The wrestling community was saddened by the loss today of one of all the times greats, if not the greatest manager of all time as Bobby The Brain Heenan passed away at the age of 73.
He had been battling throat cancer for 15 plus years, and sadly, it was finally enough to take the life of this legend.
His legacy in the sport will forever go on as he is one of the most beloved and hated figures there has ever been.
His first taste of large success came in the AWA as he managed several of the companies top heels. Including multi time world champion Nick Bockwinkel. When Vince McMahon started to eliminate the territories in the mid 80’s, Heenan was one of his biggest coo’s as he swiped the manager away from Verne Gagne and brought him to the WWF just in time for the Rock N Wrestling craze to begin.
Over the next 8 years, the fans would love to boo “The Weasel” in his role as manager, then commentator alongside Gorilla Monsoon. His stable of wrestlers were called the “Heenan Family” and consisted of the top heels in the company.
He consistently tried to bring in wrestlers to topple Hulk Hogan in the mid to late 80’s. This included Big John Stuff, King Kong Bundy and even the popular Andre The Giant turned heel to join Heenan for a shot at Hogan.
Heenan had his most success while guiding Rick Rude, and Curt Henning “Mr. Perfect”. He guided both men to a combined 3 Intercontinental title runs. He also managed the finances of Ric Flair upon his original arrival in WWF. Heenan would depart for WCW in the winter of 1993.
While he never did much outside of announcing in WCW, his color commentary became one of the sole reasons to tune in during the later days of the struggling franchise.
Bottom line, the wrestling world has lost a great one as Heenan could do it all and will be missed.
Rest in Peace Brain!
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