WWE Royal Rumble Debut Wrestlers: Where Are They Now?
16. Jim Brunzell
Better known as one half of the Killer Bees with B. Brian Blair, Jim Brunzell was a tag team specialist who built his reputation in the NWA's Central and Mid-Atlantic territories. He signed with WWE as part of their national expansion in 1985, and he and Blair achieved a moderate level of tag team success, feuding with the likes of The Hart Foundation and the Funks.
Brunzell lasted 12 minutes in the 1988 Royal Rumble, and eliminated the devious Boris Zhukov with Jake Roberts' assistance. His career took a tumble from there, however: the Killer Bees were soon split, and Brunzell was used primarily as an enhancement talent for the rest of his run.
Brunzell's final WWE match came in a loss to Damien Demento on an April 1993 episode of Raw, and he drifted into the independent circuit thereafter. He made a brief WCW appearance later that year but couldn't parlay it into a full-time contract, and eventually wrestled his final match in 1999.
Brunzell, like many stars of his era, is part of the ongoing class action lawsuit against WWE. He currently works as a salesman in his native Minneapolis, while also working with his local church and indulging in a name of charitable activities for children with diabetes.