Now Hulk Hogan's best buddy Brutus 'The Barber' Beefcake to sue wrestler’s ex wife over gay claims

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 11:19 PM on 12th December 2011

Hulk Hogan's best wrestler friend Brutus 'The Barber' Beefcake has adamantly denied claims made by Hulk's ex-wife Linda Hogan that the pair had a gay relationship

Mr Beefcake, real name Ed Leslie, told TMZ today that he is prepared to sue Linda over the allegations.

Back in June during a radio interview, Linda alleged that Beefcake and Hogan engaged in homoerotic behaviour outside the wrestling ring.

Best buddies: Both former WWE stars Brutus Beefcake and Hulk Hogan, pictured together in 1998, have denied Linda Hogan's claims they had a homosexual relationship

Hogan has already filed a defamation lawsuit against Linda against that and other allegations she made that he physically abused her during their marriage.

Now, 54-year-old Beefcake is set to follow suit, telling TMZ that he has already instructed his lawyer to draw up a lawsuit which he will soon file.

He said: 'I've known [Linda] for almost 40 years, but when she starts trying to ruin our careers, it just ain't fair.

'Hulk is a tremendous person,' he added. 'A great man who deserves to be happy.'

Last week Hogan, real name Terry Bollea, filed a 18 page lawsuit in Florida.

Wrestling star: Beefcake, pictured in August, started his wrestling career in the 1980s and regularly appeared alongside his mentor Hulk Hogan

'If any of that was true, I would admit it, and (if) I was a homosexual I would embrace it,' he said in an interview with Us Weekly.

'It's just so crazy to hear, so I have a real problem with it if you're going to say I'm something that I'm not to try to ruin my career and my livelihood, I have to answer her back.

'It's so ridiculous. I don't mean to laugh about it, because it's not funny. But it's insane. It doesn't make any sense to me.'

Hogan claims in the lawsuit that Linda lied and defamed him in her new book, Wrestling the Hulk - My Life Against the Ropes and claims she wrote it to help revive her career.

Bitter battle: Hulk Hogan is suing his ex wife Linda

Along with the homosexual encounters, she also wrote that Hogan abused her during their marriage.

In her book she claims: 'Hulk tore my shirt, threw lamps, and held me down on the bed with his hands around my throat during arguments.

'I was always afraid he would kill me in one of his rages.'

Hogan's lawyer Wil Florin, said last week: 'Miss Bollea's made enough of these outrageous allegations that it's time they stop, the only realistic way of making them stop is through the court system.

He is demanding a jury trial and a halt to his ex-wife's comments.

He says she has also made claims during promotional interviews on national television.

Linda received more than 70 per cent of the couple's assets in their recent divorce settlement.