‘Exotic’ Adrian Street has died

The BBC is reporting that Welsh wrestling legend “Exotic” Adrian Street died recently at age 82. His wife Linda, who served as Street’s manager/valet for most of their careers, told the news service her husband suffered a stroke which resulted in a brain bleed. While recovering at home from treatment for that, infections developed which eventually took his life.

Street started his in-ring career during the 1950s as “Kid Tarzan Jonathan”, but rose to fame wrestling in the UK and Europe using his real name and an increasing flamboyant, effeminate-if-not-explicitly homosexual character. The gimmick, make-up, and costuming inspired future generations of wrestlers — and possibly a few generations of glam rockers, too.

The son of a miner, a 1973 photo of Street visiting his father’s work site became as iconic as his act. The Dennis Hutchinson-snapped pic has been called the “most important post-war picture ever taken.”

Photo by Dennis Hutchinson/Mirrorpix/Getty Images

In the 1980s, Street made his way to America. He mostly worked the Southern territories, feuding with the likes of Austin Idol & Rip Rogers. Adrian & Linda settled in Florida as he continued to wrestle into the 21st century while they also ran a wrestling school & a costume/gear-making business. He retired from the ring in 2014, estimating he’d wrestled more than 15,000 matches in his career. The Streets relocated back to Wales in 2018.

Linda shared with the BBC that Adrian was, “the kindest, most lovely and loving man I’ve ever known. The total opposite to how he behaved on stage.”