Bobo Brazil

Houston Harris[1] (July 10, 1924 – January 20, 1998)[1] was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Bobo Brazil. Credited with breaking down barriers of racial segregation in professional wrestling, Harris is considered one of the first successful African-American professional wrestlers.[3][5]

Bobo Brazil
Brazil in 1972
Birth nameHouston Harris[1]
Born(1924-07-10)July 10, 1924[1]
Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.[1]
DiedJanuary 20, 1998(1998-01-20) (aged 73)[1]
St. Joseph, Michigan, U.S.
Children6
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Bobo Brazil[2]
Boo-Boo Brazil[3]
BuBu Brasil[1]
Houston Harris[4]
Billed height6 ft 6 in (198 cm)[3]
Billed weight270 lb (122 kg)[3]
Billed fromBenton Harbor, Michigan[3]
Trained byJoe Savoldi[1]
Debut1951[2]
Retired1993[4]

Early life

Houston Harris was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, but later lived in East St. Louis, Illinois, and Benton Harbor, Michigan.[1] He played baseball in the Negro leagues for The House of David, where he was discovered to become a wrestler at a steel mill.[1]

Professional wrestling career

Harris was trained by Joe Savoldi after meeting him at matches at the Naval Armory.[1] Savoldi originally named Harris, BuBu Brasil, "The South American Giant," but a promoter misprinted his first name as "Bobo" in an advertisement and it stuck.[3]

Brazil would have many matches with competitors such as Killer Kowalski, Dick the Bruiser, Johnny Valentine, and The Sheik, who feuded with Brazil over the course of several decades.[3][6] These and other rivals would all fall victim to Brazil's finishing maneuver, the Coco Butt. Brazil also once wrestled Bill Miller to a draw,[7] and challenged Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship in a battle of two top babyface competitors.[3] On October 18, 1962, Brazil defeated "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers by hitting him in the groin causing Rogers to be unable to continue. Brazil refused the championship and they met a couple of weeks later and Rogers won. At the time the promoters were working a gimmick where the champ would be hit in the groin and the challenger wouldn't accept the title. The same scenario occurred in Toronto two weeks earlier with Bruno Sammartino and Rogers. Neither Brazil, nor Sammartino were officially recognized by the NWA as having won the World Heavyweight Championship. (This distinction is usually given to Ron Simmons, the first recognized African American world champion after winning the WCW World Heavyweight Championship).

On October 9, 1970, Brazil and El Mongol defeated Mr. Ito and The Great Ota in the first racially mixed match in Atlanta history.[2][3]

Brazil served as a mentor to wrestler "Soulman" Rocky Johnson. Brazil's manager was James Dudley, the first African American to be in charge of a major arena in the United States. Dudley would run to the ring waving a towel, as Brazil followed behind.[3]

Brazil retired in 1993 after a four-decade career. His last official match was in Chicago, Illinois against Kelly Kiniski, son of rival Gene Kiniski. Brazil was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame class of 1994 by Ernie Ladd.[3][6] The following year, Brazil inducted Ladd into the WWF Hall of Fame.[3]

Personal life and death

Harris had a wife and six children.[1] After retiring from wrestling, he ran a restaurant called Bobo's Grill.[1]

His son Karl wrestles as Bobo Brazil Jr. in the independent circuit. As of 2019 he still wrestles at 67 years old.

Harris died on January 20, 1998, at the Lakeland Medical Center in St. Joseph, Michigan.[6] He had been admitted to the hospital on January 14, after suffering a series of strokes.[6][8]

Championships and accomplishments

1 Not officially recognized as champion because conflicting interests

References
  1. Drason Burzynski, Dave. "Bobo Brazil". Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. Archived from the original on January 4, 2011. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
  2. "Bobo Brazil Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved February 6, 2008.
  3. "Bobo Brazil bio". WWE. Retrieved March 29, 2011.
  4. Hornbaker, Tim (2007). National Wrestling Alliance: The Untold Story of the Monopoly That Strangled Pro Wrestling. ECW Press. pp. 240–242. ISBN 978-1-55022-741-3.
  5. Google Books Jackie Robinson reference
  6. "Bobo Brazil dies at age 74". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
  7. "Bobo Brazil". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved September 8, 2011.
  8. "Ex-Pro Wrestler Bobo Brazil Dies". AP News. January 24, 1998. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  9. "N.W.A. United States Heavyweight Title (Detroit)". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.
  10. "N.W.A. United States Heavyweight Title (San Francisco)". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.
  11. "Florida Tag Team Heavyweight Title". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.
  12. "N.W.A. United States Heavyweight Title (Toronto)". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.
  13. "N.W.A./W.C.W. United States Heavyweight Title". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.
  14. "WWE United States Championship". Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 29, 2015. Retrieved January 1, 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. "N.W.A. Americas Heavyweight Title". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.
  17. "N.W.A. "Beat the Champ" International Television Title (Los Angeles)". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.
  18. "International Television Tag Team Title (Los Angeles)". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.
  19. "N.W.A. Pacific Coast Heavyweight Title (San Francisco)". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.
  20. "PWI Awards". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Kappa Publishing Group. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
  21. Hoops, Brian (January 12, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/12): The Outsiders win WCW Tag team titles". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  22. "W.W.A. World Tag Team Title (Indianapolis)". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.
  23. "World Negro Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
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