Shining a Spotlight 2.04.10: Jack Brisco

Posted by Michael Weyer on 02.04.2010

Paying tribute to a truly legendary worker and fantastic performer who left a great impact on the business.




Well, a pretty good Rumble overall. The title bouts were well done with Sheamus retaining and setting up a fight between Orton and Legacy and the Taker/Rey battle was better than I expected. The Rumble itself was excellent as I loved Punk on the mic in between tossing guys out and Beth eliminating Khali was just priceless. The storyline of Shawn in the Rumble was very well done as it felt emotional when he was eliminated and I like the idea of him becoming obsessive afterward. The big story, of course, was Edge returning. I had suspected he might be coming back but wasn't sure WWE would pull the trigger. So the road to Mania looks pretty good and should be a fun show.


I'm sure others will comment on the end of ECW but let's face it, the promotion died a decade ago, this was just a lame attempt to revive it. I do give it credit for rising from a rough start to give newer guys some exposure in WWE and thus changing the name but keeping this show around is a good idea as the company needs something like this to give newer guys their first breaks.
　

As often happens, I was in the middle of another column when something happened that I felt warranted a shift in my plans. As sadly happens too much, that something was a death in the wrestling business. Rather than it being a young guy taken before his time, however, it was a veteran, a man who led a pretty full life. His loss still hurts, however, considering what an amazing figure he was. A brilliant worker in the ring who also was a good guy outside it who helped mold quite a few stars.

Jack Brisco

Born in Seminole, Oklahoma on September 23rd, 1941, Fred Joe Brisco grew up to White and Indian parents with his father leaving the family when the boy was five. Fred soon earned the name Jack for his habit of hunting jackrabbits in his spare time. In high school, Brisco began to get into wrestling, winning three state championships. His success continued in college as he won the Division I title while at the University of Wyoming.

After graduation, Brisco began to feel the pull of wrestling and sought training from Leroy McGuirk. He made his debut on June 5, 1965, defeating Roger Barnes at a TV taping in Oklahoma City. He did well at first but some promoters weren't sold on his amateur credentials and relegated him to the preliminary bouts. He got a break when Jack Adkisson (better known as Fritz Von Erich) and Paul Boesch took a shine to him and pushed him in the Dallas area.

However, a move to the Sunshine State would be a major shift for Brisco. Only three years after debuting, Brisco was soon a major star in Florida, capturing the Southern title in early 1969. He would hold it before being stripped of it later in the year while on tour in Japan. Upon returning, he would beat Mr. Saito for the Florida title. He also began teaming with his younger brother Jerry, the two finding success trading the Florida tag belts with the Funks while Jack also added the NWA Television title to his accolades.

Shortly after, Brisco began a series of battles against Dory Funk Jr for the NWA title, the two having some terrific Broadway battles that livened up the territory. His skills impressed the NWA board who decided to have him take the title from Funk. However, Funk ended up getting injured (some saying it was a cover story to avoid the title drop) and by the time he returned, the NWA board decided to switch the change to Harley Race. However, Brisco was still a favorite and on July 20, 1973, Brisco defeated Race in a terrific two-out-of-three falls matchup to win the NWA title.

As champion, Brisco took on all comers with his amazing skills as a worker. Much of his ring work was modeled on his idol, Lou Thesz, mixing power moves with great technical skills. He was also good on the mic, his promos more vibrant than most of the time, selling his utter confidence while thanking the fans for backing him up. The man could hold a crowd like few in the business at the time, making even stalling moves seem thrilling with the way he sold them and powered his way through the ranks. He dropped the belt to Giant Baba during a tour in Japan on December 4th, 1975 but won it back four days later. He returned to the U.S. where, needing some money, he continued on the rough schedules given to him by promoters like Sam Muchnick, traveling to various territories while still calling Florida his main home.

Reports vary a bit as to the ending of Brisco's reign. In Tim Hornbaker's book on the NWA, it's discussed that there were monetary issues and some political maneuvering on the part of the Funks to get the belt off Brisco. However, on the recent DVD about the World Championship, Brisco says he was simply tired of the grind of being champion, the constant travel getting to him and he just had to leave it behind. Whatever the case, on December 10th, 1975, Brisco dropped the belt to Terry Funk, ending a year long second reign. Brisco then went straight home and, in his own words, "didn't leave the house for six months."

It didn't take long before the urge to get back in the ring got to him and Brisco soon returned, traveling various territories and picking up regional titles like the Southern belt in Memphis. He and Jerry would reteam and hold the Florida tag titles five times, with fantastic feuds against the Funks, Mike Graham and Steve Keirn, Mr. Saito and Mr. Sato and others. They also got the Florida version of the US Tag titles and Brisco even managed to work in a reign as Florida tag champs with Jimmy Garvin.

The Briscoes were also strong in Georgia, not only winning the tag titles in that territory twice but, more importantly, acquiring a majority ownership in the territory. Jack spent a bit of time in Puerto Rico, winning the WWC Caribbean title and holding it for almost seven months while he and Jerry also held the North American tag title in 1981. The Mid-Atlantic region soon became home to Brisco as he won the Missouri title from Ted DiBiase, losing it to Ken Patera, and also had a big feud with Roddy Piper for the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight title, followed by another great program with Paul Jones over the belt.

But it was 1983 that would bring the zenith of the Briscoes careers. Having worked so long as faces, the two men turned heel, throwing out the rulebook to chase the NWA World Tag titles. Jack brought a cool and calm power to the ring while Jerry was the bright eager younger one, the two gelling perfectly as partners inside and out. Jerry often took the lead in promos now but Jack would still throw in his confident elder touch. They were truly great to watch with Jack mentoring his younger brother who often seemed to go out of his way trying to please him. The two faced off against Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood, trading the belts back and forth throughout the year. It was an epic feud with four masters going at it full tilt, the Briscoes truly wild heels (including a bit with tem stealing Youngblood's headdress) while the faces were also terrific challengers and thus fans in the Carolinas were treated to tag team wrestling at its absolute best. It all culminated at the first Starrcade as Youngblood and Steamboat defeated the Briscoes one final time to win the belts to a wild crowd.

It was shortly after this that Jack decided to retire. He and Jerry continued to work the Georgia promotion before deciding to help sell it to Vince McMahon. Both men soon began working behind the scenes at WWF (each denying the story that they were offered such jobs in return for the sale), helping along new talent with Jack acting as a teacher to some younger stars. The two would also set up the Brisco Body Shop in Florida, which became a quite successful business. While Jerry got before the cameras as one of Vince's "stooges" in 1998, Jack preferred being out of the limelight after so long, popping up only now and then (such as the mentioned World Championship DVD). He did get some attention in 1998 when he responded to a question on the Montreal Screwjob by saying Hart should have just done the job and dropped the belt and Bret responded with "Jack Brisco can kiss my ass." In 1996, Jack was named as part of the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2005 and , with Jerry, the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008.

The impact of Jack Brisco has been felt by most anyone who grew up and began wrestling in that time period. Ric Flair in particular was always a fan of Brisco, often citing him in his promos and Ricky Steamboat will to this day say the best part of his career with teaming with Youngblood against the Briscoes. He's still a legend among Florida fans, admired by all for his incredible skills, tireless work ethic and being a damn good guy outside the ring too. He was old school in the best way, a man who loved wrestling from the start and did all he could to help it along, never hurting it. While his list of championships is certainly impressive, it's the professionalism he showed in and out of the ring and the respect he brought to wrestling that made him so well-liked by everyone. So farewell to a true legend of the business and thanks to him for all the fantastic memories and brilliant matches.














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With that, the spotlight is off.