Brody: The Triumph and Tragedy of Wrestling’s Rebel

When I was a kid growing up watching professional wrestling, Bruiser Brody was one of the scariest wrestlers and one I enjoyed watching the most. His matches were often extreme and bloody. This biography, written by Larry Matysik whose professional career revolved around wrestling as an announcer, booker, and failed promoter, and Bruiser Brody's wife, Barbara Goodish, brings the real Bruiser Brody to life.Bruiser Brody, whose real name was Frank Goodish, was old school. His matches were "stiff" and he put on a real show for the crowd. He also embraced "blading" or cutting his forehead during matches. Some of his matches with Abdullah the Butcher were blood fests. And let's face it, entertaining.Goodish grew up outside Detroit, Michigan and was a rebel from the start. His lack of focus led him to West Texas State instead of a big time college to play football, but he could not quite make in the pros because he lacked the discipline and technique he should have picked up in college. Eventually, this huge beast of a man turned to professional wrestling. And he certainly had the look. At 6 feet 5 inches tall and around 300 pounds, with long curly black hair, a beard, and character that embraced and enjoyed the violence, he was perfect for the business.Brody was a very independent man who did not stick with one promotion, but instead rode the circuit to the places where he could make the most money. He was a huge star as "King Kong" Brody in the St. Louis region, and was a huge superstar in Japan. Over time Brody was able to become an international star, which was difficult to do without sticking with one promotion that could push him to the top.But Bruiser Brody had another side, and that was Frank Goodish. Outside the ring he was smart, articulate, a good business man, and great husband and father. But he did what he could in his profession to make money and often rubbed promoters the wrong way. Wrestlers were often treated by promoters as mere commodities and it was not uncommon for them to cook the books to cheat wrestlers out of their appropriate pay or manipulate them in other ways. Brody would have none of it and made sure he got his due.And Brody wouldn't "go over" for just anyone. He had to make sure he kept his character strong and it had to make sense before he would allow himself to be pinned in the ring. As a result he sometimes clashed with promoters and sometimes other wrestlers, such as Jose Huertas Gonzales, who was also a part of the wresting promotion in Puerto Rico. Brody and Gonzales, who wrestled as the masked "Invader" evidently didn't like one another.Frank Goodish, wresting in Puerto Rico, was stabbed to death in the bathroom of the locker room before a fight in Puerto Rico by Gonzales. Gonzales got off the murder wrap claiming it was self-defense, even though the details of the murder clearly show otherwise. This guy should be in jail. Unfortunately he isn't. It was a tragic end to a fascinating man with a personality that was part the querulous, violent Bruiser Brody, and part the quiet, smart, articulate, family man Frank Goodish.Brody's career spanned the most of the 1970's and 1980's, linking the old school, bruising style of professional wrestling of the regional promotions, to the beginning of Vince McMahon, Jr. destroying the regional system and creating a near monopoly on the sport. Had Brody lived, it would have been interesting to see if he would have ever toed the line and fought in the WWF (now WWE) given the dictatorial management style of McMahon. Regardless of whether he wrestled for McMahon, overseas, or with rival promotions, there would undoubtedly be many more tales to tell about this fascinating individual.The one quibble I have with this biography is Matysik does not go into more detail about the circumstances of the murder. For example, Tony Atlas, a former wrestler who was there the day Brody was killed and took him to the hospital, believes there was a conspiracy to murder Brody. Brody had bought into the Puerto Rico promotion and wanted to have his say in how things were run, and he clashed over the ending of matches. Maybe they just wanted him out of the way. Or maybe Gonzales simply didn't like Brody, who belittled him and clearly didn't like him. Certainly the shady circumstances that lead Gonzales to getting a free walk after committing murder could have been more closely examined. On the other hand, so much time as passed maybe Matysik decided simply to focus on the life of Frank Goodish.Overall, this biography is an excellent tribute to and intriguing look at a forgotten legend in professional wrestling from two of the people who knew him best - his close friend Larry Matysik and his widow Barbara Goodish.

Living in Pennsylvania, I grew up on the WWW(W)F of the late 1970s and 1980s. Of course, I knew who Bruiser Brody was through the various wrestling magazines, even though I was too young to recall his mid-1970s WWWF run. I thought I knew a lot about Brody prior to reading this book just by reading various Internet message boards over the years.But this book really opened my eyes up to what a multi-layered personality Goodish was outside the ring. I never would have guessed that he was into investing and read the Wall Street Journal. I was also struck by the numerous stories of how kind Goodish was outside the ring and how different he was from his Bruiser Brody character.Some of the earlier reviews are correct in that the book does stray toward hero worship at times. But author Matysik has definitely put in the work by quoting so many different people who knew the real Goodish/Brody. Matysik does not ignore Brody's notorious reputation for refusing to job or being unreliable or holding up promoters, but the book is very sympathetic to its subject.The book alternates from chapters written by Matysik to chapters written by Barbara Goodish (Brody's widow) and back again. Truthfully, this format is kind of awkward between the Matysik chapters and the Goodish chapters because the chapters often don't flow smoothly or are not connected with the topics being previously discussed. But the book is still an outstanding read.The book starts off detailing the murder of Brody by Jose Gonzalez in Puerto Rico. Again, I thought I knew a lot about the murder, but it is fascinating to read the account of wrestlers like Bobby Jaggers who were actually there the night of the murder. It is hard not to feel a combination of anger and sadness when reading about Gonzalez getting away with the murder and the fact that Brody was looking to do some other things with his life down the road.One disappointment is that the book is only 206 pages. I wish the book would have been a little longer, but it is a great read when one considers how cheap the used copies are on here.

I have been a Bruiser Brody fan since I was a kid and have been wanting to read this book for a long time. It was well written and the parts of the book written by Brody's wife were very touching and interesting. Worth the read if you are a Brody fan or like wrestling in general.

Frank Goodish, known to the wrestling world as Bruiser Brody, was a living legend. Fans came out to see him in droves because he was one of a kind, he was unpredictable and they wanted to see what he would do next. He was a wrestler, a performer, an entertainer. He put the energy and excitement in wrestling.When he fought in St. Louis, he was known as King Kong Brody because they had another wrestler called The Bruiser. Brody was a superstar in Japan where the fans were wild about him.I was a big fan. I loved the man. He was beautiful. He was the epitome of masculine beauty. He was at the top of his profession and could just about write his own ticket. He was a husband, father, brother, and he loved his family.That's what made his death so tragic. He was stabbed to death by a bottom-feeder who received no punishment for the murder of this great man.Some have commented that the book is biased in Goodish's favor. That's fine with me. I am sure I would have been more biased.5

Before WWE and WWF (not the Wildlife Fund) there was a wrestler who did not see the wrestling as sports entertainment but sport. Bruiser Brody epitomised the culture of a proper wrestler doing a proper fight. Good read for pre WWF/WWE fans who think wrestling was a sport

Bruisers story is very interesting, a kind man but you wouldnt mess with him, in depth details on his sad murder in puerto rico and much more!

Worst book I have ever read cheap and blurred front cover nothing about brody at all in book only his narcissistic wife who constantly talks about how proud she is of herself.

I bought the book because I was really curious about the story of this pro wrestling legend. The book is fun to read but personally a lot of the times I felt how much of a mark of brodie was the writer putting way too much over everything the wrestler did and making excuses for everything he did.

A wonderful look inside the life of Frank Goodish. Brody was one of a kind. The chapters written by his wife brought me to tears a few times.