Bobby Heenan

Bobby "The Brain" Heenan (born Raymond Louis Heenan on November 1, 1944), is an American professional wrestling manager and commentator. He is legendary in the business for his skill in drawing heel heat for himself and his wrestlers, and for his masterful on-screen repartee with Gorilla Monsoon as a color commentator.

Early career
Always a fan of wrestling, Heenan started in the wrestling profession early on, carrying bags and jackets for the wrestlers, and selling refreshments at the events. Heenan entered the wrestling business as a wrestler in 1965 as "Pretty Boy" Bobby Heenan, a cowardly heel. Self-taught, he was a gifted wrestler but did not have the drive to stay in "wrestling shape", however his talent for giving promos led to some early success. He quickly found that his talent was not as a wrestler, but as a manager. At the time, heels were often given managers to speak for them in interviews, rile up the crowd during matches, and cheat on their behalf. Heenan, dumping the "Pretty Boy" moniker for Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, went on to manage some of the most successful wrestlers in the world, creating The Heenan Family, a stable that would exist (in several different reincarnations and wrestling promotions) for over 20 years.

The American Wrestling Association
Heenan started in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) as a manager and occasional tag team partner of The Blackjacks, eventually moving on to managing Nick Bockwinkel and Ray "The Crippler" Stevens, a duo which became several-time AWA Tag Team Champions under Heenan's leadership. The AWA was the starting point for Heenan's first Heenan Family, which consisted of Bockwinkel, Stevens, Bobby Duncum Sr., and Blackjack Lanza. In 1975, with Heenan in his corner, Bockwinkel captured his first of several AWA Championships, ending the 7-year reign of perennial champion Verne Gagne. While Bockwinkel was AWA champion, in 1976, Lanza and Duncum captured the AWA Tag Team Championship, making Heenan the first manager in history to simultaneously manage both a major promotion's singles and tag team World Champions. While Bockwinkel and Stevens feuded with The Crusher and Dick the Brusier, Dick the Brusier famously called Heenan "Weasel;" this led to faces calling Heenan Weasel throughout the rest of his wrestling career as well.

In early 1979, Heenan left the AWA to work in the National Wrestling Alliance's Georgia Championship Wrestling group (the kayfabe reason for his departure being given as a one-year suspension from the AWA). He returned in late 1979 and resumed managing Nick Bockwinkel to renewed championship success, including against a young up-and-coming challenger named Hulk Hogan in 1983.

The World Wrestling Federation
In 1984, Vince McMahon, Jr. lured Heenan away from the AWA to manage Jesse "The Body" Ventura; however, after Ventura contracted blood clots in his lungs, he was forced to end his active wrestling career. Heenan instead became Big John Studd's manager for his feud with André the Giant, and he soon reformed the Heenan Family. Over Heenan's WWF career, the Heenan Family included Studd, Ken Patera, "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, King Kong Bundy, André the Giant, The Brain Busters (former Horsemen members Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard), "Ravishing" Rick Rude, Harley Race, The Islanders (Haku and Tama), Hercules, The Barbarian, Mr. Perfect, Terry Taylor, and The Brooklyn Brawler. As a manager, he was always one of the most hated men, often the most hated man, in the promotion. Heenan once had a famous feud with Andre the Giant while managing Big John Studd, and famously challenged Andre to a $15,000.00 bodyslam match at Wrestlemania I, were Andre had to retire from wrestling if he had lost the match.

Heenan and the Heenan Family had a monumental feud with wrestling icon Hulk Hogan in the 80s, and Heenan managed two WrestleMania challengers to Hogan's title, "King Kong" Bundy in 1986, and André the Giant in 1987. André did not win the title at that time, but later bested Hogan for the championship in 1988 in a controversial win after he aligned himself with "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. Heenan also had a famous feud with The Ultimate Warrior, who reintroduced Heenan to Weasel Suit matches, which Heenan had during his time in the AWA.

After being derided by announcers for his first five years in the WWF (mostly by Gorilla Monsoon) for never managing a champion, Heenan eventually managed several WWF Tag Team Champions, including The Colossal Connection (Andre and Haku), and The Brain Busters. He also managed Rick Rude and later Mr. Perfect to the Intercontinental Championship, and introduced the "Real World Heavyweight Champion" (then-NWA World Champion) Ric Flair to the WWF in 1991, and "Narcissist" Lex Luger at the 1993 Royal Rumble. He acted as an advisor and sometime manager to Flair during his first WWF run (and coined the phrase, "That's not fair to Flair"). Bobby Heenan once also had a four episode talk show known as The Bobby Heenan Show, which was co-hosted by a nerd named Jemeson Wringler and featured the very overweight women known as The Oinkettes.

In 1986, Heenan became a color commentator in addition to his managing duties. He replaced Jesse Ventura on Prime Time Wrestling and All American Wrestling, aired on the USA Network, teaming up with Gorilla Monsoon. He also replaced Ventura to team up with Monsoon on the syndicated All-Star Wrestling, which was replaced in the fall of '86 with Wrestling Challenge. Heenan and Monsoon's usually-unscripted banter, with Heenan as the instigator and Monsoon as the voice of reason was very entertaining, and inspired many classic moments. Heenan, calling himself a "broadcast journalist" despite his obvious slant toward heel wrestlers, referred to his audience as "humanoids," and babyface wrestlers, especially jobbers, as "ham-and-eggers."

In 1991, Heenan stopped being a manager to become a full-time "broadcast journalist", save for being Ric Flair's "financial advisor" and as a broadcaster shamelessly cheerleading while "executive consultant" Mr. Perfect dealt with ringside matters, the zenith of which was the 1992 Royal Rumble, where Flair-- having drawn #3-- wrestled for over an hour to win the vacant WWF Championship.

Heenan left the WWF towards the end of 1993 to go work with WCW for 2 reasons, both to spend more time with his daughter in Atlanta where she went to school and to have health insurance which Ted Turner supplied, allowing him to finally have surgery on his long-injured neck sustained from accumulated bumps taken over the years. He was given an on-air farewell by Gorilla Monsoon who, in kayfabe was fed up by Heenan's constant insults, threw him and his belongings out of the Westchester County Center and onto the sidewalk of White Plains, NY.

He soon signed on with World Championship Wrestling.

World Championship Wrestling
In WCW, Heenan was brought in as a full-time commentator. He served as color commentator on WCW flagship shows Monday Nitro and Thunder, as well as the Clash of the Champions specials and many pay-per-views. Heenan was largely uninspired in WCW due to the negative work environment, which he would later describe as night and day compared to the WWF. At one notable Clash of the Champions event broadcast live on TBS in 1996, Heenan screamed, "What the fuck are you doing?" when Brian Pillman grabbed him by his injured neck during Pillman's "loose cannon" gimmick. Heenan would return to the air later on and apologize for his audible cursing on air, and according to Heenan, Pillman apologized to him for the incident backstage, citing he did not know of Heenan's history of neck problems beforehand, and more specifically that Heenan had been labeled "no-touch" by management because of his injuries. The language was edited out of all WCW tapes, but can be heard in the 2006 DVD release on Pillman's career. Heenan made one brief return to ringside at the 1996 edition of the Great American Bash, leading Ric Flair and Arn Anderson to victory over Steve McMichael and Kevin Greene.

Toward the end of 1999, WCW began replacing Heenan on its weekly telecasts, as well as on pay-per-views. WCW management then declared Heenan was working too infrequently for his salary, and he was released by WCW in November 2000.

Post-WCW career
Heenan kept busy after being let go by WCW, providing commentary to the Gimmick Battle Royal match at WrestleMania X-Seven and lending his talents to smaller promotions. In January 2002, Heenan announced on his website that he was battling throat cancer:

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..

Heenan has since largely recovered from throat cancer, but lost a great deal of weight, dramatically changing his appearance, and suffered a drastically changed voice.

He has written two career memoirs, 2002's Bobby The Brain: Wrestling's Bad Boy Tells All, which includes an introduction by Hulk Hogan and 2003's Chair Shots & Other Obstacles: Winning Life's Wrestling Matches. Both books were co-written by Steve Anderson.

In 2004, Heenan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame shortly before WrestleMania XX. In his acceptance speech, he paid tribute to his late broadcast partner, saying "I wish Monsoon were here."

Heenan made a brief appearance between matches at the actual WMXX broadcast; while Jonathan Coachman was "searching" the backstage area for The Undertaker, he investigated some noises to discover aged female wrestlers Mae Young and the Fabulous Moolah. Heenan and "Mean" Gene Okerlund would appear moments later in a disheveled state; Coachman would imply that the four had been involved in a sex act of some sort.

Heenan is still involved in wrestling on a limited basis, giving interviews and making sporadic appearances. In 2004 he returned to the spotlight, feuding with fellow managerial legend Jim Cornette in Ring of Honor. He is widely believed to be one of the greatest wrestling managers ever, and one of wrestling's unique personalities.

On April 2, 2005 Heenan inducted his former protege Paul Orndorff into the WWE Hall of Fame and on April 1, 2006 Heenan inducted Blackjack Mulligan and Blackjack Lanza into the WWE Hall of Fame. On March 31, 2007 Heenan inducted Nick Bockwinkel into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Bobby Heenan appeared for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in November 2005 on TNA iMPACT! along side Chicago White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski and strength coach Dale Torborg when they presented TNA wrestlers A.J. Styles, Chris Sabin, and Sonjay Dutt with autographed gifts from the team. They were interrupted by The Diamonds in the Rough which led to a second appearance.

Heenan made another appearance on a September 2006 episode of iMPACT! making a bid to manage "free agent" Bobby Roode.

Personal life
Bobby is married and has one daughter, Jess. He also has at least 1 brother, Dan, who is a teacher.

Championships and accomplishments

 * Heenan won four Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) Manager of the Year Awards during his career. He won in 1972, 1976, 1989 and 1991.
 * Many overlook Heenan's only title reign. Heenan won his only major championship when competing in a tag team match with Fox Magner, who he was manager, against Larry Donaldson and Barry McFly (The Scots Myst) in IWS (International Wrestling Syndicate) in July 1971, when Magner pinned McFly with Heenan cheating holding his legs down on the outside stopping him from kicking out. Scot's Myst won the title back the following week.

Trivia

 * Heenan's most prolific nickname was "The Weasel," a term first used to describe him by Dick the Bruiser. It is a nickname crowds across the world chanted incessantly at the loathed Heenan. Face commentator Roddy Piper referred to him as "Boobs" or "Boobsy." The Bruiser also gave him the stage name "Bobby" after "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers' manager, Bobby Davis.
 * It is said he came up with the nickname "The Brain" backstage when he asked a promoter what he should call himself, and was reportedly told, "You've got a brain. Use it."
 * Heenan has stated that he stole the idea for the Heenan Family name from Charles Manson, who referred to his followers as "The Family". He also does not like fans referring to the Heenan Family as a stable, stating, "A stable is a place where you keep a bunch of fly-infested horses."
 * Although on-screen they were often at-odds, Heenan was actually good friends with frequent broadcast partner Gorilla Monsoon. Heenan broke down in tears when he and Tony Schiavone announced Monsoon's death on the October 11, 1999 live broadcast of WCW Monday Nitro. Monsoon died on October 6, 1999. Despite his never having worked for WCW, Heenan reportedly insisted that they announce the death of his friend.
 * Heenan revealed that he and Hulk Hogan are actually friends in real life despite being sworn adversaries on-camera. Throughout most of his career in the WWF and WCW, Heenan would stay "in character" and lead people to believe that he and Hogan never got along and he hated him. Heenan said that it was all "good acting."
 * Throughout his career, Heenan kept up the guise that he was a rich snob from Beverly Hills, California, despite never having lived in the city or state. When a fan who was from Beverly Hills came up to him and asked him where in the city he lived, he shrugged and said, "Uhh...behind the big sign?"
 * Heenan coined the term "humanoids", when referring to the wrestling audience. "Humanoids" was one of Heenan's distinct trademarks.
 * Bobby Heenan has made 4 important Hall of Fame appearances in a row. The first being for his own induction and the following 3 to induct "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, The Blackjacks (Blackjack Mulligan and Blackjack Lanza) and Nick Bockwinkel all of which he has managed.