Bobo Brazil

Houston Harris
Data
Ring name	Boo-Boo Brazil Bobo Brazil
height	196 cm
Fighting weight	111 kg - 131 kg
birth	July 10, 1924 Little Rock , Arkansas
death	January 20, 1998 St. Joseph , Michigan
debut	1951
retirement	1987

Houston Harris (born July 10, 1924 in Little Rock , Arkansas , † January 20, 1998 in St. Joseph , Michigan ), better known as Bobo Brazil , was an American wrestler . He is considered a pioneer for the integration of African Americans in wrestling, was the first African American to hold the NWA Heavyweight title and has been a member of the WWE Hall of Fame since 1994 .

Career

Harris actually started his career as Boo-Boo Brazil , but a misprint on a poster made it Bobo Brazil .

At first Harris only competed against other African American wrestlers, but after spectator protests the promoters were forced to change this. Thus Harris is one of the first Afro-Americans to compete against "white" opponents in wrestling and win. During his career he has performed with the likes of Killer Kowalski , The Sheik , Bruno Sammartino and Andre the Giant .

On October 18, 1962, Harris became the first African-American NWA Heavyweight Champion against Buddy Rogers . However, the title change was not officially recognized by the NWA .

During his career, Brazil was managed by James Dudley , who in turn was the first African American to manage a large event hall in the United States .

In 1998 Harris passed away after a series of strokes. He left six children.

successes

title

• Championship Wrestling from Florida
  • 3 × NWA Florida Tag Team Championship
• New Japan Pro Wrestling
  • 2 × NWA International Heavyweight Championship
• Maple Leaf Wrestling
  • 1 × NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Championship with "Whipper Billy" Watson
  • 1 × NWA United States Heavyweight Championship
• Midwest Wrestling Association (Ohio)
  • 1 × MWA Ohio Heavyweight Championship
  • 3 × MWA Ohio Tag Team Championship
• National Wrestling Alliance
  • 9 × NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Detroit)
  • 8 × NWA World Tag Team Championship (Detroit)
  • 3 × NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship (Hollywood Wrestling)
  • 1 × NWA Beat the Champ International Television Championship
  • 4 × NWA International Television Tag Team Championship
  • 1 × NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship (Los Angeles version)
  • 1 × NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (San Francisco version)
• Superstars of Wrestling
  • 1 × SoW United States Heavyweight Championship
• World Wrestling Association
  • 2 × WWA World Heavyweight Championship (Indianapolis)
  • 1 × WWA World Tag Team Championship (Indianapolis)
  • 2 × WWA World Heavyweight Championship (Los Angeles)
• World Wide Wrestling Federation
  • 4 × WWWF United States Championship

Awards

• World Wrestling Federation
  • WWF Hall of Fame 1994

Web links

• Profile in the WWE Hall of Fame