By most accounts, Frank "Bruiser Brody" Goodish was a complex man. A legitimately tough individual, Brody could be one of the most difficult people in the business to work with -- particularly if you were a promoter seeking to shortchange him.
Some tagged him the "unprofessional" label. To a degree, it was a label he earned, as Brody got into fights with other wrestlers, and sometimes refused to go along with the program, even if it hurt the promotion and other wrestlers' popularity in the process.
But promoters used Brody because he drew money. He was was a sight to behold - often looking absolutely manical in the ring. Seeing Brody for the first time is something few wrestling fans forgot.
Outside of the business, Brody was something different. He was known as a loving husband and father who put up with promoters' lies to support his family. One day, he would leave the business behind, and get out of the crazy world of pro wrestling before it consumed him.
It never happened.
In 1988, Brody was stabbed to death in a Puerto Rico lockerroom by fellow wrestler Jose Gonzales. One of wrestling's most unusual figures, had met a tragic end.
As a central figure in the St. Louis Wrestling promotion for more than two decades, Larry Matysik knew Brody in a way most other members of the wrestling business did not. With assistance from Brody's widow, Matysik is writing a book about the life of Bruiser Brody.
In this interview with Wrestling Perspective, Matysik discusses:
- How he's chronicling Brody's life.
- The unique relationship between Brody and Sam Muchnick.
- What Terry Funk thought the first time he saw Brody.
- Working with Brody when Matysik was running a small independent promtion in the midwest during the late-'80s.
- A source of tension between Gonzales and Brody dating back to the '70s.
These topics and many others are addressed by Larry Matysik in Wrestling Perspective #113.
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Not sure you want to own Issue #113 yet?
Then read these excerpts below:
Matysik on Brody's murder: "Nobody will know the truth because the guy who knows the truth isn’t talking, Jose Gonzalez, and he’s never going to, understandably "
Matysik on why people respected Brody: "The promoter comes in and says, 'I want you to do this, this and this and here’s what I’m paying you.' And most wrestlers said, 'Okay.' Brody didn’t do that and you have to say that there’s a lot to be said for that. How many of us in any of our businesses, I don’t care what they are, if you’re flipping hamburgers at McDonald’s or you’re a teacher, you’re a policeman, doesn’t it feel good once in a while to really stand up for what you believe in? I think Goodish, in many ways, did that. He did what he did to provide for himself and his family."
Matysik on how Brody played mind games: "I think at times he enjoyed the power game. That was one way to have power. He enjoyed, I think he felt some of this stuff was competition. I think sometimes he created havoc just to create it. Is that right? Is that wrong? I don’t know."
Matysik on Brody's value to promoters: "Bobby Jaggers said, 'Brody’d come to your territory. He’d hug you when he came and he’d hug you when he left. But he wanted you to know, ‘I’m here to make money. I’m gonna make my money and I’m gonna leave.’' He was able to do it because he could come in and pop a territory like nobody else."
Matysik on what the future might have held for Brody: "There are very few happy stories about former wrestlers and even some former promoters. A lot of them have either lost families, maybe they regained them eventually, and they found some bit of happiness and they had some sort of financial stability, but a lot didn’t. There are a lot of unhappy stories. There are only a few really happy stories of people that were able to utilize the business rather than in the reverse way. Frank Goodish could have been one of them."
Matysik on the older Brody: "I really see it now in the mid-'80s, the late-'80s, I think a little, just a little, he was mellowing."
Matysik on why Brody sometimes created problems for other wrestlers and promoters: "It was Gary Hart who said, 'I can tell you one thing, if old Bruise is mad at somebody, he had a damn good reason for being mad.'"
Order your copy of Wrestling Perspective #113 featuring the Larry Matysik interview today!
Click Here To Order Issue #113 With Your Credit Card
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