PUEBLO, Colo. – H.D. Page can still remember the vibrations of the bucking chutes at home in Ardmore, Oklahoma, six years ago.

Page was bucking an unnamed young calf who would erupt out of chute and kick so hard that the bovine’s back legs would sometimes crash into the steel.

He would keep bringing it, too, turning back toward the gate and gathering steam with every turn and jump he made.

To this day Page can still recall those stinging vibrations and how SweetPro’s Bruiser earned his name.

“That is one big ol’ Bruiser,” Page would think to himself in those early years with Bruiser at home.

Page paused and then smiled as he glanced over at the now three-time World Champion Bull moseying his way off the trailer in Cheyenne, Wyoming, last weekend for Last Cowboy Standing.

Once he started bringing the now-named Bruiser to events as a 3-year-old, the longtime stock contractor always knew it was a possibility that this special athlete could become a World Champion.

But a stock contractor can never know for sure if a young bull will ever live up to those expectations.

Bruiser (52-13, UTB), though, has gone on to accomplish everything that Page could have ever dreamt about since the bovine legend debuted in March 2014.

Three consecutive PBR World Championships, the 2014 ABBI Classic title, a PRCA Bull of the Year title in 2017, four trips to the National Finals Rodeo and five PBR World Finals qualifications are just some of Bruiser’s accolades.

“I wouldn’t be disappointed if I never bucked him again,” Page said. “I know his sons and daughters are going to pay me back tenfold. I am looking forward to that, and I need to probably consider that in the next year or two.”

For now, though, Page is committed to hauling Bruiser up and down the road for the stretch run to the 2019 PBR World Finals on Nov. 6-10 in Las Vegas.

Bruiser is currently fourth in the YETI World Champion Bull race (45.32 average bull score) following his 44-point outing in Cheyenne last week when he clipped the back of the bucking chutes during his 5.08-second buckoff of Lucas Divino.

Smooth Wreck leads the YETI World Champion Bull race with a 45.66-point average on his eight best outs.

Before Bruiser bucked in Cheyenne, Page expressed that the bull may need a few more weeks to get himself back into prime condition. Page had Bruiser out on cows during the summer break.

“I think in about three or four weeks he will be ready to go hard the rest of the year,” Page said. “I am optimistic that way.”

Page said in Cheyenne he would likely haul Bruiser to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the Express Ranches Classic, presented by Osage Casino, on Aug. 10-11. If Bruiser is in Tulsa, he will likely also buck in the 15/15 Bucking Battle at the BOK Center.

“He is about three weeks away from being tip top,” Page said. “I have a general idea of what I want him to look like, and he is not quite there yet. His back isn’t as flat as I would like it, but he is getting there.”

Bruiser needs one more out to officially qualify for the 2019 World Championship race.

No bull has won four PBR World Championships. Bruiser is tied with Little Yellow Jacket and Bushwacker for the most World Champion Bull titles.

“I don’t want to count my chickens, but I know he is in the hunt,” Page said of Bruiser’s pursuit of history. “There are a lot of variables. There is perception and there is a ton of things that can happen. Any of them can get on a downhill slide if stuff is not working right. I am pretty sure it is not going to happen to him. He has been doing it too long.”

Page spent the first four months of the Unleash The Beast season debating if he wanted to bring Bruiser back for a sixth PBR season.

Bruiser first bucked twice at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo where J.W. Harris rode him for 92.5 points.

Some questioned whether Bruiser had enough in him to make a run at a fourth World Championship, but Page was not one of those doubters – for the most part.

“I have all the confidence in the world,” Page said. “I never doubted his ability or his heart. I just doubted this winter that he would physically be able to do it.”

Bruiser has proved so far in 2019 that he indeed has something left in the tank.

He has bucked off all seven of his challengers – Ezekiel Mitchell, Ryan Dirteater, Silvano Alves, Cooper Davis, Chase Outlaw, Claudio Montanha Jr. and Divino – for his best buckoff streak on the premier series in three years.

Bruiser bucked off 14 consecutive riders on the premier series in 2016.

The 8-year-old son of Showtime has bucked 114 times across all levels of PBR and rodeo competition, according to Probullstats.

Bruiser has been ridden 23 times with all but three of those rides being scored less than 90 points.

Page says his bull’s success has not been just because of his natural ability, but also due to his heart, toughness and a will to win.

“He has everything needed for one to be a champion,” Page said. “He has the rear, drop, kick and all the criteria, but he also has the will to win. Whatever it is.

“If I had to credit one thing that is it, his toughness. There are a ton of bulls that have the same ability he does, but they don’t bring it every day like he does. When they are a little off, they are off.”

Some have questioned whether this may end up being Bruiser’s final season.

Page, though, was not willing to say whether or not he would retire Bruiser at the end of 2019.

“He is 8,” Page said. “He’s got a lot more miles. His miles probably outweigh his years, but what is Spotted Demon, 11 now? He won the world in the PRCA when he was 10. So you never know.”

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko