Requiem for a weasel
September 17, 2017 9:32 PM Subscribe
Bobby "the Brain" Heenan, widely considered to be both the greatest manager in professional wrestling history and the greatest colour commentator in professional wrestling history, has died following multiple battles with cancer. He was 73.
Before he was the Brain, Bobby Heenan wrestled as the "Pretty Boy" in numerous territories in the Sixties and early Seventies, but soon recognized that the fans loved, above all else, when he was a coward who ran his mouth too much, and transitioned to managing in the American Wrestling Association, managing the first incarnation of the Heenan Family, which included the legendary Nick Bockwinkle (from whom Bobby would eventually lift many signature insults, including calling the fans "humanoids"), and where the fans first started calling him "Weasel" to insult him.
Heenan jumped to Vince McMahon's WWF in 1984 during the "Rock n' Wrestling" era and instantly became the promotion's top heel manager for the rest of the decade, managing the likes of Andre the Giant, Ravishing Rick Rude, Big John Studd, Harley Race, "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, King Kong Bundy, the Brain Busters and Mr. Perfect - and earning the loathing of the fans the entire time. His final act as a manager was to introduce Ric Flair to the WWF.
In the early 90s Heenan transitioned to full-time color commentary, and his partnership with Gorilla Monsoon (honed over years of work on Prime Time Wrestling) is widely considered to be the best broadcast team in professional wrestling history; an excellent example of their chemistry is the legendary Rockers breakup, where Heenan accused Marty Jannetty of trying to "dive through the window to escape." Behind the scenes, Gorilla and Heenan were the closest of friends. (Heenan mourned his friend's death onscreen in 1999 and remembered him fondly at his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004.) Heenan moved to World Championship Wrestling in 1994 and was their primary color commentator until the company fired him in 2000; he legendarily gloated about how he had been "right all along" when Hulk Hogan joined the New World Order to attack WCW in 1996.
He is survived by his wife Cynthia.
Before he was the Brain, Bobby Heenan wrestled as the "Pretty Boy" in numerous territories in the Sixties and early Seventies, but soon recognized that the fans loved, above all else, when he was a coward who ran his mouth too much, and transitioned to managing in the American Wrestling Association, managing the first incarnation of the Heenan Family, which included the legendary Nick Bockwinkle (from whom Bobby would eventually lift many signature insults, including calling the fans "humanoids"), and where the fans first started calling him "Weasel" to insult him.
Heenan jumped to Vince McMahon's WWF in 1984 during the "Rock n' Wrestling" era and instantly became the promotion's top heel manager for the rest of the decade, managing the likes of Andre the Giant, Ravishing Rick Rude, Big John Studd, Harley Race, "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, King Kong Bundy, the Brain Busters and Mr. Perfect - and earning the loathing of the fans the entire time. His final act as a manager was to introduce Ric Flair to the WWF.
In the early 90s Heenan transitioned to full-time color commentary, and his partnership with Gorilla Monsoon (honed over years of work on Prime Time Wrestling) is widely considered to be the best broadcast team in professional wrestling history; an excellent example of their chemistry is the legendary Rockers breakup, where Heenan accused Marty Jannetty of trying to "dive through the window to escape." Behind the scenes, Gorilla and Heenan were the closest of friends. (Heenan mourned his friend's death onscreen in 1999 and remembered him fondly at his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004.) Heenan moved to World Championship Wrestling in 1994 and was their primary color commentator until the company fired him in 2000; he legendarily gloated about how he had been "right all along" when Hulk Hogan joined the New World Order to attack WCW in 1996.
He is survived by his wife Cynthia.
Of course, as with so many of them, the tribute clips have to be fairly selective to avoid the racism.
Yeah - I certainly avoided any time Bobby was calling a Tito Santana match, to say the least.
But here is Heenan's goodbye to Gorilla Monsoon in 1999 because I forgot to add it in the main.
posted by mightygodking at 9:49 PM on September 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
Yeah - I certainly avoided any time Bobby was calling a Tito Santana match, to say the least.
But here is Heenan's goodbye to Gorilla Monsoon in 1999 because I forgot to add it in the main.
posted by mightygodking at 9:49 PM on September 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm not kidding when I say that Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon were one of the great comedy duos of our time.
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posted by MrBadExample at 10:03 PM on September 17, 2017 [5 favorites]
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posted by MrBadExample at 10:03 PM on September 17, 2017 [5 favorites]
Yeah, I had forgotten after all these years how hilarious Heenan & Monsoon were, and how they (and Captain Lou, Roddy Piper, and Mean Gene Okerlund) were the reasons I would watch wrestling. They made it funny. They were one of the few good things on during nascent mid-1980's years basic of cable TV.
posted by not_on_display at 11:03 PM on September 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by not_on_display at 11:03 PM on September 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm not kidding when I say that Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon were one of the great comedy duos of our time.
Indeed.
As someone who was a fan of wrestling growing up to the degree that other kids were into things like D&D or Star Wars, it is really hard to accurately describe just how essential a place in my life someone like Bobby Heenan held. I know that wrestling isn't exactly looked at as a highbrow form of entertainment, nonetheless, it is important to note that he was absolutely the best of the best at his job. The same way actors are compared to Olivier, basketball players to Jordan, or rock bands to The Beatles, all wrestling managers and announcers were compared to how well (or not) they compared to Heenan.
posted by The Gooch at 11:23 PM on September 17, 2017 [3 favorites]
Indeed.
As someone who was a fan of wrestling growing up to the degree that other kids were into things like D&D or Star Wars, it is really hard to accurately describe just how essential a place in my life someone like Bobby Heenan held. I know that wrestling isn't exactly looked at as a highbrow form of entertainment, nonetheless, it is important to note that he was absolutely the best of the best at his job. The same way actors are compared to Olivier, basketball players to Jordan, or rock bands to The Beatles, all wrestling managers and announcers were compared to how well (or not) they compared to Heenan.
posted by The Gooch at 11:23 PM on September 17, 2017 [3 favorites]
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posted by Joey Michaels at 11:49 PM on September 17, 2017
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:49 PM on September 17, 2017
Alas, only Governor Jesse "The Body" Ventura, Baron Von Raschke, and "Sodbuster" Kenny Jay are left now out of my favorite wrestlers from the glory days of the AWA.
Here's to the memory of those already counted out.
Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
Nick Bockwinkel
The Crusher
Verne Gagne
"Mad Dog" Vashon
"Scrap Iron" Gadaski
Jerry Blackwell
Ray "The Crippler" Stevens
Adrian Adonis
And here's hoping Jimmy Doo is still somewhere out there too.
posted by gusottertrout at 1:47 AM on September 18, 2017 [7 favorites]
Here's to the memory of those already counted out.
Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
Nick Bockwinkel
The Crusher
Verne Gagne
"Mad Dog" Vashon
"Scrap Iron" Gadaski
Jerry Blackwell
Ray "The Crippler" Stevens
Adrian Adonis
And here's hoping Jimmy Doo is still somewhere out there too.
posted by gusottertrout at 1:47 AM on September 18, 2017 [7 favorites]
Never let anyone tell you that jazz is the only original American art form.
posted by thelonius at 2:14 AM on September 18, 2017 [15 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 2:14 AM on September 18, 2017 [15 favorites]
They really knew how to do heel manager characters back in the day. Classy Freddy Blassie, Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart, and Bobby the Brain....eminently punchable caricactures all. And none more punchable than Heenan. Sorry to see him go.
posted by Ipsifendus at 3:54 AM on September 18, 2017
posted by Ipsifendus at 3:54 AM on September 18, 2017
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posted by mikelieman at 4:33 AM on September 18, 2017
posted by mikelieman at 4:33 AM on September 18, 2017
Never let anyone tell you that jazz is the only original American art form.
posted by thelonius...
Now that's saying something!
posted by TedW at 5:50 AM on September 18, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by thelonius...
Now that's saying something!
posted by TedW at 5:50 AM on September 18, 2017 [7 favorites]
This makes me so nostalgic for my grandparents. In the his early career as a heel, he used to make my grandfather so mad he'd yell at the teevee and my grandmother would have to get up and cook something so she could bang pots and pans around in the kitchen.
Their American born grandchildren used to patiently explain why it wasn't real. We were so naive.
RIP Mr Heenan.
posted by readery at 6:04 AM on September 18, 2017 [3 favorites]
Their American born grandchildren used to patiently explain why it wasn't real. We were so naive.
RIP Mr Heenan.
posted by readery at 6:04 AM on September 18, 2017 [3 favorites]
Back in the day, I remember someone getting so worked up at Heenan that, for time, it didn't suffice to rebrand "The Brain" as "The Weasel." Oh, no, then Heenan became "The Super-Weasel," and gasps were gasped as eyes popped wide.
"Mean" Gene Okerlund would always let Heenan go on and on, with only the most perfunctory "well nows" as he still let him have the mic.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:31 AM on September 18, 2017 [1 favorite]
"Mean" Gene Okerlund would always let Heenan go on and on, with only the most perfunctory "well nows" as he still let him have the mic.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:31 AM on September 18, 2017 [1 favorite]
Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. I haven't heard that name in almost 40 years. Oh my gosh. He was the blond big-mouthed guy, yes? Only 73? Well, I say "only," but when you're small, you think of these guys as really old, even if that obviously makes no sense as who but young men have that sort of stamina?
I wasn't a fan of wrestling as a kid (Holly Hobbie was more my taste/speed), but my 2-years-older cousin that I grew up with was a HUUUUUGE fan. He absolutely and faithfully watched every episode of "All Star Wrestling", so I can hardly think of the 70s without eventually coming around to recalling Mean Gene: "ALL! STAR! WRESTLING! Sponsored by the A! W! A! TheAmericanWrestlingAssociation!"
Post-episode, if there were no buddies of his around to recreate the moves in the backyard (usually because the weather was too wet or cold to go outside), I would be literally yanked into service. Well, Bobby and his crew sure gave a lot of Midwestern kids in the 1970s a lot of fun and excitement. RIP, Bobby.
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posted by droplet at 6:53 AM on September 18, 2017 [4 favorites]
I wasn't a fan of wrestling as a kid (Holly Hobbie was more my taste/speed), but my 2-years-older cousin that I grew up with was a HUUUUUGE fan. He absolutely and faithfully watched every episode of "All Star Wrestling", so I can hardly think of the 70s without eventually coming around to recalling Mean Gene: "ALL! STAR! WRESTLING! Sponsored by the A! W! A! TheAmericanWrestlingAssociation!"
Post-episode, if there were no buddies of his around to recreate the moves in the backyard (usually because the weather was too wet or cold to go outside), I would be literally yanked into service. Well, Bobby and his crew sure gave a lot of Midwestern kids in the 1970s a lot of fun and excitement. RIP, Bobby.
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posted by droplet at 6:53 AM on September 18, 2017 [4 favorites]
Thanks for the write-up MGK. It bothers me on some level that you had to have had this pre-prepared for quite some time in order to turn this around so quickly. But regrettably I'm not surprised.
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posted by parliboy at 7:27 AM on September 18, 2017
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posted by parliboy at 7:27 AM on September 18, 2017
It bothers me on some level that you had to have had this pre-prepared for quite some time in order to turn this around so quickly.
Knowing most of the clips I wanted to include well in advance (Heenan's best moments are easily identifiable) meant it actually went fairly quickly, and still it took me about twenty minutes.
posted by mightygodking at 8:28 AM on September 18, 2017 [1 favorite]
Knowing most of the clips I wanted to include well in advance (Heenan's best moments are easily identifiable) meant it actually went fairly quickly, and still it took me about twenty minutes.
posted by mightygodking at 8:28 AM on September 18, 2017 [1 favorite]
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posted by Don.Kinsayder at 6:12 PM on September 19, 2017
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 6:12 PM on September 19, 2017
Mean Gene Okerlund, from the Harley Race/Heenan interview to the camera afterwards: "...seems that he's very hard on me whenever I talk to him." Understatement + hubris + timing = comedy gold.
This and the Grant Hart obit have had me tied up like it's early 2016 all over again, clicking on links and reliving memories.
posted by not_on_display at 9:02 PM on September 24, 2017
This and the Grant Hart obit have had me tied up like it's early 2016 all over again, clicking on links and reliving memories.
posted by not_on_display at 9:02 PM on September 24, 2017
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Of course, as with so many of them, the tribute clips have to be fairly selective to avoid the racism.
posted by praemunire at 9:41 PM on September 17, 2017 [3 favorites]