Brodus Clay Reveals Who Came Up With His WWE Gimmick
Brodus Clay had a couple of gimmicks during his WWE run but his best known was his Funkasaurus gimmick as a 400-pound, fun-loving dancer. Clay revealed who came up with that gimmick when he joined VOC Nation's Wrestling with History.
"Dusty Rhodes, God rest his soul? Calvin Broadus is Snoop Dogg's bodyguard. He let me out of my contract to go back to WWE, so that was out of respect to him," said Clay. "Originally it was Brodus Prior, and Dusty didn't like Prior?so I said 'what about Clay?' Dusty said, 'that sounds southern, you should wear overalls'?we were just laughing about it, and he said 'Brodus Clay, Brodus Clay,' over and over again until he said, 'you know what, I like it.'"
Clay said once he left WWE, they owned the rights to his name and he didn't want a rip-off character in TNA. So, he adopted a new gimmick and a new name as he was known as Tyrus in TNA and on the indie scene.
Clay said his original WWE goal was to work like Arn Anderson instead of a big man. But WWE changed his character from a heel to a babyface and he went to Dusty Rhodes for advice.
"When the decision was changed for me to be a babyface, because I had such a great core of mentors, I said give me a week and let me go sit down with Dusty and figure this out," recalled Clay. "The first thing he said, 'the Dream is always going to be the Dream. Because you're my protégé, you're being punished for my sins; you, [Cody] and Dustin are being punished for my sins?' So, we sat down and figured it out; he knew I didn't like to dance at all?he made it uncomfortable ? he made me dance with him in an arena for about an hour? We figured it out."
The Brodus Clay character wasn't one that everyone could pull off and Clay discussed the support he had for his role in the locker room.
"I was lucky? Road Dogg was huge, he really helped. Cena was supportive, Bill DeMott? Everyone was supportive. In that era, we all had each other's backs and were supportive. A lot of people knew I was out of my comfort zone doing the dancing and stuff, but it was necessary. Dusty Rhodes did it, JYD did it? this character wasn't going to be heavyweight champion, but he was going to open the show every night and get the crowd riled up. That's a great honor I think; if you can't close [the show], you should open it," said Clay.
The pro wrestling landscape has changed drastically in the 10 years since Clay joined WWE. He talked about today's product and why characters like his are being phased out.
"I think the business changes, and we have to accept the fact that the business changes. It's gotten to the point where it's more about the show than the wrestlers and that worries me a little bit," admitted Clay. "I think the wrestlers have become replaceable?with the pressure of the internet and trying to get ratings, we show too much of the magic now. That's just my opinion? At some point, we all become dinosaurs. I'm not there yet, but I'll continue to work my style."
Since leaving TNA/Impact in 2018, Clay has wrestled just a handful of indie shows and none since the end of 2018. He has a prominent TV career on FOX News and he talked about his future in pro wrestling.
"I'm still a wrestler; I don't consider myself anything else. Even though I'm doing very well with those other things, I'm still thinking, 'well, do I want to go ride with Matt Hardy and put hands on Cody? Do I want to go back to WWE? Do I want to go to NWA just so I can cut a promo on that set?... I'm definitely not done? one last ride. I have maybe a year left and then retire, leave my boots in the ring and let somebody else do it."