Brody

[Shadowmancer]

Why is it that people seem to dismiss Brody when questions over who the biggest draws in wrestling are brought up? Between Andre, Abdullah and Him, they had the Journeyman tags that means they don't draw in a singular territory so they wouldn't necessarily build up giant fan bases in places except in Japan and Puerto Rico, this mainly applies to Abdullah and Brody and yes I do know about WCCW and Brody.

But Brody seems to not be remembered too much, even by some of the "experts" on this forum. I see where people pointing out Brody in Knox are coming from, but does that mean that people will bring up Brody as one of the greats if they are asked to name 5 Great Wrestlers that weren't famous in the WWF during the 70s and 80s.

So Why would this be the case?

 

[klunderbunker]

As what I would call a student of wrestling history, the more I see and read abotu Brody the more impressed I am with him. He was a hardcore wrestler before we knew what they were. He was as big as Hogan but wrestled like Foley or Funk. Never staying out his welcome too long in any given territory was brilliant. His resume speaks for itself, but I think the problem with Brody is how far ahead of his time he was. No one else wrestled that style for the most part, save for Abdullah who was probably his many feud over the years. Another issue that i think faces him is a lack of a home promotion. Since he was always on the move, no one really remembers much about him from their childhoods. He would stay aroudn for a few months and be gone again. It's hard to build up a legacy like that. If he debuted today, he'd have much greater success. As awesome as he looked and popular as he was, he'd fit right in now. As for 5 greatest not in WWF during that era, that might be pushing it a tad but he's way up there.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

I wasn't aware that people spoke much about World Class, AWA or even NWA in general. Most of the old school conversation on here is based off WWF & WCW, neither of which featured much Bruiser Brody.

I've seen his name mentioned more than I have Abdullah The Butcher and even Andre The Giant as of late. But if there's no place where you can watch a wide selection of his matches, other than YouTube, then people aren't going to talk or even really give a shit about him.

 

[Slyfox696]

Jake basically hit the nail on the head. Since Brody never worked anything that is easily remembered (like WCW or WWF), and since he was never apart of mega events in the US, people don't remember him. While he was a big draw, he never did it on a national level, and never did it in ways that will be lasting. Just like Owen Hart, he's just as famous, if not more so, for things that have nothing to do with wrestling, most notably his death, but also for his unprofessional attitude and poor conduct.

Combine poor attitude, lack of staying time in any major US promotion, and being more famous for his death than his career, it all makes sense as to why Brody gets skipped over.

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

Jake basically hit the nail on the head. Since Brody never worked anything that is easily remembered (like WCW or WWF), and since he was never apart of mega events in the US, people don't remember him. While he was a big draw, he never did it on a national level, and never did it in ways that will be lasting. Just like Owen Hart, he's just as famous, if not more so, for things that have nothing to do with wrestling, most notably his death, but also for his unprofessional attitude and poor conduct.

Combine poor attitude, lack of staying time in any major US promotion, and being more famous for his death than his career, it all makes sense as to why Brody gets skipped over.

I don't know about this. Personally, I think Brody would have been just as revered if he wasn't stabbed to death in Puerto Rico. As klunderbunker already pointed out, this man was way ahead of his time; his hardcore matches with Abdullah the Butcher were just as bloody and brutal as anything you would see about 10 years later on ECW. Furthermore, I would argue that, besides Stan Hansen, Brody is the most popular gaijin in puroresu, ever (yes, I would argue that he is even bigger than Foley and Terry Funk, two wrestlers that are treated like gods in Japan).

And people never bring up Brody as a big draw because they hardly ever consider numbers from either Puerto Rico or Japan.