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Bruiser Brody was unlike anyone I’d ever seen, sure I’d seen brawlers such as Cactus Jack, Terry Funk and Kevin Sullivan, but Brody was on another level (All do respect to those greats mentioned) Not only was he a huge man, but he was an athlete too! Brody possessed one of the best dropkicks I’d ever seen, he could leap over his opponents and here was perhaps the most impressive thing about Brody: He never got tired, it didn’t matter if he wrestled five minutes or an hour, Brody was non-stop action. Many just focus on Brody’s brawling skills, and while he truly was one of, if not the best brawler in history he could also engage in classic matches as well his hour-long match with Ric Flair is just one example of his range as a performer, he also had great wrestling matches against the likes of Jumbo Tsuruta, Antonio Inoki and Genichiro Tenryu. These matches only made me love Bruiser Brody even more.
Brody’s most famous rival came in the form of another iconic Wildman named Abdullah The Butcher. These two men brawled literally all over the world, Canada, Japan, Texas and where this rivalry really peaked, Puerto Rico. These two monsters drew nothing but money together. You can look up any of their various encounters and you will see two things, a packed house and bloody, dirty brawl. Brody and Abdullah knew what the audience wanted from them and they delivered night in and night out. Brody also formed a dominant tag-team in Japan with his good friend and fellow Wildman, Stan Hansen. To give you an idea of just how dominant these two men were, I don’t think they were ever pinned in a match. Hansen and Brody defeated such teams as The Funk Brothers, Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood, Harley Race and Dick Slater and various pairings of Tenryu, Tsuruta and Giant Baba. These are just small examples of the career Brody had carved out for himself.
Bruiser Brody wrestled in just about every major promotion and independent promotion you can think of in the 70’s and 80’s. Brody was a true independent and this independent spirit made him “hard to do business with” or at least that is what many promoters of the time will tell you. However, if you look into it further, Brody wasn’t hard at all to do business with, he simply wanted what he was owed and when promoters (as they often do) tried to short change him, instead of bowing his head and saying “yes sir” Brody would challenge them on their shortcuts and get what he was owed. Brody wasn’t different from all of us who work, he agreed to a fee for his services and demanded to be paid for those services. Brody, like most people was providing for his family and unlike many other wrestlers of that era, he was willing to fight for it, if that meant not being booked by a promoter again, so be it, Bruiser would always be able to find work whether in Japan, where he made a bulk of his money anyways or around the Southwest region, despite his independent nature, Bruiser Brody was always going to be able to find work.
Sadly, Bruiser Brody was taken from his family, friends and fans on July 17, 1988 I’m not going to get into detail with this, there is a book entitled “BRODY the Triumph and Tragedy of Wrestling’s Rebel” that details the events leading to his passing far better than I ever could, there is also a DVD out called Bruiser Brody’s Wrestling’s Last Rebel these two things combined will tell you what you need to know. What also needs to be said is Bruiser Brody’s legacy is still alive and well, his fans have proven to be loyal in starting online groups honoring Bruiser Brody. His wife has also been extremely gracious in offering us fans a look into the man behind Bruiser Brody, a loving and devoted husband and father, an extremely intelligent man who had such deep insight not only into the wrestling business, but on investing money, running camera and other forms of equipment. It really is two different people you had Bruiser Brody, the crazy guy with wild hair and a big bushy beard who would not think twice about bashing you with a chair, then you had Frank Goodish who was a soft spoken, humble and honest man who lived a quiet life away from wrestling.
Bruiser Brody’s impact has been felt throughout the last thirty years so many wrestlers have sighted him as their influence, Mick Foley, Bill Goldberg even guys like Luke Harper and Braun Strowman have mentioned Bruiser Brody as the guy who most influenced them. In 2014 Bryan Danielson wore boots honoring Bruiser Brody and his influence on the business. Thirty years after his passing and Bruiser Brody still remains a topic in professional wrestling. Think of any big name from the 70’s and 80’s and all of them, with very few exceptions crossed paths with the wild man from New Mexico, Ric Flair, Harley Race, Nick Bockwinkel, Terry Funk, Dory Funk Junior, Bruno Sammartino, Kamala, Mark Calloway, Jim Duggan, Tatsumi Fujinami, Vader, and so many others all battled Bruiser Brody and I’m willing to say to a man, they would all say Brody was their toughest opponent.
Bruiser Brody made you believe, even if you knew wrestling was fake and were the most cynical person out there, watching five minutes of Bruiser Brody would make you think twice about all you thought you knew about professional wrestling. Yet beneath this wild character was a loving family man, loyal friend and a great mind. Nobody can say for sure what Brody would’ve have done after wrestling, but he would’ve succeeded in anything his set out to do, he had the brains and determination to be successful in any path he chose to walk. Bruiser Brody: Legend, Icon, Husband, Father, Friend and Influence.
June 18, 1946-July 17,1988