Bruiser Brody Frank Donald Goodish ( June 18 , 1946 – July 17 , 1988 ) was an American professional wrestler who earned his greatest fame under the ring name s King Kong Brody and Bruiser Brody . Goodish was an All - State football and basketball player at Warren High School , Michigan , and played football at West Texas A & M University ( then known as West Texas State ) and with the Washington Redskins in the NFL . As a wrestler , he helped innovate the " brawling " style and was infamous for his wild and legitimately uncooperative demeanor . Career . Known for his wild hair , big bushy beard and bulging eyes , Bruiser Brody was a madman in the truest sense of the word . After 15 unpredictable years in the ring , the brawler earned the reputation as one of the toughest of his time , but instead will be remembered best by his tragic passing . After making his professional debut in 1973 , Brody competed as a freelancer in several companies including the National Wrestling Alliance , Central States Wrestling , World Wide Wrestling Federation , Southwest Championship Wrestling , Windy City Wrestling , Texas All Star Wrestling , World Wrestling Council , Deep South Wrestling , Championship Wrestling from Florida , American Wrestling Association , and World Class Championship Wrestling . In the States , he had numerous feuds with the likes of Kamala the Ugandan Giant , Andre the Giant , Abdullah the Butcher , Dick the Bruiser , Jerry Blackwell , and The Von Erichs . In Japan , he was in a tag team with Stan Hansen . Brody had a reputation for refusing to job to other wrestlers . He also competed under the moniker of Red River Jack in Texas , during an angle against Gary Hart ' s men and Skandor Akbar ' s Army in World Class Championship Wrestling . Brody also competed as the Masked Marauder for one time in the AWA . In 1985 , he had a very short stint with New Japan Pro Wrestling 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 ended up losing the title back to Jumbo Tsuruta four days later . Brody had an infamous cage match with Lex Luger in Florida at NWA Florida in January 1987 . 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 continually punched Brody in a corner and did not back off . 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 wouldn ' t 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 ( 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 . Death . Internationally , Brody was seen as a legend , especially in Puerto Rico . Unfortunately , the Puerto Rican ring would be the last he would ever compete in . On July 16 , 1988 , Brody was in the locker room before his match with Dan Spivey in Bayamón ( a city near San Juan , Puerto Rico ) , when José Huertas González , a fellow wrestler and booker , asked him to go into the shower to discuss business . Brody entered the shower stall and a few minutes later a scuffle ensued , followed by two groans , 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 knife . When the paramedics arrived , Atlas carried Brody downstairs to the waiting ambulance , as , due to Brody ' s enormous stature , paramedics were unable to lift him . Brody ' s last words ( as told to Atlas ) were , " Tell my little son I love him , and tell my wife I love her , too . " González , who always maintained his innocence , was initially charged with first - degree murder but was later reduced and tried for involuntary homicide . Dutch Mantell received his subpoena after the trial was over and Tony Atlas , who had given a statement and said he witnessed what happened refused to return to give his version in court and without his testimony the District Attorney had no case . Some wrestlers ( the Youngbloods ) were scared to death and made no declaration to the police at the time of the events . However , Tony Atlas declared what he saw to the police and came back to Puerto Rico several years later to work with the promotion . In January 1989 , González was acquitted on all counts , citing self - defense . Carlos Colón testified against Brody during the trial .