Sunday, September 17, 2017

Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, R.I.P.

Longtime wrestling manager and announcer Bobby "The Brain" Heenan passed away today after a long battle with throat cancer. He was 73.

I remember Heenan from his days in the American Wrestling Association when he managed the promotion's longtime champion Nick Bockwinkel. Although nicknamed "The Brain", he was derisively referred to as "The Weasel".

Heenan would gain broader exposure when he took his act to the WWF (now the WWE) in 1984 and became a well known adversary to Hulk Hogan and managed many of Hogan's rivals including Paul Orndorff, King Kong Bundy and Andre The Giant. Eventually, Heenan moved away from managing to being a "broadcast journalist" as the heel counterpart to Gorilla Monsoon. Although they sniped onscreen, they were the closest of friends off-screen until his death in 1999. When the WWE inducted Heenan into their Hall of Fame in 2004, his only regret was that Monsoon wasn't there to share it with him.

During most of the 1990's, Heenan was a broadcaster in World Championship Wrestling. While he retained his Weasel persona, he became more sympathetic to the babyfaces when Hulk Hogan became a villain during his NWO phase.


Throat cancer would cruelly rob Heenan of his jaw and eventually his voice which once so powerfully riled up wrestling fans. Here is The Brain at the height of his powers back in 1989 at the helm of his own "talk show". R.I.P.

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