Brody died in 1988 from stab wounds suffered backstage in a shower during a wrestling event in Puerto Rico. The killer was José González, better known as Invader 1. A jury acquitted González of murder, ruling that González killed Brody in self-defense. Key witnesses to the killing did not give testimony at González' trial due to their summonses only being received after the trial had concluded.[3]
In 1985, he had a very short stint with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in a feud with Antonio Inoki and many of their matches ended in no contests or disqualifications. In 1987, Brody began working primarily for the World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico after getting fired from New Japan. Brody continued his feud with Abdullah the Butcher, as well as engaging in a feud with Carlos Colon. He briefly returned to All Japan Pro Wrestling to win his last NWA International Heavyweight Championship. On April 15, 1988, the first attempt to form what became the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship was done when Brody faced off against NWA United National and PWF champion Genichiro Tenryu; the result was a double countout. Brody lost the title to Jumbo Tsuruta four days later. In WCCW in Texas he was actually a babyface, most often against Abdullah The Butcher. However against Abdullah in Montreal he was a heel managed by Floyd Creatchman. While there Tim "Killer" Brooks acted as his brother Buster Brody. Brody was in an ongoing feud with The Russian Brute who later went on to AWA fame with Manager Ox Baker. Due to his huge reputation in Japan promoter Shohei Baba had the match taped and later aired on Japanese TV.
In Florida he beat B. Brian Blair for the Florida State championship. Brody had an infamous cage match with Lex Luger in Florida on January 21, 1987.[5] In the middle of the match, Brody stopped "working" and stood around. Luger and Bill Alfonso, the referee of the match, were puzzled and attempted to speak to Brody who did not respond. Luger and Alfonso decided to forgo the planned finish of the match and Alfonso disqualified Luger in a spot where Luger shoved Alfonso to the ground. After the match, Luger recalls asking Brody if he did anything wrong to upset him, to which Brody responded "no", and Brody's reasons for not working were not very clear, stating that "the match just wasn't working". In Larry Matysik's book, Wrestling at the Chase, Matysik states that before the match Brody told him "I'm not putting up with any of his bullshit" and that Brody was upset that Luger would not sell for him. However, when watching the match, it is clear that Luger did sell for Brody. In a later shoot interview, Bill Alfonso said that there was a miscommunication issue on who would lead the match and there was no ill will ever between the two. Another scenario was that Brody was upset with the promoters over his paychecks (Brody had a contentious history with wrestling promoters for much of his career) and decided to embarrass the promotion by being uncooperative in the match. In 1987 he returned to the AWA where he fought Greg Gagne and Jerry Blackwell. Despite his reputation as being disagreeable with promoters he would aid any who needed a boost in ticket sales as he was guaranteed to bring in crowds. While working for WCCW in Texas he was the booker and produced their TV program.
Personal life
Prior to his wrestling career, Goodish worked as a sportswriter in San Antonio, Texas. Goodish was married on June 4, 1968, to Nola Marie Neece;[6] the marriage ended in divorce on October 12, 1970.[7] Goodish's second wife, New Zealander Barbara Smith, remained with him until his death in 1988. She has stated that while his wrestling persona was known for brutality and being uncontrollable, Brody was the complete opposite with his family. Brody and Smith lived in Texas. Together they had a son named Geoffrey Dean, born November 7, 1980.[8]
Death
On July 16, 1988, Brody was in the locker room before his scheduled match with Dan Spivey at Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, when José Huertas González, a fellow wrestler and booker,[9] allegedly asked him to step into the shower area to discuss business. There was an argument between the two wrestlers and a scuffle ensued.[citation needed] Due to the dressing room layout, there were no witnesses to the altercation; however, two screams were heard, loud enough for the entire locker room to hear. Tony Atlas ran to the shower and saw Brody bent over and holding his stomach. Atlas then looked up at González and saw him holding a bloody knife.[10]
Due to the heavy traffic outdoors and large crowd in the stadium, it took paramedics almost an hour to reach Brody. When the paramedics arrived, Atlas helped carry Brody downstairs to the waiting ambulance as, due to Brody's size, paramedics were unable to lift him. He later died from his stab wounds. González claimed self-defense and testified in his own defense at trial in 1989. The prosecution witnesses living outside of Puerto Rico claimed they had not received their summons until after the trial had ended. The case was not dismissed for their absence, nor were they charged with contempt of the Puerto Rico court. González was acquitted of murder. The prosecution did not appeal.
Fellow wrestlers Dutch Mantel and Tony Atlas have said in a lengthy interview featured in Vice documentary series Dark Side of the Ring season 1 episode 3 entitled "The Killing of Bruiser Brody" that in the 1970s, when Brody and González had wrestled each other, Brody had wrestled very roughly and beat up González. S. D. Jones claims after one such match González said to him "one day I am gonna kill that man".[3] Tony Atlas also said the local police were uninformed, and thought the killer was an angry wrestling fan gone berserk. Atlas also claims that he was the only witness to point out González to the authorities, so they could arrest him. In the same documentary, according to Atlas, Bruiser Brody was about to gain ownership in the wrestling company, even promising him "you are going to see a lot of changes", implying that González might eventually be fired. Atlas recalls González, Víctor Quiñones, and Carlos Colón were having an urgent meeting in the locker room only moments prior to the tragic events, while Mantel said the meeting seemed "strange". Shortly after, González called out Brody in the shower — "can I talk to you for a minute please" — then the stabbing ensued. Ultimately, the murder weapon has never been found, González aka Invader was acquitted in Puerto Rico for acting under self-defense, and Bruiser Brody's widow Barbara Goodish told the reporters "I know the attacker did it, from what I hear about it the whole court case was a sham". Vice producers for Dark Side of the Ring say they contacted González and Colón, but that both "declined to be interviewed".[11]
^Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN0-9698161-5-4.
^Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Texas:NWA/World Class American Heavyweight Title [Von Eric]". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. pp. 265–266. ISBN0-9698161-5-4.
^Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2006). "(Dallas) Texas: NWA American Tag Team Title [Fritz Von Erich]". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. ISBN978-0-9698161-5-7.
^Will, Gary; Duncan, Royal (2000). "Texas: NWA Texas Heavyweight Title [Von Erich]". Wrestling Title Histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. pp. 268–269. ISBN0-9698161-5-4.
^Will, Gary; Duncan, Royal (2000). "Texas: NWA Texas Tag Team Title [Von Erich]". Wrestling Title Histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. pp. 275–276. ISBN0-9698161-5-4.
