I recently had the pleasure of conducting the following interview with Brickhouse Brown. This Saturday night, October 8, Brown will serve as special referee for a Loser Leaves Town match between “The Bullet” Bob Armstrong and Jimmy Golden when NWA Wrestle Birmingham bring wrestling back to the famed Boutwell Auditorium.
Q: You wrestled in every major territory in The South. What was it like working for Bill Watts?
Brown: Bill Watts was one of the hardest promoters to work for. Basically, he fined me for everything from dead batteries to 10 a minute for however you were late. But, you know, you’re talking the wrestling business and I made a lot of money wrestling for him. So, Bill Watts and Mid-South stand out. Every territory got its own little hook that I enjoyed, you know.
Q: What about Memphis?
Brown: Memphis is where I got my first big break. So Memphis stand out real good. My feuds with Jerry Lawler and Jeff Jarrett and Bill Dundee, I enjoyed them all and I made a good living doing it. They gave me a chance to run with the ball and I took advantage of it.
Q: Your team with “Iceman” King Parson was one of my favorites.
Brown: Oh, the Blackbirds. That was real good, too. I had a ton of fun. I wish we could have had a crystal ball and seen the opportunity that we had to go to WCW at that point in time, but we were with World Class and we were their World Tag Team Champions.
Q: Run down the list of people you have trained…the highlights.
Brown: Oh God. The most famous ones have got to be Dallas Page, Lex Luger, Booker T and Faarooq (Ron Simmons). Of course, Jazz and Jacqueline (Jackie Moore), those are the most famous but there have been a ton of others.
Q: I understand that you were trained by Eddie Graham.
Brown: Eddie Graham is where I started at, but actually Terry Funk and Dory Funk trained me in San Antonio, Texas.
Q: How many years do have in the wrestling business?
Brown: 26
Q: Do you train young guys the way you were trained or is it different now?
Brown: I try to stick to what I know best. I would say that the guys that I’ve trained all went on to make good money. And their performance in the ring is like mine or better, so I try to stick to a working formula.
Q: I’ve been a big fan of your promos. Were they influenced by anybody in particular?
Brown: The guy that used to influence my promos was T-Bolt Patterson. You know the time I heard T-Bolt Patterson preach like he was talking in church I say, ‘Now yeah, that’s the way to do interviews.’ Thunderbolt Patterson and “Big Cat” Ernie Ladd, I used to love when he say, “You better pick up the phone and call somebody.” (Laughs) Here’s a quarter. Call somebody that give a damn because it ain’t me. I used to love that.
Q: How about your time in Music City Wrestling with Bert Prentice?
Brown: It was a learning experience, to deal with Bert Prentice. If you can deal with Bert Prentice, you can deal with anybody. I made money with Bert Prentice, so, you know.
Q: I remember you were involved in an angle there were you were dressed as the Orkin man.
Brown: Yeah. I dressed as a pest contol guy to get a guy that was in the ring, so I was spraying the arena with roach spray the whole night. I had the mask over my face so nobody knew who I was. I got in trouble with the Orkin people, though, cuz, you know, I represented the company wrong. They ain’t like a thug and I was representing the company. I did what I had to do. They tried to sue me, too.
Q: Is it true that Bill Watts wanted you to take the Junkyard Dog role after he left the territory?
Brown: That’s very true. When Junkyard walked out on Mid-South, they needed another brohter to come in there and boom, I was there like Superman to save Lois Lane. Just in the nick of time. Yes, sir.
Q: What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in wrestling over the last 20 years?
Brown: The biggest change that I’ve seen? Well, number one, I’ve heard a promoter tell me that I wasn’t the New Millenium type wrestler because I don’t corkscrew dives on the floor off the top of the ring ropes. That’s why I last 26 years, because I ain’t doin’ no shiznit like that. I ain’t gonna jump on the floor and do no dives and jippin’ blackness for nobody. And that’s the difference. That’s why you see me looking good at 45 and Jeff Hardy and Mick Foley can’t hardly walk.
Q: You still do tours of Japan, Mexico and Puerto Rico?
Brown: Yes, sir.
Q: What would like to accomplish with the time you have left as an active wrestler?
Brown: Not that much. Just build up that money so I can go into the retirement and get out. I’ve been an ass kicker and I’ve had all the titles that I need. If one come my way, I wouldn’t turn it down, but basically, me, I’m just trying to make my future a little more secure. That’s all.
Q: Of the thousands of matches you’ve wrestled are they any that stand out in your mind.
Brown: Of course, when I wrestled my idol, Terry Funk. That was it. And when I wrestled in my hometown in Florida in front of all my cut buddies and my partners and some of my banger friends. The thing about it is, I am what I am, and my thing is at that point in time, I grew up down south in Florida and you know, I had to get in where I fit in. In Florida, the VLs was the deal. Down south with my Vice Lord brothers, shout out to ‘em. OK? I had to do what I had to do. Ain’t no shame in my game. I had to do that to survive. They were like family and I still have ties to them to this day.
Q: When did you know that pro wrestling was going to be it for you?
Brown: Oh man, I probably knew that in high school. I was in high school on the wrestling team and trying to do a DDT on some folks. They told me, ‘Hey, you can’t do that. This is amateur wrestling.’
Q: You played football at Auburn?
Brown: Yeah, but the scholarship was for wrestling and weightlifting. So I didn’t play football for but one year
Q: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview.
Brown: No problem, man. Give a shout out to all my brothersand sisters out there. You done missed the first two biggest events of your life. And I said this often. That’s the birth of your momma and daddy. Don’t miss the third, and that’s Brickhouse Brown comin’ to an arena near you.
