Born Houston Harris in Little Rock, Arkansas, better known as Bobo Brazil, was an American professional wrestler. He is considered one of the first black professional wrestlers and broke the racial divide in professional wrestling. Harris received training from Joe Savoldi after meeting him during a naval gunfight. He was originally called "BuBu Brazil", but a mistake appeared in an advertisement, so the name stuck throughout his career. Harris' first recorded fight was on March 29, 1948 at Benton Harbor, where he fought as "Houston Harris, the Black Panther" in a 30-minute draw against Armand Myers. Savoldi taught him to be an honest athlete in the ring and to never take shortcuts to win a match. Brazil's simplicity, elegant clothing, and professionalism have created a fan base among both whites and blacks, making him a babyface that attracts fans of both races.
During his career, Brazil faced intolerance and discrimination from African-American fans who were forced to sit in seats that made it difficult to watch Bobo play. He also performed in Japan in the early 1950s. Brazil had numerous matchups against rivals such as Killer Kowalski, Dick Bruiser, Johnny Valentine, Haystacks Calhoun and Sheik, all of whom had been feuding with Brazil for decades.
Brazilian finalist Coco Butt broke racial barriers and used them to defeat "The Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers for the World Heavyweight Championship. However, neither Brazil nor Sammartino were officially credited with the title win in the NWA. In October 1970, Brasil and El Mongol defeated Mr. Ito and Mr. Great Ota in the first mixed match in Atlanta history. Brazil served as a mentor to wrestler "Soul Man" Rocky Johnson and was an inspiration to boxer Joe Frazier. Its manager was James Dudley, the first African-American to manage a major stadium in the United States.
Brazile retired in 1993 after a 40-year career, and his last official match was against Kelly Kiniski, son of rival Gene Kiniski, in Chicago, Illinois. In 1994, Brazile was inducted into the 1994 WWF Hall of Fame by his former rival Ernie Ladd.
Tomorrow more and better
