All language subtitles for Dark.Side.Of.The.Ring.S01E03.The.Killing.of.Bruiser.Brody.WEB.x264-CAFFEiNE

Good evening, everyone. Welcome to
Championship Sports.

Why, now all of you have heard about the
tragic and untimely death of Bruiser

Brody. Very disappointing to all. A
wrestler prior to a bout in Puerto Rico.

menacing looks gave him the reputation
of a madman inside the ring. But a

longtime wrestling promoter and others
remember a very different man.

If you could picture a man coming into
the ring, 6 '6", 6 '7", 350 -some pound,

he'd look like danger coming.

It was the kind of danger you were drawn
to.

People would actually run from him.
They'd just all run and scatter.

He had a chain.

He'd sometimes hit people with it. He
was just a wild guy.

Bruiser Brody's larger -than -life
presence and in -ring brutality

undeniable authenticity to professional
wrestling.

Brody coming down the aisle is like a
tornado coming to your house, but you

still want to see it.

He'd beat you up with two -by -fours,
chairs, anything he could get his hands

on.

on july 16 1988 this insanity bled out
of the ring into real life

when bruiser brody was violently killed
in a locker room moments before the

opening bell in the world of
professional wrestling it is still the

where its characters live in two worlds
where fantasy bleeds out into reality

Hi, I'm Mick Foley.

In my career there was one man more than
any other I wish I could have had the

opportunity to step into the ring with.
That person was Bruiser Brody.

The day that I got my hands on an old
VHS tape with vintage Brody matches was

the day that everything changed for me.
I wanted to be the next Bruiser Brody.

The stories I've heard surrounding
Brody's death have always troubled me.

After 30 years we tracked down three
wrestlers willing to tell their version

what happened that night and to
chronicle the life and death of one of

wrestling's greatest outlaws.

Just in case you don't know who I am,
I'm Tony, Mr. USA Atlas, broad at the

shoulder, narrow at the hip, tower of
power, too sweet to be sour.

One of the last people to see Bruiser
Brody alive was Mr. USA Tony Atlas, a

former bodybuilder turned wrestler and a
current WWE Hall of Famer.

Okay, LT, stand up. Take the clothesline
over the top. Cameraman, watch out.

That was the shittiest finish I've ever
seen.

Dirty Dutch Mantel is one of the
business' most infamous villains in

the camera.

Has the taste returned to your mouth
after I slapped it out just a few

ago? And one of wrestling's greatest
minds behind the scenes.

In your experience, did you ever work
with Brody? I never did. I never had a

match with Brody. Why's that?

He beats the shit out of you.

And then there's the madman from the
Sudan, Abdullah the Butcher.

Abdullah was also Bruiser Brody's
greatest in -ring nemesis.

I've been in the business for 53 years.

What else can I say?

My name is Abdullah the Butcher, right?

I'm not a wrestler. I don't grab holds.
I use karate.

I use jujitsu.

Okay?

I'm not a wrestler.

I can beat you up any time that I want
to beat you up.

You understand?

And the guy behind the camera, give me
the fork so I can stab it all in his

head. Then you'll know.

Let me tell you something.

Don't you ever say that me and Brody,

was fake. We are not fakes.

We kept bringing them back and back.

And the people would say, when I seen
that match, that was no bullshit.

What would a match resemble between
Abdullah and Bruiser Brody? A bloodbath.

Every night.

We were like killers.

We kept pounding.

Would you get Abdullah Butzer and
Bruiser Brody in the ring?

It's going to be a lot of blood.

Because Abdullah had this fork, and they
did it every night. It was just

formula.

Oh, I loved the fork.

I'd stab him in the head, stick it into
his mouth, do everything.

Probably 85 % of the match was outside
the ring.

He struck fear in the hearts of fans.

When he went down to the ring, people
moved out of the way.

That's an art.

Brody's reputation in the business was
he was a main eventer.

He could make you a lot of money. So
that's why he was so popular. That's why

many promoters wanted him. Because he
could put asses in the seat.

He was

a superstar.

And at the time, he was one of the
biggest stars in the late 70s, early

One of the biggest stars in the world.

Bruiser Brody, he was a legend.

He was a legend.

Back before he died.

Oh, my gosh.

Oh, my gosh.

Every time I come out here, I find
something new.

Look at this, another one.

Some sentimental stuff associated with
it.

There's a lot of it, though.

Here's a whole pile of photographs in
here.

I mean, take a look at that. Oh, boy.

I first met Frank in Australia in the
hotel that I was working in. I had no

of his character because I only saw
Frank Goodish. I never saw Bruiser

Frank was very quiet, very intelligent,
even back in those days,

just like a regular person.

So he never lost sight of who he was. He
didn't become the character he created.

That's what's behind it. In my own case,
I spent three years with the Washington

Redskins in 1969, 70, and 71.

I was an All -American high school
football player.

I went to school on an athletic
scholarship.

We're rolling for this, huh?

Yeah, you've been rolling. Okay, good.

Oh, okay, I'm sorry.

I won't.

I don't think you said anything there.

Yeah, I did.

Yeah. I don't think it's good that
anybody knows that I'm Frank.

Frank was kind of a little bit of a
renegade.

We were together for a long time, and he
just came up with this idea, why don't

we stop off in Vegas and get married?

He said, I'm going to tell you now, it
is not going to be an easy life.

Out of a year, he maybe would only be
home three months of that year.

It was a challenge, but you do it.

When Jeff was born, he changed so much
because then he wanted to do for his

family, and he wanted to provide for his
son.

So it changed him, even made him softer
than who he really was. When he was

around his son, they had a really good
relationship.

I do believe I've subconsciously
possibly blocked a lot of things out,

unfortunately. So a lot of stories I
hear are stories other people have.

Tell me about my dad. At the same time,
it's hard to hear these stories because

those stories that people are telling
me, I don't have a lot of stories of my

own to tell. It was like the character
that he created, that it was separate

from the person I knew.

I would take him to the airport and he
would just be dad, husband, get out of

the car, had his hair pulled back, walk
through those doors.

Take his hair down. He became Bruiser
Brody on the other side. And I could

actually see the whole transformation
take place.

In July 1988, Frank departed for a
booking in Puerto Rico, an isolated

territory notorious for its wild blood
feuds and the zealousness of its fans.

It was Blood City.

There's blood all the time. Big shows,
you'd have three or four matches

Because remember, I told you, people
believed.

And they believed when you saw blood
that it was serious.

Ricky Rodriguez wants to stop him. Look,
the blood is just coming out. The

people are violent people.

They wanted violence.

People throw rocks at you. They throw
piss on you. They throw urine on you.

throw feces on you. They stole me.

They used to take cups, put glass or
stones and throw them at me.

They want to see somebody get hurt. They
want to see somebody get carried out on

a stretcher. Every place you go, they
love violence.

Some weekly planners, 1987, 1988.

Just the daily activities, it appears,
his workout schedule and regimen and

where he's traveling to.

San Juan, Puerto Rico, of all places.

Yeah, I believe it was the 16th or 17th
that that happened, unfortunately.

In July 1988, Frank Goodish left his
family in Texas and entered one of the

violent wrestling territories in the
world.

His family could not have imagined that
this would be the last time.

that they would see him alive.

In the summer of 1988, Bruiser Brody
left his family in Texas and entered one

the most violent wrestling territories
in the world.

It wasn't only his Puerto Rican fans who
were waiting for his return, but some

unresolved business and a bitter, long
-standing grudge.

The World Wrestling Council is Puerto
Rico's main wrestling promotion.

which was established by wrestlers
Gorilla Monsoon, Victor Jovica, and

Colon.

Carlos Colon!

Carlos Colon!

Carlos Colon was the boss.

He's also a WWE Hall of Famer now.

He was probably as big a star as Roberto
Clemente.

Carlos Colon's right -hand man was Jose
Juarez Gonzalez, a local wrestler

celebrated in the ring as invader number
one.

Gonzalez also acted as the company's
booker, the person in charge of the

creative direction and outcomes of
wrestling shows.

Frank understood the value of his
character consistently appearing as an

unbeatable monster to fans as a way to
keep them coming back for more.

He took this aggression to a new level
when he wrestled a young Jose Gonzalez,

when Gonzalez was hoping to make a big
impression in the WWF.

Brody and Invader, they didn't really
care for each other. Their personalities

did not match. Even their matches, you
could tell there was something not quite

right with them.

He was a pretty decent guy, if he liked
you.

If he didn't like you, he would beat the
living crap out of you.

But I've just seen Brody take people in
the ring many a time and just beat them

unmercifully. He would just beat them to
death.

Well, I've tried to piece it together
over the years. What brought this on?

Let's go back in the past, in the
mid-'70s. They were grooming, I heard,

Gonzalez to be like the next Puerto
Rican star.

Bruiser Brody came in and had a match
with Jose Gonzalez and just beat the

out of him.

He ate him up.

I mean, the whole face was rolling, the
head was rolling up. Looked just like a

pumpkin. Brody beat him so bad that SD
had to take him to the hospital.

SD Special Delivery Jones, he was a
wrestler.

We put him in the car and SD took him to
the hospital.

And he turned to SD Jones and said, one
day I'm going to kill that man.

He was angry.

I mean, his head looked like a pumpkin,
brother.

Bruiser Brody was worried about one
image, and that was Bruiser Brody.

Once the people see you get beat once or
twice, that brand...

And he knows that. The brand becomes
kind of violated, and he didn't want

to happen, and that's why he acted the
way he did. I don't know about the other

professional wrestlers.

I only know about Bruiser Brody.

And when I go in the ring, it doesn't
matter whether I'm in Texas or New York.

It doesn't matter whether people like me
or dislike me. I'm going to be just as

aggressive every night.

But I also heard that Brody was making
huge money in Japan.

And he had wanted to invest in a
wrestling promotion somewhere.

And he had Puerto Rico in mind.

And there was an owner, a part owner, a
minority owner, named Victor Quinones,

who had 10 % or something. But a lot of
it was owned by Gorilla Monsoon.

And I think Victor Quinones was
brokering a deal between Monsoon to sell

shares to Brody, which were made Brody.

Probably a minority owner. I thought he
bought part of that company.

They wanted his money, but they didn't
want his ideas.

And Brody ain't that type of guy.

Brody had his opinions. If you didn't
like them, too bad.

Can you tell us your name?

David Manning.

I was the booker for World Class
Championship Wrestling.

I was a little worried because Frank was
going to Puerto Rico to wrestle.

Frank said they owed him around $20
,000, $25 ,000.

And he had asked for the money politely.
He had...

Been waiting for the money. He told me
before he left, remember I said this,

coming back with my money.

And he said, if I have to beat every one
of them up, I'm getting my money.

Brody had mentioned to people that if he
took over, he was going to get rid of

Jose. And also, Jose Gonzalez had just
lost his three -year -old daughter. She

died in a swimming pool accident. She
drowned about three months earlier.

Now his job is being threatened, and he
doesn't like Brody in the first place.

So you add all those ingredients, it's
like fire and gasoline.

An explosion was going to happen, and it
did.

Can I please tell the story? I beg you.

Because I want to tell it. Okay.

I want to tell the story.

See? Okay, okay, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah. Because for two days I've been

talking about everything but Brody.

And I want to tell this story so bad I'm
ready to explode.

I've been carrying this story around in
my chest for how many years now?

This is how me and Brody started our
day.

Yeah, we were working out in the gym
that morning.

The same routine we did, you know, this
last day here on Earth.

I go to the gym every morning anyway.

And so me and him, we worked out
together.

And he said, Tony, you want to go get
something to eat? So I said, oh, sure,

I'll go get something to eat. And then
he turned to me.

At breakfast, he said, I waited a long
time to get in down here. So I just got

the impression that maybe, just maybe,
that he bought in the company.

He said, you are going to see a lot of
changes.

We was at the hotel, and Bruiser Brody
and Dutch Mantell were sitting on the

steps outside in the front of the
building. And I said, Brody, I figure

gone by now.

He said, I'm waiting on Jose Gonzalez.

He's supposed to pick me up.

And I, right then, I said, well, that's
unusual.

Why would Jose, the booker, leave his
main event?

And I said, you can ride with us if you
like.

So we went to the show, and traffic was
horrible leading into the stadium

because cars were lined up, so you know
it was going to be a sellout.

And we hopped out, and we took our bags
to where the dressing rooms were.

Now, looking back on it, it was kind of
strange.

Because when I walked in, I got a
strange feeling.

But Jose was sitting there. I said, he's
here.

As soon as I come to the door, I saw the
three of them sitting there, talking.

Jose, Carlos Colon, and Victor, they
were sitting in the football huddle.

Yeah, it kind of seemed a little
strange.

Because I've never really seen them
together like that.

And it didn't look like they were in
conversation.

They were just sitting there.

which was even more strange.

Gonzales gets up from his seat, looked
me straight in the face, and left.

Never looked at Brody, never looked at
Dutch, and he walked out of the dressing

room. And Brody sat down right beside
me.

And I sat there maybe five minutes.

And that feeling of tension, it just got
stronger. So I said, I got to get out

of here.

I got to move. I got to something. Maybe
if I move around, it'll go away.

So I get up and walk out. I go and I sit
in the dugout and I'm watching the

crowd come in.

So I had my art pad. I set my bag down.
I set my chair and I started sketching.

Brody came over and he looked at it.

He said, that is freaking fantastic. He
get all excited. Big smile is on his

face and everything.

And he said, I wonder if you could do
one for me.

So he opened up his little pouch.

reached in and pulled out a picture of
his son.

Jose came back into the dressing room.

I looked up, and Jose was standing
there.

And he had a towel over his head.

Brody, can I talk to you for a minute,
please?

Just like that.

Can I talk to you for a minute, please?

And Brody said, yeah.

And he walked in there.

And that's where it happened.

It's not unusual to discuss match plans
privately.

But on this evening, the conversation
between Brody and Gonzalez would descend

into an unthinkable nightmare.

In Puerto Rico, before his match,
Bruiser Brody is summoned to a private

with talent booker Jose Gonzalez.

There was a history of bad blood between
Brody and Gonzalez, and wrestler Tony

Atlas was witness to the growing
tension.

He had a bag in his hand.

The picture of his son in this hand.

And when he turned away with the
picture, that's when I noticed Carlos

at me. As I'm looking at Carlos, I hear
this sound.

So I looked up.

Brody was halfway hunched over.

I thought Jose punched him in the
stomach. That's what I thought. That the

thought came to me, damn, he hit Brody.

I said, oh, this is going to be a fight.

So then he hollered again.

I looked at Jose's face, and his eyes
was bloodshot red.

Then I saw the knife.

The knife went in the air like this,
with blood dripping off of it. I sprung

out of my chair, wrapped my arm around
Brody's waist just like this. I yanked

him back just in the nick of time to
keep from his throat getting cut.

And because I pulled him back, the knife
came down and cut his ponytail off.

That's how sharp that knife was.

Carlos shoot right by me.

And he grabbed Jose and pushed him up
against the wall and said, no, Jose, no,

Jose. And Carlos was keeping people away
from Jose, telling the rest of them, y

'all stay back, stay back. So I take
Brody, and I take him and I lay him down

the ground.

I felt his intestines and blood all over
this arm here. This whole arm was

drenched in blood.

And he looked up at me, he said,
brother.

don't let them hurt me no more. Please,
brother, don't let them hurt me no more.

He said, don't let them.

Not him.

Them. That's why I didn't know who the
hell he was talking about. Who else is

involved in this, I'm thinking.

I said, ain't nobody going to do
anything to you.

Carlo tried to approach Brody after I
laid him down.

I told Carlo, I said, don't bring your
ass over here. I will knock your mother

head right off the shoulder. He said,
Tony, calm down. I said, Car me down. I

said, y 'all just stabbed your guy. I
had nothing to do with it. I said,

a goddamn liar.

I said, y 'all worked together. So then
Brody tugged at my leg.

And he said, let him over.

So as I make my way back to the tunnel,
I could hear the noise.

And it was kind of dark in there, but I
could see the lights in the dress room.

Something was going on.

And that's when I asked Mark Youngblood
what happened. He said, invader,

invader, stab Brody.

The dress room is in a panic.

And I see Brody laying in front of me.
And Carlos is leaning over him, talking

to him.

He said, Brody, is there anything I can
do for you?

That's what Carlos asked Brody.

Brody said, just take care of my family.

And I don't know what Carlos was saying,
but I'm sure he was saying, hang on

there, man. We're going to get you help.
We're going to get you help. But I do

remember Brody looking up at Carlos and
telling Carlos, tell my wife I love her.

That's the only thing I heard him say.

So that right there tells me that.

He doesn't have a lot of faith in his
own survival.

The shower had a door on it that wasn't
clear.

It was translucent.

You could see light behind it and
figures.

Vader never came out of that shower.

He never came out. And he was in there
with Jovica, who was part owner of the

company. And they were screaming at each
other. There was nothing I could really

do, just watch.

He walked out of the shower.

Walked around Brody's feet, went to his
bag, got his keys, and he left.

And his shirt, they said, was torn.

Which tells me that whatever happened in
that shower, that it was a physical

confrontation with Brody ripping the
shirt.

It took at least 35 to 45 minutes for
the ambulance to get there. They tried

put Brody on the gurney. They couldn't
lift him.

It was about 300 -some pounds. It was
too heavy. So I got down in the squat

position, squatted all the way down, and
slid my arm underneath him.

And he looked up at me and said, don't
you drop me.

And I said, don't worry, brother. I curl
more than what you weigh.

So I pulled him gently and laid him on
the girder. The old man walked back to

the back of the ambulance to shut and
lock the door.

He said, before I shut the door.

Is there anybody here that want to go
with him to keep his company?

So I said, I go.

And I jumped and got on the ambulance.
And I remember guys looking at me like,

what in the is wrong with Tony? He
should stay out of this. You could

feel they thinking this. Nobody was
saying nothing, but you could almost

they were thinking what is wrong with
him. Like I've said before, I'm not a

religious person.

Never have been.

Probably never will be.

But I did go and say a little prayer for
Brody, for whatever worth it could be.

It could help him find.

Couldn't hurt.

And we were sitting in the ambulance.

Brody was laying there.

And I started crying again.

I mean, I couldn't hold back the tears.

And I sung this song.

If heaven ain't a lot like Dixie, I
don't want to go.

My voice got choked up. Everything got
choked up.

I just told him, I said, you're going to
be all right, brother. I said, I'm

going to stay with you, man. I said, I'm
with you, man. I'm with you.

There's an old saying in professional
wrestling.

Consider yourself lucky if you make it
out with one true friend.

On this night, Brody had that true
friend in Tony Atlas.

But he would need more than that to make
it out alive.

Tony Atlas finally made it to the
hospital with Bruiser Brody in critical

condition. Although Atlas' struggle to
save Brody's life was far from over. We

get to the hospital and he laid there
for probably about 15 or 20 minutes. I

freaking tired of waiting on a doctor.
So I finally got one doctor that spoke a

little bit of English.

And I said, I've been telling people my
friend been stabbed.

How come nobody going to see him? He
told me, he said, a stab in here is like

cold in the U .S.

There's no big deal.

He said, well, I would get to him when I
can and turn to walk away from it. I

grabbed him around the waist, yanked him
up all the way up on my shoulder just

like this.

And I carried him there to Brody.

So finally he looked at Brody. He lifted
Brody's hand up and was like this the

whole time, just like this.

At the same time he lifted his hand up,
I remember I was taking his shoes off.

When I saw his feet, and it was blue.

Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Because I knew
this is real bad. So I said, doctor,

please get him in now, now. You got to
go now. He started calling on people.

Come on, come on. We need some help
here. We need some help here.

I got so freaking mad when I saw that I
punched the wall.

I burned my fist probably about up to my
elbow in that wall. That's how hard I

hit that wall.

While chaos and confusion erupted at the
scene of Bruiser Brody's stabbing,

rumors began to fly and word reached
across the stadium.

to Abdullah the butcher in a second
dressing room.

The doctor came and says, Brody was cut
or stabbed or whatever.

I said, come on.

You know, I thought it was a joke.

In my opinion, I thought it was working
an angle.

But when the doctor told me, then I
says, holy shit.

Because the doctor wouldn't be lying.

That was it.

Brody was...

He'd already been taken out.

But the police walked in and thinking,
well, it's just another crazy, wild

wrestling brawl. They didn't think it
was real.

I was banging on the operating room door
talking about what the fuck is going on

in there, what's going on in there. And
the doctor came out, and he said, Tony,

he had two 8 -inch cuts.

He said, we got his intestines back
together.

He said, the only problem we have now is
that his liver was sliced.

He told me we're going to be okay. He
said, he's stable.

He said, but what you need to do, you
need to go home because everybody in

is more afraid of you.

I wanted to be as far away from that
dressing room as I could be.

Then I saw Invader walk in.

Then he had on a different shirt.

He continued business like nothing had
happened.

I don't know why he came back.

I really don't.

I'm thinking, man, what balls this guy's
got. The thing that was so horrible

was when I got back to the dressing
room.

It was more horrible than the stabbing.

It was more horrible than him laying on
that table. The most horrible thing that

happened on that night was going back to
that dressing room and hearing

laughter.

First, I couldn't believe they didn't
cancel the show.

That was the first thing I thought.

And opening up the door, and the blood
on the floor ain't even dried yet.

And they in the dressing room laughing
and joking. And Pat Lee turned on the

back, talking about how great the
matches were and what a wonderful show

I took the freaking chair and I threw it
across the damn hallway.

There was a policeman that said, hey,
hey, hey, come down, calm down.

He said, did you see what happened? I
said, hell yeah, I saw what happened. He

said, did you get a look? Did you get a
look at the fan that stabbed him? I

said, what were you told?

He said, everybody in here.

Said that Brody was stabbed before he
got in the dressing room. That a

fan stabbed him in the hallway. He
stumbled into the dressing room. I said,

that's a damn lie. I said, that's some
of the bitch sitting right there is the

one that stabbed him. He said, you mean
Vader? I said, yes, I mean Vader. That

sucker right there, that's who stabbed
Roosevelt.

I said, ask everybody in the dressing
room. He said, they all telling a

different story. I said, they're all
liars. I said, he's some of the bitch

stabbed him. He was telling the cops,
hey, hey, that's the guy you need.

The rest right there, he pointed to Jose
Gonzalez.

A woman sitting right in the chair right
there was putting his resting gear in

his bag.

It's like nothing happened. That's the
part that messed with my head so much.

was like nothing happened.

If you're a policeman and you come into
a situation that you think could be

staged, they didn't think it was real.

Tony knew it was real, so they were
actually engaging each other from

perspectives. That's why the disconnect.

In professional wrestling, the line
between fiction and reality is

blurred. As the night's events continued
to unfold, it would be nearly

impossible for anyone to tell the
difference or to know the truth.

While Bruiser Brody was fighting for his
life at the hospital, Tony Atlas'

eyewitness account of the stabbing was
making the rounds.

So then that night you wrestled. Carlos
Colon, your time is over.

That night I wrestled Aaron Sheik, the
night of the murder.

I just went and did it.

I just went in the match. He locked up
with me. He said, how's Brody?

Doctor said he's going to be okay.

He said, you wrestling fan, they told me
that they dangerous.

I said, Jose Gonzalez did it. Right
there. The Sheik just straightened right

just like that.

That mother.

Jose Gonzalez Vader Muller killed the
King Kong of the Brody. He rolled right

out of the ring and went straight back
to his locker room. We only wrestled for

maybe one or two minutes.

I go to my room and a guy named Fabio
Vega, they call him TNT.

He said, Tony, I got your bag.

I went to your room and got your bag for
you.

I said, for what?

He said, don't go to your room. They are
looking for you because you talking.

So I took my bag, and I went down to the
beach, and I walked the beach the whole

night. I tried to lay down and get some
sleep, but kept waking up every time I

hear something.

I kept looking.

I'm paranoid as hell now.

I go back to that hotel.

Walked to the front desk, and I told the
girl, and I said, listen, if Brody gets

any calls to his room, please put them
through to my room.

They said, okay.

The phone started ringing about
midnight.

Kept ringing, ringing, ringing.

By this time, it's 1 o 'clock in the
morning. I said, I'm going to answer and

give them a piece of my mind.

So I picked up the phone, and there was
this woman. And she said, this is Nancy.

Cologne, well, Nancy Cologne is Carlos
Cologne's wife.

I'm calling to let you know there's been
an accident and I think you better come

to Puerto Rico. So I call the hotel and
they put me through to Dutch.

She said, who is this? I said, well,
this is Dutch.

And she said, well, what happened,
Dutch?

And I knew it was pretty serious, but I
was saying, well, Brody had an accident

and it's pretty serious.

and that maybe you should come to Puerto
Rico. He didn't have any details.

After I got the call, I tried to go to
sleep. I couldn't sleep. Like I said,

adrenaline was flowing.

About 8 o 'clock, I get up. I go
downstairs to the front desk.

I said, can you do me a favor? And she
said, yeah, what do you need? I said,

you call the hospital that my friend
Brody is in?

She said, yeah.

So she calls out there, and she's
speaking in Spanish.

And I hear luchador.

I hear Ressler, and then she starts
crying.

And I look at her, and she said, I'm
sorry, your friend didn't make it.

I said, what?

She said, no, he died last night.

How did you first learn that Brody had
passed?

Abdullah told me at the meeting.

And I slept on the beach the whole
night. So now I'm going back to the

I saw Abdullah and some of the wrestlers
in the lobby.

And they said, Tony, we're having a
meeting.

And they're waiting on you to tell them
what happened.

Did you ever have any hotel room
meeting?

Hotel? Hell no.

No. No, sir.

No, no. Abdullah told us that he didn't
have a meeting. He lied.

Maybe they did.

But not me.

You understand?

He lied to you. If that's what he told
you, I'm telling you what happened.

I had 5 % of the business.

You see what I mean? In a way that
people did not want to talk to me.

What do you mean?

Well, if you own some of the territory,
right, who's going to come and say, oh,

this happened, or this guy done this,
this guy done that?

They were in their own little bunch.

So why would they come and talk to me?

Brody was a friend, and I didn't want to
be in all the gossip, what they were

talking about.

Nobody heard me say shit.

That's a shame.

That's a damn shame that he done that.

Dutch Mantell asked him. He was there in
the meeting.

I think we all met in somebody's room.

And somebody said, ma 'am, are they
investigating this or what?

I mean.

A man died. What's going on here?

I just started thinking, in this
territory, this happened?

That's why I left.

I said, well, I saw it.

So I go down, I make my report to the
police department. He said, your story

different than everybody else's. He
said, we will be contacting you for a

date.

He said, now that we got a witness to
it, we're going to arrest him.

Then they took me, and I gave my
statement, and then all through the

took statements from the wrestlers.

He did say, he says, you tell Carlos
Colon we run this island, not him.

I think they asked, did I see a weapon?

I did not see a weapon.

As a matter of fact, no weapon was ever
recovered.

That weapon, whatever was used, what
knife was used, has never been

I've got my bag.

I went to the airport and I left.

Then I made arrangements.

I said, I got to go to the airport.

Got on the plane with Jeff, get off the
plane, waiting to see if anybody was

going to pick me up.

So I looked around and here's Abby.

I was going and this lady and this
little boy walked up and she says, oh,

Abdullah, you don't know me, but I'm
Frank's wife.

She says, how's he doing?

I said, what?

She said, well, how's he doing? I said,
they didn't tell you?

Tell me what? I said, he's gone.

And she grabbed me.

And she said, oh, no.

All you think about is surviving.

All I thought about was I saw a man get
stabbed to death, holding on, and Dan

with a picture of his son in his hand.

He never put that picture down, brother.

When I put him on the ambulance, he had
the picture in his hand. He laid on the

floor, he's still holding that picture.

He go in the operating room, he never
put that picture down, brother.

Never.

The irony of Brody's greatest nemesis
delivering this news was only the

beginning of the unthinkable events that
would follow.

Alone with her son in a foreign land and
dealing with the shocking circumstances

of her husband's death, Barbara Goodish
found the strength to make the necessary

arrangements.

Nancy was Carlos Colon's wife.

She took me to the morgue, and of
course, everybody is speaking Spanish.

They took me to the window, and you
could just see all these bodies in

And then, of course, the reality, boom.

Just really started to sink in.

Not sure how long it took before it set
in. We were in the hotel room and I

remember crying just incessantly for
hours, hours and hours and hours,

screaming.

I still didn't realize the magnitude of
what had happened. And it probably took,

I don't know how long, 10, 15, 20 years
maybe.

When everything happened, it was like,
what do I do? How do I bring him back to

the States?

And it was like I heard his voice.

And it was like he was saying, Barbara,
you know what to do. And at that moment

it was, I need to cremate him down here
and take him home with me.

There was a very simple ceremony in
Puerto Rico.

I mean, nobody was there except me and
Jeff and some of the wrestlers and some

of the Puerto Ricans. And Jeff picked
out his dad's casket.

It was blue.

When did you hear Jose was arrested?

About three, four days later. From what
I hear, he was taken down to a local

precinct, never was put into sale.

Bail was made for him immediately by
some big businessmen there, and he

back home the same day.

And so did you come to learn anything
about Jose Gonzalez?

I know that the... I'm not even going to
say his name. I know that the attacker

did it.

From what I can hear from everybody, the
whole court case was a sham.

I mean, do you think there was a cover
-up? No, there was not.

The only guy that could have covered was
Javik and I, and we didn't do that.

You know, we told the judge and the
courtroom, we said what we saw.

Because I didn't see any stabbing, I
didn't see any weapon, I didn't see

anything. A guy named Tony Rumba, the
Boston bad boy, banging on doors. I told

him, Tony, put your channel, put the TV
on a certain channel.

They're talking about the Puerto Rico
thing. I flipped the TV on. I see Jose

TV coming out of the courthouse.

I said, what they had to hear? He said,
no, they have a trial. They let him go

for self -defense.

And you got to be kidding me. They never
contacted me.

So you never got contested? Never.

Never did.

Never did.

Finally, my subpoena came in the mail
for my appearance.

And I already knew the verdict by the
time my subpoena arrived at my door.

It was 10 days late. That's why the
verdict came back not innocent, but not

guilty. And Jose never testified.

But they believe what his attorney put
out, that he was just merely acting in

self -defense.

The fans in Puerto Rico believed
wrestling was real. That was the major

that Jose was acquitted, because they
believed Brody was this character, this

wild -looking psychopath, hulking
figure, and his defense was self

Do you believe it was really self
-defense? I don't know, really, I don't

You know, I respect the law.

So sad, I really, you know, I...

I wouldn't want to talk about this
anymore because it makes me sad.

One month after Bruiser Brody's passing,
All Japan Pro Wrestling hosted a

massive tribute show, inviting both
Barbara and her son Jeff to be honored

front of the 17 ,000 fans in attendance.

The honor.

that they respected and being in that
ring and hearing that 10 bell count and

hearing everybody chanting this whole
building chanting his name brody brody

brody and i'm just standing there in the
ring with jeff and it was the most i

mean just to know how much he was
respected may peace be with you bruiser

bruiser brody was a brawler mythic
proportions

and will always live on as such in the
world of professional wrestling.

I didn't ever guess that I was going to
be a professional wrestler.

Once I started in professional
wrestling, learned the ropes, if I had

over again, I think that I would
probably even pass up my three years in

and devote them to wrestling because
it's been that good to me.

It was one of its biggest stars in the
1970s and 80s, and it's considered one

the all -time greatest wrestlers in
Japanese wrestling history.

where he is still celebrated today as an
icon.

Yeah, justice would be great.

Some personal justice would be more
gratifying than some legal justice,

honestly.

Mr. Brody, every dog has his day.

You cannot kill a legend.

See, legends never die.

So if that was Jose, Seen me to kill a
legend?

He fell.

Miserably.

Nobody knows the exact circumstances,
including the words, if any, exchanged

between Frank Goodish and Jose Gonzalez
on the night of Brody's death.

It remains one of wrestling's darkest
and most intriguing mysteries.

Join us next time as we continue to
explore the untold stories of

wrestling.

I wish he was here.

Yeah. I wish he was here.

He ditched it out.

I ditched it out. And we kept going and
going and going and going.

Brody.

Oh, shit.