The Mega-Maniacs

During the summer of 1989, Zeus began appearing in the WWF; he began targeting Hulk Hogan, the movie's top-billed star. Zeus teamed up with "Macho Man" Randy Savage in hopes of destroying Hulk Hogan. Faced with overwhelming odds, Hulk Hogan turned to his best friend Brutus Beefcake, who was already feuding with Savage at the time, to even the odds.

At SummerSlam 1989, Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake teamed up to take on Randy Savage and Zeus in the main event, a clash that saw Hulk Hogan pin Zeus after his trademark leg drop. Hogan and Beefcake would once again team up after being attacked in the locker rooms during the closing moments of the 1989 Survivor Series by Savage and Zeus.

It was decided that the feud had to be settled in a steel cage match, which was featured on a "mini pay-per-view" as a double feature with the movie *No Holds Barred*. (The match was taped December 13, 1989, and aired two weeks later on pay-per-view.) Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake were successful in the cage, after which Zeus was not seen in the WWF. After the steel cage match, Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake both went back to working singles matches.

On February 1, 1993 (shown on February 15), Brutus Beefcake faced off against "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase with his Money Inc. partner IRS and manager Jimmy Hart at ringside. IRS would interfere in the match with Money, Inc. double teaming Beefcake, even going so far as to hitting him in his surgically reconstructed face with a metal briefcase. The actions of Money Inc. were so horrible, that even longtime heel manager Jimmy Hart took objection to it and tried to protect Beefcake from further harm. At this point in time, Hulk Hogan was not active in the WWF, having gone into semi-retirement a year earlier, but the attack on his lifelong friend brought the Hulkster back to the WWF. With newly turned babyface manager Jimmy Hart at their side, Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake joined forces, swore vengeance on Money, Inc. and then officially named themselves "**The Mega-Maniacs**."

Due to the attack by Money, Inc, Beefcake took to wearing a red and yellow protective facemask when competing in the ring and Brutus's entire outfit changed to red and yellow as a show of unity with Hulk Hogan. Leading up to WrestleMania IX, the Mega-Maniacs took on the Beverly Brothers during house shows to get ready for their shot at the WWF World Tag Team Titles at WrestleMania. The Mega-Maniacs were not successful in their challenge as they lost to Money Inc. via disqualification when Hogan attacked the champions with Beefcake's steel face plate. Later in the night, Hogan would win the WWF World Heavyweight Title in an impromptu match against Yokozuna, when Yokozuna challenged Hogan to a match immediately after winning the title from Bret Hart the same night.

The Mega-Maniacs would team up and take on Money, Inc. several times during the months of April and May on the house show circuit with Hogan not defending his title once. Hogan would eventually lose the title to Yokozuna at June's King of the Ring pay-per-view, and both he and Beefcake would leave the WWF soon after.

Hogan and Beefcake, now known as "Brother Bruti," came to WCW together in June 1994. Bruti would eventually turn on Hogan at Halloween Havoc 1994, and the two feuded on and off for the next year and a half, with Bruti becoming "The Butcher" and "Zodiac." Hogan would be aided by Savage, while Butcher/Zodiac would be aligned with Kevin Sullivan and Avalanche, as well as being a member of Sullivan's Dungeon of Doom stable.

Zodiac would turn face in 1996, revealing himself to be a mole that Hogan and Savage had injected into the Dungeon of Doom a year earlier, becoming The Booty Man. Hogan, Savage, and Booty Man would continue to team against members of the Dungeon.