Monday, September 18, 2017

Very sad to hear about the passing of Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, arguably wrestling's greatest manager and one of the best color commentators. I can't say I was surprised as he wasn't in good health and had battled health problems including throat cancer since 2002. As a manager, few, if any, were as good as Heenan could cut a great promo, seemed to have great chemistry with almost everybody he represented, he really made you believe he was actually offering advice to his wrestlers, and he never took away from the match or chewed the scenery to the point where people forgot about the match which is important for any manager.
As a commentator, his pairing with Gorilla Monsoon is arguably the greatest and it along with Monsoon's pairing with Jesse "The Body" Ventura set the template of wrestling commentary over the last 30 years that every company big or small has tried to emulate. He also had a great wit and the best with one liners. As a wrestler, he could bump with the best of them and knew how to get the fans to love every minute a fan favorite whipped his ass.
Pro Wrestling Legend and former Heenan Family member Nick Bockwinkel said it best about him "Bobby could replace me in any match and the building would just as wild. Bobby could replace Ray Stevens in any match and the building would just as wild but I couldn't do what Bobby did and Ray couldn't do what Bobby did". To be fair to Bockwinkel, not many could do what Heenan did.
73 is a great age and he lived a long life but like with other legends, it's hard to imagine we now live in a world with no Bobby Heenan. His influence will be felt in wrestling for decades to come and many will continue to be inspired by him that enter wrestling.

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