Imagine what he could do to you.
"I can tear a telephone directory in two
Bending iron bars is something else that I can do
I always pick my teeth with the nearest billiard cue
So imagine what I could do to you"
Bending iron bars is something else that I can do
I always pick my teeth with the nearest billiard cue
So imagine what I could do to you"
— "Exotic" Adrian Street, "Imagine What I Could Do To You
"
"Adrian Street (born 5 December 1940) is a retired Welsh Professional Wrestler who competed from the 1950s all the way into 2010 primarily as "Exotic" Adrian Street. He started his career as Kid Tarzan Jonathan and also wrestled as Hell's Angel #1. He developed his outrageous image, he claims, sort of by accident since he had been getting such a good reaction from the character. He wrestled for decades all over the world. In the U.S., he competed in Memphis, Florida, the Mid-Atlantic, Los Angeles, Mid-South, the Continental territory in Alabama and for the Global Wrestling Federation in Dallas as well as many independents. Among his in-ring achievements, he held the Mid-South Television Title, the NWA Florida Heavyweight Title and the NWA Americas (Los Angeles) Heavyweight Title. In 1986, he won The Wrestling Observer Newsletter's "Best Gimmick" Award.
Not to be confused with similar wrestler Adrian Adonis.
"Imagine what my tropes could do to you":
- Ambiguously Gay: He was trying to imitate "The Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, but the audience took it as a gay gimmick, so he ran with it. Ironically Roger's gimmick was supposed to be like George Wagner's minus the ambiguous sexuality.
- Arch-Enemy: (In England}: Chris Adams; Feuded with Randy Savage and Jimmy Valiant in Memphis.
- As Himself: In 1985's Grunt! The Wrestling Movie.
- Badass Boast: See the page quote. It's from his "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune.
- Badass Teacher: His most famous trainee was Jim Cornette.
- Bash Brothers: Miss Linda, Bill Dundee, Jimmy Valiant
- Battle Couple: With his valet, Miss Linda. They're married in Real Life.
- Bears Are Bad News: Inverted in "Imagine What I Could Do To You":"I can crush a grizzly till its bones begin to crack."
- Big Eater: From "Imagine What I Could Do To You":"I eat a dozen T-bones for an early morning snack."
- Content Warnings: Parodied. The warning sticker on his album Shake, Wrestle N Roll reads, "WARNING: This album is for people with no taste whatsoever."
- Creepy Crossdresser: He'd inflict this on his opponents, putting makeup on them after beating them.
- Crystal Ball: Mentioned in "Imagine What I Could Do To You":"Now you know about me you won't need a crystal ball"
- Didn't See That Coming: "Mighty Big Girl" is about a woman asking him to dance...and beating the hell out of him since it turns out she was actually a wrestler.
- Documentary: Jeremy Deller's The Life and Times of Adrian Street.
- Expy: "Adorable" Adrian Adonis, Rico Constantino and Paredyse. Rico and Paredyse also had expies of miss Linda in Jackie Gayda and CJ Lane. Lane went further than Jackie by also dressing as mannishly as she could while valeting but cleaning up for her own matches.
- Fairest of Them All: Mentioned by name in "I'm In Love With Me".
- Finishing Move: Sleeper, splash.
- Foreign Wrestling Heel: The first ever wrestling VHS release, 1985's Pro Wrestling Illustrated Presents Lords of the Ring: Superstars and Superbouts, featured a brief profile of Street which included a promo where he ran down sloppy burger eating, pickup truck driving American redneck girls.
- Gay Cowboy
- "Something Very Strange About a Cowboy"
- However, on Continental Wrestling he described cowboys as clumsy idiots and expressed English fox hunters as the superior horsemen.
- Genre Roulette: Fake Country Music on "Something Very Strange About a Cowboy," Doo Wop on "I'm in Love with Me" and whatever the rest of his songs were.
- Gorgeous George: One of the best ever. One day you see him kissing another man. Another day you see him going into a jealous rage over his valet another man getting close to his...mannish valet Miss Linda. One day you see him posing with men in a magazine you're sure is read by gay men but in another you see him posing with big breasted models in a magazine for a decidedly opposite audience.
- Heel: His default role.
- "I Am" Song: "I'm In Love With Me"
- Improbable Hairstyle: Just look at the picture. He had Girlish Pigtails.
- It's All About Me/The Fighting Narcissist/Distracted by My Own Sexy: Played for Laughs with "I'm In Love with Me":"I find it very difficult to get me off my mind
But that's the price perfection has to pay." - Kiss of Distraction: He'd kiss his male opponents to get into their heads or just to break up pinfall attempts.
- Non-Indicative Name: His song "Street Rap"...isn't rap.
- The One Thing I Don't Hate About You: From "Sweet Transvestite with a Broken Nose":"I hate Joan Collins
But love her taste in clothes" - Power Stable:
- The Royal Family (led by 'King' James Dillon in Florida and also including Terry Funk, Bruiser Brody and The Iron Sheik, among others.)
- Cornette's Dynasty (in Memphis)
- The Commonwealth Army (led by Lord Jonathan Boyd and featuring the Sheepherders and Eric Embry in Southwest Championship Wrestling in San Antonio, TX.)
- Rated M for Manly in Real Life. In the Mid-south territory Street was initially left alone because no wrestler there wanted to sully their reputation by beating up a short pudgy man. As the men of the territory got to know him they continued to leave him alone on the conclusion to fight Street was to risk missing work with an injury. Plus even in his old age, Street flexing revealed he had some large muscles underneath what was really a thin layer of fat.
- Ring Oldies: Started in 1957 and was still competing as of 2010.
- Shout-Out:
- "Sweet Transvestite with a Broken Nose"
- "Merchant of Menace"
- Start My Own: The Skull Krushers Wrestling School in Gulf Breeze, Florida, until Hurricane Ivan hit and Street had to close down. He then moved back to the UK. He also designs and sells wrestling gear.
- Stock Footage: Some scenes from his "Imagine What I Could Do To You" video reappear in "Sweet Transvestite with a Broken Nose.".
- The Rival: If you were in the crowd that thought Street was gay, then Bill Dundee was his unwed husband. They may have been opponents but Street was just so eager to be in his company that he'd seemingly take any match that involve being opposite of Dundee.
- Talk Show with Fists: "The Street Corner," in Memphis.
- Verbal Tic: "Mmm", "nice."
- Would Hit a Girl: Miss Linda, after his Mid-South Television Title defense against Chris Adams ended in a DQ after Terry Taylor, who Street defeated for the title, ran over and kissed her.
- Xtreme Kool Letterz: His song "The Krippler"
