



Photo Credit: ROHWrestling.com

The Beer City Bruiser is my favorite wrestler today.

With the exception of the debut of the ROH Six-Man Tag Team Titles, there has been no other excitement for me watching ROH programming than seeing the 6’2, 295 pound brute from Milwaukee. Pairing off the Bruiser with Silas Young has only enhanced more of an opportunity to see him on TV.

To understand the Beer City Bruiser is to just watch him. A blue-collar man with a gruff exterior, the Wisconsin native has a complete nasty attitude. Built like a tank, the Bruiser is missing teeth, has a big beer belly, and his hair matted down on top of his cranium. Yet, it’s endearing. He carries around a big keg of beer and is never seen without a cigar being chomped in his mouth.

The Beer City Bruiser is OLD SCHOOL wrestling at its best.

I remember watching the December 2 Final Battle on pay-per-view with a group of friends and seeing the Bruiser accompany “the Last Real Man” to the ring for his match against Jushin “Thunder” Liger. And in the Hammerstein Ballroom, I might have witnessed the funniest moment in recent memory as Liger climbed to the top rope. The Bruiser climbed onto the apron and, after taking a swig of beer (hopefully some Pabst Blue Ribbon), got kicked in the face. The brew spewed from his gullet and made some sort of barely and hops mist in the air, while the big man barreled down to the arena floor. I had a smile on my face and realized that the Beer City Bruiser MADE Final Battle for me, just for that one outlandish moment.

Besides that, what else makes the Bruiser so appealing to an old school wrestling fan like me? What drives me to believe that this man is a crucial and fun part of Ring of Honor television?

Since this IS the Professional 3, I’ve got those reasons right here. Without further hesitation…

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A THROWBACK TO THE CRUSHER: Seeing the Beer City Bruiser perform and walk around on television, I immediately get a vibe to a Wisconsin wrestling legend, the Crusher! "The Wrestler That Made Milwaukee Famous", Crusher was one of the GREATEST wrestlers in AWA history, winning the AWA World championship three times, as well as being a NINE TIME Tag Team champion. To me, going and watching old school AWA, there was no bigger tough guy or bad ass than the Crusher.

It seems to me that the late, great Crusher had quite the impact on the Beer City Bruiser. The unlit, chomped on cigars, the massive amounts of beer, and the snarls are uncanny. I can only imagine if the Bruiser had to toss around some 250 pound dollies on the dance floor while doing the polka. THAT WAS THE CRUSHER’S TRAINING REGIMEN! Regardless, the Beer City Bruiser is the closest thing to the Crusher and old school Milwaukee wrestling has nowadays. That is awesome.

Hopefully, the Bruiser finds a way to master the Bolo Punch in due time. It’s brilliant.

AUTHENTIC INSIDE THE ROPES: When you see the Beer City Cruiser perform inside of a Ring of Honor ring, he stands out. Unlike the incredible athletes who risk their body with acrobatics and dangerous wrestling holds, the Bruiser stays close to the canvas. Yet, when the Bruiser does pull out a dropkick or a suplex combination, it looks like it hurts. The Bruiser has something that not a lot of performers have nowadays, in my opinion: the ability to be authentic. The Beer City Bruiser has one objective: to showcase his dominance in the ring. The maneuvers and strikes he employs might not look the prettiest, but they get the job done and are utilized to the fullest. Add in the fact that the Bruiser is more methodical than people give him credit for and add a little Silas Young misery to his psyche, and you have a well versatile performer. The Beer City Bruiser is legitimate.

THE BEER: Obviously, the Beer in Beer City Bruiser is why he is the man. There is no doubt he drinks Milwaukee’s Best. I’ve also heard that he throws down Old Styles like they are going out of style, tears down Pabst Blue Ribbon like it’s nobody’s business, and the sole reason why Meister-Brau went out of business. As a fellow beer drinker, I can only aspire to down brews with the legend. I can only imagine the stories he has by treating beer drinking as an Olympic Sport.

The bottom line is this: if wrestling had a lot more Beer City Bruiser’s in this generation of the industry, I’d be overjoyed. Guys who love to fight, mixed in with a sinister sneer, make for this business to survive. That is why the Beer City Bruiser is my favorite wrestler: he makes wrestling seem like WRESTLING again.

Thank you for your contributions, Mr. Bruiser. This round is on me.

Jon Harder http://hardwayhq.com jon@thejonharder.com