Bobby Heenan RIP

[flyonthewall2983]

One of the things I asked him about was something I read in an old Sports Illustrated attributed to something he told the Los Angeles Times in 1975 in an article about a fan who died at a card at the city's Sports Arena. "One less guy to spit on me" was his quote.

[Stiva]

Heenan is, maybe, my favourite wrestling personality of all time. So quick on the draw and while people, rightfully, speak of his chemistry with Monsoon, was there anyone he didn't have chemistry with? In the WWF, anyway. Prime Heenan was able to be plugged in with anyone, in any situation, and throw out perfectly timed comedy that would have any seasoned comedian in the world impressed. That's before you mention his ability to rattle off fantastic promo after promo, the excellent managerial work and, as recent unearthed finds have shown, pitch-perfect, chicken shit heel in-ring work.

 

I could go all day but I think this is my favourite, under heralded Heenan moment. It's worth it for Vince cracking alone but the razor-sharp delivery, the timing and the crack in his voice at "He's alive!" would be the work of a master in any profession, never mind pro wrestling.

 

[Sidebottom]

 

I've never read one negative comment about him personally.

 

 

Warrior didn't like him and said he was a trouble maker.

 

I know someone's gonna say "but it's the Ultimate Warrior", but I think the Warrior is a lot smarter than what people give him credit for. He got in, got big, stood up to Vince, got out of wrestling and got Vince to praise him in the end.

 

 

Not to derail this thread: but if Warrior was the great business man people make him out to be, he wouldn't have let millions sit on the table.

 

Great post by Johnny Sorrow on page 3 on meeting Bobby, I love hearing first hand encounters like this when the photo is also shown.

[cheapshot]

Heenan is, maybe, my favourite wrestling personality of all time. So quick on the draw and while people, rightfully, speak of his chemistry with Monsoon, was there anyone he didn't have chemistry with? In the WWF, anyway. Prime Heenan was able to be plugged in with anyone, in any situation, and throw out perfectly timed comedy that would have any seasoned comedian in the world impressed. That's before you mention his ability to rattle off fantastic promo after promo, the excellent managerial work and, as recent unearthed finds have shown, pitch-perfect, chicken shit heel in-ring work.

 

I could go all day but I think this is my favourite, under heralded Heenan moment. It's worth it for Vince cracking alone but the razor-sharp delivery, the timing and the crack in his voice at "He's alive!" would be the work of a master in any profession, never mind pro wrestling.

 

 

Thank you for posting this, I've watched it back three times, belly laughing each time.

 

I'll miss you boobs.

[Shrike02]

The transcript of Heenan's HOF speech is tremendous. I know video of it is readily available too, but that'll have to wait until after work.

[sek69]

There was a thread here somewhere about times wrestling made you tear up, and hearing Bobby break a little saying "I wish Monsoon was here" in his HOF speech is my #1 no question.

 

Also anyone else remember the time he got thrown by the neck across the ring by Ken Patera? That blew my mind as a kid and now looking back at it knowing his neck problems that was an absolutely crazy thing to risk doing.

[El-P]

There was a thread here somewhere about times wrestling made you tear up, and hearing Bobby break a little saying "I wish Monsoon was here" in his HOF speech is my #1 no question.

 

The famous "goodbye" to Gorilla on Nitro was pretty though to watch too.

 

But Bobby basically evokes only smiles and laughs. What is better than that ?

[Mrzfn]

Also anyone else remember the time he got thrown by the neck across the ring by Ken Patera? That blew my mind as a kid and now looking back at it knowing his neck problems that was an absolutely crazy thing to risk doing.

 

I watched that recently and was shocked by that spot, that would have been dangerous for anyone to do, let alone someone with neck issues. But there wasn't anything he wouldn't do to get an angle over.

[cheapshot]

Bobby Heenan: ""Is this the last call? Well I don't drink anymore. Excuse the way I sound, I ... I had a wedgie. Pardon the way I talk, I'm recovering from throat cancer and I feel great. [langer Applaus]

Thank you. And you wouldn't offend me with cash. First of all, if you remember the introduction Pat Patterson gave for Sgt. Slaughter, well at midnight tonight it will be played in your rooms in English.

This is great. I had everything in my mind for the last month, what I was going to say, who I was going to put over, who I was going to knock, but I couldn't do anything like that. I forgot everything I was going to write and everything has to come from (the heart) right now.

I've been in this business since 1954. I was 10 years old and I went to an Arena in Chicago and I was hooked. Just like that. And when you're hooked you're in this business whether you like it or not. I remember watching the heels come out. They'd tell people to shut up, and they got louder. Everytime they told them to do something they wouldn't do it. They ignored them. I said I could do this for a living, it's like being at home.

In 1959 I was 15 years old and on Channel 5 TV show came on from midnight till 2am. That's another reason I didn't finish school. It was wrestling from Bridgeport, Connecticut and I'm seeing Johnny Valentine and Buddy Rogers and Arnold Skaaland .... Who was 63 then! So I'm watching the wrestling and I'm hooked now. Then my mom loses her job, my aunt had cancer, my grandma's an old person ... or she wouldn't have been my grandmother. I'm not from Virginia. [Gelächter] Damn this is fun sober. Anybody got any weed? No?

So I'm really hooked and it's 1961 and I started working at the Armoury for the promotion there. I was 17 years old, carrying jackets from the ring, selling cokes, and running from Eddie Farhat, The Sheik. He's chasing me all over the building and I'm scared of him. Then in 1965 I started as a manager. I managed the Assassins, then from there I went on to manage Angelo Poffo who is the father of ‘Macho Man' Randy Savage, and another man named Chris Markoff who was from Yugoslavia. Chris Markoff would rear back and kick you in the groin, and as you were going down he would say "Watch for the kick". He was horrible. Nice man, he called me when I was sick but oh, he was horrible.

And then I met another man who I started managing, Blackjack Lanza. I remember in the mornings we'd go down to the phone in the lobby. The hotels then didn't have phones in the rooms, so they had a switchboard. So where they had the chords to connect people, there was a big thing of doughnuts. So Jack would stand there and when the woman would turn her back to plug in a phone, he'd wolf down a doughnut. But what he forgot is that he's got this black moustache, and it was full of white powder. I was either managing him or Cheech & Chong! I went on from there and I managed some of the greatest talent in this world. I managed Superstar Billy Graham in Chicago. One night Ivan Putski slammed me on top of him and he had so many lumps on his body it hurt my back for a month.

And I managed Harley Race in 1968. When I found out I was going to be here tonight and be inducted with Harley, knowing Harley I thought we were going to be indicted! But he is one tough man, believe me. The things he's been through in life. 8 times Heavyweight Champion of the World, excellent.

Then I managed Bob Remus (Sgt. Slaughter). As we went down the back roads in Peoria just laughing knowing our wives would never believe we were riding with 4 fat girls to the airport so we could save 20 bucks. He said "Bobby stop it, you've made them all laugh and they've only got 7 teeth". And that was including us.

I went from there to managing everyone they threw in front of me in the WWF and ... Oh did I say something? Wait, let me get into this now. You wanna talk about Wildlife?!

When I came here they had: 3 freebirds, they had the junk yard dog, 2 bulldogs with matilda, another dog. You had 2 killer bees, you had a guy with a snake, you had a Hawaiian guy with a lizard ... I'm not done yet! And to top it all off, I'm the Weasel doing commentary with a Gorilla! Dammit!

So, if you people at the WWF now think it's wildlife, if you've spent a weekend at House Shows in Newark with Afa & Sika, The Samoans, THAT'S wildlife!

So now I know I'm going to New York. I make a phone call to Vince McMahon Jr. I'm in Denver. I can't take it there anymore, I had to get out. I called Hogan, he said to call Vince. I called Vince and told him I planned to leave. I called Verne and told him I was giving my notice. I would fulfil my dates but I was leaving. He said "I dare you to come here and tell me that face-to-face". I said how's 1 o'clock? He said fine. I took my wife with me, Cynthia .... I didn't think he'd hit a woman! And she's Italian, god knows what would've happened to him. I called Vince and said Verne wants me to go to the office and he sounds mad. Vince said "Boy I wish I could be there with you". I said to back me up? He said no I want to tape it.

I had called Vince Sr. every 6 months over a period of 10 years but they had Ernie Roth (Grand Wizard) and Freddie Blassie who were doing a great job and they had Lou Albano who refused to be fired, and they just didn't have a place for me.

A week before I started Vince called me and asked would I mind managing Jessie "The Body" Ventura, and I said of course not, it would be an honour. So I get to the Garden that night and he tells me Jessie got injured in San Diego and won't be able to make it. Would you manage John Studd? I said that I had just been to the AWA which in my terms meant All the World's Assholes so I would have managed anyone to get out of there!

So I almost managed the Governor, had I managed him years ago I may have been the first lady of Minnesota.

I managed Ernie Ladd. A wonderful man, great athlete ... who else ... Oh yes, Ric Flair.

I retired in '91 from the ring, just doing broadcasting. Vince asks would you go on the road with Ric Flair for 6 months? Just 6 months. So now I've got to go on the road with Larry Flynt. I lasted 10 days. I went and told McMahon I can't do it. Vince said it's only for 6 months, I said YOU go with him! My liver's now on hold, YOU go with him!

We had WrestleMania, the first one. I said this isn't gonna work. You had Muhammad Ali, Billy Martin, The Rockettes, Mr T., this has become a carnival! A lot of the boys said it's not right. But we looked out that night and the press was all over and it worked. It really worked. We became respected by people. We were no longer considered one step behind a circus clown. People said you guys are great performers, those are great shows you're putting on. It made us feel proud. We didn't have to wear hats anymore and kayfabe. We could kayfabe in public! And some of us even kayfabed in private! ... right (Mean) Gene?

So WrestleMania 3. It had to be the biggest thing I my life. I remember having to go to the ring earlier because I had to manage 30 or 40 guys, then I went to the ring with Andre.

Then to do Prime Time, All American, and Wrestling Challenge and be allowed to express myself and bring comedy into a business I often thought needed a kick in the pants and couple of smiles rather than a guy blowing his nose and belching and spitting. If you want to see that, come to my room. And that's just my wife. I have to, you ever tried her meatloaf?

Damn I'm having fun.

Hey for 2 and a half years I've sat in my bedroom at home taking Chemo and getting radiation and doing nothing. You sit for 2 and a half years naked in a room and watch Judge Judy – you'll go nuts! Now I've got the opportunity to come out here and be inducted into the Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame of Wrestling, something I've loved all my life. Why did I stay? It was a job, I had to. I was feeding my mother, my grandmother, my aunt. I had to feed people and myself. But it wasn't just the money, it wasn't just the people I had to feed, it was because I loved this. I love you and I love them. That's what this is about. To be inducted into this Wrestling Hall of Fame, this fraternity of people, is a tremendous thrill for me and the biggest thrills in my life are my lovely daughter Jessica, stand-up, my wife Cynthia, and my son-in-law John – he is standing, she married a midget. It's just an honour, it's a real privilege to be here in front of all you people and in New York City, and only one thing's missing... [muss Tränen zurückhalten]

I wish Monsoon was here.

Thank you.

.... we get paid for this, right?""

[Herodes]

The greatest of all time

[Matt D]

There's actually some stuff in here I didn't know:

https://prowrestlingradio.com/bobby-heenan-interview-transcript-2003/

[iamthedoctor]

 

Ive never really got why fans harp on about Ross/Lawler being the greatest ever announce team because for me the best always has been Bobby/Gorilla.

[flyonthewall2983]

Bobby made most anyone look good, including Gorilla who had his own deficiencies in the broadcast booth. Although I think Ventura was better at working around those, where Heenan could sometimes but not always.

 

I think he gets way too much flak for his time in WCW. It's clear that Bischoff did not know how to produce him in the similar manner which Vince and Bruce Prichard did, so in that regard it is sub-par in comparison. But there were times his talent shone pretty quickly. It wasn't very often, but the three-man booth of Bobby, Tony Schiavone and Dusty were great together. Quite a bit of personal history among the three of them, and there was chemistry that must have gone unnoticed by the people that could have made them the default broadcasting team.

[Loss]

He started off really motivated in WCW before settling into what he became. I'm sure he didn't get any guidance on his role once the NWO started blurring the face-heel lines, so he ended up cheering on Goldberg and hating the NWO and the backwards reactions ended up spilling to the undercard heels at times, so it made for a big mess. That said, his penchant for "Oh!" on big moves and "Everywhere I go, in airports, hotels, you name it, everyone is asking me about ____, all that anyone wants to talk about is ____" being the case for everyone in WCW at one point or another drove me crazy. But those are small gripes.

 

If there's ever a Bobby Heenan restaurant though, Mrs. Guerrero's Chili has to be on the menu!

[El-P]

The Schiavone podcast episode about Heenan is a must-hear.

[Strummer]

I think Bobby was genuinely impressed by the work rate in WCW when he got there. Even when he debuts at the Clash he seems in awe of Vader for instance. It was just a slow, painful realization that the company was run by general incompetence and that it would never change. Of course the story of him pitching Bischoff ideas for the Cactus/Payne v Nasty Boys match and being shot down was the genesis of all that. I think at the end he truly hated working there

[sek69]

 

 

Ive never really got why fans harp on about Ross/Lawler being the greatest ever announce team because for me the best always has been Bobby/Gorilla.

 

 

 

A gaming podcast I listen to calls it the "first fuck syndrome". In their context, the first game most people play in a particular genre tends to be their most favorite one of all time. They never had anything to compare it to and everything blew them away. The same thing applies here. Fans who came of age in the Attitude Era or slightly before will think Ross/Lawler is the greatest ever because it was the first one they heard. Not that they weren't great, but there's always going to be that certain aspect of adulation for one's "first time".

[The Thread Killer]

You can't really compare the two broadcast teams, due to the eras they were in. Look at Jerry Lawler as a traditional heel-biased color guy when he first came into the WWF, and then contrast his performance with a few years later, when all he seemed care about was "puppies." *shudders* Then for a while after the attitude era was over, he seemed to be sympathetic to the babyfaces, or at the very least didn't have any clear allegiances. We'll never know how JR and Lawler would have sounded calling WWF in the 80's, and thankfully we'll never have to hear Gorilla Monsoon calling something booked by Vince Russo.

[Al]

Probably a lot more of, "I don't care if you have a Z shaved in your head or not, that's not legal!"

[PeteF3]

There's still those Canadian versions of Shotgun with Gorilla alongside Cole and Kelly that lasted into '99. That's as close as you'll get.

[flyonthewall2983]

Look at Jerry Lawler as a traditional heel-biased color guy when he first came into the WWF, and then contrast his performance with a few years later, when all he seemed care about was "puppies." *shudders* Then for a while after the attitude era was over, he seemed to be sympathetic to the babyfaces, or at the very least didn't have any clear allegiances.

 

Until he made that transition, which I'd say was around the time he came back in 2001, he basically went from bad to worse. I still can't enjoy his commentary in the "New Generation" era, because it felt like he was just cutting heel promos all the time instead of announcing. Heenan and Ventura were better at giving their side of the argument, but also very occasionally giving faces their due as well.

 

I started to like him when he came back, because I actually thought at the time that Heyman was worse. He did a good enough job at WrestleMania 17 to make me turn my opinion around on his performance there, but I felt the antagonizing nature of him and JR tended to overwhelm what was going on in front of our eyes which isn't good. I later watched the Heyman doc WWE did and he said it was his idea to make it more entertaining if him and Ross hated each other.

[ragemaster]

 

I love this episode of primetime, everyone brings there A game.

This is my second favourite Bobby Heenan moment after the 92 Rumble.

[iamthedoctor]

I don't think Chris Jericho could have said this any better.

 

[Mrzfn]

That is a nice statement by Jericho. It's a shame they didn't know each other better, because Heenan clearly gets very excited about Jericho int he booth from '98 on, which makes sense because a lot of Jericho's heel run was right out of the Heenan playbook.

[JRH]

I think Bobby was genuinely impressed by the work rate in WCW when he got there. Even when he debuts at the Clash he seems in awe of Vader for instance. It was just a slow, painful realization that the company was run by general incompetence and that it would never change. Of course the story of him pitching Bischoff ideas for the Cactus/Payne v Nasty Boys match and being shot down was the genesis of all that. I think at the end he truly hated working there

He never really cared much for the shots taken at the WWF either. I was watching the Alundra Blayze doc last night, and when they played the scene of her dropping the WWF Women's belt into the trashcan, Heenan has a look of shock at first, but it later goes into more of a look of "why are we even doing this?". Heenan also pointed out in his book that the Billionaire Ted skits helped WCW win the ratings (since it reminded fans where Hogan and Savage were), so he wasnt a fan of either side doing this.