Bruiser Brody v Abdullah the Butcher (WCCW, 8/4/86)
I've watched a lot of Brody the last few days. Or like five matches, so a handful. A smattering, if you will. I don't really know why because I'm not a Brody fan and initially I only watched him v Dick Murdoch, brought about by our man Matt D posting a clip on twitter, entirely for the stuff with Murdoch getting hit with a wooden table. But Brody's performance was interesting in that match because there were parts where I thought he came across as an awesome menace and other parts where I thought he was sort of deplorable and infuriating for many of the reasons people have thought Brody deplorable and infuriating over the years. And "half menacing, half annoying" was largely my takeaway from the other Brody matches I watched, which has been consistent with my view of Brody forever now.
But this was the Brody you, I, WE wanted all along. I mean, probably. Maybe it's because he didn't have as much STROKE in Dallas, maybe it's because he liked Abdullah, maybe it's because he was in a particularly generous mood, but this was about as giving a performance as you'll see from Brody and I don't remember him ever looking more vulnerable. When he hit the ring to begin with he was all over Abdullah. Abby even took a quick flat back bump off a kneelift and I wondered if we weren't going to get Brody gobbling him up. But then Abby fought back quickly and nothing about Brody's selling was half-baked or hesitant. There was no flailing arms in lieu of taking any actual bumps when the time was right to take them, no goofy cross-eyed staring before shrugging everything off and going back on offence. Abby blocked one kick to the gut and gave Brody a palm thrust to the throat and Brody sold the thing like death. You knew when Abby was bleeding within 45 seconds that Brody would do the same later, and sure enough he got stabbed in the head and bled profusely. The most shocking part of all was when Abby had him practically tied to the ropes by the hair, like when Satanico would tie a scrub like Octagon by the tassels on his mask, throwing headbutts and punches and jabs with a fork while the referee was distracted, and Brody just...didn't retaliate. He couldn't. I'd never seen him in that position before and it was kind of shocking. Obviously Abdullah ruled as well, shambling around like a grotesque wretch, licking Brody's blood off his hands, stabbing him with a spike whenever he got the chance. Both guys played off each other great.
And all of the smoke and mirrors was phenomenal. That term sometimes gets bandied about as a bit of a criticism, like how I've seen it used to describe something like Rock/Hogan. "They barely did anything, it was all atmosphere!" Or how Rick Rude v the Ultimate Warrior wasn't ACTUALLY good wrestling, it was just the layout! Nonsense, basically. It's make-believe fighting, the whole premise is smoke and mirrors. And to be honest the smoke and mirrors I'm talking about in this instance is probably along the same lines, but what everyone involved did here was the kind of smoke and mirrors I'd think of when talking about a magic show. Illusion and all that. Slight of hand, draw attention to one thing while something else is going on. Obvious stuff like Gary Hart standing on the apron so Abdullah can jab Brody in the head with a spike. The tried and true professional WRESTLING magic, if maybe not the kind you'd see at a kid's birthday party (well, hopefully). Sometimes the people being duped by the smoke and mirrors were in on the act all along, like David Manning, who was run ragged by Hart and Abdullah while doing his damnedest to spot any foul play. At one point he practically scaled Abby's back to see OVER him because Abby positioned himself in such a way where Manning couldn't see AROUND him. The curtain has been drawn back now, we all know that Manning knew what was going on, but he sold it in a way that the crowd bought the opposite being true. Mark Lawrence was so good on commentary, continually feeding the idea that Hart was a master manipulator and instigating the carnage caused by this morbidly obese man with a fork stuffed in his pants. Hart himself was of course amazing. Manning checked Abby before the bell for any foreign objects and the crowd wanted him to check Hart as well. Manning might've done it too if Brody hadn't stormed the ring and started a fight. After a few minutes it was Hart who passed the spike to Abdullah and when Manning knew something was up, Hart was more than happy to take off his jacket and ask to be patted down. The crowd were livid and the setup and payoff to that moment was perfect. When the match breaks down like you know it was always going to they brawl up to a big semi-enclosed area, disappearing behind this one pair of boards. Hart then slides the boards together and stands in front of them so Manning can't follow the wrestlers. He obviously figures Abdullah has more tricks up his sleeve (or down his pants) and based on how the rest of the match has gone the crowd probably think so too. Then one of the panels gets blown back, Hart goes flying as it crashes into him, and from behind it comes Brody wielding a plank while Abdullah backpedals as furiously as a man in his physical state can backpedal. Set up and paid off perfectly. Magic, innit?
The last couple minutes are awesome chaos. I fully expected Brody to go bonkers with the 2x4 and exact some sweet revenge, really milk the beatdown on Abdullah to the point where we all forget that he'd been mollywhopped for a while there. And to begin with he does, clobbering Abdullah in the head with a plank of wood while Abby lies helpless like a puddle of goo. Then Gary Hart gets involved again and absolutely hammers Brody with a chair. I'm guessing Brody liked Hart as much as he liked Abdullah because I don't think I've seen someone hit Brody with anything like this in my life. Abdullah takes the 2x4 and smashes Brody in the head with it over and over, Hart keeping at bay any enhancement talent who scramble out to make the save. He outright launched a chair at someone's head and Brody ends up being dragged to safety by referees, a blood-soaked mess of hair and fur boots. If I've ever seen Brody carried out the ring like a carcass before then I've surely forgotten it because once again I was practically in shock. Bruiser Brody, beaten and battered, unable to leave a fight by his own accord.
This all builds to a cage match a couple months later at the big Cottonbowl Extravaganza. I think there's another match between them before then as well and I can only assume Brody gets to annihilate Abdullah somewhere along the line, but either way this was one of the best Brody performances I've ever seen. I got the menacing caveman, the brawler, the madman who'll pick up a microphone as a weapon and stalk down his prey, but also the sort of vulnerability that put his opponent over huge. It actually has me excited about how he'll get his payback - payback that he never got here because the bigger picture called for him to delay the taking of it.
It really is magic when they do it right.
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