Line #33 Wrestling/BrodusClay


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ww_bc.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:We gon' rip it up!]]
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4	Brodus Clay (real name George Murdoch, born February 21, 1973) is an American retired professional wrestler formerly employed by Wrestling/{{WWE}} between 2011 and 2014.
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6	Originally, he was featured as a bodyguard for Wrestling/AlbertoDelRio. Due to him filming a movie at the time, he was taken off of TV for a few months and was dropped as Del Rio's bodyguard. He returned and began {{Squash\|Match}}ing various {{Jobber}}s on WWE's online-exclusive show ''Wrestling/WWESuperstars''. After nine consecutive squash victories on ''Superstars'', WWE ran vignettes promoting his return to television on the November 7, 2011 episode of ''[=Raw=]''. However, Clay's television return was continuously delayed by authority figure Wrestling/JohnLaurinaitis to be "next week", with this trend continuing all the way into January 2012. Clay made his television return on the January 9, 2012 episode of ''[=Raw=]'' as a face with a fun-loving, funk dancing gimmick, with the nickname "The Funkasaurus". Then accompanied by the Wrestling/TheFunkadactyls Naomi and Cameron and announced as hailing from "Planet Funk", Clay incorporated gyrations and dance moves into his various squash wins on both ''[=Raw=]'' and ''[=SmackDown!=]''.
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8	Brodus Clay did not stop wrestling after being let go by WWE, having been seen in North East Wrestling, the UK's Varsity Pro Wrestling, [[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA]], and the [[Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance NWA]] (where you can call him Tyrus), among other promotions. He has since won the Pennsylvania Premiere Wrestling Heavyweight Championship and the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship. He went on ''Series/TheGregGutfeldShow'' as a guest, and eventually became Greg's co-host, and a Fox New contributor.
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10	Per a pre-match stipulation, he retired from in-ring competition on August 27, 2023 after losing the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship to Wrestling/EC3 on Night 2 of the promotion's 75th Anniversary Show. He later made it clear that the stipulation was his idea, stating in separate interviews that [[https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/tyrus-talks-his-decision-retire-says-he-will-still-be-part-nwa his body was breaking down]] and [[https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/tyrus-explains-why-retiring-says-144401993.html he wanted to spend more time with his children]].
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12	!! "MR. BRODUS CLAY'S TROPES!":
13	* AbhorrentAdmirer: After Wrestling/{{Aksana}} and Wrestling/{{Tamina\|Snuka}} had both become single they tried to eliminate and replace the Funkadactyls on ''Wrestling/WWEMainEvent''.
14	* {{Acrofatic}}: 350+ pounds and can still perform [[LightningBruiser high cross body slams]]. In TNA, Wrestling/SharkBoy was negatively contrasted against Tyrus, as Shark Boy had gotten fat and not retained any of his ability to perform acrobatic, nor any of his stamina, letting Tyrus easy defeat him. Averted during his NWA run where he was so out of shape and broken down he couldn't even run the ropes properly anymore.
15	* AmbiguouslyBi: Seems pretty cool with his pair of female backup dancers. But there's something to be said for the fact that anytime one of his opponents has attempted to put him in a hold, his response has been (despite his strength) to gyrate his hips and thrust his pelvis until the guy got so uncomfortable he had to let him go.
16	* BigFun: As the Funkasaurus.
17	* BigGuyLittleGuy: Has been the big guy as bodyguard to Wrestling/TedDiBiaseJr, Wrestling/AlbertoDelRio, Wrestling/EC3, and now Wrestling/MattHardy. In RealLife he was this to Music/SnoopDogg before becoming a wrestler.
18	* BoringButPractical: And running splash might be one of the more boring (technically speaking) [[FinishingMove finishers]] in WWE to date, but there's something to be said for jumping and throwing all near-four hundred pounds of yourself onto an opponent's chest. And that 'something said' is usually a 3-count.
19	* TheBrute: A [[GeniusBruiser subversion]] as a face, plays it straight as a heel.
20	* CanonDiscontinuity: WWE doesn't acknowledge that Clay was a contestant on WWE NXT or a bodyguard of Alberto Del Rio's. In fact, when he moved over to ''[=Raw=]'', WWE hyped his return as his ''debut.''
21	* CaptainErsatz: [[http://wrestlegasm.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/kinghippo.jpg Of King Hippo,]] [[VideoGame/PunchOut of all things.]] Wrestling/TheMiz was quick to point this out when forced to fight him.
22	* CallingYourAttacks: ''"SHEEE-plex, baby!"''
23	* DanceBattler: His Funkasaurus gimmick was this.
24	* DeathFromAbove: One of his finishers is a running splash to a downed opponent. Let's put that into perspective - a guy that's about ''375 pounds'' goes airborne and lands on the chest of whatever poor sap happens to be fighting him that day. Ouch.
25	** His double team finisher with "Sweet T" Tensai? A double splash tipping the scales at ''over 750 pounds''. Double ouch.
26	** And when he flies off the second rope to do that splash? [[UnnecessaryRoughness OW.]]
27	* DemotedToExtra: Went undefeated for several months after his ''[=Raw=]'' debut, including defeating Wrestling/DolphZiggler on PPV. And then he was barely on TV at all, and when he was, he usually was on the losing end. Then he teamed up with Tensai as Tons of Funk and averted this for a while. Then Tons of Funk [[TheWorfEffect worfed]] for The Wyatt Family, Clay turned heel on Tensai, returned to NXT, did nothing of note, and was released.
28	* DefeatMeansFriendship: After a long period of {{Jobb\|er}}ing, he beat Tensai in a dance-off. A couple of weeks later, Tensai [[HeelFaceTurn turned face]] and the two began teaming - and dancing - together.
29	* {{Expy}}: Of Wrestling/{{Rikishi}}, though the Funkadactyls were originally called the "Funkettes," which was the name of [[Wrestling/TooColdScorpio Flash Funk]]'s dancers before that part of his gimmick was dropped.
30	* FatBastard: After turning heel.
31	* [[FiveMovesOfDoom Four Moves Of Doom]]: In the early goings of his career on WWE, his matches have ended with a sequence of: Running Headbutt, Exploder Suplex, Corner Splash, and then his FinishingMove.
32	* FinishingMove: A running splash called "''Splat!''". Double Splat with Sweet T. Tyrus has taken up a Samoan Spike.
33	* FriendToAllChildren: As a face. His wins tend to end with about a half dozen or more kids [[DancePartyEnding dancing alongside him and the backup girls in the ring]], which is straight out of the Wrestling/JunkyardDog.
34	%%* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.
35	* GratuitousDiscoSequence: The Funkasaurus's entrance is one, with disco music, a disco ball and Brodus dancing with the Funkadactyls. Some of his pay per view appearances made the whole thing even more elaborate.
36	* HeelFaceReturn: Though, originally they ''were'' going to explain it. Apparently, his Funkasaurus gimmick actually had a link between the monster heel promos and his current form. Clay would have debuted the monster heel gimmick but would turn on Wrestling/JohnLaurinaitis for stalling his debut for so long, transitioning to the dancing gimmick.
37	* ItsAllAboutMe: Which eventually started his heel turn and broke up Tons of Funk.
38	* {{Kiai}}: SHHHHHEEEEEAAAA.
39	* '''[[LargeHam LARGE HAM]]''': Emphasis on the "large"...''and'' the "ham."
40	** HammyHerald: At most, there are a handful of entrances on WWE's main roster that bring the hog like Brodus Clay's as the Funkasaurus…and that's saying a lot. To be specific, instead of the standard, "Hailing from [Place Name], weighing in at [such-and-such amount], [RedBaron] [NAME OF WRESTLER]" intro, a disco ball would come down from the ceiling and an offscreen announcer lady (possibly one of the Funkadactyls) would say, "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PLEASE WELCOME THE ONLY LIVING, BREATHING, ROMPING STOMPING FUNKASAURUS IN CAPTIVITY, MR. BRODUS CLAY!"
41	* LetsGetDangerous: If Brodus Clay comes down to the ring and is ''not'' dancing on the way, you can be well assured that he is ''pissed off.''
42	* LightningBruiser: Moves around the ring ''way'' faster than should be allowed for a man of his size and build.
43	* MeaningfulName: The original name for his finisher was called the "Fall of Humanity." As mentioned before, it's a running high cross body done by a 360-pound man. Do the math on that one.
44	** It also alluded to his general monstrousness back then.
45	* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: Urban Assault did not treat G-rilla very well in Deep South Wrestling.
46	* PartsUnknown: Originally "The Concrete Jungle", then "Planet Funk".
47	* PerkyFemaleMinion: Had a pair of them. [[Wrestling/RonKillings R-Truth notably had to ask him for their services.]]
48	** SassyBlackWoman: Both of them - Wrestling/{{Naomi\|Wrestler}} arguably moreso.
49	* PowerStable: Urban Assault, technically, though they didn't really do much for him. Polynesian Power Package with Donny Marlow, [[Wrestling/TheUsos Jimmy Uso, Jules Uso]] and Wrestling/{{Tamina Snuka}} in FCW was a much straighter example. Ironically, one of his Funkadactyls would by Jimmy Uso's wife.
50	* PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy: His old gimmick in Deep South Wrestling was called "G-rilla" and portrayed a gangsta thug.
51	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: His motivation as a heel.
52	* ScrewYourself: Accidentally alluded to, to the groans of the Funkadactyls, but quickly corrected during ''Gamerlive TV'''s coverage of ''WWE 13''.
53	* ShoutOut: Took the name '''Brodus''' Clay as one to the man he once guarded, Calvin Cordozar '''Broadus'''...otherwise known as Music/SnoopDogg.
54	** His TagTeam in FCW the Colossal Connection, to the WWE team of the same name from 1989-1990 made up of Wrestling/AndreTheGiant and [[Wrestling/{{Meng}} Haku]], as his partner Donny Marlow, later known on ''Wrestling/WWESmackDown'' as Camacho, is Haku's son, [[Wrestling/GuerrillasOfDestiny Tevita Fifita]].
55	* SmallNameBigEgo: His 2013 FaceHeelTurn has him referring to himself as a "main event playa," even though he hadn't even been seen on TV, let alone won a match, in months.
56	* StoutStrength: There's a clip on Youtube of Clay during his days as Snoop Dogg's bodyguard benching 600+ lbs.
57	* TagTeam:
58	** (In WWE's Georgia developmental promotion Deep South Wrestling): Urban Assault, with Afa Jr., Sonny Siaki and Eric Perez.
59	** (In WWE's Florida developmental promotion FCW): the Colossal Connection, with Donny Marlow
60	** Tons of Funk, with Tensai.
61	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: On NXT Brodus gave one to Ted [=DiBiase=] to explain why he was no longer accepting him as his pro and moving over to Alberto Del Rio.
62	* TheRival
63	** G-rilla's was 7ft Giant Titan in Revived Florida Championship Wrestling. It was mostly an indirect rivalry, as Titan spent more time with other Floridian companies G-rilla couldn't appear on due to his WWE contract, but they did face off against one another and tag together a few times.
64	** Tons of Funk's was Wrestling/ThreeMB, Wrestling/HeathSlater in particular for Brodus Clay, as they had wrestled many times prior.
65	* TheWorfEffect: His first loss was to put over Big Show's new attitude, while Tons of Funk served this trope to put over the Wyatt Family.
66	* TraumaticHaircut: After months of beating up [[Wrestling/DrakeMaverick Rockstar Spud]] and weeks of beating up second ''British Bootcamp'' winner Mark Andrews, they got their revenge by saving his head, following Wrestling/EC3's failure to shave Spud.
67	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: After been PutOnABus, due to sustaining an injury while attempting to help Wrestling/AlbertoDelRio win the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-world-h.html World Heavyweight Title]], he started having {{Squash Match}}es on ''Wrestling/WWESuperstars'' and then finally getting a promo that he was coming to ''[[Wrestling/{{WWERaw}} Raw]]''. Only to have Laurinaitis calling him on a weekly basis telling him, he'll be having a match the next week…that is until January 9, 2012 when [[HeelFaceReturn he came back as the Funkasaurus]].
68	* WhatTheHellHero: Got a pretty sizable one on the 11/29/13 Smackdown, when he beat up rookie Xavier Woods for 'stealing' the [[PerkyFemaleMinion Funkadactyls]] ''after giving Woods permission to let them accompany him to ringside for a match.'' Then he hit a diving splash from the second rope at the end of the match that he [[UnnecessaryRoughness doesn't normally perform.]] (See DeathFromAbove for why this wasn't good for Woods.) Not even the Funkadactyls themselves were entirely cool with it, and the victory 'dance' at the end was noticeably forced and awkward.

Context Wrestling / BrodusClay