One of the best big men to ever grace the squared circle, Bruiser Brody made a career out of being an outlaw wrestler who didn't take anything from anyone and who only wrestled on his own terms. A draw wherever he went, Brody was a brawler who wasn't afraid to tell promoters exactly where to stick it. In the end, it may have been this attitude that caused his murder in a locker room in Puerto Rico. Brody never signed a contact with any major wrestling company, choosing instead to freelance all around the world to maintain his drawing capability. He formed a very popular tag team in Japan with Stan Hansen before splitting up in order to further both of their careers. Brody had a brief but popular feud with New Japan Pro Wrestling booker Antonio Inoki before getting fired for his usual (being uncooperative, refusing to do jobs, etc.). He finally settled in with Carlos Colon and his World Wrestling Council Puerto Rican territory. Brody engaged in a vicious, bloody feud with Abdullah the Butcher, a rivalry that they took all over the world. The Brody vs. Abdullah matches featured zero wrestling and were just bloody brawls around the arena. Brody's attitude finally doomed him on July 16, 1988. Bruiser was in San Juan preparing to take on Dan Spivey when booker Jose Gonzalez asked Brody to step into the shower to discuss some business. No one is quite sure what happened next but what we know for sure is that the other wrestlers heard a fight and then groaning. Tony Atlas ran into the shower and saw Gonzalez standing over a bleeding Brody with a knife. Atlas had to carry Brody to the ambulance due to his huge size and Gonzalez was arrested for first-degree murder. Somehow, his charge was reduced to involuntary homicide and, since the other wrestlers refused to testify, Gonzalez was found not guilty and set free. Gonzalez even promoted himself for the rest of his career as the "man who killed Brody". No one ever said that wrestling was a pretty business. Bruiser Brody was a very difficult man to get along with and was, by most accounts, a complete jerk. However, that doesn't mean he deserved to be stabbed and killed in a dirty Puerto Rican bathroom with a small child at home. Brody's death definitely can be blamed on wrestling as the subsequent acquittal of his killer could be blamed on wrestling as well. Not wanting to be blackballed from other promotions, wrestlers refused to take the stand against Gonzalez (a friend of booker Carlos Colon) and he walked free.
