Missouri Wrestling Revival

By Brian Kelley

Bruiser Brody is considered by many to be one of pro wrestling’s most charismatic men ever in the sport. Brody’s mystique continues to live to this day. Known as a very Independent and intelligent man who were blessed with skills and power that many only dreamed of.

Wrestling fans were able to catch an inside look at Brody through Larry Matysik’s ECW Press book named author of Brody: The Triumph and Tragedy of Wrestling’s Rebel. A great read for any wrestling fan on the career and battles that Brody had in and out of the ring with promoters and fellow wrestlers.

The book surprisingly was blessed with a true love story. In between the chapters Frank “BRODY” Goodish’s wife would tell the chain of events that would change her life forever. In the book a clear image of a man that fell in love with a girl while on tour overseas and though in the ring he was as vicious as could be. Yet, outside the ring he was a loving husband and a caring father.

We had the pleasure of working with Barbara as she gave us her blessings to have Brody be a part of the MWR Trading card set, which photo was drawn from the red hot artist Rob Schamberger. She was invited from SICW to celebrate the holidays in the Midwest with friends that Brody and her had made during his time in the ring at Wrestling at the Chase.

As we came to East Carondelet, Illinois for the night’s action we were welcomed from Promoter Herb Simmons’s wife Margaret who offered a seat next to her so we could pass out the Santa Hats for our MWR Holiday tour to the first seventy five fans that came through the door.

She had told us that she and Herb had a tiring but rewarding day as they were in East St Louis passing out toys to the children whose families were enduring tough times. I had found that to be very touching and inspirational because earlier this year the Simmons family had lost their house to a fire and instead of being bitter and non-caring to others they still found it in their hearts to continue giving.

In the back Barbara was being prepared to be interviewed by Larry Matysik and though I would have loved to have sat in and listened to their conversation we made our rounds to pass out Santa hats and to welcome the fans for a great night of wrestling.

Throughout the night Barbara was wonderful and kind to each fan and wrestler that came up for either an autograph or photo while many took the opportunity to get both. During one of the intermission ring announcer Ben Simon welcomed Barbara along with a few of the St Louis Wrestling Stars that had spent time with Brody to comment on what her husband had meant to them from a wrestling standpoint and personal level.

In the ring was several of the greats including a man that my friend Daryl Valle stated was an inspiration to him as a young fan, the manager Big Daddy, the former Classic Wrestling Champions Ron Powers and Danny Boy Hawkins who on this night had seemed to agree on a truce, Butcher Salviccio and the “Great One” Gary Jackson joined Barbara for a touching moment.

Herb took the time to introduce a fan who was such a big fan of Brody that he had a tattoo in honor of the man himself on his back.

Afterwards Barbara once again took time to meet with the fans and was genuinely excited about having her photo taken with Santa Clause, who had come in from the North Pole to meet the fans of SICW.

During a conversation with Barbara, she spoke about how much fun she had on her trip back to St. Louis. Awesome to hear because she deserved nothing less as the fans raved about her friendliness.

Though it seems like yesterday that we lost Brody to the world, the years have indeed passed by, but it is truly refreshing to see that the friends that she made in the wrestling world still care about her to this day. The Holidays is about loving and caring for each other and on this night the SICW fans, wrestlers, promoters and the Goodish family kept that dream alive as smiles were from the front of the room to the back. I can only imagine a massive man by the name of Frank “Brody” Goodish looking down proud that the sport is truly filled with genuine caring people.