Sport's Strangest Crimes returns with Adam Hills telling the extraordinary story of the life, legend and death of Bruiser Brody, one of 1980s wrestling’s biggest stars and most enigmatic figures.
Frank Goodish was a larger than life character, in every sense of the word. Reputed to stand at 6ft 8 inches tall and weigh in at over 300lbs, with a shaggy mane of jet black hair and bushy beard to match, he was an imposing presence tailormade for professional wrestling.
Whilst Frank, better known as Bruiser Brody, was a monster in the ring and every inch the ‘wrestling bad guy’, he was also a family man and loyal friend according to those who knew him well in the industry.
Professional wrestling, also known as sports entertainment today, enthrals millions of fans around the world every week. But in decades gone by it could be a secretive industry shrouded in mystery for anyone not in the business. But what happened on the small island territory of Puerto Rico on one hot night in 1988 is an astonishing tale, and indeed one of Sport’s Strangest Crimes.
We hear how the larger-than-life Bruiser became embroiled in a violent feud, which may have ultimately led to his death. It’s a tale full of both violence and kindness, truth and lies, impossible rumours and incredible realities.
The podcast investigates how what started out as a professional wrestling storyline feud or ‘work’ as it’s known in the business, ended in a bloody altercation that left one of wrestling’s biggest stars of the time, dying in the locker room backstage at a wrestling event on the island territory of Puerto Rico.
Talking about the podcast, Adam Hill says: “This was a deep dive into a murky crime, made even murkier by the mystery and myth surrounding the outwardly glitzy world of professional wrestling. I hope we managed to tell the story of Bruiser Brody in a way that his alter ego, Frank Goodish, would have liked.”
Adam will speak with wrestlers and industry experts to unpack the reality of that tragic night and decipher the facts from what has become wrestling folklore. He asks what happened to the Bruiser’s attacker after that night, and looks at the ensuing trial that followed.
Adam said working on the series was rather eye-opening: “I learned that wrestling is a lot like stand-up comedy - you're putting on a show, with a line-up of other talented people with big egos, and sometimes there are backstage disputes. In comedy though, it's very rare to be body-slammed.'
Sport's Strangest Crimes: The Ballad of Bruiser Brody is available now on BBC Sounds, and weekly on RSS from Wednesday, 27 March.
