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Hammered Heroes (And Villains)
00:39:18 5/17/2023

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Register your school today ! Searched Bank of Ireland schools Bank of Ireland begin Bank of Ireland's regulated by the Central Bank World. Oh, my god, guys, welcome back, we got another episode for you today. My name is Sophie Santos. I'm Brendan Fitzgibbons hammered Heroes and Villains podcast. You can follow me at Sophia Santos on Instagram. I'm at the Sophie Santos on Instagram. That's a joke. I want all of us. I'm like, What is this? Well, it's even my Instagram at the underscore Brendan Fitzgibbon's on Instagram, and you can follow the pod at here. Word Hero's Pod on Instagram on Tik Tok. We've got some videos still doing well, man doing what we're doing. It's it's exciting. And just like it. Subscribe, give us a five star rating. You know what's up. But yeah, I guess just for a refresher, if anyone if you have some new listeners, what is Hammered Heroes? Hammered Heroes is a podcast about athletes, professional athletes who played high, drunk and on drugs or were murdered in today's case, which also counts as a hammered hero because he was actually hammered somewhat. Physically, physically, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So today our hammered hero is a the late bruiser Brody. You don't see me crying, you don't see me down on my knees begging about it. I'm going to take care of business and business for me and me only. And that's the way I want it to stay. He was one of the biggest stars in the 70s and 80s, and he was known for hardcore wrestling or brawling wrestling, which would leave participants bleeding. Wow. We're going to bruiser Brody. We are. We're going to talk about our guests in the studio who already pointed to her shirt because she's rapping so hard of rapping a bruiser. Brody, she's amazing. Yeah, yeah. We're joined by the very, very funny Ashley Rae. She's the host of Stitchers TV. I say with Ashley Rae, I love that title. It's beautiful. I really just went with it because it rhyme name and I was like, Oh, right, we're just going to work so closely. Yeah, I heard it. And it was music to my ears. Liquor before beer. Boom, now you're in the clear. He's the most famous bisexual, solo, polyamorous, black, queer comedian, actor and writer based in Los Angeles on stage. On page, you've seen her in Vulture, The A.V. Club, L.A. Variety and her podcast, and Rae often explores the intersection between culture and the intimacies of race, gender, queerness and sexuality. And even better, she is extremely open about her love of weed so perfect for the pie and wrestling. Absolutely. The legendary King Kong. Thank you so much. King hungry 0d you. You're the first person to ever wear and wrap the hammered hero that they are. This is incredible. Show me, where is your Babe Ruth jersey? I don't know if I could show you he is the background on my phone, but oh, this bruiser Brody like pillow. Every night I will send you photos. No way. This is awesome. I love super fans. Yeah, I am a bruiser Brody superfan. I obviously died before I was even born. But my family has like a long legacy, an interest in Dallas wrestling, world class championship wrestling, the old school. And that's where he started. So my older siblings, who are like 20 years older than me, they saw him coming up. And so they're the ones who like, Oh my God, growing up, I was just like, Oh, you like that? You don't even know what I mean? They created the legend of Bruiser Brody for me, so I've just I love it. Oh my god, I can't wait to get into this. I want to hear all about it before we get into Bruiser Brody, and I am feeling a little naked, actually. He normally reps is Daniel Jones jersey. He's a quarterback for the Giants. OK, yeah, I wouldn't. I don't know that. Guess what? You don't need to know. My dad gave it to me as a joke because we always make fun of on the spot because we say he's basically like, he's like a guy who is, like, really plain toast. You're right, the plane is toast. Yeah, as an athlete. His favorite pastime is power washing his deck like an arm. You look at him, you go. He loves to power washes and every play. Just a guy. He's the opposite of Bruiser Brody. Every play he throws, like for three yards, you're like, I guess this is football. Yeah, he's like a fish in life. Yeah, but you're like, Where's the pizzazz? Yeah, exactly. No, no pizzazz. No one's doing a podcast about Daniel Jones, except for us to mock him profusely. Fun, fun fact. We went to the Chiefs bar. Yes. Big football fan here. He was rapping. He was wearing the Dino Jones jersey because the Giants were in the playoffs and some guy came up to him and goes, Yeah, man, going to be tough game this guy. Apparently, he doesn't get irony. He was like, Daniel was like, Wow. And it was like the whitest guy. He's like, Yeah, Daniel Jones. Yeah, I'm like, I shouldn't wear this. Where this year that was a mistake sends the wrong signal. Yeah, yeah. Well, and I'm sorry, Renee, but you can't wear that dress. I can't get that right. I mean, you're going to attract a lot of guys who own, like, I don't know, landscaping. Exactly. Sophie always says exactly. That's exactly what he does. Are you a basketball fan? Not really. I'm like, Yeah, yeah, we'll gloss over the playoffs and I have a cousin who we played for the well, the Colts. The Indianapolis Colts used the Super Bowl. That's a that's football. Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, you talked about that a little, right? That's the we talked about football earlier. Literally, you literally like, I'm giving you all of my sports knowledge right there. I love it that you're like, I only know wrestlers who've been. That's all that is mostly wrestling, mostly old wrestler like 70s, 80s wrestler, 80s wrestlers, like if you want to really get into like the ups and downs of like Jimmy Snuka and Jimmy Seguin and like Bruiser Brody and old style wrestling, I'm all about. Yeah, but colts, I don't know. It's. You're like the Colts of the baseball classic and the baseball. I know my cousin came to a family reunion and was like, Look at this big deal, ring. And I was like, Whatever, bro, I'm about to sing everyone. The song that I had to learn for a musical this year. Let's focus on real talent. I mean, I mean, we get that and, you know, I'm sure farther than him. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Ah, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A team that matters. Yes. Well, when you say matters, what do you mean? Like, do they people care about them? He coaches for them, I guess. And I was always like, They sound stupid. Oh, wow. Oh. So he coached. He coached Tom Brady, which is one of the greatest athletes of all time. Huh? Mm-Hmm. Are you familiar with Joe Biden? Yeah. OK, OK. Yeah, yeah, OK. Wow, you guys. I got it. I got to say, Yeah, we're pretty hit him up. Up, guys. We should definitely love it. Cato June Oh, that's great. That's what it was like once it was Todd Bowles, the head coach, the head coach of the year, Roger Goodell. You're like, Yeah, that's yeah, I'm related. I'm like, Oh yeah, maybe you should. I think it's really cool, though, mania. Yeah. Just like, hang out in the box. The skybox? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But yeah, this is great. I love this. Yeah, we're we're off to a great start. Yeah, we like to do this thing called an honorary hammered hero, which is basically it can be. It's anybody, it's the every man or every woman or every gentle them. Yes, basically, they do heroic acts and I IRL and today is really important because we actually have our first child hammered here a child. Oh, wild child, I'm loving my child. So during the Raptors and Bulls game, which is NBA, the playoff game playoff right now, it's the NBA playoffs. OK, I heard about that. I heard about this on Twitter. Oh, OK, OK, it's on Twitter. Yeah, yeah. So Bulls superstar DeMar DeRozan, who is we're both huge fans of absolutely. I like the Bulls. I lived in Chicago. I don't know. I have a Bulls jersey. Oh, that's so, his daughter screamed at the top of her lungs every time a Raptors player shot a free throw. We'll show you some clips. This is real. Let's watch the clips first. Let me talk about the percentages underrated passer doing a nice job. Terms of the total number of the. You hear that blood curdling scream that is heard and this is in Toronto. It's a horror scream. That is the daughter. Of DeMar DeRozan, and here's the voice you're hearing when Raptors shoot, she's screaming. Oh, that didn't work. Oh my gosh. But here's guess what? It worked. That's what's actually crazy. The Raptors were 50 percent from free throw, which is horrible. Never happens. They missed 18 free throws. That's like, that's wild. I like I said, I don't know much about the sport, but that's like, that's a free throw. It's easy to throw like your free square and be and bingo. You shouldn't have any problem. It shouldn't be problems. It's very easy. You're just standing there into all the NBA players who can't make your shots. So I'm just going to say, make your shots. You're not 20000000 bruiser. Brody had like Staples in his head. Yeah, and he's making $7 in a Starbucks gift card and like razors in his mouth. And what are you doing? Yeah, you can't just stand there and shoot a basketball or basketball through a hoop. So, yeah, so basically in the bulls, barely one. So it's entirely because of DeMar DeRozan, daughter. This I had heard about this. I didn't listen to it because I just assumed I knew what a loud child sounded like. I didn't realize she was screaming bloody murder. Yeah, it was a plan. Like every time she'd like, get everyone quiet around her. She's like, No, I got this and she did get this. And then they they started actually panning to her and then she would scream. She would have her moment. And we know it was so efficient because not only did the the Raptors end up losing, but then when the bulls played the heat the next game for playoffs to get into the playoffs, right? So the play and they had to play two games, so they won their first. They have to win one more now than the playoffs. So they go to the Bulls, go against the Heat. She's not there. She's not there. DeMar was like, She's got school. Oh, and guess what happened? We lost those la lost and the he actually had were 79 percent from the free throw line. It's all because she wasn't there. Wow. Sad man, she's the secret sauce. Yeah, she was good. He could be in the playoffs right now. Listen to the Bucks. Like as a loud black girl from Illinois, I related so much. When I heard the story, I was like, She gets it. That's the representation. People from Chicago are loud where I'm from. Yeah, we like my dad's family's all from. There they are. Our family parties are them screaming, Yeah, like, I will just be hanging with friends and people like Ashley. Why are you yelling? Like, I'm not yelling. I'm just I'm just very passive. You're so right. It's so funny. So, you know, that's just who she is, and she leveraged it. And I love to see that. I love to see a kid who knows what they're. Yeah, I mean, that's you know what that makes me think. How come no one's thought of this before? Yeah. Yeah, because it works. Yeah. And it's pretty foolproof. Yeah, right? And I would I mean, I would think you're out there, you're used to it, you're used to the crowd and people I've like. I don't know. I've seen where they try other sounds. They're like, yeah, like you suck or like right people get used to that. Yeah, like. But this girl went a different route of what a playground is like their own daughter being stabbed. And so that, I think, is, you know, the creativity that she really brought to this. I would I really wish we could have seen two more. I don't think he did this, but that he just would have just been like, you know, eyes signaling to her just being like that. My girl, he was so sweet. He was like, I just want her to really enjoy this moment, like she was the star. She is the best. But you raise a good point from now on. NBA fans need to resort to making haunted house sounds. Bring a chainsaw. Let's get weird. What would your haunted house sound be actually, if you were a chainsaw dude? But if you wanted to, if you wanted to track someone, actually, that's DeMar DeRozan daughter screaming like that scares the s**t out of me. It's insane. I I think I'd want to be like a ghoulish laugh. Like, Well, who? You just hear, like it's not even really scary, but it's like eerie, eerie, kind of annoying. Yeah, but also it's like it's still a ghost, a little slow, you know, a little fun. It's a well read ghost, this ghost read. So he reads The New Yorker. Yeah, it's like, Oh yeah, and it's good to have like a little comedic moment, like one of those moments where it's really silent and then it happens in your. OK, that's funny. I was, yeah, no, that's good. It's easy to grow more vibrant plants, just feet. And with Miracle-Gro shaking feet, shake a little around your plants once every three months and you get there, so you need to know. Not even sure what to talk about for the rest of this commercial. I guess I could list off my favorite plants the weeping fig honeysuckle. Any kind of fan? I'm a sucker for a fan. Spider plants roses. Classic Oh wait, I forgot to have, say, slogan to Miracle-Gro. All you need to know to grow up. I will stop playing with the Bunsen burner. Harry. Does he look like he wants a face tattoo? Teaching kids what's right and wrong is important. That's why Bank of Ireland are teaching over four hundred and eighteen thousand students in primary and secondary schools, the financial literacy skills that will help them get it right in later life. Because your financial well-being is our priority to register your school today, search Bank of Ireland's Schools Bank of Ireland begin Bank of Ireland's regulated by the Central Bank World. So let's get into it, everybody, let's talk about the man, the myth, the bludgeon, I need to know how did you get into Bruiser Brody? Something of a loner in the wrestling business? And that's why, really, I was a bit surprised that you agreed to take part in this tag match today on wrestling at the chase. Let me tell you something. I want to make my point real clear it's always been the same. King Kong Brody is, for one thing and one thing only, and not himself. So like I said, my family, Dallas, we're like fifth generation Dallas Texans. So my family grew up doing world class championship wrestling, which you might know for the Von Erich brothers. It was started by Fritz Von Erich and that whole legacy. They're making a movie about it. Go for it with like Zac Efron. I have a lot of thoughts on that. So what's the movie I'm going to is going to Google. I think it's just called the Von Erichs. Maybe. So your family helps these guys come up? Oh, well, I mean, if they helped, it was just by going, Oh no, they like my father, my brother, siblings. These guys are hot. Oh yeah, the Von Erichs were friends. Actually great casting? Yeah. Zac Efron, the middle guy. The guy from the Bear is doing it. Oh, that's guys, guys. I'm sorry. We have to look at Zac Efron. That is Zac Efron, Kerry von Erich. And the third one is Harrison Ford. Or he's playing Kevin von Erich, the only surviving Von Erich. But my siblings were obsessed with it. They would force like my mom to take them their dad. They would be like, We need they would. And back then this was before social media. So like, the wrestlers would just stand outside like grocery stores and like, be like, come to the wrestling show. So like they they were barking. Yeah, like they were fighting for their own show. Yeah. With like Bruiser Brody, the iron she like literally just no way outside of a grocery store because they were just like trying to get people down there. They have photos like the Von Erichs. So when I was growing up, it was like the attitude era. Obviously, I love WWE and they were just like, You don't know nothing about real wrestling, the real back in the days stuff. And we didn't have YouTube then, right? But they were like, give me like pictures and tell me about him. And I was just like, Yeah, I got it. He was a great guy. Anyway, the rock is hot. And then later, like, I got really into just like indie wrestling. When I lived in Chicago, I got really into dark side of the ring, and they did an entire episode about him, and I didn't really know the fullness of the story like they told me he was killed and I was just like all wrestlers, of course, like crazy people, they're dangerous. They die. And when I watch his episode of a dark side of the Ring, that's when I was like, Oh no, this dude was the wrestler like he was the wrestler. I have always dreamed like, you wouldn't have the rock without bruiser. Brody, like Ray, started an entire lane of like, that's how you get Brodie Lee later. That's how you get all these other people. And it all started with him. And then I just got really into watching his old matches on YouTube, right? And the way he just like glides. He was really actually huge in Japan, where he did most of his like, hard wrestling. So there's just like all this footage that's available now of him doing just like wild real stuff that oh, so it was real. Yeah, like Japanese style hard wrestling. That crab is real that, well, I don't know if I can see you again tomorrow. That's it. It's really got scared me and just, yeah, I rededicated me to him. I have my siblings. They were like, Yeah, we told you like bruiser. Brody's always been that guy, and I have so many bruiser Brody shirts I bought. Like I signed a pillow that I sleep with, like he's the background on my phone like he. I truly believe he is my soul mate. And had he not been taken from us, somehow, I would have been. What would you say to Bruiser Brody if he was alive to be married? I don't even care about the age gap difference. OK, sorry. Yeah, I just know I would just I mean, I love people I think don't realize about Bruiser Brody and why. To me, he's such a big deal is that he was the only wrestler who refused to, like, define himself by the territory system of the time. So back then, yeah, yeah. He's a wrestler. Fluid is wrestler. Fluid is how they yeah, like most people were like, I'm, you know, in this territory, I only do world class grocery stores. I'm a Tennessee wrestler. Or, you know, I'm with Vince McMahon and Vince McMahon. Wanted Bruiser Brody so bad it was like, I need you because he knew, because he knew he. That's why he didn't wrestle Hulk Hogan, right? Or Andre, it was. No, if something did wrestle Andre the giant, but only in like a a doubles and he did do to WrestleMania. But like they were earlier WrestleMania, and they had all these like specific rules about, like what bruiser Brody could do and who he couldn't fight. But I think, yeah, he couldn't fight Hulk Hogan. Yeah, it was something like specific like that. Because were they worried that he was going to actually injure them? No, it was. That was like the the kayfabe I'm telling you and everybody else out there. I like being alone. I don't need friends and I don't need nobody out there telling me what to do. And the next time I end up in a tag match and anybody lays one single hand on me, they're going to pay for it. You know, the kayfabe is that. They were afraid that resort would actually injure people that was like what he told people, yeah, for his reasons of like why he was always changing territories, really, it was because he was always demanding a lot of money. He was also a very smart guy, like he was a journalist. He had tried. Yeah, he went to college on football. He, you know, knew what he was doing and knew he wanted to run his own like, basically territory someday. So he would go to these places and be like, I know that I'm the one selling the tickets. I don't want to lose to your star like I'm Bruiser Brody. I'm going to do what I want. Even if they would tell him, Yo, you're supposed to lose, he would just be like, I don't care. And so that was why I like territories to be like, We don't want him. He wouldn't listen to Vince McMahon. Vince is like, and he still was just like, No. And so finally, he was like, You know what? He did stuff in Japan for a while, but he was married, had a kid or whatever. That's fine. You know, and so then I think he had this desire to really build something closer to home. And so he goes to Puerto Rico, where he also had been wrestling a lot and was really, really popular, and he started to buy into Carlos Colognes wrestling territory there. And basically it was going to buy it start something that probably would have rival WWE would have taken over wrestling. But then it doesn't happen because he gets stabbed to death. Just casually stabbed calculation stabbed in the showers. Before we talk about the murder. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I do want to go back. What I had also read is that he not only what do you take, he wouldn't take the loss right? And spoiler alert, guys, you know, there is a, you know, it's very political, especially when you're dealing with something like WWE. I feel like I'm going to get in trouble for saying things, even though I have no mediation. But I believe kayfabe. I'm just going to say that on the record right now, I do not break them. OK. That's real. OK, that's real. I understand not wanting to lose. Yeah. So but he would take it so far is not only would he not lose OK, but he would also injure the people that he was supposed to potentially lose. Is that true? Oh yeah, that's absolutely true. He would. It's really injure them. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, that was real. Injuries like to the point where other there was one wrestler in the in that around that same time 70s his name was like gorgeous Gino. What do you think his thing was? It was being gorgeous. That's yeah, he did. A one fight with bruiser and bruiser was known for pulling a razor out and just like dude wanted it across his forehead didn't give a s**t about looking good. And he did that to tag gorgeous. Just, you know, he, like, tried to, like, make him look gorgeous. And she was like, I'm never going to wrestle him again. So that was, Oh my, he also would do a thing where it would become clear that the audience was like, he's refusing to lose and they would get mad. And so sometimes Bruiser would like run into the audience and like, beat up people or just like, throw things at people and children. There's all these videos are just like people in the crowd running away from him. And so he had this like reputation as being a wild man, like people truly thought he was out of his mind. But really, it was that he was a totally normal, boring guy named Frank good ish. And then he would do so many drugs. OK, come bruiser Brody. So he was he on drugs when this was all happening? Yeah. Like, he was well known as a stoner like that is known. We like drug. How are you hyped up this hyped up on this? Well, that was like Tuesday. Oh yes, this is. Yeah. So it was well known like to get into the bruiser Brody mindset, the mindset that lets you pull a razor out of your mouth and run across your forehead. Let's let's take a beat for just a second because we want everyone to really understand what's happening. So this is and this according to two actually miss Ashley Brody. So Miss Ashley Bruiser. So Bruiser Brody made a living by bleeding. Yes. Is also, according to the L.A. Times, so night after night in arenas all over the world, he would blade, which means he would discreetly slice his own Fahad with a razor blade concealed in his wrist tape. And this is also very fun where they say on his forehead, Brody wore a roadmap of his career a massive network of vertical blade scars, which is the pride of fame and fortune. So guys, and it didn't make him less attractive. I want to. First of all, I think in the photo I have another shirt where you can really see this detail in the score. That's when you can't see as much. Yeah, but I feel like you truly, but it's very real. That's yeah, it's very real. It's like, this is real blood. And that's why people truly thought he was a wild man who like her other people. And it is that wrestlers know how to do this without killing themselves. OK, like, but how do you how do you learn? Like, how do you go? It is a fabulous movie. Yeah, like it's it was him. The iron cheek also did it. Oh my gosh, why can't I remember the other person who wrestled with bruiser all the time? Jimmy Carter? Very round man. Big and famous. But anyway, it was like their move. There were four wrestlers who, like, had this as their thing and really made it popular. They learned it in Japan and basically it's like, it's like you press it in a bit. Oh my God, like, you know, it's like a paper cut like you. It's a paper. Don't like em, don't like paper, guys don't like them, but at all, it's quick and they do it really small. But then they push it. So it looks like a lot of fun. Your head bleeds a lot. Yeah, because your head bleeds a lot, so what you really want is like during the match, all the looks like just the blood pouring down your face, like that's the image. So what about the idea of, hey, if you guys heard of fake blood? How about some fake blood? Well, this is that's not hard stuff that's in WWE places. We don't generally, you know, we don't we don't know. Can we also talk about how he looks a little bit like the lead singer of my morning jacket, Jim James? I disagree with him. Oh no, she got mad because Bruiser Brody is the most attractive man in the world. Wow. Well, he also kind of looks like every lead in a 90s stoner comedy. Yeah, right? Yeah. I mean, OK, that's him. This is your dream man that's playing his character. What character? So like part of his character when you knew he was about to go crazy, like where he is, they're pulling his hair. He had this like sound he would start making, and he would make this face. That's when you knew he was about to lose it. And that was like in Japan. They would know there's some he's about to erupt. Oh, this is this is a guy on cocaine. Yeah. And this is him like in the blood. Oh my god. Oh my gosh, why can't I remember the sound he would make like they're in Japan? They would put it on T-shirts. I think it's like, like a banshee. Like, it's truly like Hook Hook. It was like, I have to holy s**t. Yeah, I find it for a dude. This guy is straight up. Braveheart dug his forehead is f**ked, Ashley, but in a hot way and in a hot way, I can't. I am like a ho, so he looks good here. He's that's like, Let's keep talking about pictures that no one can see. Oh, I mean, don't worry, I'm very, very happy to send you whatever photos of your $0.99. Love this guy. It was he so he would start doing this thing where he would start hitting himself and like hitting his arms, going across. And that's when you knew Bruiser Brody is about to blow is going off. And so like, there's certain words that just say, like Azizah, just like that's like merchandise. But as soon as he started doing that, it would be like, Oh, no, you. No, he's about he's like, He's going to lose. Yeah, like, he's going to cut himself. He's going to throw a table. He would refuse to lose, and so he would come into these territories and take their star person. He's also let's talk about how big he was. So he's six five six five five, a substantial 300 pounds, guys. Hundred pounds is a match he did with Andre the Giant, and it's the only time where I have seen him next to someone where I'm like, Oh, he looks regular sized because he yeah, because he's normally so. Oh yeah, somehow bruiser looks small. Yeah, that's terrifying. And this is a really wild fight where Bruiser is basically comes in to help this like trio of wrestlers who very offensive their whole gambit is like they're Native American brothers and Andre. They really need him. No, no. Oh my god. Yeah. The giant is just like tossing him around, and then Bruiser Brody comes in like, stop it. So the main event we we do. Yeah, we need to talk about the drugs, though. Yes. Let's talk about the drugs. And then we got to get into the murder. Yeah. So I'm kind of related. I have one question to before then. So we have a lot of quick. OK, what's your what's your question? Well, I want to say with the drugs, but I want to talk about the names. So here's a really did you ever hear The Undertaker story? How he got his name? No. OK, this is a great story. So Vince McMahon called Undertaker, and he's like, Yeah, I want to work with you. He's like, Whoa, what are you good at? And Undertaker's, like, I sing in the shower and that's all he said. And then he leaves and he goes, Oh s**t, I'm going to be sing in the shower guy. I was worried that whatever you said would become your thing. I mean, you're like, No, no, then this is how Vince McMahon kind of. So no, I'm saying, can you imagine being sing in the shower, guys? So what happens? Then McMahon called him and he goes, Hello, am I speaking to The Undertaker? And The Undertaker goes, Oh yes, this is him. He's like, Yeah, that's my name now. So how did he get his name? What's his biggest name? You have King Kong King Kong bruiser Brody. That was like Red River Jack. Yeah, Red River Jack, OK, which he was a big inspiration to Cactus Jack, you know, further down the line. A lot of people pulled from that. Anyone who uses like Bruiser Brody, they're usually trying to do it in a match to him. But King Kong bruiser Brody basically ended up with his name because there was another wrestler who went by King Kong Brody, and he was like, You gotta pick something else. Why? Wow. Because back then, there would be so many territories. Wrestlers could basically piggyback off each other's names. You know, like there's different companies, different companies. You would travel around a lot. You would build up a name like, Oh, king, Hungary's Brody, you know, people in other places would start to hear about that. And then there'd be some other guy who'd just be like, Well, I can just call myself like, you know, Bruiser King Brody. And it doesn't matter. Yeah, yeah. I mean, that makes sense. So he basically took it on. So he was just like, I'm going to give it up. And then what happened to the other guy, the other guy, like, nobody remembers it like it was like, I never have already fairly old and was one of those guys who was like, respected in wrestling. And that was really why it was like he is already that. So like, you know, you're the new guy, pick something out with world class championship wrestling, right? And Fitz Von Erich, who like, really brought up Bruiser was really good at the branding and like figuring out how to, I mean, except his own, where he was a Nazi character. Oh, just. That was bad and very, very bad at that. It was bad. His whole like that was very bad. But he went to bruiser and said, Don't do what I did. Pick something better. And so Reser goes with this like whole. That's when he starts building out this persona of like the fur boots that you always see in the Viking and very Viking. How about the fact that his real last name is good ish? Yeah, good ish minutes, frankly. Just kidding. And you know, he as all by all reports, as a father and a husband, an amazing guy is not one of the wrestlers who like, was out here cheating on his wife. He truly loved his son. He was a good guy who wanted to build his legacy in wrestling and was really smart about it, but also in order to tap into that bruiser. Broder Brody Energy, right? He was the drug guy. So in Japan, he did a lot of Japanese wrestling. He became like the guy there. And so like American wrestlers would go there and need to get drugs. Bruiser Brody would literally be the person who was like, Oh yeah, I know how to make that happen. I know how to like, make sure you don't get in trouble. It is a famous story that David von Erich, the Von Erich who passed away. Yeah, from what was believed to be a drug overdose or to overdose at the time. And then later, I think it did come out that he had like intestinal issues that led to his death. But in the moments when he was discovered in Japan, in this hotel bruiser, Brody was one of the people with him and apparently was with a person who was like, flush all the drugs like flushing steroids, plus the drugs flush all the drugs. Yeah. So what drugs were they all doing right? Oh yeah, right, right. They were all doing Roy. Yeah, yeah, coke. A lot of cocaine and bruisers. Big thing was weed. He. Yes. Which is so funny to me, like a stoner. But then again, his Oh what he's doing, what he's doing in the energy. But like, there's stoner energy. Yeah, there's so many, just all the wrestlers talking about, like how much you love to like Blaze one up and how like, yeah, Bruiser Brody would like to apply it to the face, basically. I love the idea to look like a stoner vibe. Instead of hiding razor blades, he's hiding pieces of pizza eating. It's like smashing it to his face. It's like, Oh, this was just meat. And I just love that truly. At his core, he just wanted to be like this stoner dad and like fun guy. But because he has also had this other side where he was a coked up, knife wielding fiend and also to say he would bully a lot of these wrestlers, especially in smaller territories, Puerto Rico being one of them, he would come to Puerto Rico and be like, Screw all of you, you're like, not even real wrestlers to me. Like, I'm just going to come here. There's like video invader one, the guy who ended up killing him, like he cut the s**t out of his face and he was supposed to like, lose the match, didn't want to ends up like, embarrassing. This guy is the point. We're like fans were like, please, like, let him go. So when it's discovered bruiser is going to buy into this Puerto Rican wrestling territory, probably going to be a jerk about fire. A lot of people especially invader one because he thought he was a horrible wrestler, which is why he cut him to pieces. So I didn't know that. Oh my god. Yeah. So they had a repertoire. They didn't like each other. And when this happens it, it's assumed that the word got out that Carlos Cologne did not want bruiser involved. Most likely other people. Vince McMahon didn't want to be threatened by Bruiser Brody owning a big territory, and its people basically assume they put together a plan to get rid of him. It's also a rough, tough world where the show can take a serious, even deadly turn. That was the fate of one of wrestling superstars, Frank Good ish, better known to fans as Bruiser Brody. He was murdered last month in Puerto Rico. Bruiser Brody. Bruiser Brody was one of the last of wrestling's great independents, a self-made tough guy star who shunned affiliation with the Big Pro Wrestling Federation so that he could do it his way. But it's Mary Mafia as it's very like godfather. It's very like even with so he goes to this wrestling match. He's in the locker room. There's other wrestlers there. What year is that witnesses? 88 Yeah, yeah. There are other witnesses. Tony Atlas, who's a big wrestler, is there and has like given a lot of witness statements on this. But basically, Bruiser was, you know, doing his bruiser thing, just getting ready for the match and invader one comes in and like gets really close and stabs him. And at first, people don't know if it's real. People are like, Wait, is, are they like practicing something for the match? Obviously, these are people who like, are cutting themselves, so people aren't necessarily shocked that a wrestler has a knife. And it also and the whole sport is very again. Well, is there a stage right now? Is it not real? And so also, there wasn't a lot of blood, though, when he did it. So like just waiting to out. There were air bubbles because he did get pierced in the long shot shot. But there probably also was THC in that because he wasn't supposed to go. But like the confusion of Was it real? Was it not? Is why there was a delay in like getting sort of an ambulance or getting him help because people were just like, Oh, what are you talking about? Bruiser Brody cuts me all the time. He's got himself all the time, and people didn't realize it was real. People were letting the ambulance through like, if you, oh my god of this, it was a huge event like lines of cars they could not get an ambulance through. Finally, Tony Atlas and Dusty Rhodes, I believe, get him to the hospital where he does. He stays alive and doesn't die until like 5:00 in the morning. The next day, they managed to get his family there and stuff. As this is all happening and Vader one is still there. Like he's he wrestled. He wrestled Brussels that night here. I was planning to wrestle the next the next day, and everyone is literally just like, like everyone else. Tony, yeah, you just killed this guy. Like. And he's actually is a nice father and a good dad. It's all a persona like this is literally. His last wrestling trip took him to San Juan, Puerto Rico, in the dressing room before a match. Brody was ninth in the abdomen. He died hours later. This man, another wrestler named Jose Gonzalez, better known to fans as Invader one, was arrested for the murder and awaits trial. It's the first case of a murder connected with professional wrestling, but in Puerto Rico, where, like most of the wrestlers who witnessed this were Americans didn't speak Spanish. Carlos Gloade, all of them did, and they start putting out in the press wild man bruiser Brody like loses it and then tries to attack Invader one. And so they made it look like it was self-defense. And so that was his what he said in court that it was self-defense and they didn't bring down any of the American wrestlers to testify. They all went to the guy like some were like, Hey, we want to tell you what we saw. And then they heard one day like, Oh, the trial already happened. He was found innocent. Yeah. So like Tony, Atlas never got the chance to go down and be like, No, no, that's not who resurrect he was. And if you look at like all the court statements, it's truly them being like, look at him cutting his face, look at him yelling, Just look at him, like throwing a chair at a child in a crowd. He was a crazy man. And they literally just played up all of that, his drug use being like, and we all know he bought drugs here and like doing cocaine. And the fact of the matter is just like, you know, his wife was there trying to like, fight for justice because they had to do a lot to like, try to get his body back to America. And she's just like none of that's real. Like, it's a it's a it's a show. It's a shocking show. Like he's just a stoner, do you? Yeah, but not to get too deep. Guys, this also shows that the Court of Law is a show. Well, there it is. Let me just pick you back, because what you're saying is it's insane. So no one got in trouble. No one got in trouble. He got he got off. In fact, invader one still to this day, like does wrestling for like children's birthday parties in Puerto Rico? Yeah. Like real name Jose Gonzales. Yeah, Jose Gonzalez and some other wrestlers refused to ever work with him again. So like Kelly, yeah, Tony Atlas and some people like, we're just like, No. So he never really had the career he would have had. Apparently, murder will set you back. Yeah, he wasn't even that good of a wrestler, but the thing is like, it's so clear he was working with Carlos Colon, who helped him like, get off and everything like got him a lawyer. And, you know, Carlos Lopez still had a huge career, still like worked with a ton of people, but also wrestling is one of those weird, shady businesses where it's like, Yeah, and I just have to pretend you don't know this guy murdered your friend. So the thing what was wild is what you're saying about all the people who they were going to have testify. So the court date was, I think, on July 20th or maybe the 21st, let's say, the 20th for this sake. And one of the Cambridge wrestler was but one. The wrestler was like, I didn't get my subpoena to go to court to testify until the 21st. Yeah, so literally they got. And you can read this. Anyone who's interested in this, or you can just go DM Ashley, please. I'll tell you about Ashley. Yeah, yeah. You're an expert is. And no, this is really good because like. Normally, like we're the ones being like brothers, this thing, it's like I'm like, I'm loving learning. Yeah, me too. But basically, yeah, so these two, these guys, like literally got their subpoenaed to go to court the day after the trial happened. So it never. So they yeah, they never went up. And we're like, we just so like, there was no such suffocation like truly invader one came up to him, stabs him quick and then hid in the shower. And we all saw him hiding in there talking to someone else. And this guy eventually came out. It was like, Yeah, he told me he stabbed him, which I heard, too. That like invader one was like, which also invader from state as this invader one invader. Like what? Later three would be kind of funny. It's like also like you don't even have to like, you know, someone's going to replace. Yeah, it's a Top Gun call sign that the guy got cut from Top Gun. Yeah, one. So because apparently he also told Bruiser, he was like, We need it. We need to handle some business. Yeah, and then they went, and then they also went to the showers. And so they they just heard a lot of scuffling and stuff. This does bring up a way of saying it's too long, but it is one of those things because you don't know what's real like if this happened in the NFL locker room or an NBA locker room. We're not slinging knives, you know what I mean? Yeah, and it is one of those things where people were like, Well, they did just have this big match where like Bruiser had sliced his face. Maybe they're they're practicing something. So maybe he is getting stabbed a little bit, but also like they know how to do it. Yeah. Like not go too deep and blah blah blah. So you tell me The Undertaker did not kill those 70 guys in the ring? Wow. Yeah, wow. What do you think, man did not die in that car explosion? This is a crazy era, too of wrestling in general. Do you think that it's as hard as podcasting? Oh, I mean, no, no. I do not look back at this time. And I mean, I saw the movie The Wrestler did YouTube. Oh, yeah, yeah. Cause it sounds like very similar. Yeah. And these guys weren't even getting paid that well, that's crazy. Yeah, that's the thing is that most where they're at the grocery store? Yeah, that's why they were the grocery store. That's why it was so important to bruiser to like, get enough to, like, start buying into his own territory. Most of the money he did make was from wrestling in Japan and Japan. They do pay you well, OK, but it's also hard style wrestling where you were like cleaning a toilet on your knees and someone is like slapping you with a board for real. So it is hard work. That's hilarious. It's like one of the worst routes to go as a wrestler when it comes to like CTE. Oh yeah. Espana was a hard sell Japanese wrestler. Yeah, they're and there we go. Well, actually, this has been amazing. I've been I'd love to get you back on the path to keep talking about either bruiser or I want to talk about this forever. Or I can talk about really rowdy and old school wrestling all day long because it's it's f**king cool. It's really cool. I love it. And have you made a movie about this? They're going to. No, that's the thing is are definitely gonna be every other day I'm tweeting like the day the bruiser Brody movie happens. You should right there. I'm ready. So you're saying, you're right, this guy, dude, right? This I do know his wife has a lot of stipulations around, like his, you know, like his state and stuff like he only was put into the hall, the wrestling hall of Fame. Like recently, it was in the last few years. So oh yeah, and you would be even in WWE. Also, I've got a couple of the I'm going to end on this one quickly. By the way, we talked about him being wrestler fluid. This is how fluid he is. He's in the profession. He's in the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame. Southern Wrestling Hall of Fame. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Hall of Fame. And the WWE Hall of Fame now and did not have a contract with any of them. Wow, that's cool. Actually, this was a great thank you so much. Where can we find you? Tell everyone. You know where to check you out. You can follow me at the Ashley Rae on anything, all the things. And yeah, I tweet about wrestling a lot. That's a bruiser. Brody, did you get it right? This movie? I need you to do it. This is the best. Thank you so much. You're the best. Thank you. This is so fun. Okay, go bruiser. Bruiser. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please like subscribe, share with your friends. Share with your drunk uncle. I don't know and give us a five star rating. You can follow us at Hammered Heroes Pod on Tik Tok and Instagram, or you can follow us individually. Sophie Santos at SoFi, Santos on Instagram or at the real SoFi Santos on Tik Tok. Or you can follow Brendan at the Underscore Brendan Fitzgibbon's on both Instagram and Tik Tok. Bye bye now. I will stop playing with the burner. Harry does he look like he wants a face tattoo? Teaching kids what's right and wrong is important. That's why Bank of Ireland are teaching over four hundred and eighteen thousand students in primary and secondary schools, the financial literacy skills that will help them get it right in later life. Because your financial well-being is our priority to register your school today, searched Bank of Ireland Schools Bank of Ireland begin Bank of Ireland's regulated by the Central Bank World.

Past Episodes

On this episode, Sophie and Brendan discuss ANDRE THE GIANT. They're joined by side-splitting Chicago-bred comedian and White Sox fan Liza Treyger (The King of Staten Island)! The trio dive into Philip Rivers' 10th white child, Jokic being the first apathetic MVP, and Liza getting kicked out of a White Sox game...before the 3rd inning. They then discuss the man, the myth, the legend, Andre the Giant and his dick, how it'd take him five bottles of wine to get a buzz, when he "quit" drinking and still drank 2-3 bottles at night, his $40,000 bar tab, the time he put a snake in a bottle of liquor and how beer looked like a thimble in his hand. Go, White Sox! Just kidding. Who even says that?
00:46:22 11/8/2023
On this episode, Sophie and Brendan are joined by hilarious comedian and southern boy Dave Stone (Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson)! The trio discusses New York legend, Hall of Famer, and restaurant owner, Mickey "The Mick" Mantle. They dive into Lady Creeps, Mantle's "Breakfast of Champions," the big fight at Copacabana, lighting fireworks in the backseat of a taxi, and more! Catch Dave's new comedy special, "Pack a Lunch" out NOW.
00:43:10 11/1/2023
On this episode, Brendan and Sophie are joined by comedian and star of "Man News," Andrew Packer. The trio discuss "The Plane Ride from Hell," which includes Brock Lesnar as the ultimate villain, several drink carts, a mid-flight fight, ponytail haircuts, and H-Bombs. Oh, and they also cover Aaron Rodgers being the curse of the Jets. Go check out Andrew's new comedy special On Guard on YouTube!
00:46:47 10/25/2023
On this episode, Sophie and Brendan discuss MR. PRIME TIME, DEION SANDERS. They're joined by hilarious comedian and theater adult Gianmarco Soresi (Late Night with James Corden)! The trio discusses Travis Kelce (Taylor's Version), The Dallas Cowboys' White House. Then they dive into Deoin Sanders' golf cart, many, many, MANY women, and how he's the biggest sober partier ever. Plus, Deion's biggest downfall...this rap career.
00:35:52 10/11/2023
On this episode, Sophie and Brendan discuss MANY heroes as in PLURAL. They're joined by the star of the hit show, "The Russell Howard Hour," award-winning comedian, and Liverpool fan, Russell Howard! The trio discusses the culture around drinking and  European football, David Beckham's career-long heckle, and how sometimes soccer fandom involves hammers. They then chat about drunk footballers Garrincha, Andy Carroll, Diego Maradona, and Ronaldinho! ENJOY MATES!
00:34:01 10/3/2023
On this episode, Brendan and Sophie are joined by Bruiser Brody's #1 fan Ashley Ray (TV I Say with Ashley Ray). They dive into one of the most beloved wrestlers who left us too soon. They cover King Kong's bleeding tactics, how he was wrestler fluid, and his sketchy bathroom murder. They also discuss how he's Ashley's dream man. It's all hereeee!
00:39:18 5/17/2023

On this episode, Brendan and Sophie are joined by Erica Tamposi (host of the Broadcast Podcast and host for the Los Angeles Rams, and former host of the NFL network's Fantasy League One show)! They discuss HOF, seven-time World Series champ, and glizzy lover, BABE RUTH. The discuss whether or not he chewed tobacco at age five, the time The Yankees hired a secret detective to spy on him, and (should we say it?), The CURSE of the Bambino. Plus, the time The White Sox tried to get him obliterated on punch, and the next day he ended up hitting two home runs.

00:47:41 5/10/2023

On this episode, Brendan and Sophie are joined by the legendary comedian and low-key MMA expert Chris Gethard (host of the Beautiful/Anonymous Podcast). They dive into equally legendary Kazushi Sakuraba, who's known for his submission techniques (hot). They discuss Sakuraba's unorthodox moves like cartwheels, his incredible dad bod, and chainsmoking and drinking up until the right starts. They also discuss if Sakuraba is the AND1 of fighting and his 90-minute battle with Gracie Hunter. Let's go! 

00:44:00 5/3/2023

On this episode, Brendan and Sophie are joined by sports fanatic Ben Lyons, co-host of the Apple+ show ?Bonjour Sports Talk, co-executive producer of the new sports talk show for Amazon, "PRIME VIDEO SPORTS TALK," and EP of "SPACEMAN" starring Josh Duhamel. They dive into, the man, the myth, the legend, Bill "Spaceman" Lee. But first, they discuss two men who were accused of stuffing fish with weights to win a fishing tournament. They cover Spaceman's post-Spaceman career and discuss Jimmy G. Buckets. As well as what it's like being the son of Boston Redsox superfan Jeffrey Lyons. 

00:32:02 4/26/2023
On this episode, Brendan and Sophie are joined by the hilarious Dan Pashman, host of "The Sportful" podcast, to dive into part two of their series on Da Coach himself, the legendary "Iron" Mike Ditka. But first, they dissect the Italian baseball putting an espresso machine in the dugout. They then talk all things Ditka including the time Bears fans harassed state troopers for giving Da Coach a DUI, the other time Iron Mike passed drunk in his plate of pasta during the Bears Super Bowl ring presentation, and the time he uncontrollably farted on live TV.
00:38:04 4/18/2023

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