Bobo Brazil

Houston Harris

Early life Houston Harris was born on July 10, 1924, in Little Rock, Arkansas, but later lived in East St. Louis, Illinois, and Benton Harbor, Michigan. His father died when he was seven years old, which resulted in him doing odd jobs such as working on a local fruit farm for fifty cents a container. He played baseball in the Negro leagues for the House of David, where he was discovered to become a wrestler at a steel mill.

Brazil's first recorded match was on March 29, 1948, in Benton Harbor, wrestling as "Houston Harris, The Black Panther" against Armand Myers to a 30-minute draw. Harris was taught by Joe Savoldi to "be an honest athlete in the ring and never to take shortcuts on anybody to win a match. He was instilled to be a crowd’s friend right to the end." Bobo spent most of his early career in the North wrestling for WWWF (now WWE), Big Time Wrestling in Detroit, Maple Leaf Wrestling in Toronto, Ontario, Canada & Dick the Bruiser's WWA promotion in Chicago.

Brazil had many matches with competitors such as Killer Kowalski, Dick the Bruiser, Johnny Valentine, Haystacks Calhoun These and other rivals would all fall victim to Brazil's finishing maneuver, the Coco Butt. Brazil also once wrestled Bill Miller to a draw, and challenged Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship in a battle of two top babyface competitors. Brazil's manager was James Dudley, the first African American to be in charge of a major arena in the United States. Dudley would run to the ring waving a towel, as Brazil followed behind.

Harris died on January 20, 1998, at the Lakeland Medical Center in St. Joseph, Michigan.

Championships and accomplishments Big Time Wrestling (Detroit) NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Detroit version) (9 times) NWA World Tag Team Championship (Detroit version) (8 times) – with Art Thomas (1), Bill Miller (1), Athol Layton (1), The Stomper (1), Tony Marino (3) and Fred Curry (1) Championship Wrestling from Florida NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Sweet Brown Sugar (1) and Dusty Rhodes (1) Eastern Sports Association ESA North American Heavyweight Championship (1 time) Japan Wrestling Association NWA International Heavyweight Championship (2 times) Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (1 time) Midwest Wrestling Association (Ohio) MWA Ohio Heavyweight Championship (1 time) NWA Hollywood Wrestling / Worldwide Wrestling Associates NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship (3 times) NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship (1 time) NWA International Television Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Wilbur Snyder (2), Sandor Szabo (1), and Primo Carnera (1) NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship (Los Angeles version) (1 time) WWA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times) Pro Wrestling Illustrated PWI Editor's Award (1998) Superstars of Wrestling SoW United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time) World Wrestling Association (Indianapolis) WWA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times) WWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Chris Carter World Wide Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Federation WWWF United States Heavyweight Championship (7 times)