Real Name - Frank Donald GoodishLifespan - 6/14/46 - 7/17/88
6'5" 280 lbs. - San Antonio, TX
Athletic Background - Football (NFL), Basketball (High School)
Teacher(s) - Fritz Von Erich, Bob Orton Jr., Bob Roop; Buck Robley
Professional Background - Dallas(`73), Tri-State(`74), Amarillo(`74), Florida(`74-`75), WWWF(`76), Dallas/WCCW(`77-`84), New Zealand(`78), Australia(`78), Kansas City(`78), WWA(`79), All Japan(`79-`85), SWCW(`80-`82), WWC(`83-`88), New Japan(`85), TASW(`85), All Japan(`86-`88)
Aliases - Frank Goodish, Red River Jack, King Kong Brody
Groups - Shiek's Army
Peak Years - `79-`86
Finisher(s) -
- Double Kneedrop
- Flying Double Kneedrop
- Bearhug
Favorites -
- Big Boot
- Dropkick
- Bodyslam
- Biting
- Kick
Ringwork Rating -
Move Set | 8 |
Science | 2 |
Aerial | 3 |
Power | 10 |
Strikes | 10 |
Intangibles Rating -
Entertainment | 10 |
Selling | 7 |
Bumping | 6 |
Carrying | 7 |
Heat | 8 |
Legacy | 8 |
Place in History - Few wrestlers have the mystique surrounding them as Bruiser Brody. Revered in North America and Japan, Brody was able to travel greatly, get strong pushes everywhere he went and become a top star in no time. With his size, look, athletic ability and understanding of how to work an exciting match, Brody was a star from almost the start of his wrestling career. He toured around in the 70s, establishing himself over the many of the "big men" of wrestling due to his abilities. Brody's constant moving made him a lot of money, but he seldom stayed long enough to truly establish himself. However, there were three places he was a "regular" and achieved his greatest stardom: Japan, Dallas and Puerto Rico. In Japan, his wild antics made him the biggest gaijin at that point in time and he enjoyed constant main event pushes and formed one of wrestling's great tag teams with long-time friend, Stan Hansen. In Dallas, Brody played the maniacal fan favorite (as opposed to being a heel everywhere else in the US) and he was one of Fritz Von Erich's favorites. In Puerto Rico, he became wildly popular through bloody brawls with Abdullah the Butcher. Brody was a shrewd businessman though and more often than not this is why he was never well-established in the United States. Some believe his years of insubordination caught up with him in `88, when Puerto Rican star, Invader #1 (Jose Gonzales), stabbed him in a shower leading to his subsequent death. Brody, then 42, certainly had several more good years to offer pro-wrestling, but whether or not he would have gone onto bigger fame is difficult to say. He was a great wrestler with a skill for having believe and intense brawls. He will be remembered for various things, positive and negative, but either way Bruiser Brody is one of the all-time greats.