Big Bad John

**William Desmond Goodman** (January 27, 1943 – September 17, 1980), better known by his ring name **Big Bad John**, was an American professional wrestler and manager. While best known for his stint as a manager in Australia, he also won various singles and tag team championships.

## Professional wrestling career

William Goodman started competing in the 1960s, initially working as Tony Goodman, before adopting his well-known name of Big Bad John. He spent the next few years working for Detroit's Big Time Wrestling shows around Michigan and Ohio, teaming with John Quinn as The Cousins, and working as a jobber.

This would change when he moved to the NWA's Mid-America territory, where on May 11, 1970, John and Pepe López defeated Ken Lucas and Bob Armstrong to win the NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship. They held it for 10 days until losing it to Armstrong and Bearcat Brown. John would win the tag titles three more times; two of those reigns were with Lopez, while the other was with Omar Atlas.

After moving on from Atlas, John won the NWA Georgia Television Championship on October 9, 1971, defeating Klondike Bill, until dropping it a week later to Ray Gunkel. Four days later after losing it, he won the Macon Tag Team Championship with Buddy Colt, holding it for a month. John also won the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship with Tim Woods on January 17, 1973, holding it until February.

Big Bad John found huge success in his career when he went to Australia in 1973 (having toured the previous year), working for World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Often donning a steel helmet, he led an army of heels called Big Bad John's Army, with clientele including Abdullah the Butcher, Waldo von Erich, Bulldog Brower, Mr. Fuji, Hiro and Hito Tojo, Don Fargo, Blackjack Slade and Tiger Jeet Singh.

Waging war on the People's Army including Mark Lewin, King Curtis, Spiros Arion, Killer Karl Kox, Mario Milano, Wadi Ayoub and locals, the feud was a defining one for the company and proved to be the last hurrah for promoter Jim Barnett, who returned to the States by the end of the year. In January 1975, John held the NWA World 6-Man Tag Team Championship in Mid-America with Lorenzo Parente and John Gray. Later that year came a reign with the NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Championship with Rip Tyler.

On January 20, 1976, he defended the NWA Florida Television Championship as a replacement for champion Rocky Johnson, losing it to the Missouri Mauler. Nonetheless, he would later form a partnership with Bill Dundee. The two won the Mid-America version of the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship in March, and held it until April. On May 3, John and Dundee won the titles again but their reign only lasted a week. Nearly four months later, John would win the Mid-America Heavyweight Title for his final documented reign. In 1977, John served as the manager for fellow heel Ronnie Garvin, in Ron Fuller's Southeastern promotion based in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Outside of the ring, Big Bad John was allegedly a part of a motorcycle gang and had a small role in *The Magic of Lassie* in 1978. That same year, however, John, who had been stabbed many times throughout his career, was stabbed once again at the site of an outdoor show in Bakersfield, and his health took a sharp decline after the incident.

## Death

Goodman died on September 17, 1980, under mysterious causes. Many stated that Goodman had been murdered (possibly in connection to the incident two years prior), while his death certificate says he died from liver disease, presumably from alcoholism. He was 37 years old.