Blood on tv? UHF?

October 28, 2005 8:59 AM

Old School tough guy. Perhaps the single most hated villain in wrestling, Dick the Brusier was a midwest legend and his matches always scored a high positive on the Muta Scale before there was a Muta Scale. Brusier typifyed t.v. wrasslin' before the second golden age, as late as 1976 you could still catch a match on the small time UHF channels. But whether he and his tag team partner Crusher were real blue collar guys or not, you can smoke cigars, drink beer and gobble bbq in his old stomping grounds.
posted by Smedleyman (18 comments total)

New school wresting discussed previously here.

Those old matches are fun to watch. I almost completely forgot about "The Claw" and Baron Von Raschke.
posted by Smedleyman at 9:03 AM on October 28, 2005

I went to Junior High with the Baron's daughter. He'd come to band concerts and stuff (sans monocle).
posted by MrMoonPie at 9:28 AM on October 28, 2005

The Crusher, the wrestler that made Milwaukee famous, passed recently.
posted by klarck at 9:45 AM on October 28, 2005

What's the Baron up to now?
posted by MrMoonPie at 9:45 AM on October 28, 2005

I worked at a coolege radio station with the Baron's son. Everyone made the claw hand to him all the time.

I loved the Crusher. He had a recurring commerical in which he held a television set and chewed on his cigar, and then snarled "Sick a'yer old teevee set? T'row it away!" Which he then did.

The Crusher also inspired one of the worst songs ever written.

Do the hammerlock you turkey necks. RAGE!
posted by maxsparber at 9:48 AM on October 28, 2005

Coolege? College. WMMR.
posted by maxsparber at 9:50 AM on October 28, 2005

Dick the Bruiser used to do some cool TV radio ads for WRIF in Detroit.
posted by mert at 10:22 AM on October 28, 2005

I remember when the Bruiser used to do color commentary. Great stuff.

Gorilla Monsoon: "Mad Dog Vachon is in a lumberjack match with Ric Flair. Flair with a chop to that lower lumbar region. Did you enjoy the taste of that chop when you were in the ring - Dick the Brusier?"

DTB: "Yeah.....He's tough......dat guy...."

I loved his voice man. He could say anything and it sounded tough. Bruiser could say "What a fabulous window treatment" and make it sound like he was going to belt someone.

No one had that go to hell style until, I'd say, the Road Warriors.

Shame they all seem to die young.
posted by Smedleyman at 11:43 AM on October 28, 2005

Mad Dog! Wasn't he just some hairy old brute? In the glory days of wrestling, it seemed like half the wrestlers were just old, overweight men with back hair.

Man, do I miss those days. And the polka commercials that interrupted the matches.
posted by maxsparber at 11:50 AM on October 28, 2005

Used to watch wrestling after school in the early to mid-'70s...one of my heroes was Wahoo McDaniel.
posted by alumshubby at 12:05 PM on October 28, 2005

The last time I saw Mad Dog Vachon, someone beltes someone else with Vachon's artificial leg.

I guess you do lose a step if you are away from the game for too long.
posted by Swandive at 12:13 PM on October 28, 2005

Sorry, Mert, that WRIF "Dick the Bruiser" (who I also loved as a kid) was an impersonator. Mostly notable for continuing to appear on radio after '91, when the real bruiser died.
posted by klangklangston at 12:34 PM on October 28, 2005

I grew up watching the AWA out of Minneapolis. Verne and Greg Gagne, The Crusher, Mad Dog, Nick Bockwinkel, Hulk Hogan, Jerry Blackwell, Iron Sheik, Rock and Roll Buck Zumhof, etc.
posted by DieHipsterDie at 1:06 PM on October 28, 2005

I grew up in Charlotte, NC, the hub of a lot of 70s wrestling. In addition to the afore-mentioned association with the Raschke clan, there were a few other notable encounters.

I carpooled with the Super Destroyer's daughter. Other wrestlers, including Wahoo McDaniel, would often come by his house on the weekend, for barbecues and what-not. It was rumored in the neighborhood that Mrs. Destroyer was a female wrestler, but I don’t know if that was ever verified.

Kendall Wyndham was in my 5th grade class, and a buddy of mine. His dad, Black Jack Mulligan, came to our 6th-grade graduation ceremony.

Ric Flair lived a few blocks away. My buddies and I would ride our bikes by his house, and he'd be out there mowing the lawn. He always waved, even giving out his trademark “Whoo!” once.
posted by MrMoonPie at 1:11 PM on October 28, 2005

Sorry, Mert, that WRIF "Dick the Bruiser" (who I also loved as a kid) was an impersonator. Mostly notable for continuing to appear on radio after '91, when the real bruiser died.

I remember those ads for the 'RIF. Actually, they used the real DTB in the ads, while he lip synced the radio DTB's voice.
posted by bawanaal at 1:55 PM on October 28, 2005

How much is a full Muta?
posted by Four Flavors at 1:57 PM on October 28, 2005

"How much is a full Muta?"
posted by Four Flavors at 1:57 PM PST on October 28 [!]


'bout a quart and a 3/4.


You can lose about 2 quarts of blood before you pass out.

Blading always struck me as crazy....but kinda fun. I mean talk about committed to the role.
posted by Smedleyman at 2:20 PM on October 28, 2005

Just as interesting was his partner The Crusher. Not only did he make what is regarded as one of the worst pop singles around, entitled "The Crusher", with The Novas, but the song has been covered by The Cramps. The Ramones did a different song about him, also titled The Crusher.

Though I couldn't find a link for The Crusher's version of the original The Crusher, here is The Cramps' version, and oddly enough, a Spanish version.

The Cramps version:

http://home.comcast.net/~googuse/crusher.mp3

Los Shains' "El Monstruo" (Spanish version):

http://blogfiles.wfmu.org/BL/0508/Los%20Shains_-_El_%20Monstruo.mp3
posted by kablam at 6:08 PM on October 30, 2005