American professional wrestler

Richard John Beyer (July 11, 1930 – March 7, 2019) was an American professional wrestler who is best known by his ring names, The Destroyer and Doctor X. Among other places, he worked extensively in *an and in 2017 he was awarded one of the country's highest honors, the Order of the Rising Sun.

Contents

• 1 Early life
• 2 Professional wrestling career
  • 2.1 Worldwide Wrestling *ociates
  • 2.2 American Wrestling *ociation (1966–1972)
  • 2.3 All *an Pro Wrestling (1972–1993)
• 3 Later life and death
• 4 Championships and accomplishments
• 5 References
• 6 External links

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. He graduated with a Masters Degree in education and was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta's Syracuse Chapter, as well as an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America. He was a schoolteacher and swim coach in New York until he began his wrestling career. Beyer worked the first seven years of his mat career near his Western New York home, due in large part to his coaching job and commitment to the U.S. Army Reserve.

Professional wrestling career

Worldwide Wrestling *ociates

Beyer began as a babyface wrestler in the mid-1950s. His career as a masked wrestler, The Destroyer, began in 1962 in Los Angeles. Beyer traveled to California after Freddie Bl*ie praised Beyer’s heel skills to local promoter Jules Strongbow. Strongbow informed him he would wrestle as the masked Destroyer. Unfortunately for Beyer, the mask was an extremely uncomfortable woolen contraption that made him claustrophobic and itchy. Beyer was determined to rid himself of the gimmick, but Ox Baker lent him a mask made from a woman’s girdle, which would serve well for Beyer.

The mask became an important part of Beyer's persona, stating “I was asked to wear a mask in 1962 and I said, ‘You have to be out of your mind. In four weeks, it doubled my income.” He used the figure four leg lock on his way to the Worldwide Wrestling *ociates (WWA) championship on July 27, 1962 in a win over Freddie Bl*ie, who convinced him that the mask gimmick would give him a large push. He defended the championship for ten months.

In early 1963, Beyer wrestled three sold-out matches against Giant Baba at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. In May 1963, he traveled to *an for the first time in his career, to wrestle Rikidōzan in a match watched by over 70 million TV viewers, being *an's highest rated show at the time. In June 1964, he returned to Los Angeles and beat Dick the Bruiser for another WWA championship run, losing it to Bob Ellis in September, regaining it in November, and finally dropping it in March 1965 to Pedro Morales.

American Wrestling *ociation (1966–1972)

Beyer in 1969 as Dr. X

Between 1966 and 1972, Beyer wrestled as Doctor X while in Minneapolis. He had matches with many of the top names in the business including his real brother-in-law Billy Red Lyons, who handed him his first American Wrestling *ociation (AWA) defeat on Minneapolis television, with a figure-four leglock. In August 1970, he took a chance at revenge against his former partner Black Jack Lanza. He stood in the center of the ring with announcer Marty O'Neill, who told the fans that Doctor X was a former coach from Syracuse University. Doctor X then removed his mask, handed it to promoter Eddie Williams, and wrestled the match as Dick Beyer. In other AWA cities, Beyer was unmasked by Lanza or Paul Diamond. In these matches, his name was said to be Bruce Marshall. He wanted to lose the mask because he and his family were set to go to *an, where he would be The Destroyer again. During 1972, he had several battles with "Crippler" Ray Stevens. Their last match saw him written out of the AWA with a purported broken leg.

All *an Pro Wrestling (1972–1993)

From 1973 to 1979, Beyer wrestled in *an on a deal with Giant Baba and NTV of Tokyo. Here he feuded with Mil Máscaras in a series of seven matches, stating on his style, "He was the best compe*or that I ever wrestled. He never gave you anything – it's true – but I didn't give him anything either. You talk about a shoot or a half-shoot, and that's the kind of match that it was." He also helped promote All *an Pro Wrestling (AJPW) for Baba and established himself as a gaijin tarento in a late-night TV show called Uwasa No Channel. His appearance on the musical-comedy show only furthered the Destroyer’s popularity in *an, which led to him recording a Christmas album for his fans. He held the PWF United States Championship until 1979, when he left AJPW and the championship was abandoned. Beyer was also the first American wrestler signed to a *anese promotion.

Later life and death

Beyer in June 2010.Beyer (left) with Mil Mascaras and Nighthawk.

Beyer went into semi-retirement in Akron, New York, in 1984. Until 1995, he taught physical education in the Central School District, and coached football, wrestling and swimming. He served on the Board of Directors of the Cauliflower Alley Club, which holds annual reunions in Las Vegas. He was a member of Toastmasters International, a public speaking club, and carried the club designation of Certified Toastmaster. He inducted Gorgeous George into the WWE Hall of Fame on March 27, 2010.

On August 27, 2011, Beyer, along with his son, returned to *an to take part in All Together, a charity event copromoted by AJPW, New *an Pro-Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah. Appearing under his Destroyer mask, he hosted the Destroyer Cup and presented a trophy to its winner, Kentaro Shiga. In 2013, he opened Destroyer Park Golf in Akron, the first park golf course in the United States.

On November 4, 2017, the *anese government awarded Beyer the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays, for "a lifetime spent promoting goodwill and bi-cultural exchanges between *an and the United States".

Beyer died in Akron on March 7, 2019, at the age of 88.

Championships and accomplishments

• 50th State Big Time Wrestling
  • NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Hawaii version) (1 time)
• All *an Pro Wrestling
  • All Asia Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Billy Red Lyons
  • PWF United States Heavyweight Championship (4 times)
  • January 2 Korakuen Hall Heavyweight Battle Royal (1979)
  • January 3 Korakuen Hall Battle Royal (1975)
  • Champion Carnival Technical Award (1977)
  • Champion Carnival Fighting Spirit Award (1979)
• American Wrestling Alliance
  • AWA World Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version) (1 time) - with Billy Red Lyons
• American Wrestling *ociation
  • AWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• Cauliflower Alley Club
  • Iron Mike Mazurki Award (1996)
• Central States Wrestling
  • NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Central States version) (1 time)
• George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Cl* of 2002
• Lutte Internationale
  • Canadian International Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• NWA Big Time Wrestling
  • NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Golden Terror
• NWA Los Angeles
  • NWA International Television Tag Team Championship (Los Angeles version) (1 time) - with Don Manoukian
• Pacific Northwest Wrestling
  • NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
  • NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Art Michalik (3)
• Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
  • Cl* of 2005
  • New York State Award (2003)
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Stanley Wetson Award (2017)
• Ring Around The Northwest Newsletter
  • Tag Team of the Year (1963–1964) with Art Mahilik
  • Wrestler of the Year (1964)
• Tokyo Sports
  • Popularity Award (1975)
• World Wrestling Alliance (San Francisco)
  • WWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Billy Red Lyons
• Worldwide Wrestling *ociates
  • WWA International Television Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Don Manoukian
  • WWA World Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
  • WWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Hard Boiled Haggerty
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Cl* of 1996)

References

• Tenay, Mike. "Dick "the Destroyer" Beyer". Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2008-08-20. Retrieved 2008-03-18.

External links

• Official website
• Dick Beyer's profile at Cagematch.net, Wrestlingdata.com, Internet Wrestling Database