Bobby Heenan

Bobby Heenan
Bobby Heenan (left) with Larry Zbyszko
Data
Additions to names	The Brain The Weasel Pretty Boy
height	183 cm
Fighting weight	90 kg
birth	November 1, 1944 Chicago , Illinois , USA
death	September 17, 2017 Largo , Florida
Announced from	Beverly Hills , California , USA
Trained by	self
debut	1960
retirement	2000

Raymond Louis Heenan (born November 1, 1944 in Chicago , † September 17, 2017 in Largo , Florida ) was an American pro-wrestler , manager and television commentator. He became known under the ring names Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Bobby "The Weasel" Heenan . His speech duels with Gorilla Monsoon in US wrestling shows are legendary .

During his active career he worked mainly for AWA , World Championship Wrestling and the then World Wrestling Federation . Heenan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Blackjack Lanza in 2004 .

Career

The beginnings

Heenan's mother owned a few apartments in Indianapolis. One of their tenants was the regional wrestler Zack Melkof. Heenan himself has always been enthusiastic about wrestling and, with some friends, ran what is known as backyard wrestling , an amateur form of young people who emulate the professionals. As a 12-year-old, Heenan had Melkof show him the first professional moves and actions. Melkof brought the young Heenan into contact with regional wrestling leagues and so he started working for the promoters as a salesman, porter and in the ring crew in 1956.

The time as an active wrestler

At the age of 17, he made his debut as a wrestler in 1960 when he appeared in a mask under the name Avenger . His opponent at the time was the former bodybuilder Calvin "Prinz" Pullins . However, since he was still a minor and the rules of the American umbrella organization National Wrestling Alliance said that active wrestlers were only allowed to compete at the age of 21, there were problems. In order to take up a special rule that allowed 18-year-olds to appear as wrestlers in limited regions, he made himself a year older by giving 1943 as his birthday. On the other hand, he hid his youthful-looking face under a mask. His first matches were marked by their bloody versions, and Heenan appeared in them as a brawler . Some time later, Heenan himself noticed that his wrestling skills were limited. But he discovered that his microphone skills were far superior to those of his colleagues. So Heenan decided with his promoters to change his gimmick so that he was increasingly used as a manager .

From 1965 on, Heenan appeared under the name "Pretty Boy" Bobby Heenan after breaking his neck at a show. His new gimmick was that of a cowardly wrestler and devious wrestling manager. He ran out of the ring as a wrestler or hid behind his protégés when things got tight for the "wrestler" Bobby Heenan. On the other hand, he later built up some of the most important wrestlers and stables as a "manager", whose oratorical deficiencies were made up for by his logical and well-structured promos.

Breakthrough as a manager in the AWA and NWA

At the end of the 1960s, the promoters, who themselves received this requirement from TV stations and sponsors, demanded more and more speeches from the wrestlers as the wrestling business slowly shifted to television broadcasts. The monthly live events were pushed more and more into the background. The original sport-heavy wrestling slowly turned into show entertainment . For example, loud and eloquent managers were put to the side of poorly speaking wrestlers who reduced their speech to a minimum. Heenan's role fell precisely into this category and has hardly changed since then. He was now known nationwide as a manager of wrestlers and subsequently appeared primarily in the American Wrestling Association . There he became something of a figurehead of the league from 1969 that was able to fill the halls. He initially looked after a tag team that was formed by Nick Bockwinkel and Ray “The Crippler” Stevens and which received the AWA Tag Team titles several times. During this time, the Heenan Family was founded , the first line of which consisted of wrestlers Bockwinkel, Stevens, Bobby Duncum Sr. and Blackjack Lanza.

In 1976, Bobby Heenan stood by the AWA World Champion (Bockwinkel) and the AWA Tag Team Champions (Lanza and Duncum) at the same time. During this phase of his career, "The Brain" was also nicknamed "Weasel", which Dick The Bruiser gave him and which was picked up by face wrestlers and fans.

After a half-year detour to the NWA's Georgia Championship Wrestling league , Heenan returned to the AWA in late 1979 to help his protégé Nick Bockwinkel achieve another long championship success. One of Bockwinkel's opponents was a newcomer named Hulk Hogan . From 1982 the WWF became aware of the oratorical Heenan when he pushed a forbidden object in the form of a brass knuckle into the ring during a match between the reigning AWA champion Bockwinkel and Hogan, with which the Bockwinkel injured his challenger should; however, this was not part of the storyline. However, Hogan managed to steal the brass knuckles from Bockwinkel and knock him down with it. Hogan was declared the new champion because the referee escaped the prohibited item. At Heenan's instigation, however, Hogan's title was revoked because the brass knuckles were still in his possession.

The time in the World Wrestling Federation

Heenan was eventually hired as Bobby "The Brain" Heenan by the then World Wrestling Federation . He made his debut there on November 26, 1984, when he the Belgian Sal Bellomo defeated . By the will of Vince McMahon Heenan was the wrestler Jesse "The Body" Ventura manage. But after Ventura had to end his active career due to blood clots in the lungs, Heenan Big John Studd took over as protégé, who should feud against André the Giant . Shortly afterwards, the Heenan Family was revived, which in its more than 20-year existence, in addition to Studd, also included Ken Patera , Paul Orndorff , King Kong Bundy , André the Giant and a few other wrestlers. Heenan himself always rejected the term “ stable ” on the grounds that it was something that horses were put into.

Heenan as manager of Andre The Giant in the WWF

Heenan was one of the, if not the most hated managers of the WWF. His best-known feud was when he challenged André the Giant to take on Studd in a body slam challenge for USD 15,000. This challenge, which took place at the first WrestleMania , also meant that if André lost, he would have to end his career.

The Heenan Family had a high-profile feud against wrestling legend Hulk Hogan during the 1980s. Two members, King Kong Bundy (1986) and André the Giant (1987), each competed against Hogan at WrestleMania, but were not allowed to win his title. Another notable feud program led Heenan against the Ultimate Warrior . The weasel suit matches were reinitiated , after which the loser had to step into a weasel costume. Heenan already knew the same from the AWA, where they were contested for the first time.

After Heenan couldn't manage a title holder in his first five years at WWF, which the commentators made fun of, his hour at WrestleMania V came in 1989. "Ravishing" Rick Rude was able to take the Warrior's Intercontinental Championship title from him. A short time later, the Brain Busters received the tag team title, with which Heenan not only managed two titleholders at the same time, but also set a record that Jimmy Hart had set two years earlier . A year later, he had outbid this, after he was able to lead not only the Colossal Connection (Andre and Haku) to the tag team title, but also Mr. Perfect to the Intercontinental title.

From 1991 onwards, due to a neck injury, it was no longer possible for "The Brain" to take blows while performing at the ring. So he stepped down as a manager to become a commentator. When Ric Flair signed with the WWF, Heenan praised him for weeks as the “Real World Heavyweight Champion” because he still held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship due to Flair's no-show clause with the WCW . Although, according to the script, he himself would have liked to become Flair's manager, Heenan's former protégé Mr. Perfect accompanies the "Nature Boy". At the Royal Rumble of 1993 he introduced "The Narcissist" Lex Luger to the Federation as "revenge" to Mr. Perfect .

Time as a commentator

In 1986, Heenan replaced Jesse Ventura as commentator partner for Gorilla Monsoon. In doing so, he adopted the same profile that he had embodied as a manager. The usually improvised conversations between the two caused a stir and entertaining moments. Heenan called himself a "news journalist" and was open to the bad guys who cheated in the ring. In return, he called the good guys, especially jobbers, “wimps”. A running gag of the two was that Heenan went into a rush of praise for a heel almost every time, until Monsoon stopped him with a "Will you stop!"

Heenan, who was still suffering from the neck injury he had suffered ten years earlier, decided in late 1993 to leave the WWF because he could no longer manage the tight schedules there. He got a fitting on-air goodbye on Monday Night Raw's December 6, 1993 issue. Gorilla Monsoon, tired of Heenan's frequent ( Kayfabe ) missteps and blasphemy, tossed him and his belongings from the Westchester County Center on the streets of New York. According to Heenan, it was a shared idea between himself and Monsoon. Later he and Monsoon hugged each other in the hotel and cried for hours. In a later interview, Heenan said he chose Monsoon to kick him out because it seemed appropriate. He also teased Monsoon that he had eaten the bananas he had given him as a parting present.

Originally, Bobby Heenan wanted to quit the wrestling business, relax and take care of his family at this time. But he was contacted by the WCW not long after he left the WWF. At first he hesitated, but when he found out that she had better working hours and health insurance, he said yes. Also, his daughter went to school in Alabama, and since WCW was headquartered in Atlanta, it was only a few hours' drive.

The time at World Championship Wrestling

In 1994 Heenan moved to WCW as a full-time commentator, where he continued his gimmick of villain. He was used in the main shows of the league, Monday Nitro and Thunder , as well as the Clash of the Champions Specials and many pay-per-views . Heenan's time at WCW was very unfortunate. He himself describes the difference between the working conditions at WCW and WWF "like night and day", among other things because of his differences of opinion with Eric Bischoff and Tony Schiavone .

In 1995 he had a neck operation and returned to the Great American Bash 1996 to help Ric Flair and Arn Anderson to a victory over Steve McMichael and Kevin Greene and to lure McMichael into their team.

From the end of January 2000, Heenan was replaced by Mark Madden on Nitro and Pay-per-Views, in April Tony Schiavone added him and Mike Tenay to Thunder . There Heenan was replaced by Stevie Ray in August 2000 . His last assignment for WCW was at World Wide before he was fired in November.

The "Pillman Incident"

At the Clash of the Champions , which was broadcast live on TBS on January 23, 1996 , Heenan yelled “What the f *** are you doing?” When Brian Pillman called him in whose role at the time the "Loose Cannon" grabbed the neck, which had only recently been operated on. That same evening Heenan apologized to the audience for his unmistakable, vulgar choice of words. Pillman later apologized to Heenan, stating that he was unaware of the surgery and Heenan's “do not touch” status due to his injury.

Heenan stated in a later interview that he did not know it was Pillman who was reaching for him because he was focusing on his opponent in the ring, Eddie Guerrero . He went on to say that he had no idea that Pillman was behind him and that he thought a fan jumped the barrier and then attacked him. Heenan's sentence was hidden in later releases, but can be heard on a DVD about Pillman's 2006 career.

The time after the WCW

Heenan also appeared sporadically after his release by the WCW, for example at the Gimmick Battle Royal during the WrestleMania X-Seven or at smaller organizers. In 2001 he acted as a "Sports Agent" in the X Wrestling Federation under Curt Hennig .

In 2002 and 2004 he published autobiographies about his career, first Bobby The Brain: Wrestling's Bad Boy Tells All , then Chair Shots and Other Obstacles: Winning Life's Wrestling Matches , which includes an introduction by Ric Flair. Steve Anderson co-wrote both books.

When he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame just before WrestleMania of 2004 , he paid tribute to his longtime commentator partner in his acceptance speech when he tearfully said, “I wish Monsoon were here.” “I wish Monsoon would be here. "). Monsoon was dead by the time.

Heenan himself also introduced four former wrestlers into the Hall of Fame: Paul Orndorff (2005), Blackjack Mulligan and Blackjack Lanza (2006) and Nick Bockwinkel (2007).

Heenan had another WrestleMania appearance on their twentieth anniversary. Jonathan Coachman was backstage looking for The Undertaker when he heard some noise and eventually found the older female wrestlers Mae Young and Fabulous Moolah . Just moments before he ran into Heenan and "Mean" Gene Okerlund - both with their shirts half drooping and generally deranged. Coachman suspected that the four had been playing some kind of sex game.

Bobby Heenan gave an interview for the 2005 DVD The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior .

Heenan also made short appearances on Ring of Honor and TNA .

In 2009, Heenan received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pro Wrestling Report at the annual Blizzard Brawl . In the same year in Milwaukee, December 5th was declared "Bobby Heenan Day" by Mayor Tom Barrett .

On December 28, 2010, WWE released a double DVD about Bobby Heenan's career.

Private life

Bobby Heenan had been married to his wife Cynthia Jean since 1966, and their daughter was born in 1978. This made him a grandfather with the birth of her son in 2008.

Despite their often violent arguments in front of the camera, Heenan was privately friends with Gorilla Monsoon. When he died on October 6, 1999, Heenan, who was then working for WCW, insisted on announcing Monsoon's death even though he was never with WCW. On October 11th, Bobby Heenan and Tony Schiavone announced the death of Gorilla Monsoon on Monday Nitro, with Heenan saying goodbye to him before leaving the commentary desk in tears. Other friendships connected him with Gene Okerlund and Hulk Hogan.

Fight against throat cancer

In January 2002, Heenan announced on his website that he had cancer of the throat .

“I just want to let all the wonderful 'humanoids' out there know how grateful I am for the good wishes… Yes, I do have throat cancer, but I plan on beating this too. If the late, great Gorilla Monsoon couldn't shut me up, cancer isn't going to either ... ”

“I just wanted to let all of the wonderful humanoids out there know how grateful I am to them for their good wishes… Yes, I have throat cancer, but I plan to beat this one too. If the late, great gorilla Monsoon couldn't silence me, cancer won't either ... "

After that, Heenan largely recovered from cancer, but lost some weight. In addition, his voice changed a lot, it was now much softer and higher than before.

In December 2007, he underwent a second reconstructive jaw surgery after the first was unsuccessful. He was then put into an artificial coma , from which he was only slowly brought back. At the end of January 2008, he was fully awakened. Since he could not speak, he communicated with his eyes. Heenan was expecting more chin operations; however, these were of a cosmetic nature, the restoration of the jaw had already been completed. In October 2008 he was able to speak short sentences again and in February 2009 it was reported that he was still learning to speak properly again, but had been discharged from the hospital.

The day before WrestleMania XXV, Heenan accompanied his friend Gene Okerlund to the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony.

He was admitted to hospital on December 11, 2009 after being diagnosed with an infection in his jaw; however, this was fixed very quickly.

Heenan died on September 17, 2017 in the presence of his family.

Publications

• Bobby Heenan, Steve Anderson: Bobby The Brain: Wrestling's Bad Boy Tells All. Triumph Books, 2002, ISBN 1572434651 .
• Bobby Heenan, Steve Anderson: Chair Shots and Other Obstacles: Winning Life's Wrestling Matches. Sports Publishing, 2004, ISBN 1582617627 .

Web links

Commons : Bobby Heenan  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Heenan's profile at Cagematch
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Heenan on Online World of Wrestling (English)
3. ↑ Bobby Heenan facts ( Memento from January 16, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) (English)
4. ↑ 411mania profile of Bobby Heenan (English)
5. ↑ ^{a b} NWA Wrestling - The Magazine, issue 11/1979, p. 15
6. ↑ Biography of Bobby Heenan on Genickbruch.com , accessed February 4, 2012
7. ↑ Biography of Bobby Heenan on Online World of Wrestling , accessed February 4, 2012
8. ↑ Heenan, Bobby: "Bobby The Brain: Wrestling's Bad Boy Tells All.", P. 32, Triumph Books, 2002
9. ^ Hulk Hogan's profile on Online World of Wrestling
10. ^ Profile ( Memento from December 19, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Hulk Hogans on a broken neck
11. ↑ WrestleMania 1 Results - wwe.com
12. ↑ wwe.com
13. ↑ Heenan, Bobby: "Bobby The Brain: Wrestling's Bad Boy Tells All.", P. 90, Triumph Books, 2002.
14. ↑ Heenan, Bobby: Bobby The Brain: Wrestling's Bad Boy Tells All. , P. 94, Triumph Books, 2002.
15. ↑ Heenan, Bobby: "Bobby The Brain: Wrestling's Bad Boy Tells All.", P. 97, Triumph Books, 2002.
16. ↑ ^{a b} Heenan at SLAM! Sports (English)
17. ↑ Report on Pillman's career at 411mania
18. ↑ Report on Heenan's cancer on Helium.com ( Memento from January 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
19. ↑ WWE Hall of Fame manager Bobby (The Brain) Heenan dies at age 73 . In: NY Daily News . ( nydailynews.com [accessed September 18, 2017]).
20. ↑ WWE Hall of Famer Bobby “The Brain” Heenan passes away . In: WWE . ( wwe.com [accessed September 18, 2017]).
21. ↑ Martin Hoffmann: WWE legend Bobby Heenan is dead. Sport1.de , September 18, 2017, accessed on September 18, 2017 .