REAL NAME: Don Morrison
BORN: December 19, 1942 in Kelowna, British Columbia
5’4″, 220 pounds
ALIASES/NICKNAMES: Lumberjack Luke, Crazy Luke, Beautiful Brutus
The early part of Don Morrison was concentrated in Canada, befitting a man who was later to be dubbed a lumberjack down in Alabama.
Born in Kelowna, BC, Morrison watched wrestling as a kid. After a three-year stint in the Canadian Armed Forces, he worked in a Vancouver-area slaughterhouse and met Red McNulty and Dale Hayes. They shared their love for wrestling as they worked around the area as bouncers for hire. McNulty was already working for promoters Cliff Parker and Rod Fenton.
In 1970, Morrison’s life changed as the slaughterhouse sent him packing. He had seen McNulty leave for Calgary and later Montreal to wrestle, and Hayes was starting out as well in Montreal as Buddy Roberts.
Morrison began training under Earl Black. In 1971, he headed out to Montreal to work with the Vachons Grand Prix promotion. After Montreal, he headed out to the Maritimes to work for Emile Dupre’s promotion.
Stampede Wrestling beckoned in 1972, where he was billed as Beautiful Brutus, dressed lavishly and parading around the ring.
Late 1972 saw his visa come through so he could work in the United States for the first time. Morrison headed down to Oklahoma.
What followed next was a trip to Mobile, Alabama, where the promoters Lee and Don Fields thought that he would make a great lumberjack. He debuted at Dothan, Alabama TV coming out of the crowd. Lumberjack Luke was a big hit immediately, and went on to even greater heights as a headliner in Seattle.
As with other ‘lumberjacks’, like Jos Leduc, a trip to the wild side wasn’t a difficult next step. Lumberjack Luke transformed into Crazy Luke in the same territory.
In 1976, he won the Stampede Wrestling tag team titles with Prince Tapu, beating Ripper Collins & Don Gagne (Frenchy Martin) and losing to Ripper Collins & Bobby Bass.
By 1980, injuries had caught up to him and he stopped wrestling, residing in Washington State and running a dry cleaning business.