Time Travel Art Machine: The First Wrestling Painting I Ever Sold

HUSS! HUSS! HUSS!

Back when this whole wrestling art thing started for me I was working on paintings of the various world champions from the major American promotions. I called it the Champions Collection and it got a lot of attention, effectively starting my full-time art career.

Bruiser Brody (yes, he was a world champion for the now-defunct World Wrestling Association) was one I wanted to do early in the project as he was a personal favorite of mine and thought his look would be a great proof-of-concept for what I was doing. I was immediately contacted by a promoter from Texas named Fred Urban who claimed this one as his. I wasn’t sure about selling as I wasn’t exactly set on what I was doing with the collection at the time, but Fred called me to plead his case.

I ended up selling it to him, which began a years-long friendship between us. We’d meet up during WrestleMania week and have long conversations at places like the Cauliflower Alley Club. He and my wife Katy hit it off too, which definitely makes someone aces in my book. Fred passed away a few years ago, but I’ll always be grateful to him and his family for embracing my work from the literal first day. Miss ya, Fred!

Love you more,

Rob