Greene County man is mustache champ

GREENE COUNTY, Va. (WVIR) - A Greene County man is becoming famous for his facial hair.

Bob Baker’s award-winning mustache has taken on a life of itself. He won the national mustache styling championship in 2022 for the second time. He also won two years ago as a rookie in 2020 in the freestyle category.

“When they said, ‘winner Robert Baker,’ I almost fell out of my chair. I was definitely surprised because it was my first nationals,” Baker said.

His mustache, named “Elliot Norris,” has been styled in a variety of ways: Classic handlebar, pencil, and walrus to name a few.

“It’s funny, when I first went from beard to mustache everybody was like, ‘What did you do?’ Now everyone likes to tell their friends, ‘He’s a two-time mustache champion. Look him up online,’” Baker said.

He says the original plan was to have a mustache for three weeks. Things changed, and Baker started getting featured in publications.

“I have about 35 different companies that send me products to test out, to give feedback, and share my process with online,” Baker said.

He has around 1.3 million followers on TikTok. Elliott Norris even helped Baker land a part in a bare-knuckles boxing movie.

“The director turns around, ‘We love your mustache. How about we give you a speaking part and a shot in the ring with the main actor.’ It was a dream come true,” Baker said.

Next up is a championship competition in Germany. Baker says there isn’t a lot of money in competing, but he does have sponsors to help cover some of expenses.

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