Bruiser Brody

[JerryvonKramer]

Matysik shits all over Brown (and Central States in general) on the Talk57 booking sheets. That reminds me, I need to finish those soon.

 

From watching the 1979 WWF stuff, I feel like I've become acclimatised to the pace and style of the era, and as much as possible I'm going to try to approach Brody and the St. Louis stuff in general with that context in mind. Looks like a lot of squashes though, because I don't recognise some of the names he's facing. There are quite a few promos and things. I'm hoping at least to get a SENSE of what it is that sparked the imaginations of that generation of fans.

 

OJ - if this place is cropping up in your dreams, you may be spending too much time here.

[El-P]

I had a dream last night that I found a really up tempo, workrate Brody tag on youtube and posted it in this thread.

Well, last night Nailz find his way into my dreams. Fucking Nailz. Go figure.

[shoe]

Matysik shits all over Brown (and Central States in general) on the Talk57 booking sheets. That reminds me, I need to finish those soon.

 

From watching the 1979 WWF stuff, I feel like I've become acclimatised to the pace and style of the era, and as much as possible I'm going to try to approach Brody and the St. Louis stuff in general with that context in mind. Looks like a lot of squashes though, because I don't recognise some of the names he's facing. There are quite a few promos and things. I'm hoping at least to get a SENSE of what it is that sparked the imaginations of that generation of fans.

 

OJ - if this place is cropping up in your dreams, you may be spending too much time here.

 

It's going to be a lot of squashes . Wrestling at the Chase was where they shot their t.v. The Chekerdome is wear they have their arena matches. We get a couple of discs towards the end that has some. Their are also some arena bouts shot for Japan World Pro.

[shoe]

Also on some All Japan Classics.

[BrickHithouse]

It's going to be a lot of squashes .

I can't believe someone would put squash matches on a dvd set and have the audacity to charge money for them.

 

 

 

[King Solomon]

The St. Louis tv show was voted as the worse by the Observer I believe in 1983. Unlike many studio shows they didn't have any backdrop of their Logo and it looked like it was shot in a garage. They had some good matches but overall the show was drab. Matysiks tv show in 1983 was actually better than the NWA one. His was in a corner of the Dome at their sports club or something like that and they had competitive matches like Volkoff-Brody, etc.

[JerryvonKramer]

Oh boy, this should be fun then ...

[KDSlone]

I don't think I was ever more disappointed as wrestling fan when I was a kid than when I actually got to see Bruiser Brody wrestle on TV. I remember catching him on World Class and the AWA and thinking THIS is the same raw-boned bad-ass I had been reading about in the Apter mags?! I loved his character and promos, but the no-selling came off just silly even to my 12 year-old sensibilities.

[cheapshot]

I don't think I was ever more disappointed as wrestling fan when I was a kid than when I actually got to see Bruiser Brody wrestle on TV. I remember catching him on World Class and the AWA and thinking THIS is the same raw-boned bad-ass I had been reading about in the Apter mags?! I loved his character and promos, but the no-selling came off just silly even to my 12 year-old sensibilities.

I heard all these fables about Brody when I started following wrestling. Then when I saw him, I was completely disappointed. Compared to Funk, Lawler et al. He can't brawl his way out of a paper bag. Not my cup of tea at all.

[Matt D]

Brusier Brody/Stan Hansen vs Mil Mascaras/Dos Caras

 

This match did not disappoint. I wanted, so very badly, to see what would happen when the two most selfish wrestlers in the history of wrestling, Brody and Mil got in there together, and it was beautiful. neither gave the other anything. On one level you might think that would be great because it would mean there was a visceral sense of struggle, but it wasn't competitiveness. It was just a lack of cooperation or selling. They'd just hug each other around the ring or grab a leg and then shove off and it was just tedious and terrible, maybe some of the worst wrestling I've ever seen in my life. There was one point where Brody was absolutely fed up and tagged out to Hansen just because he didn't want to deal with the bullshit and another where I swear that Mil did the same thing, tagging out to Casas. At that point they tried to do a double atomic drop (which Hansen ate later), but Brody would have nothing to do with that.

 

Hansen was better than Brody; he'd take stuff at least but he'd never sell it for more than a few seconds, always punching his way back up. Given the size difference that might have been okay in a different match with a different partner. Dos was fine.

 

Hilarious match. Everyone needs to see it. As bad in parts as anything I've ever seen.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utpghisMA0M

[Benbeeach]

^ Legitimately didn't see any of that when I was watching. The match certainly wasn't a masterclass teaching in any aspect of pro wrestling, but was largely very inoffensive. Was expecting some quasi shooty non cooperative Brody/Mascaras interactions, but they were harmless. Not actively good, but far from some of the worst stuff I've ever seen. Brody wasn't super giving, but did give the impression that the luchas would have to work for everything they got, which isn't the worst trait to have. Some guys you work more evenly with than others.

Again, that match isn't bolstering any of those 4's GOAT resumes, but I don't even think it's an actively bad match. Place holding, card filling, perhaps, but again, inoffensive. Can reach brody hyperbole at times, idk some perspective from another viewpoint I guess

[Matt D]

It was really blatant to me. Laughably blatant. Other opinions?

[PeteF3]

I saw that match years ago with the exact same expectations going in as Matt, with the exact same reaction coming out. One of the biggest train wrecks involving top-level, veteran workers in the history of wrestling.

[Shining Wiz]

I see the problems mostly falling on Mascaras there.

[War is Raw]

NWA Classics had a few good Brody matches. Brody vs Mongolian Stomper was a fantastic double juice brawl, with multiple chairs. His match vs The Spoiler was excellent.

Held his own vs Bockwinkel and Dusty's comedy routine.

[Justtxyank]

There is a big disconnect between the Brody memory and the Brody seen on tape. As a non Brody fan I explored this and believe I have the answer.

We judge these guys decades later by watching tape (how else would we?) but forget that wrestling for 99.9% of Brody’s life wasn’t meant for the tv audience, let alone tape. It was all about the live gates. The wrestlers who were beloved were the guys who get live crowds to react and spend money. It’s why over the top selling and bumping was so liked by the boys. Sure it looks weak on tv but it looked great in person where the people who didn’t really have great views could be brought into the action. 
 

Brody was a live crowd attraction. His wild persona and antics hyped up a crowd and he was a big body. In most ways he was perfect for that era. He looked awesome in photos and he looked awesome in an arena. Sure, you watch tape and go “eh this looks weak” but in the arena you couldn’t see that. It just looked like this big bad dude storming around the ring striking fear. And then he was gone. 
 

lastly, there is a constant rumor that Brody was going to work for WWF. In one of his podcasts, Prichard shot this down and said that Vince wasn’t a fan of Brody’s work or his business. Said he had never heard any talk of Brody coming in ever and didn’t think it would ever happen because Vince didn’t like or respect him.