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Bruiser Brody
Statistics
Ring name(s)	Red River Jack Bruiser Brody King Kong Brody
Billed height	6 ft 8 in (202cm)
Billed weight	285 lb (130 kg)
Born	June 18, 1946(1946-06-18) Albuquerque, New Mexico
Died	July 17, 1988 (aged 42)
Debut	1973

Frank Goodish (June 18, 1946 - July 17, 1988) was a professional wrestler who earned his greatest fame under the name Bruiser Brody. He was born in Detroit, Michigan. Goodish was an All-State football and basketball player at Warren High School, Michigan and played football at West Texas State.

Contents 1 Career 2 Death 3 Honors and influence 4 In wrestling 5 Championships and accomplishments 6 Notes 7 References 8 External links

Brody was a major star in the United States, having competed as a freelancer in several companies including the National Wrestling Alliance, World Wrestling Federation, American Wrestling Association and World Class Championship Wrestling. In the States, he had numerous classic feuds with the likes of Kamala the Ugandan Giant, Abdullah the Butcher, and Jerry Blackwell. He was revered in Japan and made a dominant tag team with Stan Hansen. Brody was perceived as both an asset and a liability by promoters because he was a major draw wherever he competed, but he also had a reputation for refusing to job to other wrestlers. He also competed under the moniker of Red River Jack in Texas, during an angle against Gary Hart's men and Skandor Akbar's Army in World Class Championship Wrestling. Brody also competed as the Masked Marauder for one time in the AWA.

Brody achieved his now-legendary status in Japan and Puerto Rico. In 1985, he became the highest paid wrestler in the world at one point, as he was earning $14,000 per week over a bidding war between New Japan and All Japan Pro Wrestling. He had a very short stint with New Japan in a feud with Antonio Inoki, where both men were apparently unwilling to put the other over (Inoki was wary of someone who had put over old dojo classmate and rival promoter Giant Baba), and many of their matches ended in no contests or disqualifications.

In January of 1987, Brody was involved in a now infamous steel cage match against a young and inexperienced Lex Luger. Luger had been told by a number of veterans (mostly as a gag) that Brody was violent and dangerous in the ring, and Brody had issues with Luger's ego concerning putting other wrestlers over. Shortly after the match began, Brody began standing still and no-selling Luger's punches and other offense, and a confused Luger decided to exit the cage and walk away from the match.

In 1987, Brody began working primarily for the World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico, after getting fired from New Japan Pro Wrestling. Brody would continue his feud with Abdullah the Butcher, as well as engaging in a feud with homeland hero Carlos Colon. He briefly returned to AJPW to win his last NWA International Heavyweight Championship. On April 15, 1988, the first attempt to form what became the AJPW Triple Crown was done when Brody faced off against NWA United National and PWF champion Genichiro Tenryu; the result was a double countout [1]. Brody ended up losing the title back to Jumbo Tsuruta four days later.

On July 16, 1988, Brody was in the locker room before a match with Abdullah the Butcher and Dan Spivey in Bayamón (a city near San Juan, Puerto Rico), when Jose Huertas Gonzalez, AKA Invader I (a fellow wrestler and booker)^[1] came up to him in the locker room and asked him to go into the shower to discuss business. It is contested by several wrestlers in the locker room that Huertas was holding a knife wrapped inside a towel when he was waiting for Brody to arrive to the locker room. At the time, Huertas was one of the men who made decisions at the WWC meetings and was also a good friend of Carlos Colón (WWC Promoter and main superstar), and it is rumored that Brody had upset him on numerous occasions by refusing to do jobs. It is also believed that Brody was planning to take control of WWC (as Brody apparently began to invest in the promotion), which may have additionally upset Huertas.

Huertas got into the shower area first and, when Brody bent his head to enter the shower area, Huertas allegedly grabbed his hair and stabbed Brody several times in the stomach and the chest.^[2] He was poisoned from his own bile.^[3] Brody was taken by ambulance to Centro Medico, the main hospital facility in San Juan, but he died hours later while undergoing a second surgery. Huertas, who always maintained his innocence, was tried for murder, but was acquitted by a jury of his peers, citing self-defense.^[4] Afterwards, a number of wrestlers refused to work in Puerto Rico in protest of the jury verdict, which temporarily crippled the Puerto Rican wrestling scene.

He has been honored by two wrestling Halls of Fame in Japan, and was named to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996.

Barbara Goodish (his widow) signed a "Legends" contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), allowing them to produce and distribute merchandise in his likeness, as Brody had spent 1976 and 1977 feuding with the likes of Bruno Sammartino and Ivan Putski in the WWWF (later renamed WWF and then WWE). As a result, the first WWE Bruiser Brody action figure was made and released as a part of the WWE Classic Superstars line by Jakks Pacific.

The modern hardcore "brawling style" of wrestling has been heavily influenced by the work of Bruiser Brody, and wrestlers such as Mick Foley, The Predator, and The Berserker have all patterned their styles off of Brody.

In late '07, Larry Matysik and Barbara Goodish (Frank's Widow) wrote a book entitled 'Brody'. Released by ECW Press. Also in '07, Crowbar Press also released a quote book about Bruiser Brody. Simply titled Bruiser Brody, the biography features a foreword by Stan Hansen, as well as interviews with several people from both Brody's personal and professional life. Bruno Sammartino, Abdullah the Butcher, Dory Funk, Jr., Dave Meltzer, Jim Duggan, Carlos Colon, and Harley Race are among those who are featured in this book of quotes.

On September 14, 2007, Bruiser Brody was inducted into the St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame!

• Finishing and signature moves

• Running knee drop / Diving knee drop
• High knee
• Running leg drop / Diving leg drop
• One-armed body slam
• Piledriver
• Atomic drop
• Suplex powerslam
• Running big boot
• Backbreaker rack

• Signature illegal weapon

• Chain

• All Japan Pro Wrestling

• NWA International Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
• PWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Stan Hansen
• World's Strongest Tag Team League winner in 1981 - with Jimmy Snuka
• World's Strongest Tag Team League winner in 1983 - with Stan Hansen

• Central States Wrestling

• NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• NWA Central States Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ernie Ladd

• Championship Wrestling from Florida

• NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

• NWA Big Time Wrestling | World Class Championship Wrestling

• NWA American Heavyweight Championship (4 times)
• NWA American Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Kerry Von Erich
• NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Championship (6 times)
• NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Mike York (1), Gino Hernandez (1), and Kerry Von Erich (1)
• WCCW Television Championship (1 time)

• NWA Tri-State

• NWA Tri-State Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Stan Hansen

• NWA Western States Sports

• NWA Western States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Southwest Championship Wrestling

• SWCW Southwest Brass Knuckles Championship (1 time)
• SWCW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Dick Slater

• World Wrestling Association

• WWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI Editor's Award in 1988
• PWI ranked him # 14 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003.

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter

• Best Brawler award in 1980
• Best Brawler award in 1981
• Best Brawler award in 1982
• Best Brawler award in 1983
• Best Brawler award in 1984
• Best Brawler award in 1987
• Best Brawler award in 1988
• Best Brawler award renamed the Bruiser Brody Memorial Award in his memory in 1996
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)

• Mick Foley (2000). Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks. HarperCollins, 511. ISBN 0061031011. 

• http://www.kingkongbrody.com/ web site run by Barbara Goodish
• Unofficial Memorial Website
• BruiserBrody.com (Unofficial Website for Brody's biography)
• Crowbar Press (Publisher of the Bruiser Brody biography)
• TRIBUTE PAGE for Bruiser Brody