Dick the Bruiser

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

Dick the Bruiser
Born(1929-06-27)June 27, 1929
Delphi, Indiana
DiedNovember 10, 1991(1991-11-10) (aged 62)
Tampa, Florida
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Richard Afflis
Afflis
Dick the Bruiser
Billed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Billed weight261 lb (118 kg)
Billed fromReno, Nevada
Trained byVerne Gagne
Joe Pazandak
Debut1954
Retired1985

Before becoming a professional wrestler, Afflis was a professional football player and played for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1951 until 1954.

On November 10, 1991, Afflis died from internal bleeding. His wife Louise said that he was weightlifting at home with his adopted son, Jon Carney, and ruptured a blood vessel in his esophagus.[1]

In wrestling
  • Nicknames
    • "Bruiser"
    • "The World's Most Dangerous Wrestler"

Championships
  • American Wrestling Association
  • Japan Wrestling Association
    • NWA International Tag Team Championship (1 time) (with The Crusher)[6]
  • NWA Chicago
    • NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Chicago version) (1 time)[7]
    • NWA World Tag Team Championship (Chicago version) (1 time) (with Gene Kiniski)
  • NWA Detroit
    • NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Detroit version) (4 times)
  • NWA Mid-Pacific Promotions
    • NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Hawaii version) (1 time)[8]
  • Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
    • Tag Team with Crusher (Class of 2005)[9]
    • Television Era (Class of 2011)[10]
  • St. Louis Wrestling Club
    • NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship (3 times)[11]
  • St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • World Wrestling Association
    • WWA World Heavyweight Championship (13 times)[14]
    • WWA World Tag Team Championship (15 times) (with The Crusher (6), Wilbur Snyder (3), Bruno Sammartino (1), Bill Miller (1), Spike Huber (1), Jeff Van Kamp (1), Bobby Colt (1) and Calypso Jim (1))[15]
  • Worldwide Wrestling Associates
    • WWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[16]
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
    • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)[17]

References
  1. "Celebrating Dick the Bruiser". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2015-02-24.
  2. "AWA World Tag Team Title (Indiana) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-24.
  3. "AWA World Heavyweight Title history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-24.
  4. "AWA World Tag Team Title history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-24.
  5. "World Heavyweight Title (Omaha) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-24.
  6. "NWA International Tag Team Title (Japan) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-24.
  7. "NWA United States Heavyweight Title (Illinois) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-24.
  8. "NWA United States Heavyweight Title (Hawaii) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-24.
  9. "The Crusher & The Bruiser". Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2009-03-27. Retrieved 2015-02-24.
  10. "Dick the Bruiser". Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2015-03-03. Retrieved 2015-02-24.
  11. "Missouri Heavyweight Title history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-24.
  12. "Hall of Fame - Class of 2007". Saint Louis Wrestling. 22 April 2012. Retrieved 2015-02-24.
  13. "WCW Hall of Fame". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-24.
  14. "WWA World Heavyweight Title (Indianapolis) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-24.
  15. "WWA World Tag Team Title (Indiana) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-24.
  16. "WWA World Heavyweight Title (California) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-24.
  17. "Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame, 1996". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved 2015-02-24.

Other websites
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