#jim brunzell

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[mygrowingcollection]

Jim Brunzell

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Jim Brunzell (AWA)

2023 Wrestling Authentic Signature

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Most Beloved WWE Wrestler Tournament

[ringthedamnbell]

Fantasy Booking- AWA 1981

Fantasy Booking- AWA 1981

Rob Faint The year is 1981 and Verne Gagne was the AWA champion.  He had been wrestling since 1949 and the years had taken their toll.  He decided to retire and instead of a long tournament it was decided that the title would be awarded to the top contender, Nick Bockwinkel.   This move infuriated many fans.  Continue reading Untitled

[littletroubledgrrrl]

Should I make more gifs of him and post them on his birthday?

[theweaselandthekilt]

Mr Perfect vs Jim Brunzell Prime Time May 14th, 1990

😍😍😍FB for the FBP 🙌🙌🙌

@84reedsy new match...by the way Gorilla is talking it seems as if he's just starting out here 💯👍

The YELLOW BUMPAGE IS OUUUTTT 🥵🥵🥵 UGHHHH AND ALLLLL the SASS!!!

"Is that PERFECT or what??!!"

[1980sactionfigures]

Killer Bees (Jumpin' Jim Brunzell / B. Brian Blair) - WWF Wrestling Superstars (LJN)

[wrestlingfaves]

The Royal Rumble Marathon: 1988

I’ve been re-watching the Royal Rumble, starting with the first one in 1988. Only the Rumble itself.  Let’s begin the marathon:

Warning, spoilers ahead for the past Royal Rumbles…

1988

I remember reading there was a Rumble before the first televised one in 1988. The 1988 Royal Rumble is the one that introduced the concept to the world at large. Battle royals had been used in wrestling for decades, but the Rumble introduced the concept of starting with two men and adding more in various intervals.

The Rumble in 1988 was still in prototype mode, missing many of the staples of later Rumbles:

No participants had entrance music.

Fans weren’t counting down for the next participant.

Managers were allowed at ringside.

No comedy spots.

No rapid eliminations.

No surprise entrants.

No big man going on a rampage, causing multiple eliminations.

No tag team fighting each other.

No “winner goes to Wrestlemania”.

No storyline to the Rumble.

The 1988 Rumble only had 20 participants as opposed to the traditional 30.

The participants, in order of entrance:

Bret Hart (accompanied by Jimmy Hart), ½ of the Hart Foundation

Tito Santana

“The Natural” Butch Reed

Jim Neidhart, ½ of the Hart Foundation

5) Jake Roberts

Harley Race

Jim Brunzell, ½ of the Killer Bees

Sam Houston

Danny Davis

Boris Zhukov, ½ of the Bolsheviks

Don “The Rock” Muraco

Nikolai Volkoff, ½ of the Bolsheviks

“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan

“The Outlaw” Ron Bass

B. Brian Blair, ½ of the Killer Bees

Hillbilly Jim

Dino Bravo (accompanied by Frenchy Martin)

Ultimate Warrior

One Man Gang

Junkyard Dog

Bret had the longest performance in the Rumble. Not many highlights in the Rumble as the “tropes” weren’t in place yet. Bret and Tito were my favorites to watch as they are my preferred type of wrestler. Butch Reed and One Man Gang are interesting as they would be in much different spots in the next year. Butch Reed would leave for WCW and form the “Doom” tag team with Ron Simmons. One Man Gang would turn into Akeem the African Dream and form the Twin Towers with the Big Bossman.

Jake Roberts, Jim Duggan, the Ultimate Warrior, and Junkyard Dog received the biggest reactions from the crowd.

Jim Duggan wins the Rumble.

Of the twenty participants, eight have passed away: Butch Reed, Harley Race, Nikolai Volkoff, Ron Bass, Dino Bravo, the Ultimate Warrior, and the Junkyard Dog. If you include non-wrestling participants, the total is eleven: Howard Finkel (the ring announcer) and Joey Marella (the outside referee).

Overall Rating: 4 out of 10

[strongislandsuperfan]

Take a Bow, Nature Boy. You Deserve It!

Ric Flair. The Nature Boy. The man whose name is synonymous with WCW and the battle cry, "WOOOO!" would step into the squared circle, one last time. The final match went down on July 31st, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee. I'll be honest, this was a match that caught a lot of wrestling fans off guard. I thought that Ric Flair was done once Shawn Michaels landed one of the most sympathetic finishers ever seen at Wrestlemania. Then, of course was the less than glamourous run with TNA Impact Wrestling, which felt like a forced replay of the late 90's version of WCW that nobody asked for. Then, this promo poster popped up on my social media feed.

While I wasn't too enamored with the thought of seeing an old man, lace up his boots and go toe-to-toe one last time, I had second thoughts and said to myself, "Wait, this is Ric Flair we're talking about!"

One of the best grapplers in pro-wrestling & a true showman that influenced more than one generation of talent, such as Jay Lethal, Jeff Jarrett, Shawn Michaels, not to mention, his cultural influence on hip hop. Yes, you read that right, the kiss-stealin' wheelin'-dealin', son of a gun had the type of swag that couldn't be ignored in the hip hop community.

It is safe to say, the hip hop community co-signs Ric Flair.

Even more inspiring is his life story. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, with many sources indicating that he was a "black market" baby, he was adopted by two loving parents that later settled in Edina, Minnesota, where Ric Flair even attended college at the University of Minnesota. During his high school years, he participated in football, track and amateur style wrestling.

Ric Flair got his start by training to become a pro wrestler under the tutelage of Verne Gagne. He attended Gagne's first wrestling camp with Greg Gagne, "Jumpin'" Jim Brunzell, The Iron Sheik and Ken Patera at Gagne's barn outside Minneapolis in the winter of 1971. On December 10, 1972, he made his professional wrestling debut in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, battling George "Scrap Iron" Gadaski to a 10-minute draw.

From there, he went on to wrestle for AWA (American Wrestling Association), IWE (International Wrestling Enterprise), NWA (National Wrestling Alliance), All-Japan Pro Wrestling and of course, World Championship Wrestling (which was my first introduction to him as a kid) and of course, WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment). His is one of the most storied careers of all time.

I always wondered how'd he end up with the nickname, "The Nature Boy". Turns out this story goes back to 1974, when Flair left the AWA for Jim Crockett's Mid-Atlantic region in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). On October 4, 1975, Flair's career nearly ended when he was in a serious plane crash in Wilmington, North Carolina. Flair broke his back in three places and was told by doctors that he would never wrestle again. He was only 26 years old. However, he refused to let that stop him.

Flair conducted a rigorous physical therapy schedule and returned to the ring just three months later, in January 1976. The crash did force Flair to alter his wrestling technique. He switched from the power brawling style he was known for to becoming a grappler, which led him to adopt the "Nature Boy" gimmick he would use throughout his career. However, Flair reached elite status when he began referring to himself as "The Nature Boy" in order to incite a 1978 feud with the original "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, who put Flair over in one encounter.

Now, we come to the night of July, 31st. The last hurrah for Ric Flair. While many were anticipating the main event, The rest of the undercard was just as exciting as well. All the wrestling legends were out to show support.

It was great to see a living legend get his roses 🌹 one last time.

Ric Flair has reportedly been offered to wrestle 10 more matches for 50K a piece. He turned it down saying, "this is my last one."

Wrestling Observer newsletter reported that Ric Flair’s Last Match drew more than 6,800 fans, a gate of $448,502 & between 20-25k streaming PPV Buys. This is the second highest independent wrestling gate of all time. - Yaz (All YAZ wrestling)

For Flair, it's all about going out on his terms. He wants to retire knowing, if he wanted to, he could still do it. I can respect that.

It's about his legacy. A legacy that not only inspires, but a legacy that put all the doubters and haters to shame and silenced them. This is a legacy that truly doesn't know the meaning of the words, "Give up" or "I Quit!". This is the definition of overcoming adversity and defying the odds.

Thank you, Nature Boy for all the great memories.

Take a bow, sir.

[90s00wcwwwf]

WWF first ever Survivor Series on November 26th 1987. Af the Richfield Coliseum, Richfield Ohio.

Survivor Series Ten Man Tag Team Elimination Match

Brutus Beefcake, Jake Roberts, Jim Duggan, Randy Savage & Ricky Steamboat (w/Miss Elizabeth) vs. Danny Davis, Hercules, King Harley Race, Ron Bass & The Honky Tonk Man (w/Bobby Heenan & Jimmy Hart)

Survivor Series Ten Man Tag Team Elimination Match

Rockin' Robin, The Fabulous Moolah, The Jumping Bomb Angels (Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno) & Velvet McIntyre vs. Dawn Marie, Donna Christianello, The Glamour Girls (Judy Martin & Leilani Kai) & The Sensational Sherri (w/Jimmy Hart)

Survivor Series Ten Team Tag Team Elimination Match

Demolition (Ax & Smash), The Bolsheviks (Boris Zhukov & Nikolai Volkoff), The Dream Team (Dino Bravo & Greg Valentine), The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart) & The Islanders (Haku & Tama) (w/Bobby Heenan, Jimmy Hart, Johnny V, Mr. Fuji & Slick) vs. Strike Force (Rick Martel & Tito Santana), The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith & The Dynamite Kid), The Killer Bees (B. Brian Blair & Jim Brunzell), The Rougeau Brothers (Jacques Rougeau & Raymond Rougeau) & The Young Stallions (Jim Powers & Paul Roma)

Survivor Series Ten Man Tag Team Elimination Match

Bam Bam Bigelow, Don Muraco, Hulk Hogan, Ken Patera & Paul Orndorff (w/Oliver Humperdink) vs. Butch Reed, The Heenan Family (Andre The Giant, King Kong Bundy & Rick Rude) & The One Man Gang (w/Bobby Heenan & Slick)

[catchthepinfalls]

J: From the AWA in 1985, "Jumping" Jim Brunzell takes on the Masked Superstar

#prowrestler

[guyincognitojr]

[littletroubledgrrrl]

Happy birthday Jim Brunzell!

[80swrestling]

[johnecrowther-comics]

The Kickstarter campaign for Volumes 1 and 2 of The Comic Book Encyclopedia of Pro Wrestling is now LIVE! Click on the link and reserve your copy today!