Jim Brunzell
Acting
Biography
James Brunzell is a retired professional wrestler better known by his ring name "Jumping" Jim Brunzell. Known for his successful tag teams, Brunzell performed for various wrestling promotions over the course of approximately two decades. National Wrestling Alliance: During the later half of the 1970s, he signed to wrestle for the Mid-Atlantic region and won the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship twice, a significant singles title at the time. Return to AWA: Upon returning to AWA, Brunzell reformed his tag team with Greg Gagne, known as the "High Flyers", and was elevated to main event status. The tandem of Brunzell and Gagne held the AWA World Tag Team Championship on two separate occasions, feuding with teams like Jesse Ventura and Adrian Adonis and Jerry Blackwell and Ken Patera. Brunzell remained with the AWA in both tag team and singles competition until 1985. WWE: Brunzell then signed to wrestle with WWE as they continued their national expansion. Here, he formed the popular tag team, The Killer Bees, with another WWE newcomer, B. Brian Blair. Apparently, Verne and Greg Gagne felt somewhat betrayed by the move. Gagne even expressed his displeasure during an AWA broadcast, making subtle references to Brunzell's departure and his new gimmick. Brunzell and Blair experienced moderate success while with WWE. The two feuded with the likes of The Hart Foundation as well as the Funks, Jimmy Jack Funk and Hoss Funk, who they faced in front of over 74,000 fans at The Big Event. Their stay was also highlighted by a match against Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik as part of WrestleMania III and a win at the inaugural Survivor Series on Thanksgiving Day 1987. The Killer Bees teamed together until Blair left the promotion in 1988. Brunzell continued in singles competition for a time, being used to put over newer talent like Curt Hennig and Damien Demento as late as a Raw episode in April 1993. Independent circuit: He left WWE in 1991 and competed on the independent circuit, primarily in the Chicago area. Brunzell also wrestled for Herb Abrams' Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) in 1991. While there, he reunited with B. Brian Blair under the name Masked Confusion, winning the tag team title twice. After the UWF closed, Brunzell returned to the independent circuit and continued to wrestle until late 1999, when Brunzell faced fellow wrestler, The Hater. Currently, Brunzell works as a financial planner for Focus Financial in the Minneapolis area, he is also active in his church and does charity work for children with diabetes.
Known For
A regularly scheduled, live, year-round program featuring some of the biggest WWE Superstars.
Raw
WWE's flagship show of the early-90s featuring great in-ring action, news from the world of sports-entertainment, and more.
WWF Superstars
The biggest WWE Superstars of the late 1980s and early '90s settle their differences in the ring on "Wrestling Challenge"; featuring exciting matches and memorable interviews, this weekly television series captures an important era of WWE history.
WWF Wrestling Challenge
A professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation banner on NBC airing in place of Saturday Night Live. The series was made up entirely of star vs. star bouts in a time when weekly programming consisted primarily of established stars dominating enhancement talent.
WWE Saturday Night's Main Event
The American professional wrestling promotion WWE has been broadcasting PPV events since the 1980s, when its classic "Big Four" events (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series) were first established with the company's very first PPV being WrestleMania in 1985. The company's PPV lineup expanded to a monthly basis in the mid-1990s following the introduction of the In Your House series of pay-per views before expanding even further in the mid-2000s during the first WWE brand extension. Following WWE's original brand extension in 2002, the company promoted two touring rosters, Raw and SmackDown, representing its television programs, Raw and SmackDown. The traditional "Big Four" continued to showcase the entire roster, while the remaining PPV events alternated between Raw and SmackDown cards. In March 2007, WWE announced that all subsequent PPV events would feature performers from all brands. In 2008, all WWE PPV events began broadcasting in high-definition.
WWE Pay Per View
He fought his first battle on the Scottish Highlands in 1536. He will fight his greatest battle on the streets of New York City in 1986. His name is Connor MacLeod. He is immortal.
Highlander
Discover rarely-seen matches from the 1970s, '80s, and '90s featuring countless WWE Hall of Famers such as Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair.
WWE Old School
Hosts Vince McMahon and Lord Alfred Hayes welcome the popular WWE Superstars and feature entertaining segments in WWE's original talk show.
Tuesday Night Titans
Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper in a Boxing match Battle Royal featuring superstars and athletes from the WWF and NFL Hulk Hogan (c) vs. King Kong Bundy in a Steel Cage match for the WWF Championship
WrestleMania II
The American Wrestling Association takes its unique brand of sports-entertainment to locations around the world; these classic AWA events feature the top competitors in the Minnesota-based territory, and many were never broadcast on television.
AWA Arena Shows
Hulk Hogan goes up against André the Giant for the WWE Championship, while Randy "Macho Man" Savage battles Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at The Pontiac Silverdome in suburban Detroit, Michigan.
WWE WrestleMania III
No description available.
AWF Warriors of Wrestling
WWE Superstars descend onto the Motor City for some incredible in-ring action!
WWE Detroit Wrestling '86
Join the stars of yesterday and today for this star-studded spectacular. Davey Boy Smith challenges Big Van Vader for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Barry Windham defends the NWA World Championship against Arn Anderson. Dory Funk Jr. takes on Nick Bockwinkel. Rick Rude & Paul Orndorff face Dustin Rhodes & Kensuke Sasaki.
WCW Slamboree 1993
WWE's biggest superstars converge in the Lone Star State for some incredible mat action. Features Hulk Hogan and "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase in a battle for the WWE Championship.
WWE Houston Wrestling: October '87
November 26th, 1987, Thanksgiving Day from the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield, Ohio. Matches featured Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination Matches • Brutus Beefcake, Jake Roberts, Jim Duggan, Randy Savage & Ricky Steamboat vs. Danny Davis, Hercules, King Harley Race, Ron Bass & The Honky Tonk Man • Rockin' Robin, The Fabulous Moolah, Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno & Velvet McIntyre vs. Dawn Marie, Donna Christianello, Judy Martin, Leilani Kai & The Sensational Sherri • Demolition, The Bolsheviks, The Dream Team, The Hart Foundation & The Islanders vs. Strike Force, The British Bulldogs, The Killer Bees, The Rougeau Brothers & The Young Stallions • World Champion Hulk Hogan, Bam Bam Bigelow, Don Muraco, Ken Patera & Paul Orndorff vs. Butch Reed, Andre The Giant, King Kong Bundy, Rick Rude & The One Man Gang. The event was broadcast live on pay per view and was promoted by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The venue attendance was reported to be 21,300.
WWE Survivor Series 1987
Twenty top Superstars compete in the first-ever Royal Rumble match. See all your favorites including Bret "The Hitman" Hart, The Ultimate Warrior, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, "The Natural" Butch Reed and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan compete in the over-the-top-rope elimination match. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat faces "Ravishing" Rick Rude and much more!
WWE Royal Rumble 1988
Mr. Perfect searches for the perfect stamp; exciting matches filmed exclusively for the WWE Universe, which include: Virgil challenging Shawn Michaels for the Intercontinental Championship; and a 40-man battle royal.
WWE Bashed in the USA
Much like 'The Big Event' held in August of 1986, Wrestlefest '88 was a supercard meant for the live audience only, but ticket sales were large enough to justify recording it for Coliseum Video, with commentary added in afterwards. Taped from Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the latter part of July 1988, with the wonderful combination of Sean Mooney, Lord Alred Hayes, and Superstar Billy Graham on the call. The main event was Hulk Hogan versus Andre the Giant in a steel cage match. The British Bulldogs challenged Tag Team Champions Demolition while WWF Champion Randy 'Macho Man' Savage defended against challenger Ted DiBiase. There were 15 matches total.
WWE WrestleFest
Survivor Series (1988) was the second annual Survivor Series pay-per-view professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on November 24, 1988 (Thanksgiving night in the United States) and was held at the Richfield Coliseum, in Richfield, Ohio. The main event was a ten-man Survivor Series match between a team captained by The Mega Powers (Hulk Hogan and WWF Champion Randy Savage) and a team captained by The Twin Towers (Akeem and The Big Boss Man). Hogan and Savage were the sole "survivors" of the match. The undercard featured three Survivor Series matches between mid-card wrestlers.