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 To those that e-mailed me (much appreciated) and asked, yes, the shows are going well. Yes, I do name each one of them after a holiday or other semi-to-non-famous day during that week. Yes, what is pictured above is actually a flyer for, and the title of, one of our shows. Yet I do not write for the WWF. You fucking figure THAT out. So on with it, part II. To recap part one, not that it is very necessary, but why not.  Brody was a bad mutha. He wrestled hard, a brawling style and barked a great deal. His matches inspired the kind of terror of an Abdullah match, the athleticism of a young Macho Man, and the unpredictablity of Brian Pillman. Not too bad. Oh, he bled when it was called for.  He feuded with Abdullah, off and on with Andre the Giant for 10 years, the Von Erichs, Ric Flair, Bruno Sammartino, the Funks...it is an extensive and proud list. He was a huge star in other places, too, of course. Japan perhaps foremost among them. 14,000 turned out for a Bruiser Brody tribute in Japan when he died. He feuded with Inoki over there, part of the endless series of monsters Inoki would face to cement his own legend. So fucking what right? Well I'll get to that. So what was his offense like? Nothing much. Boot to the face, legdrop. Kind of Hogan-esque, I suppose. And he brawled like a whirlwind. Never stopping, dangerous looking constant pressure kind of brawling. Like the kind you don't see anymore. I remember seeing him in World Class Championship Wrestling, where the likes of the Von Erichs plied their trade, amongst other notables such as "Iceman" King Parsons, the Freebirds, and I remember General Skandar Akbar's stable which included the One Man Gang.  I saw Brody take on a jobber of some sort in World Class. It was furious. Even in a jobber match, Brody put on a show. He took the guy into the crowd, and scattered chairs, fans, and one old man from his false teeth as he "HAFF"-ed "HAFF"-ed his way around the Sportatorium wreaking havok. He actually gave the jobber some offense before tossing the ref from the ring as he beat the kid mercilessly. I remember the hush over the crowd after Bruiser stormed off. He turned a curtain-jerking match into an event, and made you want more. He was like a force of nature, something you couldn't stop. Except with a knife, apparently. On July 17 (or 16th according to some reports), 1988 Jose Gonzales (also known as Invader #1) stabbed Brody to the torso, from behind many times. Apparently (according to Carlos Colon who not only saw the whole thing take place, but has wrestling's most unfortunate name) there was bad blood for a while between the two, and an argument over the proper attire to wear to the shows led to Invader #1 stabbing Brody to death. Tony Atlas, who saw the incident, refused to testify. After some questionable legal decisions by the courts in Puetro Rico (delaying the trial without clear cause) and alleged death threats made against Atlas should he testify (Atlas did not show up to the Nov. 3rd arraignment, but the trial was still ordered because of the doctor's testimony of what Brody had told them before he died.) Gonzales got off without a day of jail time. American wrestlers by and large refused afterwards to wrestle for WWC (World Wrestling Council) which all but faded away afterwards. The only wrestler willing to go to wrestle was Stan "The Lariat" Hansen, long time friend of Brody's, who wanted to kill Gonzales in the ring for what he had done to Brody. So he is gone. Almost 16 years gone, in fact, longer than many people reading this have perhaps been alive. What did he mean? He was truly an athletic giant, someone who matched his size with actual physical prowess. He did so through the well-delivered basic moves. He was a monster who gave whatever proceeding he was a part of a genuine sense of the unpredicatable. He performed in different places night after night, and in many ways had to reintroduce himself to audiences night after night. He didn't have storylines to bring him along, he brought himself along. His gimmick, on paper, was nothing. "Hairy guy barks." But the intensity, the pride in his performance, the willingness to put programs over is what made him and the shows he was on great. What does he have to do with the modern wrestling game? Not too much. Danger now in wrestling comes from the level of the stunts. It is the barbed wire/lightbulb bullshit of many indies. It is the manufactured hostility of the new Kane. No wrestler truly has an "edgy" feel, because they are not athletic enough to maintain intensity, or too caught up in impressing themselves with the moves they can pull off. A boot, a chair, and the whirlwind of noise and activity is all you need. I don't need Kane to talk. I don't need Undertaker and the blue lights. I don't need Big Poppa Pump flubbing his lines. I need to feel the possiblity that someone is going to kick ass, and that monster is coming for Eddie Guerrero. Or HHH. Or the Rock. Or Goldberg. I need a real terror, someone who has pride in their work, and who defies easy description. What can he mean to the future? Not only does interest in wrestling ebb and flow throughout time, wrestling trends do, as well. The hardcore badasses of years gone by (dogcollar Greg Valentine/Roddy Piper shit -- the Sheepherders/Fantastics barbed wire cage matches) gave way to the early Hulkamania cartoony wrestling (Hillbilly Jim, Lazertron into the dark WWF era of even more "gimmicky" wrestlers) which then moved back to the hardcore (ECW, hardcore titles in every major fed, the rise of the backyard wrestling craze and the indies that were just glorifed backyarders) and now here we are in a muddled time of high-impact wrestling...or is it? Wrestling has little to no discernable identity. It is simply not fun. It is not awe-inspiring. It does not feel truly dangerous. The spirit of Brody is needed. Wrestling needs to become fun, awe-inspiring and dangerous again. With Brody, you knew you were getting awe-inpriring and dangerous. And that was a whole lot of the fun as well. Hope you enjoyed the post. I'll be back with more shit soon enough. Saving Wrestling One Show At A Time |