Who's The Caveman in the background?

If you've followed this blog for any length of time, you will notice that the once plain background has been replace with a neanderthal that appears to be bleeding in the photo. Frank Goodish, who is known around the globe as Bruiser Brody, is considered a legend in the United States, Japan, Puerto Rico, and many other places around the world.

Brody started training in the early 1970s and made his debut in 1975 wrestling in various territories in the United States. However, it was in the 1980s that Brody would become an international star as he toured Japan on a regular basis and has worked for every major wrestling promotion in the United States. His wild appearance and trademark chain were a draw for every promotion that he wrestled for during his career. He had alot of agility for a wrestler his size and also competed in many wild brawls. Some of the bloodiest and wildest brawls in wrestling history involved Brody and Abdullah The Butcher, a feud that was also showcased all around the world. During his time with All Japan Pro Wrestling, Brody would form a tag team with Texas native Stan Hasen, who was also known for being wild during matches and the team became an instant success in the promotion.  Brody is also one of the most influential wrestlers in the history of the business as many wrestlers including Mick Foley and The Necro Butcher have used some of his style in matches.

Tragically, Brody was killed in Puerto Rico on July 17, 1988 when Jose Gonzalez, who worked for the WWC promotion stabbed him in the locker room. The story behind the murder is that Gonzalez told Brody that he needed to talk to him and then ambushed him when Brody walked into the locker room. The reason behind this is said to be that Brody did not agree with some of the business decisions for the company. A trial that many believe was corrupt took place in Puerto Rico and Gonzalez was acquitted of all charges. As a result of the corruption, many wrestlers refuse to wrestle in Puerto Rico and wrestling there remains sub par even now.

Bruiser Brody is one of my favorite wrestlers and I have collected many DVDs of his matches. It's a travesty that someone that had contributed so much to the wrestling industry was killed and the person responsible for it was not brought to justice because of a corrupt trial. However, over two decades after his death, Brody's legacy lives on as two books were released about his career and the WWE produced an action figure just within the past few years so despite the corruption that took place, Brody is still known as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.

Here are a few clips, including Tony Atlas talking about Brody's murder.