Dick Beyer

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Richard Beyer
Statistics
Ring name(s)	Dick Beyer The Destroyer Dr. X
Billed height	5 ft 10 in
Billed weight	265 lbs
Born	July 11, 1931 (1931-07-11) (age 76)
Resides	Buffalo, New York
Debut	December 29, 1954
Retired	January 4, 1993

Dick Beyer is a retired professional wrestler who is best known by his ring names, The Destroyer or Doctor X.

1 Early life
2 Wrestling career
3 Post-Wrestling
4 Championships and accomplishments
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Early life

As an athlete at Syracuse University, Beyer was a member of the varsity football and wrestling teams. He played in the 1953 Orange Bowl for Syracuse. Beyer graduated with a Masters Degree in education. Beyer is also an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America.

[edit] Wrestling career

Beyer's career as a "masked" wrestler, The Destroyer, began in 1962 in Los Angeles. He used the “figure-four-leg-lock” on his way to the WWA championship on July 27, 1962 in a win over Freddie Blassie. Beyer went on to defend the WWA title for 10 months.

In early 1963, Beyer wrestled 3 sold-out matches against Shohei “Giant” Baba at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, making the 2 wrestlers very famous in Japan. In May 1963, Beyer traveled to Japan for the first time, to wrestle with Rikidozan, in a match watched by 70 million TV viewers. In June 1964, Beyer returned to Los Angeles and beat Dick “The Bruiser” for another WWA title. Beyer lost the title to Bob Illis in September, won it back in November, and then lost it for the last time in March 1965 to Pedro Morales.

Between 1967 and 1972, Beyer wrestled as Doctor X while in Minneapolis, although he was known as "The Destroyer" elsewhere. During his time as Doctor X, Beyer had classic matches with many of the top names in the business including his real life brother-in-law Billy Red Lyons. In fact, it was Lyons who handed "X" his first AWA defeat on Minneapolis television when he defeated the good Doctor with a figure four leg lock. In August 1970, "X" removed his own mask to get a chance at revenge against his former partner Black Jack Lanza. He stood in center ring with legendary announcer Marty O'Neill, who told the fans that "X" was a former coach from Syracuse University. "X" then removed his mask, handed it to St. Paul promoter Eddie Williams, and wrestled the match as Dick Beyer. In other AWA cities, he was actually unmasked by both Lanza and Paul Diamond...in these matches, his name was revealed to be Bruce Marshall. The reason for Beyer wanting to be unmasked was that, he and his family were set to go on a world tour, where he would also wrestle again as The Destroyer. It has been speculated that by late August 1970, Beyer had already left the AWA and that it was "jobber" Bobby Jones under the mask. When Beyer removed his own mask on the August 8, 1970 card in St. Paul, that for sure was really Dick Beyer. During 1972, Beyer had several epic battles with the legendary "Crippler" Ray Stevens. Their last match was a particularly bruising affair which resulted in Beyer as Doctor X having his leg "broken." This "injury" allowed Beyer to leave the Minneapolis area to join a wrestling tour in Japan and have another outstanding feud with Mil Mascaras which resulted in a series of seven matches.

From 1973, Beyer wrestled in Japan for 6 straight years, in a deal with Giant Baba and NTV of Tokyo. During his tenure in Japan, Beyer helped promote All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) for Giant Baba, and established himself as a television personality in a late-night TV show called “Uwasa No Channel.” Beyer held the PWF United States Championship until 1979, when he left AJPW and the championship was abandoned. From 1979, Beyer wrestled in Toronto and Montreal, against Bob Backlund, André the Giant, Terry, Dory Funk, Tony Paresi, Nick Bockwinkel, Édouard Carpentier, Mad Dog Vachon, Superstar Billy Graham, and others.

[edit] Post-Wrestling

Beyer went into semi-retirement in 1984. From 1984 to 1995, Beyer taught physical education in the Akron Central School District in Akron, New York, where he also coached football, wrestling and swimming.

Beyer now lives in Buffalo, New York. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Cauliflower Alley Club, which holds annual reunions in Las Vegas.