Harry White

The Hall Of Fame induction and awarding of the plaque coincided with a book signing for BRODY co-authored by the two people who could not be any closer to “wrestling’s rebel”, close friend and wrestling promoter Larry Matysik and wife Barbara Goodish. Larry Matysik has been immersed in all aspects of wrestling almost his entire life. As mentioned every year at the Cauliflower Alley Club reunion, the wives of wrestlers often find themselves immersed in the business.

Larry, with his introduction of Barbara, mentioned that earlier she was worried about what she would say. Once she noticed the huge interest of the attendees, she had no problem whatsoever. One could easily assume she was an accomplished speaker at warming up and closely bonding with a crowd. I guess speaking truly from the heart certainly makes up for any lack of professional speaking experience. As King Kong Brody had his own type of charisma, Barbara Goodish for over three hours answering questions and taking pictures, exhibited her own type of natural charisma.

Supporting cast for the night included ring announcer and TV color man Mickey, always ready with a quip, Garagiola. Also there was Herb Simmons, a long time mayor in Illinois. Brody may have had a rep for not trusting promoters. One promoter he did like, trust, and work closely with was Herb Simmons. How is that for an often rare combination, an honest politician AND an honest wrestling promoter. Longtime nationally famous referee Dave Hebner offered wrestling insights throughout the evening. Locally famous referee who worked several Brody matches, Lee Warren was on hand. Rob Phillips a onetime local indy star who was befriended by Brody was in attendance all night. brian Stull whose radio show Stranglehold has lasted ten years, did some taping. Of course, Mitch Hartsey who helped kick start Larry into doing the Hall Of Fame was there.

All the above mentioned people were close to King Kong Brody and Frank Goodish in various degrees. Someone attended the evening that is literally even closer to King Kong Brody than the others. This gentleman is “totally immersed” in the culture and legend that is Brody. From the tops of his trapezious to his lower lumbar, this man’s entire back is covered by a multi-colored tattoo of King Kong Brody. It was interesting seeing all the Brody t shirts worn by fans, but most were just blown away by this fan’s body art. The tattoo was said to have taken about a year to finish. Hope he did not catch pneumonia from the many requests to remove his shirt throughout the evening.

There is a chapter by Barbara in the book called “What Might Have Been”. Even though Frank Goodish was athletic and multi talented, I can guess what might NOT have been. Larry and Herb once booked Brody for a match with Killer Brooks at St Louis’ finest and most historic dance venue, the Casa Loma Ballroom. Mentioning this, I asked Barbara if Frank was a dancer. She mentioned something about “two left feet“. So I am guessing that for his all ability, being a contestant on “Dancing With The Stars” would not have been in his future. Hey, but who knows, maybe I should not be so quick to say that ? The man had so many accomplishments over his life and made such an impact on the business in many areas and especially in St Louis.

Personally, I had seen Brody in so many matches in various venues. In addition to the obvious, Kiel and the Arena, there was a racetrack, the ballroom, the opulent, ornate, fabulous Fox Theatre, local athletic clubs, and high schools. Friday night, I reminded Larry of my favorite Brody moment. Brody was wrestling Abdullah at St Ann High School (St Louis suburb). Rocking Al Stephens a well known local independent wrestling scene manager was getting his big moment by managing Abdullah. Al considered the event so important that he rented a tuxedo. Brody ripped Al’s rented tuxedo and bled all over it. Since the Three Stooges (in brilliant programming scheduling) for a while used to follow Wrestling At the Chase on Channel Eleven, I will make a Stooge analogy. One episode, Moe totally smashed Larry’s violin. Larry was crying big time, “My Stradivarius, my Stradivarius”. I can still vividly recall Rocking Al going, “my tented tuxedo, my rented tuxedo”.