Dean Peters
Robbinsdale High School, Minneapolis
Class of 1976
Dean Peters, aka Brady Boone - promotions - Pacific North West, Florida, WWF, WCW, All Japan Pro Wrestling, GWF
aka The Masked Firecat
aka Battle Cat WWF
aka Fire Cat AJPW, WCW, GWF
Dean Peters ('Brady Boone') graduated from Robbinsdale High School in 1976. He was captain of the gymnastics team and enjoyed a reputation as a top athlete and top stud.
Although widely considered too short for wrestling. Peters was smart enough and gifted enough to go on to make a decent living in the business.
He began wrestling in the mid-eighties. Moved to the PNW as 'cousin of Billy Jack Haynes' at the time Tom Zenk was PNW Heavyweight champion. Captured the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title several times with Ricky Santana and Coco Samoa.
As 'Battle Kat' Peters received a well-deserved push in the WWF in the late 80s. Although Boone was actually fired mid-stream for various reasons, the Battle Kat gimmick was so successful that it continued with another wrestler (Bob Bradley) in the costume for a time. His aerobatic work in the WWF during this time was an inspiration to younger wrestlers such as Rob Van Dam (see below).
Fans of Global will remember Peters as 'Fire Cat'. He also wrestled in the Florida area, winning the Suncoast tag straps with Jerry Flynn in the early 90's.
In the late 90's Peters was being used as a referee in WCW. Peters died in a car accident December 15, 1998 while driving back to his home in Tampa, after refereeing matches at a WCW TV tapings in Orlando.
WCW seemed less than enthusiastic about noting Boone's death. His passing was marked briefly with 2 bells on the following week's Nitro. The announcers then spent a couple of minutes talking about how shocking the worked Flair injury angle was, not mentioning Boone. Gene Okerlund later ran a series of disparaging remarks about Peters on his hotline.
An obituary by Rob Van Dam
I get asked quite often which wrestlers I watched growing up that influenced me the most, and who were my favorites. I find my answers are pretty consistent.
I didn't watch wrestling until probably 1983, maybe 84. Although I recognized the hype surrounding Hulk Hogan, "Mr.Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, Andre the Giant, Junkyard Dog and the other mainstream superstars, I was always impressed by the creative moves and flying action.
I would watch Brady Boone and Lanny Poffo and, even though they were quite often the "other guy" in the ring with the pushed superstars, they would hold my attention and interest the most. Lanny would do this backflip splash out of the corner on his opponents. None of the other guys were doing this "unseen" acrobatic move now referred to as a moonsault. Brady would do backflips out of the corner and handspring all the way to the opposite corner. None of the other guys were doing this. They were doing big man moves like the running splash into the corner. Oooooh!! And that ever so exciting elbow drop that everyone including the referee could do. Ahhh!!
Brady would land on his feet no matter which way the other guy threw him and this was the shit that I wanted to see. Brady was in the ring to impress and his individuality and creative moves had me cheering and just knowing that he was going to win. This would be his night. I remember certain moves Brady did that impressed me, like when he scored a victory over Joe Mirto using a version of the victory roll that I just had to try on my friends after I saw him do it.
There were other really hard workers at the time that impressed me, like the British Bulldogs. Remember when they were kicking much ass? This isn't about them, though, it's about Brady.
I first met Brady when I was wrestling and living in Florida in 1992. He was one of the nicest, most helpful guys I had met. I would run into him at different venues and, as I learned more about him, I discovered he was very religious and about the most drug-free guy I've known.
Brady actually hooked me up with Baba for my first tour of Japan. I would see him often around the Florida shows. He would wrestle as himself or quite often under a mask as Firecat or Battlecat. The last time I saw Brady was the only time I actually had the honor of wrestling him, in Gainesville, Florida.
Brady passed away recently in a car accident at a young age. He did a lot for me before I started my career. He did a lot for me as my career was developing and you know what? I still use a few of his moves today in my matches. He sure can't be forgotten. Rest in peace, Brady.
Dean Peters
1958 - 1998R.I.P.
