifetime heel (bad guy) Jimmy Hart took objection to it and tried to protect Beefcake from further harm.
At this point in time, Hulk Hogan was not active in the WWF, having gone into semi-retirement a year earlier, but the attack on his life-long friend brought the Hulkster back to the WWF. With newly turned babyface manager Jimmy Hart at their side, Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake joined forces, swore vengeance on Money, Inc. and then officially named themselves “The Mega-Maniacs.”
Due to the attack by Money, Inc, Beefcake took to wearing a red and yellow protective facemask when competing in the ring and Brutus's entire outfit changed to red and yellow as a show of unity with Hulk Hogan.
Leading up to WrestleMania IX
, the Mega-Maniacs took on the Beverly Brothers during house show
s to get ready for their shot at the WWF World Tag-Team titles at WrestleMania. The Mega-Maniacs were not successful in their challenge as they lost to Money, Inc. when Hulk Hogan used Beefcake’s steel face plate on the champions. Later in the night, Hogan would win the WWF World Title
in an impromptu match
The Mega-Maniacs would team up and take on Money, Inc. several times during the months of April and May on the house show circuit with the World Champion not defending his title once. Hogan would lose the title to Yokozuna
at June's King of the Ring pay-per-view, and both he and Beefcake would leave the WWF soon after.
in 1994, Hogan’s friend Brutus Beefcake was not far behind, being known as “Brother Bruti” in WCW. Despite appearing together many times over the years in WCW, they only teamed actively in the ring for a very short while when Brutus Beefcake was known as “The Booty Man” during the early parts of 1996, but they could not use the name “The Mega-Maniacs” due to the WWF owning the copyright.
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...
of Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan
Terrance Gene "Terry" Bollea , better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American Semi-retired professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
& Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake
Edward Leslie
Edward Harrison "Ed" Leslie is an American professional wrestler, best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Brutus The Barber Beefcake. He later worked for World Championship Wrestling under a variety of names, mainly as "The Disciple" of real-life best friend...
that had two distinct runs as a team, one in 1989 and another one in 1993.
History
Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake began their careers more or less at the same time, quickly becoming lifelong friends and would team up from time to time. Their most well known “Pre-WWF” teams were as “Terry & Ed Boulder” and as “Hulk & Dizzy Hogan”, billed as brothers.1989
During the summer of 1989, Hulk Hogan came under attack from “The Human Wrecking Machine” ZeusTom Lister, Jr.
-World Wrestling Federation :Lister appeared in the 1989 wrestling movie No Holds Barred, which was financed by the World Wrestling Federation and starred Hulk Hogan. Lister's role was Zeus, a brutal monster heel....
, an actor who had starred as Hulk’s enemy in the WWF financed film No Holds Barred
No Holds Barred
No Holds Barred is a 1989 film produced by Michael Rachmil, directed by Thomas J. Wright, written by Dennis Hackin and starring professional wrestler Hulk Hogan...
. Zeus teamed up with “Macho Man” Randy Savage
Randy Savage
Randall Mario Poffo , better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler, best known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling .Savage held twenty championships during his professional wrestling career and was a...
in hopes of destroying Hulk Hogan. Faced with overwhelming odds, Hulk Hogan turned to his best friend Brutus Beefcake to even the odds.
At SummerSlam 1989
SummerSlam (1989)
SummerSlam was the second annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on August 28, 1989 in the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey....
, Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake teamed up to take on Randy Savage and Zeus in the main event, a clash that saw Hulk Hogan pin Zeus after his trademark Leg drop
Leg drop
A leg drop or legdrop refers to an attack used in professional wrestling in which an attacking wrestler will jump and land his leg across a fallen opponent's chest, throat, face or head or in some cases, the groin/lower-abdominal area...
. Hogan and Beefcake would once again team up after being attacked in the locker rooms during the closing moments of the 1989 Survivor Series PPV by Savage & Zeus.
It was decided that the feud had to be settled in a steel cage match, which was featured on a “Mini-PPV” as a double feature with the movie “No Holds Barred”. Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake were successful in the cage, after which Zeus was not seen in the WWF. After the steel cage match, Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake both went back to working singles matches.
1993
In 1990 Brutus Beefcake suffered a devastating face injury during a parasailingParasailing
Parasailing, also known as parascending, or "parakiting" is a recreational kiting activity where a person is towed behind a vehicle while attached to a specially designed canopy wing that reminds one of a parachute, known as a parasail wing...
accident that forced him to retire from in-ring competition. After an aborted comeback attempt in late 1991/early 1992, Brutus Beefcake finally felt he was ready to get back inside the squared circle in 1993.
On February 1, 1993 (shown on Television February 15), Brutus Beefcake faced off against “The Million $ Man” Ted DiBiase
Ted DiBiase
Theodore Marvin "Ted" DiBiase, Sr. is a retired professional wrestler, manager, ordained minister and color commentator. DiBiase achieved championship success in a number of wrestling promotions, holding thirty titles during his professional wrestling career...
with his Money Incorporated
Money Inc.
Money Inc. was a heel professional wrestling tag team in the World Wrestling Federation from February 1992 to August 1993. The team consisted of "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster . They held the WWF Tag Team Championship three times, defeating the Legion of Doom, The Natural...
partner Irwin R. Schyster
Mike Rotunda
Lawrence Michael "Mike" Rotunda is a former American professional wrestler, perhaps best known under the name Irwin R. Schyster or I.R.S. for short. He is currently signed with WWE working as a road agent and making occasional appearances on WWE shows as Irwin R...
and manager Jimmy Hart
Jimmy Hart
James "Jimmy" Ray Hart is a professional wrestling manager, executive, composer, and musician currently signed with WWE. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling under his nickname "The Mouth of the South." He has managed many professional...
at ringside. IRS would interfere in the match with Money, Inc. double teaming Beefcake, even going so far as to hitting him in his surgically reconstructed face with a metal briefcase. The actions of Money, Inc. were so horrible that lifetime heel (bad guy) Jimmy Hart took objection to it and tried to protect Beefcake from further harm.
At this point in time, Hulk Hogan was not active in the WWF, having gone into semi-retirement a year earlier, but the attack on his life-long friend brought the Hulkster back to the WWF. With newly turned babyface manager Jimmy Hart at their side, Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake joined forces, swore vengeance on Money, Inc. and then officially named themselves “The Mega-Maniacs.”
Due to the attack by Money, Inc, Beefcake took to wearing a red and yellow protective facemask when competing in the ring and Brutus's entire outfit changed to red and yellow as a show of unity with Hulk Hogan.
Leading up to WrestleMania IX
WrestleMania IX
WrestleMania IX was the ninth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. The event took place at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 4, 1993 and was the first WrestleMania event held outdoors...
, the Mega-Maniacs took on the Beverly Brothers during house show
House show
A house show is a professional wrestling show run by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive during televised events, as well as test reactions to matches, wrestlers, and...
s to get ready for their shot at the WWF World Tag-Team titles at WrestleMania. The Mega-Maniacs were not successful in their challenge as they lost to Money, Inc. when Hulk Hogan used Beefcake’s steel face plate on the champions. Later in the night, Hogan would win the WWF World Title
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...
in an impromptu match
The Mega-Maniacs would team up and take on Money, Inc. several times during the months of April and May on the house show circuit with the World Champion not defending his title once. Hogan would lose the title to Yokozuna
Rodney Anoa'i
Rodney Agatupu Anoa'i was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation where he wrestled under the ring name Yokozuna. The term yokozuna refers to the highest rank in professional sumo wrestling in Japan...
at June's King of the Ring pay-per-view, and both he and Beefcake would leave the WWF soon after.
WCW
When Hulk Hogan signed with World Championship WrestlingWorld Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
in 1994, Hogan’s friend Brutus Beefcake was not far behind, being known as “Brother Bruti” in WCW. Despite appearing together many times over the years in WCW, they only teamed actively in the ring for a very short while when Brutus Beefcake was known as “The Booty Man” during the early parts of 1996, but they could not use the name “The Mega-Maniacs” due to the WWF owning the copyright.