Dick the Bruiser

William Fritz Afflis (June 27, 1929 – November 10, 1991) was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and NFL player, better known by his ring name, Dick the Bruiser.

During his NFL days he played four seasons with the Green Bay Packers.

In addition to that he was also hugely successful in professional wrestling being a fifteen-time world champion, having held the AWA World Heavyweight Championship once, the WWA World Heavyweight Championship (Indianapolis version) thirteen times and the WWA World Heavyweight Championship (Los Angeles version) once.

He also excelled at Tag-Team wrestling having won 20 Tag Team championships, having held the AWA tag team championship five times and the WWA tag team championship a record 15 times in his career.

11 of these championships were won alongside his long-time Tag-Team partner Crusher Lisowski.

He was one of the most hated as well as well known heels from the mid 50s till the early 80s.

He was famous for his feuds with the likes of such stalwarts such as Lou Thesz, Bobo Brazil, Angelo Poffo and "Classie" Freddie Blassie.

For his achievements he would be inducted into the WWE hall of fame class of 2021.

From then into the late 1950s, Dick the Bruiser wrestled live every Thursday on TV in the Detroit area.

His typical opponent was "an up and coming young (unknown) wrestler" who would be pulverized by the Bruiser.

His matches and interviews were so effective he became a household name in the Detroit area.

His only defeat on live TV was at the hands of “Cowboy” Bob Ellis.

However, in two rematches with Ellis at the Olympia in Detroit, the Bruiser was victorious.

Selected 186th overall in the 16th round of the 1951 professional football draft, Afflis played football for the Green Bay Packers from 1951 to 1954.

as a lineman.

He appeared in all 48 regular season games the Packers played in those years, although the team never finished better than fourth place.

Afflis suffered an injury to his larynx while playing for the Packers.

This resulted in his trademark gravelly voice that he would keep for the rest of his life.

Bruiser made his professional Wrestling debut in 1954.

He was trained by Verne Gagne.

Afflis started wrestling in Chicago in 1955 under the Bruiser moniker where he faced Verne Gagne and Lou Thesz.

Gagne guided him in his initial days of becoming a professional wrestler.

On November 19, 1957, Dick the Bruiser and Dr. Jerry Graham engaged in a tag team match at Madison Square Garden in New York City before a crowd reported as 12,987 fans.

Their opponents were Antonino Rocca and Édouard Carpentier.

After the match ended, fighting among the wrestlers continued, and a large number of fans joined in, leading to a riot.

Two policemen were injured, two fans were arrested and over 60 policemen had difficulty dispersing the angry crowd.

The floor of the arena was littered with hundreds of broken chairs.

In 1963, Dick the Bruiser was involved in an angle with NFL star Alex Karras to set up a match between the two.

Bruiser was supposed to brawl with Karras at Lindell's Bar, a drinking establishment co-owned by Karras and the Butsicaris brothers.

What was supposed to be a worked shoot turned into a real brawl when one of the Butsicaris boys' uncles attacked Dick the Bruiser, unaware the event was staged.

Bruiser proceeded to destroy the bar as well a number of police officers who showed up to the melee; there were reportedly over 300 people hurt.

In the end, eight officers subdued him, and the Bruiser ultimately won the match.

At the end, he was charged with aggravated assault and had to cover $50,000 in damages for two policemen that he injured during the brawl.

He was also inducted into the 2005 International Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Born in Delphi, Indiana, Afflis moved to Indianapolis when his mother got a job there during World War II.

Afflis played football during his freshman and sophomore years for Shortridge High School in Indianapolis.

After his mother lost her job, the family moved back to Delphi, and the high school there did not have a football team.

Afflis took up residence at the YMCA in nearby Lafayette, Indiana, so that he was eligible to attend Lafayette Jefferson High School where he played football and wrestled.

Afflis went on to attend Purdue University and the University of Nevada, Reno, playing varsity football at both schools.

He also worked as a bouncer at a Reno nightclub.