American Wrestling Association (1972–1979) Following his unsuccessful tryout with the Redskins, Brunzell was approached by former college football teammate
Greg Gagne, who convinced him to train as a professional wrestler. He trained with Gagne's father
Verne, alongside wrestlers including
Ric Flair,
Ken Patera, and
The Iron Sheik. Brunzell and Blair had moderate success in the WWF. They feuded with such teams as
The Hart Foundation as well as the Funks,
Jimmy Jack Funk and
Hoss Funk, whom they faced in front of over 74,000 fans at
The Big Event. Their stay was also highlighted with a match against
Nikolai Volkoff and
The Iron Sheik as part of
WrestleMania III, and a win at the inaugural
Survivor Series on
Thanksgiving Day 1987. The Killer Bees teamed together until they were separated off-screen by the management team. Their final match came against
The Young Stallions on August 28, 1988.
Singles competition (1988–1993) Following the breakup of Killer Bees, Brunzell was immediately programmed into a house show series with the newly arrived
Curt Hennig that began in September and began working mainly as a
jobber, while having a
"jobber to the stars" status. Brunzell was winless against Mr. Perfect, including a singles match that aired on
Prime Time Wrestling on October 4, 1988. On September 24, Brunzell gained his first victory in a nascent singles career when he defeated
Danny Davis in Lexington, Kentucky. The following month Brunzell was shifted to house show matches against another newly arrived wrestler in the WWF,
Terry Taylor. Again, Brunzell was winless in competition against Taylor, as well as
King Haku. Brunzell was still known for one of the best dropkicks in the WWF, and in a losing match against
Randy Savage, the Macho Man got a bloody mouth after getting hit by one. On the November 5, 1988, edition of
Prime Time Wrestling, Jim Brunzell was announced as a participant in the
Survivor Series, replacing
Don Muraco. His former partner B. Brian Blair was also placed on the show, replacing
The Junkyard Dog. Despite this seeming boost, Brunzell continued to struggle on television. He was defeated again by Curt Hennig on Prime Time Wrestling, as well as by King Haku. At the 1988 Survivor Series Brunzell was pinned by
Bad News Brown; however, his team did come out victorious. After this Brunzell took a sabbatical from the company. The following year he made a full-time return and defeated
Frenchy Martin on his first match back on February 18, 1990, in Chicago, IL. Brunzell however was now an opening level wrestler, albeit one with strong name recognition. He entered into an unsuccessful house show series with
Rick Martel in April, while making his return to television on the May 14 edition of Prime Time Wrestling in a match against Curt Hennig. As he entered the summer he would appear on television against
Dino Bravo and
The Orient Express. On the July 16, 1990, edition of
Prime Time Wrestling he finally gained his first televised victory since the breakup of the Killer Bees when he pinned
Black Bart. All traces of his former Killer Bees gimmick were now gone, and Brunzell would wear tie-dye trunks, adopted the "Crank It Up" theme song that had been used by
The Young Stallions and was still being used by Jim Powers. It was with Powers that Brunzell would team with on August 6, 1990, on
Prime Time Wrestling against
Power and Glory (Powers's only televised match against his former partner). This month was also Brunzell's most successful since 1988, as he scored victories against
Buddy Rose, Steve Lombardi, and
Bob Bradley. He continued to fare well against opening level competition throughout the fall and winter. Brunzell's appearances became much more limited in 1991 as he wrestled only seventeen dates, all winless efforts against upper-level competition like
Irwin R. Schyster,
The Warlord, and
The Barbarian. However, in 1992 he became a regular again and made his first television appearance in over a year when he appeared in a battle royal that aired on
Prime Time Wrestling on April 20. Brunzell began tag-teaming consistently again for the first time in almost four years when he replaced the departed
Jim Neidhart and teamed with
Owen Hart. Hart and Brunzell were victorious in multiple encounters against
The Beverly Brothers in March. Brunzell also received a non-title match against
WWF World Champion Ric Flair on the
March to WrestleMania show. The teaming with Owen was short-lived, and Brunzell returned to singles competition as spring commenced. Brunzell was victorious in two dark match tryouts for
Rochester Roadblock in April and appeared in a 40-man battle royal that aired on
Prime Time Wrestling in June 1992. That month Brunzell began teaming with Jim Powers once more, losing to The Beverly Brothers and
The Nasty Boys, and defeating
Duane Gill and
Barry Hardy. Later that summer he returned once more to singles competition, facing Paul Diamond, Skinner, and Steve Lombardi. On October 5, 1992, edition of
Prime Time Wrestling Brunzell faced Terry Taylor in the latter's return to the WWF. On the January 3, 1993, edition of
Prime Time Wrestling Brunzell received a shot against
Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels. A day later he wrestled on the international version of
WWF Superstars and scored his first televised victory of the year when he pinned
Bill Irwin. In February 1993 he was programmed into a house show series against The Predator (
Horace Hogan) and was again victorious in every encounter. However, despite hoping to work for the WWF as a
producer/booker for the WWF, he wrestled his final WWF match in April 1993, episode of
Monday Night Raw where he was defeated by newcomer
Damien Demento. ==Personal life==