The Ultimate Warrior
vs
Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake
Mattel WWE Then, Now, Forever/Elite figures
Saturday Night's Main Event XXVII - July 16th, 1990 - Omaha Civic Auditorium
The Ultimate Warrior defends the WWF World Heavyweight Championship against Ravishing Rick Rude...and he did it in this particular attire and makeup! This classic WWE figure from Mattel is a Walmart exclusive, "Then, Now, Forever" basic. It's a nice, clean figure as far as paint apps go, but the mini Warrior mask cheek paint is kinda strange. I know that when he did the full mask paint job, it was usually wrecked by combat and sweat minutes into a match...maybe he was just lazy that particular night? Speaking of lazy, they included the WWF winged eagle championship belt with a white strap, but in this match, it should be light blue. Warrior wore the white belt before the blue, and again sometimes after. Eh, minor details. And now I have a white belt for my custom "No Holds Barred" Rip figure!
Ed Leslie has had many, many horrible gimmicks that will probably never make it to action figure form. He's very lucky to have been a friend of Hulk Hogan at the height of WWE popularity and be so fondly remembered for his time as "the Barber." The shears gimmick came about in a "loser gets his head shaved" match between Rowdy Roddy Piper and Adorable Adrian Adonis at Wrestlemania III. Yup, a gimmick born by real legends. How is there not an Adrian Adonis figure in this line?! Travesty!
Anyway, they give Brutus a better treatment than he deserves with this Elite-articulated figure. The head scan is great, as are the paint apps on his tights and wristbands. He comes with a removable cloth overcoat and plastic bow tie. And to top things off, he has his shears that open and close.
It wouldn't be fair to nitpick a 15-year old figure, but it's clear to me why this new figure will be taking its place on the display shelf.
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