Richard John "Dick" Beyer (July 11, 1930 – March 7, 2019) was an American professional wrestler is best known by his ring names, The Destroyer and Doctor X.

Beyer worked the first seven years of his mat career near his Western New York home, due in large part to his coaching job and commitment to the U.S. Army Reserve.

He used the figure four leg lock (which became his signature finisher)[7] on his way to the Worldwide Wrestling Associates (WWA) championship on July 27, 1962, in a win over Freddie Blassie, who convinced him that the mask gimmick would give him a large push.

[3] In June 1964, he returned to Los Angeles and beat Dick the Bruiser for another WWA championship run, losing it to Bob Ellis in September, regaining it in November, and finally dropping it in March 1965 to Pedro Morales.

[4] He had matches with many of the top names in the business including his real brother-in-law Billy Red Lyons, who handed him his first American Wrestling Association (AWA) defeat on Minneapolis television, with a figure-four leglock.

He stood in the center of the ring with announcer Marty O'Neill, who told the fans that Doctor X was a former coach from Syracuse University.

"[9] He also helped promote All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) for Baba and established himself as a gaijin tarento in a late-night TV show called Uwasa No Channel.

[8] His appearance on the musical-comedy show only furthered the Destroyer's popularity in Japan, which led to him recording a Christmas album for his fans.

[3] His retirement match took place on July 29, 1993, where, he, his son Kurt Beyer, and Giant Baba defeated Haruka Eigen, Masanobu Fuchi, and Masao Inoue.

[10] On November 4, 2017, the Japanese government awarded Beyer the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays, for "a lifetime spent promoting goodwill and bi-cultural exchanges between Japan and the United States".