- By: Aaron Zaremski
(Updated 9/19/17)
The Scarecrow once sang to Dorothy, "... If I only had a brain..."
For over four decades, professional wrestling had a brain.
They not only had a brain, but they had the Brain.
Bobby Heenan was best known as a man who had a sharp tongue and donned a sequined windbreaker, who was capable of cutting a promo on a wrestler, while putting over the talent he managed, while making a Yogi Berra-esque one-liner, that left even a man nicknamed after a primate beast, speechless.
But long before Heenan ever found himself next to Hall of Fame talents like Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect, he found himself alone in the squared circle in wrestling territories like the World Wrestling Association, and the American Wrestling Association. Places where he had bloody brawls, that made even the most extreme fan blush. None of those brawls is more infamous than the image captured for his cover shot on the November 1970 edition of the Wrestler Magazine.
Heenan's flair for the crimson dramatic was a far cry from one of his earliest monikers in the business, "Pretty Boy" Bobby Heenan. That nickname was used until he arrived full-time in the AWA, where decided to hang up his boots and use something else instead: his brain.
Turning more to managing wrestlers, instead of fighting them, Heenan found himself leading, and speaking for, the likes of Nick Bockwinkel, Ray Stevens and Bobby Duncum Sr. while apart of the AWA. And while his wit drew ire and awe from those who watched, he was not quite the savant that he came to be beloved as in the WWF.
No, in fact, some might have even called him, a weasel.
Always one to talk himself into-and-subsequently-out-of any situation, Heenan found himself in the World Wrestling Federation by 1984.
It was here that Bobby Heenan, truly became the Brain during his nearly decade long run with the company.
Only the manager of the Beatles, Brian Epstein, can claim to have managed as iconic of talent. And while the Beatles might have boasted twenty number one singles, Heenan managed over thirty wrestlers. Many of whom went on to become world champions in the WWF or in other companies around the world.
A collective group, that in many forms took the name, the "Heenan Family."
While Heenan is remembered for being beside Ric Flair in the Nature Boy's WWF debut, every wrestling fan of the 1980s and early 1990s can only think of one other person when they think of Bobby Heenan: Gorilla Monsoon.
The Abbot and Costello of wrestling commentary, Monsoon and Heenan provided the play-by-play to wrestling's Golden Era.
While wrestlers bounced of the ring ropes, Monsoon and Heenan would bounce verbiage off of each other without missing a single maneuver. Heenan, ever the "broadcast journalist" would always seemingly try and get Monsoon to break, like a sketch-comedy artist on Saturday Night Live. And while Monsoon would almost acknowledge his moment of weakness, he would simply ask Heenan, "Will you stop?"
Heenan was a heel- a bad guy, and always aligned himself with those like him.
He called fans of the good guys, "humanoids." He referred to jobbers as "ham-and-eggers" and would sit at the announcers table singing the praises of heel wrestlers until Monsoon verbally tapped out.
Yet, Heenan had charm.
Joe Pesci in any Joe Pesci movie, charm.
You wanted to ring his neck, and still you found yourself wanting to have a drink with the guy. You wanted to see him get his come-upping's, but once you did, you ALMOST felt bad.
For all his soliloquies and dastardly deeds, Heenan might be over-looked for being one of professional wrestling's most opportune talents.
He arrived in the WWF right before the "Rock n' Wrestling" era of Hogan, Savage, and the Ultimate Warrior exploded. An era that brought pro-wrestling into the pop-culture forefront.
Heenan then left the WWF in 1993 and found himself alongside announcer Tony Schiavone apart of the rival World Championship Wrestling, years before Hulk Hogan would once again revolutionize the wrestling business as apart of the New World Order.
While he had a run that lasted around six years with WCW, nothing really matched his time with the WWF. Heenan's most famous call in WCW came when Hogan formed the aforementioned N.W.O.
As Hogan came down, to seemingly save Randy Savage and Sting, Heenan constantly brought up that Kevin Nash and Scott Hall's "third man" had not yet arrived. And as Hogan dropped his iconic leg-drop on the good guy- Randy Savage, the announcers were left flabbergasted.
Except for Heenan, who exalted, "I just knew he would do that!"
After WCW folded in 2001, Heenan found himself back in the WWF for WrestleMania X-7, where he sat alongside Gene Okerlund to call a "gimmick" Battle Royale.
As each wrestler plagued with occupational monikers made their way to the ring, Heenan would sheepishly mock them in only the way that he could.
Completely insult them, and in doing so, completely put them over, making even a man named "the Goon" seem endearing.
Bobby Heenan would last appear in the WWF, by now, WWE in 2004 when he was enshrined in their Hall Of Fame.
He delivered one the best, if not the best, speeches that the event has ever seen. Humble, yet humorous, hackneyed, yet heart-felt, in a word, it was simply: Heenan.
Forever a blend of Don Rickles, Rodney Dangerfield, Harry Caray and your grandfather, Bobby Heenan was the embodiment of the Billy Joel lyric from "the Piano Man":
"He's quick with a joke-
or to light up your smoke,
But there is someplace
That he'd rather be.."
Life is many things, the least of which is cruel.
Bobby Heenan was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2002.
He fought the disease for fifteen years, after all, he was no ham-and-egger.
Cancer took from him his voice and physical appearance. And after corrective surgeries, part of his jaw was removed, making it completely unable for him to talk.
His public appearances became sporadic. But with each one, fans, and wrestlers would flock to him as if he was a Mafia Don, paying him respect, cheering him on, helping him fight.
Bobby Heenan leaves behind a legacy that will be forever un-matched in the world of professional wrestling.
While their might be talent like Mauro Ranallo and Corey Graves in WWE today that are throwbacks to the intellectual and witty calls of Bobby Heenan, every one knows that there was only one true "Weasel."
Whenever somebody famous passes away, we often times get nostalgic.
We revisit the catalogue of memories that they left us. And we, as fans, revisit the work that they left us with and remember those pure times, when we were a kid.
Thankfully, with YouTube and the WWE Network, you can easily access some of Bobby's best moments in the business. Whether it was his countless battles of wits with Monsoon, the Bobby Heenan Show from the 1980s, his performance on the debut episode of RAW, his calls in WCW, or his Hall Of Fame speech.
Those platforms help take us back to a time when wrestling was on top of the world-
A time when professional wrestling had it's Brain.
Rest In Peace.
(Updated 9/19/17)
The Scarecrow once sang to Dorothy, "... If I only had a brain..."
For over four decades, professional wrestling had a brain.
They not only had a brain, but they had the Brain.
Bobby Heenan was best known as a man who had a sharp tongue and donned a sequined windbreaker, who was capable of cutting a promo on a wrestler, while putting over the talent he managed, while making a Yogi Berra-esque one-liner, that left even a man nicknamed after a primate beast, speechless.
But long before Heenan ever found himself next to Hall of Fame talents like Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect, he found himself alone in the squared circle in wrestling territories like the World Wrestling Association, and the American Wrestling Association. Places where he had bloody brawls, that made even the most extreme fan blush. None of those brawls is more infamous than the image captured for his cover shot on the November 1970 edition of the Wrestler Magazine.
Turning more to managing wrestlers, instead of fighting them, Heenan found himself leading, and speaking for, the likes of Nick Bockwinkel, Ray Stevens and Bobby Duncum Sr. while apart of the AWA. And while his wit drew ire and awe from those who watched, he was not quite the savant that he came to be beloved as in the WWF.
No, in fact, some might have even called him, a weasel.
Always one to talk himself into-and-subsequently-out-of any situation, Heenan found himself in the World Wrestling Federation by 1984.
It was here that Bobby Heenan, truly became the Brain during his nearly decade long run with the company.
Only the manager of the Beatles, Brian Epstein, can claim to have managed as iconic of talent. And while the Beatles might have boasted twenty number one singles, Heenan managed over thirty wrestlers. Many of whom went on to become world champions in the WWF or in other companies around the world.
A collective group, that in many forms took the name, the "Heenan Family."
While Heenan is remembered for being beside Ric Flair in the Nature Boy's WWF debut, every wrestling fan of the 1980s and early 1990s can only think of one other person when they think of Bobby Heenan: Gorilla Monsoon.
While wrestlers bounced of the ring ropes, Monsoon and Heenan would bounce verbiage off of each other without missing a single maneuver. Heenan, ever the "broadcast journalist" would always seemingly try and get Monsoon to break, like a sketch-comedy artist on Saturday Night Live. And while Monsoon would almost acknowledge his moment of weakness, he would simply ask Heenan, "Will you stop?"
Heenan was a heel- a bad guy, and always aligned himself with those like him.
He called fans of the good guys, "humanoids." He referred to jobbers as "ham-and-eggers" and would sit at the announcers table singing the praises of heel wrestlers until Monsoon verbally tapped out.
Yet, Heenan had charm.
Joe Pesci in any Joe Pesci movie, charm.
You wanted to ring his neck, and still you found yourself wanting to have a drink with the guy. You wanted to see him get his come-upping's, but once you did, you ALMOST felt bad.
For all his soliloquies and dastardly deeds, Heenan might be over-looked for being one of professional wrestling's most opportune talents.
He arrived in the WWF right before the "Rock n' Wrestling" era of Hogan, Savage, and the Ultimate Warrior exploded. An era that brought pro-wrestling into the pop-culture forefront.
Heenan then left the WWF in 1993 and found himself alongside announcer Tony Schiavone apart of the rival World Championship Wrestling, years before Hulk Hogan would once again revolutionize the wrestling business as apart of the New World Order.
While he had a run that lasted around six years with WCW, nothing really matched his time with the WWF. Heenan's most famous call in WCW came when Hogan formed the aforementioned N.W.O.
As Hogan came down, to seemingly save Randy Savage and Sting, Heenan constantly brought up that Kevin Nash and Scott Hall's "third man" had not yet arrived. And as Hogan dropped his iconic leg-drop on the good guy- Randy Savage, the announcers were left flabbergasted.
Except for Heenan, who exalted, "I just knew he would do that!"
After WCW folded in 2001, Heenan found himself back in the WWF for WrestleMania X-7, where he sat alongside Gene Okerlund to call a "gimmick" Battle Royale.
Completely insult them, and in doing so, completely put them over, making even a man named "the Goon" seem endearing.
Bobby Heenan would last appear in the WWF, by now, WWE in 2004 when he was enshrined in their Hall Of Fame.
He delivered one the best, if not the best, speeches that the event has ever seen. Humble, yet humorous, hackneyed, yet heart-felt, in a word, it was simply: Heenan.
Forever a blend of Don Rickles, Rodney Dangerfield, Harry Caray and your grandfather, Bobby Heenan was the embodiment of the Billy Joel lyric from "the Piano Man":
"He's quick with a joke-
or to light up your smoke,
But there is someplace
That he'd rather be.."
Life is many things, the least of which is cruel.
Bobby Heenan was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2002.
He fought the disease for fifteen years, after all, he was no ham-and-egger.
Cancer took from him his voice and physical appearance. And after corrective surgeries, part of his jaw was removed, making it completely unable for him to talk.
His public appearances became sporadic. But with each one, fans, and wrestlers would flock to him as if he was a Mafia Don, paying him respect, cheering him on, helping him fight.
Bobby Heenan leaves behind a legacy that will be forever un-matched in the world of professional wrestling.
While their might be talent like Mauro Ranallo and Corey Graves in WWE today that are throwbacks to the intellectual and witty calls of Bobby Heenan, every one knows that there was only one true "Weasel."
Whenever somebody famous passes away, we often times get nostalgic.
We revisit the catalogue of memories that they left us. And we, as fans, revisit the work that they left us with and remember those pure times, when we were a kid.
Thankfully, with YouTube and the WWE Network, you can easily access some of Bobby's best moments in the business. Whether it was his countless battles of wits with Monsoon, the Bobby Heenan Show from the 1980s, his performance on the debut episode of RAW, his calls in WCW, or his Hall Of Fame speech.
Those platforms help take us back to a time when wrestling was on top of the world-
A time when professional wrestling had it's Brain.
Rest In Peace.
Bobby "the Brain" Heenan
November 1, 1944 - September 17, 2017
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