RIP to one of the GOAT.The news of Bobby "The Brain" Heenan's passing today gutted me.
I loved our time together.
No one ever did it better than the Wease.
RIP to one of the GOAT.The news of Bobby "The Brain" Heenan's passing today gutted me.
I loved our time together.
No one ever did it better than the Wease.
My love of wrestling was shaped by this man.
Thank you, Bobby.
Who is the quote by?
Irreplaceable. </3
Jim ross
JR
NOOOooOOOOooO
Just fucking. No
Absolute legend. RIP, Brain.
He was the best...
Irreplaceable...
very sad, RIP. he was an incredible character.
Part of my childhood. Him and Gorilla, although i didn't realize it at the time, made watching a thrill. Bobby always checked all the right boxes and I hope he went peacefully without any pain.
Man. I loved that guy. He was the absolute best.
Man, my car sprung a gas leak and it was a big to do and I finally make it home after all this bullshit and I see this. A bad day grows even darker. Bobby Heenan was it. One of my all time favorites. I can't express how sad this makes me. May he rest in peace.
The all time best manager in my view and one of the best commentators. He was a legend. Sad to hear he passed but glad he is not suffering anymore.
I need to watch some Prime Time Wrestling and other things that him and Gorilla did together. That was a great team. They played off each other so well.
Bobby Heenan was among my all-time favorites. As a manager, the heat he would bring to any of his wrestlers was immense. In the era of brutish, often-silent heels, the fast-talking Chicagoan who thought he was smarter than everyone else, just gave an amazing balance.
As I got older, I'd find tapes of the WWF Superstars show, just to listen to the back-and-forth between Heenan and Monsoon. His sense of timing was just... I don't think there's ever been any talker in wrestling history who comes close.
RIP, Brain.
I better see the king of all video packages tomarrow night. It better be better than MLK or Jimmy Snuka or any other holiday or RIP package Vince has had put together. I want the perverbial red carpet rolled out for Bobby.
I remember the whole angle between the Boss Man and the Heenan Family. Now THAT was a feud
RIP Brain
If they really want to celebrate Bobby, they should run the entire RR'92 without commercials in its entirety instead of that dreadful 2nd hour of Raw.
Agreed. Hell I'd take 3 hours of classic Bobby Heenan moments over any Raw or SD they've churned out lately.Originally Posted by lotjx
Just one of the best ever both as a manager and announcer. He could do comedy, he could be serious, he could bump. Him and Gorilla were one of the great teams of all-time. His WCW stuff wasn't as good as his WWF run but was still good. Sad he's passed, but at least his suffering is over.
RIP Brain. Absolute legend.
And this is dumb but...how much does it suck that his health problems came before the wrestling podcast boom? Can you imagine him as a podcast guest or host? The stories would be amazing.
I hope Something to Wrestle With does a Heenan tribute episode.
If anyone hasn't, track down the Straight Shooting that RF Video did with Jim Cornette and Bobby. The best damn 2 and a half hours of old-school wrestling talk I've ever heard. Its shortly after Heenan's throat surgery, so his voice isn't the best and his articulation is a little "off". But the dude's mind was sharp as a tack. That never seemed to leave him. Its not as good as having Bobby host a weekly podcast ("Bobby's World"? "From The Mind of The Brain"?) but its Heenan distilled down to his finest form, just shooting the shit and still busting out amazing one-liners every which way.
Sean Oliver, that peanut-headed Jeremy Borash wannabe never even has to ask a question.
R.I.P
Not dumb at all. His cancer stole life from him and stole him from us.
This...really hurts. I think I need to write about it.
I remember pulling for Heenan in 89 survivor series. JBL tries to be another Heenan but not the same
Very sad news to wake up to. A legend and one of a kind.
RIP
I haven't posted since 2013. Took me 20 minutes to login. Just wanted to pay my respects to my username. Bobby the Brain remains my favorite wrestling personality of all time. #1 color commentator of all time. #1 manager of all time. Really enjoyed spending the last three hours looking up Brain clips on YouTube. They'll never be anyone like him again.
RIP greatest manager and commentator in the history of the business.
Too many great moments to mention, but if you want to see true greatness check out the commentary on the flair 91-92 run.
Double post
Fuck. We knew his days were numbered, and with his health he probably should have gone a long time ago. But this is still shitty news.
RIP to one of the greatest.
They better do the bell ringing, interviews and a top notch video tonight. Don't let me down Vince.
Oh I have no doubt they will.
Very sad, best colour commentator in history IMO. Royal Rumble 1992 is the only show I've ever seen where a commentator was arguable MVP - obviously Flair was incredible but I honestly think Heenan was the most important part of that show being brilliant.
A true legend of the business, and one of those people whose memories were a big part of me growing up as a wrestling fan. Has been and always will be, the measuring stick for all heel commentators.
I found this link a few months back that I was meaning to post here but for some reason kept forgetting to share.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bobby_Heenan
It's a link of some of his best quotes. What's amazing was that I went down that page that day reading every one of those and found them absolutely hilarious, until I got right down to the very end and literally cried at the last line.
RIP Bobby.
RIP to the GOAT manager and color commentator. I heard someone, maybe JJ Dillon, say that had Bobby been a little bigger and athletic he would have been one of the most famous WRESTLERS of all time as well.
Do you think Bobby and Gorillas are in heaven commenting on what's going on in the world.
That would be hilarious. But I assume with the laundry list of names that have passed in wrestling they're probably getting ready to commentate Heaven Mania 2017 headlined by Macho Man v. Owen Hart.
I'd buy that one, is it available on some cloud service?
My earliest memory of Bobby Heenan is from this match..
Remember him getting ejected being hilarious as a 10-11 year old.
RIP Brain, the GOAT for sure.
Rewatching Rumble 1992 on the Network. I hope they do some sort of Heenan documentary or compilation special on the Network.
I wish I could remember my earliest memory. I have 4 memories that stick out almost everytime he's mentioned.
I'm not sure if it was Prime Time or what but it was when they were transitioning to Raw and they had a studio audience behind them and they'd bring on guests. They=probably Hennan for sure and maybe Monsoon? It was the show were Tugboat showed up as Typhoon for example. But this one I think of it was Sensational Sherri and her and Bobby kept making out during the broadcast.
The Clash of the Champions where Pillman grabs him and he says "fuck"
Bash at the Beach 1996 where he says "What side is he on?" as it pertains to Hogan and the future gloating of how he was always right about Hogan and STILL never sided with him even though Hogan was a bad guy.
Andre turning on Bobby at WM 6.
Those are just key memories. I don't know why that first one stands out so much, probably because back then I had a crush on Sherri and thought it was weird she was making out with Brain.
Sad news. My first proper introduction to Heenan was when I was picking up the old Silvervision tagged classics, one of which was Wrstlemania 8. He was on fire throughout that show. He knew how to deliver a line perfectly and was never afraid to send himself up.
The best thing about Heenan was the he was genuinely the guy you loved to hate.
I mean nobody "really" hated Bobby Heenan. He was too damned brilliant for that. But he was so good that you hated him out of respect for how good he was as that's what you were supposed to do.
For me Bobby Heenan is the best wrestling performer ever.
The studio version of PTW was with Heenan and McMahon and his lovely zubaz outfits.
Heenan and Monsoon on Prime Time was part of what got me into wrestling.
I was watching some 80's and 90's stuff just yesterday and it's an impossible task to not bear witness to the influence of Heenan.
Be it as a manager, cutting promos (the guy could get a glass of water over) or calling the shots with Gorilla Monsoon.
Incredible, for me, as a youngster, there was always an allure, almost an hypnotic a la Paul Heyman, attention being paid to his conviction. I believed Bobby when he said Mr. Perfect would beat Kerry von Erich, I was enthralled at the prospect of Rick Rude besting the Ultimate Warrior in a steel cage match for the WWF title. The idea that Hogan could somehow topple his newly aquatinted 'Giant' seemed impossible. The very idea that Fliar, an NWA and WCW cornerstone was a bigger deal than the entire WWF in it's entirety upon his arrival, was big deal .... even my own personal favourite, where he seemingly 'facilitated' Crush's alignment with Mr. (MASTER) Fuji and subsequent betrayal of Randy Savage.
The list is endless folks. Yes, while it is widely regarded that JR is the voice of WWE (myself included) and while I miss the banter between JR and The King, I will still aways return to the straight up, 'good guy/badguy' schtick between Bobby and Monsoon. The Brain would fawn over the heels, Sensational Sherri was the greatest thing you'd ever seen, Mr. Perfect was the world champion without a strap, he would make an utter mockery out of the faces, irrespective of how ridiculous his comments were. He was the heel of spiel, lets put the good ones down. And Gorilla had an answer for everything.
Even Vince was hard pushed to fit in at times, which, to his credit he did in an utterly over-the-top manner as always (binmen,, dentists and moon-men a mid carder thing ffss ... and this was before 'Mr. MacMahon was a thing!) ... but with Heenan and Monsoon, it was utterly begrudging love and respect. Something B'aiy'runn and Cole seem to be devoid of.
The closest thing (in my opinion), to The Brain ... is Graves ... not popular I know, but he has that snappy heel appeal and the smart-arse retorts to Maggel/Bah'runn comments (which the 'Old-Skool' Vince or Gorilla observer would do well to employ in their delivery) seemingly on hand.
I have always missed his commentary, as of that as Monsoon's too ... even the *revolutionary*, glass-shattering, more evil than evil can be 'Taker, 'It doesn't matter' .. Must be broken in haiyuff . got old .. I personally believe and witnessed, the, *PUPPIES and B'AH GAWD'S* become an expected regularity, as much as Stone Cold stunning a MacMahon or Jeff Hardy flopping off a ladder, or the Rock making a swear-word ... shock factor and quality storytelling are very much different. Even the hairy thumb (formerly the puffy massif/puffy man of many 'H's) is weighing in like he knew him. Hey eyo, you were sucking the Shockmaster's boot-ends when Heenan was thinking of retiring. Although, I will say, imagine HHH debuting as the 'blue blood' with Heenan backing him. Oh aye, that would have been awesome.
I just feel that Heenan's craft on the mic/headset could garner much more interest in two minutes than the long drawn-out (alleged) 12 minute promos that are being spoon-fed to us each week
To sum up;
This, bad guy; Here why.
No! This good guy; Here why.
We don't need *TWEENERS* Get back to basics, Heenan and Monsoon told us what we needed to know, the talent filled in the gaps and the crowd made the stars.
Just imagine Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan calling the debacle that is Cena/Raigns ....... More to the point, imagine Heenan backing a face Rusev against a Heyman heel-backed Piper .. not that either talent require said managerial enhancement, but feck me, it would be awesome.
Sleep tight brainiacs.
How different do you think wwe would be if Heenan didn't retire in 1994?
He left the WWF in December 1993 and joined WCW in January 1994 I believe, so it was very short lived retirement to say the least. He was still good in WCW but no way near his golden WWF years. His lack of passion for WCW showed. He wrote in his book that he only went for the money and to be closer to his family.
Last edited by OD50; September 19th, 2017 at 4:43 AM.
Yeah, he wanted to retire but the commute was easy and also the money.
I watched his HOF induction last night, and although he was recovering from throat cancer and difficult to understand in places, it may have been one of the funniest speeches I've ever heard.
Echoing what others have said:
I grew up watching Monsoon and Heenan (as well as McMahon and Heenan). Heenan was a very generous performer, who could look brilliant while making others look better. His ability to elevate others of various styles was amazing. Bobby's ability to mix comedy with more serious moments is, to me, still unparalleled for outside the ring performers.
Bobby Heenan made wrestling more fun for everyone.
I won't lie, got a little emo watching the tribute. Laughed my fucking ass off with the Monsoon stuff.
There's never been another Announce Team like Monsoon and Heenan. Perfection.
I'll also add that Heenan's commentary during the '92 Rumble is a masterpiece. He lived and died with every move that Flair took and had you hanging on the edge of your seat. His commentary might have been more important than the match itself.
Last edited by Sasori; September 19th, 2017 at 3:04 PM.
The line that always sticks in my head is "I knew he was going to do that!" after Shawn Michaels superkicks Marty Jannetty on the Barber Shop set.
That whole thing is great. Bobby playing up that one without the other is no good and mid sentence explaining that fact he switches gears with the I just knew he was gonna do that (even though when he says that Bobby almost sounds surprised even though he plays it off like he knew) into he doesn't need Jannetty putting Shawn right over.
One of my favorite lines was saying Tatanka buys cheap cologne so he can get the free comb with it.
Also my father's name is Bruce. Survivor Series 1993 with Bruce Hart Bobby says about Stu and Helen "What kind of name is Bruce? Nine months and they come up with that!". My dad laughed pretty hard at that one.
Bruce is an awesome name.
If it worked for Bruce Campbell, its good enough for anyone.
On the topic of favorite heenan moments:
Royal Rumble 92:
"I never thought I'd say this, but thank you Roddy. It's a kilt. It's not a skirt, it's a kilt"
"You no-good creep! You skirt-wearing freak! It's not a kilt, it's a skirt".
Wrestlemania 8 is full of great ones:
"Tito's sister...Arreba McIntyre!"
Monsoon (during Taker's entrance): "There's that smell of formaldehyde!"
Heenan: "I thought was your cologne!"
"I once made a guy give up during instructions!"
Heenan:"Did you ever say hi to Tatanka?"
Monsoon: "Of course!"
Heenan: "Did you say it properly....Hey how are ya? Hey how are ya?" "Hey how are ya?"
Heenan was a brilliant performer, manager or announcer.
They used one of his quotes that I recall, "I'm a man who doesn't like to be made to look bad"
but he he was a genius at it and made an art and career out of it...
Another thing that occurred to me is Bobby was famous for not wanting to rehearse or go over material, said it took away from the spontaneity of improv.
Now look at the sad state of monologues in WWE where even formerly great talkers like Foley are tongue tied by pre-made scripts. How sad.
Last edited by NWo4LifeOr2Years; September 20th, 2017 at 10:41 AM. Reason: Spell heck can't spell
Honestly, when I think back to those days in the 80s- Bobby probably was as much to WWE as Hogan was, even while obviously, you didn't "like" him and loved to see any comeuppance come his way.
He was THE villain from those days- whether as the dastardly manager behind the who's who of the heel roster, or simply as the prototype "heel-announcer", constantly berating the faces, loving the heels antics, and insulting Gorilla Monsoon to no end.
Honestly, from his era, he very well may have been the MVP of the product from those times.
Wrestlemania 8 and Rumble 92 are my favorite Heenan moments. The commentary for those shows were probably the best of all time. I can watch the shows over and over again just for the commentary.
I was rewatching Mania 8 yesterday, I forgot there was a Luger interview where he was praising Heenan and trashing Monsoon.
Makes me sadder that jbl left the booth. He tries to be heenan 2.0 when announcing
It's a damn shame about all that damn throat cancer he went to.
saw this one on Pete Rosenberg's Twitter:
Bobby Heenan: "I thought I was going to heaven til I saw your ugly mug Monsoon"
Gorilla: "Will You Stop?!!"
Pretty much nailed it perfectly
Somebody uploaded the entire Heenan/Cornette shoot interview I talked about earlier. Grab it when you can, because it'll probably get pulled at some point soon.
I had that shoot DVD for years and years. Sold it on e-bay a couple of years ago, still in the wrapper. Just never got around to watching it. Obviously.
Corny started selling all of those classic DVD's on his site last Christmas. That DVD was all the way from 2004.
while I did not shed a tear, it was the closest I have come to shedding a tear since Eddie Guerrero died. Despite literally missing his face the last few years due to cancer, he apparently still had the same sense of humor. He would mumble like Kenny from South Park and his wife would translate what he said for him. Bubba said on the radio the other day how Bobby bumbled something and his wife said Bobby was asking for viagra
its also a shame that the last vintage Bobby on the schtick we had was WM17
Bobby Heenan was truly one of the all time greats. It makes me sad that kids today dont truly know how amazing some of these guys were
but I guess the feeling was the same for us when a legend from the 60s/70s died in the 90s and we had no idea who the hell they were?
regardless, Bobby was better than them all
RIP
Last edited by Spedizzo; September 21st, 2017 at 9:54 AM.
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