Former AWA Tag Team Champion and WWE tag team star “Jumping” Jim Brunzell was the latest guest on the Pancakes and Powerslams Show to discuss his current lawsuit with the WWE. He also explained how he believes Vince McMahon did not like him, and Hulk Hogan returning. Here are some highlights.
On Vince McMahon not liking him:
“To be honest with you, I really think that Vince [McMahon] didn’t like us, because we could work with any team, and we had a great gimmick. We got over, and the fact was he had mentioned that we were going to beat this team, or beat that team, or get the belts, but we never did. So, it was disappointing for us, but at the same time, you just said ‘Well. We’re making good money, this is the only place to be if you’re in pro wrestling, so we just grin and bear it.”
On Hulk Hogan returning due to Vince McMahon capitalizing on his brand:
“That’s the only reason why they would bring him back. Vince thinks, ‘We’ll just bring Hulk Hogan back to make millions of more dollars.’ To me, I know [Hogan] won this lawsuit against that website. Even if he gets a tenth of it, I would curl up in Florida and just say goodbye and live my life. I mean, he’s in his early 60s, [but] I guess it’s hard for him because he’s so used to being in the limelight, and the opportunity would be enticing. But I’d like to see him just venture off into the next phase in his life and say, ‘Hey. This was this, and now I’m going to relax for the rest of my life.’”
On his current WWE lawsuit:
“There was a point in the middle eighties, toward the end there, I worked in Salt Lake City, and I was working against the Barbarian. His finish was a high leg kick coming off the ropes, and he comes flying off the ropes and hit me in the chin and I slammed the back of my head on the mat. I was out. They had to help me in the locker room, I just couldn’t get my bearings. So, for two days, I was sort of nauseated and dizzy, and you know what, I told the guy, and the agents said I still had to wrestle every night. Then, I was in [Los Angeles], and this doctor (Ungar, I believe), was examining me. I told him, I don’t feel too good, I took a bump on the back of my head in Salt Lake City three nights ago. He looked at me and said, ‘Jim. You can’t wrestle. You have a third degree concussion.’
So, I can’t remember who the agent was who said, ‘He has to work tonight, because we have no substitute.’ We went over and I was working with Hercules, Ray Fernandez, and the doctor told him, ‘The only way that I will let Jim wrestle tonight is if you don’t hit him in the head, slam him, or – in any way – kick him in the head.’ We agreed and had a pretty decent match, and he got disqualified. But, the reason why I did that, was because there [was] no thought in head injuries during that early time of the [WWE]. And what this lawsuit is trying to get is money from the WWE to put it in a pool to compensate for these guys that might have early dementia, and it’s the same lawsuit that got the four billion dollars from the NFL.”
He also talked about why he quit WWE in 1993, why the Killer Bees split, and many wrestlers not having a way out of the business.
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
