Bruiser Brody

Bruiser Brody
Birth name	Frank Donald Goodish
Born	(1946-06-18)June 18, 1946 Detroit, Michigan, United States
Died	July 17, 1988(1988-07-17) (aged 42) Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Cause of death	Stabbing
Spouse(s)	Nola Neece (m. 1968; div. 1970) Barbara Smith (m. 1972; his death 1988)
Children	1
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Bruiser Brody Frank Goodish King Kong Brody The Masked Marauder Red River Jack
Billed height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)[1]
Billed weight	283 lb (128 kg)[1]
Billed from	Santa Fe, New Mexico[1]
Trained by	Fritz Von Erich
Debut	1973[1]

Frank Donald Goodish (June 18, 1946 – July 17, 1988) was an American professional wrestler who earned his greatest fame under the ring name Bruiser Brody. As a wrestler, he helped innovate the "brawling" style and was infamous for his wild and legitimately uncooperative demeanor.

Early life

Goodish was an All-State football and basketball player at Warren High School, Michigan, and played football at West Texas A&M University (then known as West Texas State) and with the Washington Redskins in the NFL.

Professional wrestling career

After attending West Texas A&M and working as a sportswriter Goodish was trained to wrestle by Fritz Von Erich ( Jack Adkisson ). He first wrestled in Dallas - Fort Worth and later Louisiana. As Bruiser Brody and King Kong Brody, Goodish competed as a freelancer in several companies including the Central States Wrestling (CSW), World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), Southwest Championship Wrestling (SCW), Windy City Wrestling, World Wrestling Council (WWC), Deep South Wrestling (DSW), Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF), American Wrestling Association (AWA), and World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW). In the States, he had numerous feuds with the likes of Kamala the Ugandan Giant, Abdullah the Butcher, and "Crusher" Jerry Blackwell. In Japan, he was in a tag team with Stan Hansen. Brody had a reputation for refusing to job to other wrestlers. He also competed under the moniker of Red River Jack in Texas, during an angle against Gary Hart's men and Skandor Akbar's Army in World Class Championship Wrestling. Brody also competed as the Masked Marauder at one time in the AWA. In 1976, he went to Vince J. McMahon's WWWF where he challenged WWWF Champion Bruno Sammartino but was unsuccessful in winning the championship. Brody also teamed with Big John Studd. It was also in the WWWF where he wrestled Invader 1 (Jose Gonzales), whom he refused to sell for.

In 1985, he had a very short stint with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) in a feud with Antonio Inoki and many of their matches ended in no contests or disqualifications. In 1987, Brody began working primarily for the World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico after getting fired from New Japan. Brody continued his feud with Abdullah the Butcher, as well as engaging in a feud with Carlos Colon. He briefly returned to All Japan Pro Wrestling to win his last NWA International Heavyweight Championship. On April 15, 1988, the first attempt to form what became the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship was done when Brody faced off against NWA United National and PWF champion Genichiro Tenryu; the result was a double countout. Brody lost the title to Jumbo Tsuruta four days later. In WCCW in Texas he was actually a babyface, most often against Abdullah The Butcher. However against Abdullah in Montreal he was a heel managed by Floyd Creatchman. While there Tim "Killer" Brooks acted as his brother Buster Brody. In St. Louis for a short time he was popular in a NWA world title match against Ric Flair, which went to a one-hour draw. Brody was in an ongoing feud with The Russian Brute who later went on to AWA fame with Manager Ox Baker. Due to his huge reputation in Japan promoter Shohei Baba had the match taped and later aired on Japanese TV.

In Florida he beat B. Brian Blair for the Florida State championship. Brody had an infamous cage match with Lex Luger in Florida in January 1986. In the middle of the match, Brody stopped "working" and stood around. Luger and Bill Alfonso, the referee of the match, were puzzled and attempted to speak to Brody who did not respond. Luger and Alfonso decided to forgo the planned finish of the match and Alfonso disqualified Luger in a spot where Luger continually punched Brody in a corner and did not back off. After the match, Luger recalls asking Brody if he did anything wrong to upset him, to which Brody responded "no", and Brody's reasons for not working were not very clear, stating that "the match just wasn't working". In Larry Matysik's book, Wrestling at the Chase, Matysik states that before the match Brody told him "I'm not putting up with any of his bullshit" and that Brody was upset that Luger would not sell for him. However, when watching the match, it is clear that Luger did sell for Brody. In a later shoot interview, Bill Alfonso said that there was a miscommunication issue on who would lead the match and there was no ill will ever between the two. Another scenario was that Brody was upset with the promoters over his paychecks (Brody had a contentious history with wrestling promoters for much of his career) and decided to embarrass the promotion by being uncooperative in the match. In 1987 he returned to the AWA where he fought Greg Gagne and Jerry Blackwell. Despite his reputation as being disagreeable with promotors he would aid any who needed a boost in ticket sales as he was guaranteed to bring in crowds. While working for WCCW in Texas he was the booker and produced their TV program.

Personal life

Prior to his wrestling career, Goodish worked as a sportswriter in San Antonio, Texas. Goodish was married on June 4, 1968, to Nola Marie Neece;^[2] the marriage ended in divorce on October 12, 1970.^[3] Goodish's second wife, New Zealand born Barbara Smith remained with him until his death in 1988. They lived in Texas. Together they had a son named Geoffrey Dean, born November 7, 1980.^[4]

Death

On July 16, 1988, Brody was in the locker room before his scheduled match with Dan Spivey in Bayamón (a city near San Juan, Puerto Rico), when José Huertas González, a fellow wrestler and booker,^[5] allegedly asked him to step into the shower area to discuss business. There was an argument between the two wrestlers and a scuffle ensued, and the way the dressing room was designed, nobody saw what actually happened, followed by two screams, loud enough for the entire locker room to hear. Tony Atlas ran to the shower and saw Brody bent over and holding his stomach. Atlas then looked up at González and saw him holding a knife.^[6] Due to the heavy traffic outdoors and large crowd in the stadium it took paramedics close to an hour to reach Brody. When the paramedics arrived, Atlas helped carry Brody downstairs to the waiting ambulance as, due to Brody's enormous stature, paramedics were unable to lift him. He later died from his stab wounds. González (a US citizen) claimed self-defense and testified on his own defense. He was acquitted of murder in 1989, because the prosecution witnesses who did not live in Puerto Rico didn't show up, claiming that they did not receive their summons until after the trial had ended. Since there were no actual eyewitnesses to the full incident, it is impossible to say that José Huertas González did not act on self-defense.

Championships and accomplishments

• All Japan Pro Wrestling
  • NWA International Heavyweight Championship (3 times)^[7]
  • PWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Stan Hansen^[8]
  • World's Strongest Tag Determination League (1981) – with Jimmy Snuka
  • World's Strongest Tag Determination League (1983) – with Stan Hansen
  • January 3 Korakuen Hall Heavyweight Battle Royal (1979)^[9]
  • Champion Carnival Fighting Spirit Award (1981)^[10]
  • World's Strongest Tag Determined League Exciting Award (1982) – with Stan Hansen^[11]
• Central States Wrestling
  • NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[12]
  • NWA Central States Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ernie Ladd^[13]
• Championship Wrestling from Florida
  • NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[14]
• George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Frank Gotch Award (2018)^[15]
• National Wrestling Federation
  • NWF International Championship (1 time)^[16]
• NWA Big Time Wrestling/World Class Wrestling Association
  • NWA American Heavyweight Championship (4 times)^[17]
  • NWA American Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Kerry Von Erich^[18]
  • NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Texas version) (8 times)^[19]
  • NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[20]
  • NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Mike York (1), Gino Hernandez (1), and Kerry Von Erich (1)^[21]
  • WCWA Television Championship (1 time)^[22]
• NWA Tri-State
  • NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Tri-State version) (2 time) – with Stan Hansen^[23]
• Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2014^[24]
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Editor's Award (1988) tied with Adrian Adonis^[25]
  • Ranked No. 14 of the 500 top wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
• Southwest Championship Wrestling
  • SCW Southwest Brass Knuckles Championship (1 time)^[26]
  • SCW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Dick Slater^[27]
• St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2007
• Southern Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2013
• Tokyo Sports
  • Lifetime Achievement Award (1988)^[28]
• Western States Sports
  • NWA Western States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[29]
• World Championship Wrestling (Australia)
  • World Brass Knuckles Championship (1 time)^[30]
• World Wrestling Association
  • WWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[31]
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Best Brawler (1980–1984, 1987, 1988)
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)

See also

• List of premature professional wrestling deaths

References

External links

• Bruiser Brody on WWE.com
• Mid-South Wrestling profile