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dantastic's review
4.0
After the success of his book about Wrestling at the Chase, Larry Matysik narrows his focus to telling the story of Bruiser (aka King Kong) Brody, from his early days to his unsuccessful stints in pro football and as a sports writer, to his metamorphosis into chain-swinging wildman, to his murder in Puerto Rico in 1988.
Brody is in my top three or four pro wrestling books, right up there with Pure Dynamite and the Terry Funk book. Lots of good road stories.
Brody is in my top three or four pro wrestling books, right up there with Pure Dynamite and the Terry Funk book. Lots of good road stories.
daclyde's review against another edition
4.0
Larry Matysik is a very good writer, and his prose kept me engaged. Growing up, I didn't have access to any Texas wrestling on TV. As a result, Brody was always just a face from the magazine covers. Matysik breathed real life into a character I have since seen on tapes, DVDs and YouTube. Brody's story is compelling, not only because of his tragic murder, but because of just how complex a character he was, in the ring and out.
The book opens with a great introduction by wrestling journalist, Dave Meltzer, who sets Brody's impact in the context of his times, and also talks about his personal connection to the man and how influential he was in what Dave did and how much that meant to Dave. Every other chapter in the book is written by Barbara Goodish, Brody's widow, and she details the horrible days of and after the loss of her husband, and then writes all about their life together.
If there is any fault to be found here it is just the hostility toward Vince McMahon for "what he did to the business." It is a topic very close to Matysik as he was part of one of the great wrestling one-town territories that folded in the 1980s due to the pressure from the WWF. Except that even in Matysik's own writing, it seems clear that the causes were a lot more to do to the retirement of Sam Muchnick and the takeover of Muchnick's partners from Kansas City who basically drove the promotion into the ground as fast as they could, with weak booking and limiting the talents' earnings. Even so, Matysik is realistic in McMahon's importance in the business and his potential importance in Brody's wrestling future beyond 1988.
All in all a very good, and thorough, account of the life and death of Frank "Bruiser Brody" Goodish.
The book opens with a great introduction by wrestling journalist, Dave Meltzer, who sets Brody's impact in the context of his times, and also talks about his personal connection to the man and how influential he was in what Dave did and how much that meant to Dave. Every other chapter in the book is written by Barbara Goodish, Brody's widow, and she details the horrible days of and after the loss of her husband, and then writes all about their life together.
If there is any fault to be found here it is just the hostility toward Vince McMahon for "what he did to the business." It is a topic very close to Matysik as he was part of one of the great wrestling one-town territories that folded in the 1980s due to the pressure from the WWF. Except that even in Matysik's own writing, it seems clear that the causes were a lot more to do to the retirement of Sam Muchnick and the takeover of Muchnick's partners from Kansas City who basically drove the promotion into the ground as fast as they could, with weak booking and limiting the talents' earnings. Even so, Matysik is realistic in McMahon's importance in the business and his potential importance in Brody's wrestling future beyond 1988.
All in all a very good, and thorough, account of the life and death of Frank "Bruiser Brody" Goodish.
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