Street was trained as a professional wrestler by
Chic Osmond.
[4] His first professional wrestling match was on 8 August 1957.
[4]Using the name Kid Tarzan Jonathan, Street defeated
Geoff Moran.
[4]
Later in his career, he developed his "Exotic" Adrian Street image, an outrageously-attired, effeminate character who was hinted but never outright-stated to be gay.
[5][6] Street has explained that this
gimmick was born by accident as a result of him playing up to taunting from an audience one evening,
[6] commenting "I was getting far more reaction than I'd ever got just playing this poof. My costumes started getting wilder".
[5] His wrestling attire evolved to including pastels and glitter make up and clipping his bleached hair into mini-pigtails.
[5] As "The Exotic One" his signature move in the ring was to kiss opponents to escape being pinned down and to put make up on his opponents when they were disabled.
Working primarily as a
heel, Street travelled all over the world including wrestling in Germany,
[7] Canada and Mexico.
[8] In the UK, he formed a tag partnership with fellow heel Bobby Barnes named the Hells Angels.
[5] In 1969 Street met his future manager/valet and real-life wife Miss Linda (Linda Gunthorpe Hawker).
[8] The two formed a double-act, Miss Linda becoming one of professional wrestling's first female valets
[5] and frequently participating as an accomplice to Street's in-ring shenanigans.
[8]Click to expand...