James Prudhomme (June 6, 1921 – July 14, 1984), was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

, better known by the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...

s Brute Bernard or Jim 'Brute' Bernhard. He spent much of his career wrestling as part of a

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...

with Skull Murphy. He competed for several wrestling promotions associated with the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...

(NWA). He also worked for the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

-based

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...

(WCW) as well as the

World Wide Wrestling Federation Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) was an American sports promotion company. Run by Vincent J. McMahon from the 1950s until the 1980s, the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing promotion and later became the holding company ...

(WWWF). He died of a gunshot while cleaning a rifle in 1984.

Career

Early career

Bernard was discovered by wrestling promoter Jack Britton, who convinced him to become a wrestler. He made his debut in 1957, competing in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. He initially wrestled under his real name, but he later took on the name Brute Bernard. He also competed as in Detroit for a promotion run by Ed Farhat. He teamed up with fellow Canadian wrestler Skull Murphy throughout the 1960s. Their first championship came on May 16, 1963, when they won the

WWWF United States Tag Team Championship The WWWF United States Tag Team Championship was the first version of the main tag team title in the World Wide Wrestling Federation from 1963 until 1967. Originally, the WWWF was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance operating out of the N ...

. They held the title belts for almost six months before dropping them to

Killer Kowalski Wladek Kowalski (born Edward Władysław Spulnik; October 13, 1926 – August 30, 2008) was a Canadian professional wrestler, known by his ring name Killer Kowalski. Kowalski wrestled for numerous promotions during his career, including the ...

and

Gorilla Monsoon Robert James "Gino" Marella (June 4, 1937 – October 6, 1999), better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, Sports commentator, play-by-play commentator, and Glossary of profess ...

on November 14. They then began competing for

Championship Wrestling from Florida Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida professional wrestling promotion, wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it close ...

, an NWA territory. They participated in a tag team tournament and won the vacant Florida version of the

NWA World Tag Team Championship The NWA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling World Tag Team Championship, world tag team championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance. From 1948 to 1982, the NWA allowed List of National Wrestling Alliance territories ...

in 1964. Bernard and Murphy feuded with

Hiro Matsuda (July 22, 1937 – November 27, 1999), best known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler and trainer. Professional wrestling career Kojima played an active role as an ace pitcher at baseball in Nittai Ebara High School Baseball ...

and Duke Keomurka over the belts and traded the belts back and forth before losing them to Matsusa and Keomurka for good. Bernard and Murphy worked for World Championship Wrestling in 1966, where they won the

IWA World Tag Team Championship The IWA World Tag Team Championship is a Tag Team Championship defended in Puerto Rico.The titles were first introduced in the first incarnation of the International Wrestling Association, where they are defended. They also made a brief appearan ...

twice.

Texas

Murphy remained in Australia, while Bernard returned to the United States to compete for

World Class Championship Wrestling World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), later known as the World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA), was an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed McLemore, by ...

in Texas. He defeated

Fritz Von Erich Jack Barton Adkisson Sr. (August 16, 1929 – September 10, 1997), better known by his ring name Fritz Von Erich, was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, wrestling promoter, and the patriarch of the Von Erich family. He was ...

, patriarch of the

Von Erich family The Von Erich family is an American professional wrestling family. Originally from Texas, their actual surname is Adkisson, but every member working in wrestling has used the ring name "Von Erich" after family patriarch Fritz Von Erich (real nam ...

for the Texas version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship in March 1967. That year, he had four more title reigns, as he won the

NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Championship The NWA Brass Knuckles Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance, contested for in hardcore matches. As it was a professional wrestling championship, it was won not by actual competition, b ...

twice and teamed with his

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Mike Paidousis to win the

NWA American Tag Team Championship The WCWA World Tag Team Championship was the primary professional wrestling tag team championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area–based World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA). The championship was originally introduced as ...

twice.

Later career

Bernard and Murphy reunited in Australia, where they won the IWA World Tag Team Championship twice more in 1968 and 1969. They also competed for

Jim Crockett Promotions Jim Crockett Promotions, at times branded as Eastern States Championship Wrestling and Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, is a Family business, family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United Sta ...

the Carolinas The Carolinas, also known simply as Carolina, are the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina considered collectively. They are bordered by Virginia to the north, Tennessee to the west, and Georgia to the southwest. The Atlantic Ocean ...

, where they participated in a series of "battle of the bullies" matches. These bouts went against the tradition of having

faces The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect the ...

(fan favorites) competing against heels (villains), as Bernard and Murphy competed against fellow heels the Blond Bombers ( Swede Hanson and

Rip Hawk Harvey Maurice Evers (June 6, 1930 – December 22, 2012) was an American professional wrestler best known by his ring name, Rip Hawk. He began his wrestling career in the Mid-Western United States before joining Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) in ...

). Murphy died of a heart attack on March 23, 1970. Bernard took on a new partner,

Larry Hamilton Larry Edward "Rocky" Hamilton (April 1, 1931 – July 20, 1996), better known by his ring name the Missouri Mauler, was an American professional wrestler who competed in the National Wrestling Alliance, becoming a mainstay of the latter promoti ...

, and the pair won the NWA Atlantic Coast Tag Team Championship in October 1971. They also competed in Texas, where they won the NWA American Tag Team Championship. Bernard continued to wrestle in Australia and won the NWA Austra-Asian Heavyweight Championship by defeating

Spiros Arion Spiros Arion () born Spyridon Manousakis () (born September 1940) is an Egyptian-born Greek former professional wrestler who had an extensive and successful career, mainly in Australia and the United States. Known as The Golden Greek and The ...

on November 4, 1972. He held the belt for three weeks before dropping it back to Arion. He also won the country's World Brass Knuckles Championship twice. Back in Jim Crockett Promotions, he formed a tag team with Jay York. They had rivalries with the team of George Scott and

Nelson Royal Nelson Combs (July 21, 1935 – February 3, 2002) was an American professional wrestler, trainer and promoter, better known by his ring name, Nelson Royal. He held the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship on six occasions along with numero ...

as well as the

Anderson family The Anderson family is a fictitious family of professional wrestlers, largely consisting of billed brothers, cousins and children.https://www.midatlanticgateway.com/2016/03/blood-thicker-than-water.html> Gene Anderson NWA Hall of Famer Gene ...

(

Gene In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...

and

Ole OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

). Bernard and York were managed by Beauregarde, who also teamed with them in six-man matches. Bernard and York won the

NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship The NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship was a tag team title defended in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Mid-Atlantic territory. The championship was originally created in the summer of 1968 and was originally named the NWA Atlantic Coa ...

by defeating Scott and Royal on November 26, 1973 but lost the belts to the Andersons one month later. Bernard wrestled for several promotions in his final years as a wrestler. He returned to Detroit, where he competed as The Brute. He also teamed with Frank Morrell in Texas to win the

NWA Western States Tag Team Championship The NWA International Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling title, originally created as the NWA Western States Tag Team Championship in the National Wrestling Alliance's Amarillo, Texas territory, Western States Sports. The title w ...

in 1977. He returned to the Carolinas and wrestled for Jim Crockett Promotions until he was released due to his age. He continued to wrestle occasionally; in his final match, he refused to go along with the scripted finish. The

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

, Dave Routh, declared the result a double countout. Bernard got upset in the locker room and attacked Routh. He broke Routh's nose and was fired as a result.

Personal life

Bernard was married to female professional wrestler Betty Jo Hawkins. He died in 1984 of an accidental gunshot wound. One story states that Bernard was playing

Russian roulette Russian roulette () is a potentially lethal game of chance in which a player places a single round in a revolver, spins the cylinder, places the muzzle against the head or body (their opponent's or their own), and pulls the trigger. If the ...

Championships and accomplishments

*Big Time Promotions **Big Time Television Championship (1 time) *

** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Florida version)'' (

2 times "2 Times" is the debut single of English singer Ann Lee. It was released in Italy in December 1998 by X-Energy as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999), and was issued worldwide the following year. The single peaked at number tw ...

) - with Skull Murphy *

Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling Jim Crockett Promotions, at times branded as Eastern States Championship Wrestling and Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. Founded in ...

** NWA Atlantic Coast Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with

( 1 time) - with Jay York * NWA Big Time Wrestling **

( 3 times) - with Mike Paidousis (2) and

The Missouri Mauler Larry Edward "Rocky" Hamilton (April 1, 1931 – July 20, 1996), better known by his ring name the Missouri Mauler, was an American professional wrestler who competed in the National Wrestling Alliance, becoming a mainstay of the latter promoti ...

(1) ** NWA Brass Knuckles Championship ''(Texas version)'' (

) ** NWA United States Heavyweight Championship ''(Texas version)'' ( 1 time) *North American Wrestling Alliance **NAWA Brass Knuckles Championship (1 time) *

Western States Sports Western States Sports (also known as the Amarillo Territory) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Amarillo, Texas in the United States. Founded by Dory Detton in 1946, the promotion enjoyed its greatest success in the 1960s and ...

( 1 time) - with Frank Morrell *

World Championship Wrestling (Australia) World Championship Wrestling was an Australian professional wrestling promotion that ran from 1964 until 1978. History The promotion gained publicity through television programs on the Nine Network, which were presented at noon on Saturdays an ...

** NWA Austra-Asian Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) **

( 5 times) - with Skull Murphy ** World Brass Knuckles Championship ''(Australia version)'' (2 times) *

( 1 time) - with Skull Murphy

References

External links

Profile at Online World of Wrestling
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard, Brute 1921 births 1984 deaths 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Canadian male professional wrestlers Deaths by firearm in Canada Accidental deaths in Canada Firearm accident victims 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century Canadian professional wrestlers WCWA Brass Knuckles Champions NWA World Tag Team Champions (Florida version) NWA Austra-Asian Heavyweight Champions IWA World Tag Team Champions (Australia) World Brass Knuckles Champions WWWF United States Tag Team Champions WCWA World Heavyweight Champions WCWA World Tag Team Champions