Found this rare an amazing clip on Chris Parsons’ Youtube channel: Dick the Bruiser cutting a promo for an upcoming match in Louisville. This is dated November 1965, which would have been the era when Wee Willie Davis was the promoter in Louisville working in conjunction with Bruiser.
If you haven’t read Bruiser’s biography, it’s worth picking up. You can buy it direct from Crowbar Press.
“When I started wrestling, everyone like Gorgeous George had on capes [and] big robes; really gaudy and everything. Then I came along and all I had was pair of trunks and my shoes. I had no gimmick. It was the absence of gimmicks that made me different.”
— Dick the Bruiser
I first heard about this book when I was working on Bluegrass Brawlers from Chris Parsons, who used to run a fabulous website on Indianapolis wrestling called Rasslin Relics. For many people who grew up in Indianapolis, Dick the Bruiser is wrestling, moreso than the WWE will ever be. He was a no nonsense wrestler and a savvy businessman who ran Indiana for decades, helping to launch the careers of hometown boys from Bobby Heenan to David Letterman. He’s the reason promoters in Indiana enjoy more freedom than almost any other state. And now, his story has finally come to print.
Order your copy from Crowbar Press. Grab a cigar and a beer and enjoy the tale of one of wrestling’s true, original bad boys.
