Bruiser Brody

[JerryvonKramer]

Who was the better promo?

[goodhelmet]

Sid was more entertaining.

[El-P]

Brody was half the man Sid was, and Sid has half the brain Brody had.

[FLIK]

One thing I should say for Brody - particularly in regards to how his death effected public perception of him - is that that last year or so run in World Class is by far his best run of his career in-ring in my opinion, because he seemed a lot less focused on just getting himself over and was more willing to be a team player. The main example I always point to was a great match against Buzz Sawyer. He wasn't afraid to lay around in holds for a while at certain points, but his offense looked good and, more significantly, he gave Sawyer way more than you would ever expect him to. And that's the case for a lot of what he did there at the time. Nothing that screams "GREATEST BRAWLER EVER!", but he came off as a good hand, which is more than I can say for him anywhere else in his career.

 

I bring this up, because the natural inclination is to look at Brody's overhyped career and assume that, had he not been murdered, his bad attitude, shitty work, and advancing age would've sunk his career in the post-territorial era. But for all of Brody's faults, he doesn't strike me as having been a stupid man. Honestly, part of me wonders if, had he lived, Brody would've seen the writing on the wall and dialed back his shenanigans accordingly, if only to keep himself employable, in which case, even without his post-mortem mytholgization, he probably still gets legend status from Meltzer and the like. I think that status only really falls if he lives AND fails to maintain a viable career into the 90's, in which case he becomes forgotten/only remembered for a lousy late career by a lot of fans, and doesn't have guys like us who go back and watch old stuff to save him, because his old stuff sucked, too.

In the old interview of Brody's I posted he talks a lot in the begining about how he was a tv producer for World Class so he clearly was preparing to be able to have some sort of backstage/office role in wrestling post retirement.

 

[KrisZ]

Brody booked World Class in 1987 but was removed because they were doing abysmal business. The next year saw the business come back so Brody's success as a booker shouldn't be looked at as one of his good traits.

[shoe]

In Gary Hart's book he was a fan of Brody, and a friend and he buried Brody as a booker.

[King Solomon]

In Gary Hart's book he was a fan of Brody, and a friend and he buried Brody as a booker.

 

Yup, great book by the way

[WingedEagle]

Who was the better promo?

Sid, without question. Check out his promo on an early IYH where he basically asks to reshoot it and Jim Ross tells him their live. Brody didn't do comedy.

[Jingus]

Sid's only better in a MST3K train-wreck sort of fashion. Let's not denigrate Brody's promos, he was a perfectly good talker. Certainly he was better on the mike than in the ring.

[MikeCampbell]

I dunno, Jingus. I've seen a few Brody promos, and I don't think any of them are nearly as good as the Sid one from the '92 yearbook.

[WingedEagle]

Brody would scream and act intense, but I'm not convinced his work on the mic is much better than Sid's. No question he had a certain star charisma that let him headline so many places over the years, but he didn't exactly deliver much more on the stick than in the ring.

[King Solomon]

Brody would scream and act intense, but I'm not convinced his work on the mic is much better than Sid's. No question he had a certain star charisma that let him headline so many places over the years, but he didn't exactly deliver much more on the stick than in the ring.

 

he had some pretty measured promos, just check out St. Louis or Texas and even the AWA. It wasn't all ranting and raving

[PeteF3]

Brody's Winnipeg promo where he dances a jig to impersonate Greg Gagne >> any Sid promo, whether ironically or unironically enjoyed.

[shoe]

I loved his promo when he came in as a heel in TASW and doesn't say anything he just has this look on his face while Gary Hart talks . It really made Brody seem like a big deal and a big time player. It was a great segment that got Brody out of the gates hot.

[Chess Knight]

I dunno, Jingus. I've seen a few Brody promos, and I don't think any of them are nearly as good as the Sid one from the '92 yearbook.

Sid's promos on the 92 yearbook impressed the hell out of me. He was basically the type of dominant big man on the mic that you want a guy like that to be. I was shocked at how coherent they were, and if I were watching it at the time with this mindset I would have been somewhat amped for Sid/Hogan because of the promos.

[The Thread Killer]

Brody would scream and act intense, but I'm not convinced his work on the mic is much better than Sid's. No question he had a certain star charisma that let him headline so many places over the years, but he didn't exactly deliver much more on the stick than in the ring.

I have to disagree there. He came across as pretty natural and relaxed on the mic, in my opinion.

[jdw]

Brody would scream and act intense, but I'm not convinced his work on the mic is much better than Sid's. No question he had a certain star charisma that let him headline so many places over the years, but he didn't exactly deliver much more on the stick than in the ring.

I have to disagree there. He came across as pretty natural and relaxed on the mic, in my opinion. This is a good example, I think.

 

Exactly. Brody could talk. He could do a variety of promos. Some of them were goofy bad. Some of them like this were solid/strong promos.

[Benbeeach]

I recall loving Brody/Flair from 83 in St. Louis with everything inside me. His offense looks really good, he sells like a champ and it goes nearly 60. I guess one could say "duh, he's opposite 80's Flair" but I enjoyed it I think alot more for what Brody brought to Flair's formula, than anything Flair could have brought to his (ehh I guess besides structure). It's a match I think, if Brody had 9-10 more of, this conversation would be completely different in a "look he clearly COULD be great" sort of of way.

[KrisZ]

I think Brody was at his best actually in Texas All-Star with Gary Hart....he was a total fuckin badass there driving the ambulance to the ring and just kicking dudes asses. TASW was a very underrated territory in late 85-early 86 which died when Hart when back to World Class full-time after Ken Mantell dipped

[King Solomon]

I watched a couple more Bordy matches from Japan but left my notes at home so I'll post them up soon. Planning to watch more but honestly it's hard to pull me away from Mid South right now.

[Al]

If you were to fairly and accurately rate Bruiser Brody all time, which wrestlers would you rank him with and around? (In lieu of a number, I assume most of us don't have standing top 1000 lists.)

[goodhelmet]

I have a number. 785. I have the Mulkeys and Lee Peek ahead of him.

[BrickHithouse]

Who's below him?

[Loss]

Drew Carey?

[El-P]

If you were to fairly and accurately rate Bruiser Brody all time, which wrestlers would you rank him with and around? (In lieu of a number, I assume most of us don't have standing top 1000 lists.)

Kane.