Bruce Prichard
Bruce Prichard (born
March 7,
1963) is a creative team writer for the
World Wrestling Entertainment's
WWE SmackDown! brand. He is the brother of
professional wrestler Tom Prichard.
Bruce Prichard is best known to television audiences as
Brother Love, a red-faced smarmy, overly-charismatic "preacher" who claimed to preach not the word of
God, but "the word of
love."Away from his
Brother Love persona, Prichard began his career as a ring announcer for Bill Watts'
Universal Wrestling Federation and for a time was a manager and ringside interviewer in the
Global Wrestling Federation between 1992 and 1993.
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Brother Love appearing on the cover of January 1989's issue of WWF Magazine. |
Brother Love hosted a segment on
World Wrestling Federation's
syndicated and cable television programs (called "The Brother Love Show"), in which he would interview wrestlers. The segment debuted during the summer of 1988 on
Wrestling Challenge, and would be "promoted" to the WWE's "A-show,"
Superstars of Wrestling, by that fall.
The segment was patterned largely after the legendary "
Piper's Pit," where Love â€" dressed in a white suit and tie with a red shirt â€" would berate
face wrestlers (especially
Hulk Hogan and the
Ultimate Warrior) and openly support such
heels as
"The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and
Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. In fact, DiBiase was Brother Love's main "benefactor." More than once, a wrestling
feud was set up because of what occurred on "The Brother Love Show" (including the
Earthquake-
Hulk Hogan feud of 1990 and the
Jake "The Snake" Roberts-
Rick Martel feuds).
Brother Love also featured prominently in
WrestleMania V in 1989 where
Roddy Piper "de-skirted" Brother Love of his "
kilt" after taking over
Piper's Pit. A year later,
Sgt. Slaughter bestowed a medal upon Brother Love during
SummerSlam 1990 for being the "greatest American." Brother Love was thrilled.
The character of Brother Love was controversial, since he was introduced around the time of the late 1980s scandals involving
televangelists including
Jim Bakker and
Jimmy Swaggart (upon both of whom Prichard's character was based). Several of his segments also bordered on the lines of taste; one particular segment involved Love playing the part of a
charlatan "faith healer" (where he induced an actor, pretending to be blind and crippled, to "see" and "walk" on command). The actor would proclaim, "I can see!" and "I can walk!" after obeying Love's commands.
Coincidentally, Prichard was released from the WWE shortly after the "I Can See!" segment aired (he was "offed" when the Ultimate Warrior attacked him and beat him nearly unconscious in early 1991), although his departure was due to personal problems Prichard was having at the time. Prichard eventually went to Dallas as a manager for the
Global Wrestling Federation.
Brother Love returned to the WWE in November 1995. He hosted the Brother Love Show once again, this time on
Monday Night RAW. Love's second stint didn't last as long as his first, and he disappeared again in January 1996. However, before Brother Love left, Ted DiBiase introduced his new
Million Dollar Champion, The Ringmaster, on the Brother Love Show. The Ringmaster would later be known as
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and go to be one of the most successful superstars in WWE history.
Brother Love resurfaced once again for one night in January 1997 on the debut episode of
Shotgun Saturday Night, as the manager of the Sisters of Love, who became
The Headbangers after the Sisters of Love gimmick was quickly scrapped.
Prichard has since returned to the WWE, and has reprised his character on occasion. Prichard returned to WWE TV in 2001 for the gimmick
battle royal at
WrestleMania X-Seven.
At the
1990 Survivor Series, one match saw The Dream Team (
Dusty Rhodes,
The Hart Foundation, and
Koko B. Ware) take on The Million Dollar Team (Ted DiBiase,
Rhythm & Blues, and a mystery partner). DiBiase would reveal the mystery partner as
The Undertaker, who was managed by Brother Love. The Undertaker eliminated Koko B. Ware and Dusty Rhodes. He then followed Rhodes outside the ring to continue pummeling him, and got counted out.
Shortly before his departure, Love "sold" the contract of The Undertaker to
Paul Bearer. The Undertaker has since continued to wrestle for the company to this day as one of their most high profile wrestlers.
Before creating his Brother Love character, Prichard occasionally worked as an announcer for the WWF's television programs.
Between his two original stints as Brother Love, Prichard portrayed two other short-lived characters, both in 1993. The first was as The Wizard, a
color commentator on
All-American Wrestling. The second was as Reo Rogers, a satire on Dusty Rhodes. Rogers hosted an interview segment called "Reo's Round-Up," which lasted two weeks before the character was dropped.
* "I LOOOOVVE YEEEWWW
!" (his signature line, which began each segment)
* "I LOOOOVVE YEEEWWW | ! Now, I may not... LIIIIIIKE yeeewww... but... I do... LOOOOVVE YEEEWWW | !" (usually said to face wrestlers after he introduced them on "The Brother Love Show".)
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