Invader I vs. Bruiser Brody (6/15/86)

[El Boricua]

Invader I vs. Bruiser Brody (6/15/86)

[elliott]

LOL. Yikes. After this run of matches here’s Bruiser fucking Brody. Brody goes right after Invader but Invader is able to come back quickly. Jeez. This is awkward for reasons that have nothing to do with the match. Brody cuts off Invader pretty quickly and goes to the top rope and nails Invader with a chop. Big boot follows. Invader bails and they brawl on the outside for a while with Invader getting posted/slammed into the guardrail and hit with a chair. Invader is cut open and selling on the floor and honestly Invader’s selling as been some of the best stuff on this set so this is pretty damn good. Brody works over the cut with biting and boots. Invader is AWESOME at doing these rushing punch attacks while selling to start to build to his comeback. It’s a really cool spot. He kicks Brody in the balls and they go back to the outside and Invader gets some payback posting Brody and slamming him into the guardrail as well and Brody juices. These two have a pretty damn spectacular punch exchange with Invader getting the best of it with his jumping thrust thingy. Brody doesn’t know how to sell but he does a decent enough job selling in his own goofy way that Invader really does look like a badass going toe to toe with this much bigger man. This spills back to the outside and Invader gets more payback hitting Brody with a chair. This goes to a double countout with Invader chasing him to the back hittig Brody with a chair over and over again. This was pretty goddamn fun all things considered to the point where you might say Bruiser Brody’s best match was in Puerto Rico where he actually sold a little for Invader I.

[AJS]

This might be the stiffest brawl so far on the set, filled with vicious looking punches, kicks and cups, and fought at a furious pace. Like a lot of the matches on the set, I wish it was a bit longer, but what we got was great.

[Willninho]

Well besides the uh future implications of this matchup, I thought this was really great. Invader I is so great here as the underground feisty babyface with these stumbly attacking forearms against the big man. The double countout I think works fine here as Invader basically wins at the end and then it looks like Invader gets carried off by the crowd for running Brody off by the end. I thought this was a perfect length; I love most/all of these 10 minute fiery PR brawls. 8/10

[KB8]

This was about as simple as you could get structurally, with one major momentum shift and both guys basically splitting the match down the middle in terms of who worked on top. I thought it worked perfectly well for them. The beginning consists of Brody beating Invader all over the place with Invader juicing and selling the blood like Invader does, though he doesn't hit an uber-gusher this time out. He tries to make his comebacks and he's his awesome scrappy self, but Brody fights through the blows and keeps on moving forward. Then Invader THUMPS him in the plums and Brody does this amusing sell where he walks around in a circle holding his nether regions before falling into a flat back bump. That's your one major momentum shift. Brody isn't great at selling, but he does give Invader the whole second half of the match; or maybe Invader TAKES the whole second half in spite of Brody wanting to be Brody. Actually, that's probably unfair to Brody, honestly, because he was decent enough in this, at times even pretty good. There's a great bit where he swings wildly and tries to grab Invader but Invader ducks away from it all and hits his double chop to land Brody on his keister in the corner. I'm not even sure that was an intentional bump -- I think Invader might've caught him off guard and legit rocked him. Eventually it spills out into the crowd and Invader chases Brody off with a chair in hand. Invader then gets hoisted up on fans' shoulders and paraded around the stadium like a king, which ruled. I enjoyed this. Even if it was kind of weird watching it knowing what would happen a couple years later.

[...TG]

I thought this was an incredible brawl. The work was really good but the atmosphere - at night, a hot crowd packed into Bithorn stadium - put it over the top for me.

[WingedEagle]

These outdoor matches are just awesome. Double juice because there must always be double juice. And I mean that in the most positive way possible.

 

Chair shots, biting, chops, low kicks. Brody sells a low blow very nicely. Invader chases Brody off with a chair for what's presumably a double countout before the fans literally carry Invader out on their shoulders like a conquering hero. So weird watching this match for obvious reasons, but it was another fun, fast brawl. With more time to develop this could've been even better, but what we got was a lot of fun. If I sound like a broken record, that's because it applies to most of the disc. But that is a good thing.

 

**3/4

[Migs]

Knowing what happens a couple of years after, it is so, so weird to watch this. Interesting to see the fans closer to the ring for this one, which I had assumed they had been avoiding for potential riot reasons.

 

The double countout into the fans carrying Invader on their shoulders was a bit odd, and again, lack of a finish hurt a bit.

 

***

[dawho5]

I liked the brawling here a lot. Invader 1's selling of blood loss even during his comeback is great. Brody seems like he is working hard here and the visual of him just trying to get away from Invader as things start go go against him works better than any selling could if you ask me. The fans carrying Invader off after the match is so Puerto Rico.