.jpg) Brunzell in 1983 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | James Brunzell[2] (1949-08-13)August 13, 1949 (age 76)[4] Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Minnesota |
Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Jim Brunzell "Jumping" Jim Brunzell[1] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)[2] |
| Billed weight | 235 lb (107 kg)[2] |
| Billed from | White Bear Lake, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Trained by | Verne Gagne[3] Billy Robinson |
| Debut | December 27, 1972[2] |
| Retired | 1999 |
James Brunzell (born August 13, 1949), best known under the ring name "Jumping"Jim Brunzell,[1] is an American retiredprofessional wrestler known for his successfultag teams, Brunzell performed for various wrestling promotions during his 21-year career.[5]
The son of a navy pilot, Brunzell lived inMemphis for a time as a child.[6] Brunzell attended high school inWhite Bear Lake, Minnesota, where he participated in multiple sports includingAmerican football,scholastic wrestling, and athletics. He was a state champion in thehigh jump while in high school. He attended theUniversity of Minnesota, where he continued to play football and high jump.[3] During college, he had a tryout with theWashington Redskins as atight end.[3][6] He then returned to college to finish his degree.[6]
Following his unsuccessful tryout with the Redskins, Brunzell was approached by former college football teammateGreg Gagne, who convinced him to train as a professional wrestler. He trained with Gagne's fatherVerne, alongside wrestlers includingRic Flair,Ken Patera, andThe Iron Sheik.[3]
He began wrestling in various territories in the early 1970s, most notably in theNWA Central Statespromotion. There, heteamed withMike George to win theNWA Central States Tag Team Championship on October 25, 1973.[3] Following this, he returned to Minnesota and joined Gagne's promotion, theAmerican Wrestling Association (AWA). He formed a tag team with Greg Gagne known as "The High Flyers". The duo won theAWA World Tag Team Championship on July 7, 1977, by defeatingBlackjack Lanza andBobby Duncum. They held the championship for more than a year, until September 23, 1978, when they were stripped of the championship as Brunzell had suffered an injury.[3] In 1979, Brunzell transferred to theMid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (MACW) promotion, where he twice won theNWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship.[3] He returned to the AWA in 1981, and on June 14, The High Flyers regained the championship by defeating The East-West Connection (Jesse Ventura andAdrian Adonis).[3] In the mid-1980s, Brunzell wrestled inMontreal forInternational Wrestling.[6]
Brunzell signed to wrestle with theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF) as they continued their national expansion. He was paired with another WWF newcomer,Brian Blair (though, Blair had already wrestled in the WWF before) asThe Killer Bees.[3] The Killer Bees werefaces, but were original as the first faces to wearmasks and switch places behind thereferee's back.[7] Brunzell and Blair had moderate success in the WWF. They feuded with such teams asThe Hart Foundation as well as the Funks,Jimmy Jack Funk andHoss Funk, whom they faced in front of over 74,000 fans atThe Big Event. Their stay was also highlighted with a match againstNikolai Volkoff andThe Iron Sheik as part ofWrestleMania III, and a win at the inauguralSurvivor Series onThanksgiving Day 1987. The Killer Bees teamed together until they were separated off-screen by the management team. Their final match came againstThe Young Stallions on August 28, 1988.[8]
Following the breakup of Killer Bees, Brunzell was immediately programmed into a house show series with the newly arrivedCurt Hennig that began in September and began working mainly as ajobber, while having a"jobber to the stars" status. Brunzell was winless against Mr. Perfect, including a singles match that aired onPrime Time Wrestling on October 4, 1988. On September 24, Brunzell gained his first victory in a nascent singles career when he defeatedDanny Davis in Lexington, Kentucky. The following month Brunzell was shifted to house show matches against another newly arrived wrestler in the WWF,Terry Taylor. Again, Brunzell was winless in competition against Taylor, as well asKing Haku. Brunzell was still known for one of the best dropkicks in the WWF, and in a losing match againstRandy Savage, the Macho Man got a bloody mouth after getting hit by one.
On the November 5, 1988, edition ofPrime Time Wrestling, Jim Brunzell was announced as a participant in theSurvivor Series, replacingDon Muraco. His former partner B. Brian Blair was also placed on the show, replacingThe Junkyard Dog. Despite this seeming boost, Brunzell continued to struggle on television. He was defeated again by Curt Hennig on Prime Time Wrestling, as well as by King Haku. At the 1988 Survivor Series Brunzell was pinned byBad News Brown; however, his team did come out victorious. After this Brunzell took a sabbatical from the company.[8]
In 1989 Brunzell would only wrestle twice in the WWF, defeating"Iron" Mike Sharpe in June and losing toBad News Brown in November.[9] The following year he made a full-time return and defeatedFrenchy Martin on his first match back on February 18, 1990, in Chicago, IL. Brunzell however was now an opening level wrestler, albeit one with strong name recognition. He entered into an unsuccessful house show series withRick Martel in April, while making his return to television on the May 14 edition of Prime Time Wrestling in a match against Curt Hennig. As he entered the summer he would appear on television againstDino Bravo andThe Orient Express. On the July 16, 1990, edition ofPrime Time Wrestling he finally gained his first televised victory since the breakup of the Killer Bees when he pinnedBlack Bart.
All traces of his former Killer Bees gimmick were now gone, and Brunzell would wear tie-dye trunks, adopted the "Crank It Up" theme song that had been used byThe Young Stallions and was still being used by Jim Powers. It was with Powers that Brunzell would team with on August 6, 1990, onPrime Time Wrestling againstPower and Glory (Powers's only televised match against his former partner). This month was also Brunzell's most successful since 1988, as he scored victories againstBuddy Rose, Steve Lombardi, andBob Bradley. He continued to fare well against opening level competition throughout the fall and winter.[10]
Brunzell's appearances became much more limited in 1991 as he wrestled only seventeen dates, all winless efforts against upper level competition likeIrwin R. Schyster,The Warlord, andThe Barbarian.[11] However in 1992 he became a regular again and made his first television appearance in over a year when he appeared in a battle royal that aired onPrime Time Wrestling on April 20. Brunzell began tag-teaming consistently again for the first time in almost four years when he replaced the departedJim Neidhart and teamed withOwen Hart. Hart and Brunzell were victorious in multiple encounters againstThe Beverly Brothers in March. Brunzell also received a non-title match againstWWF World ChampionRic Flair on theMarch to WrestleMania show.
The teaming with Owen was short-lived, and Brunzell returned to singles competition as spring commenced. Brunzell was victorious in two dark match tryouts forRochester Roadblock in April and appeared in a 40-man battle royal that aired onPrime Time Wrestling in June 1992. That month Brunzell began teaming with Jim Powers once more, losing to The Beverly Brothers andThe Nasty Boys, and defeatingDuane Gill andBarry Hardy. Later that summer he returned once more to singles competition, facing Paul Diamond, Skinner, and Steve Lombardi. On October 5, 1992, edition ofPrime Time Wrestling Brunzell faced Terry Taylor in the latter's return to the WWF.[12]
On the January 3, 1993, edition ofPrime Time Wrestling Brunzell received a shot againstIntercontinental ChampionShawn Michaels. A day later he wrestled on the international version ofWWF Superstars and scored his first televised victory of the year when he pinnedBill Irwin. In February 1993 he was programmed into a house show series against The Predator (Horace Hogan) and was again victorious in every encounter. However, despite hoping to work for the WWF as aproducer/booker for the WWF, he wrestled his final WWF match in April 1993, episode ofMonday Night Raw where he was defeated by newcomerDamien Demento.[7]
Brunzell left WWF in 1993 and competed on theindependent circuit, primarily in theChicago area. He also wrestled forHerb 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 the mid-1990s, but still making sporadic appearances in the late-1990s and early 2000s.
On May 23, 1993, Brunzell wrestled atWorld Championship Wrestling's inauguralSlamboreepay-per-view in a six-man tag match alongside fellow "legends"Wahoo McDaniel andBlackjack Mulligan againstDick Murdoch,Don Muraco, and"Superfly" Jimmy Snuka. In 1994, he appeared in theAmerican Wrestling Federation as a guest referee in a bout for the AWF Heavyweight Championship, in whichTito Santana beatBob Orton Jr. to win the title.
Brunzell wrestled his final professional wrestling match in 1999 on the "Wrestle America 2000" event held onCrystal, Minnesota, against The Hater in a winning effort for Brunzell.[13]
Since retiring from wrestling, Brunzell works in sales.[3] He is also involved in activities with his local church and does charity work for children withdiabetes.[6] Brunzell makes frequent appearances at conventions with long-time tag team partner Brian Blair.
In July 2016, Brunzell was named part of aclass action lawsuit filed against WWE which alleged that wrestlers incurred traumatic brain injuries during their tenure and that the company concealed the risks of injury. The suit is litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against WWE.[14] The lawsuit was dismissed by US District JudgeVanessa Lynne Bryant in September 2018.[15] In September 2020, an appeal for the lawsuit dismissed by a federal appeals court.[16]
As of November 2017, Brunzell and Blair work many comic conventions and independent autograph sessions. A comic book series called the "Killer Bees" has been released.
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