Bobby Heenan

American Wrestling Association (1969–1979)

After leaving WWA, Heenan announced he was now to be known as "The Brain" at his AWA debut in 1969. He took up managing the team of Nick Bockwinkel and Ray "The Crippler" Stevens, a duo which won a third AWA World Tag Team Championship under his leadership. Heenan was unharmed, but five people sitting ringside were injured, one of them critically.

Georgia Championship Wrestling (1979) In early 1979, Heenan left the AWA (suspended one year, in storyline) to work in Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW). During his short tenure in GCW, Heenan managed a stable of wrestlers that included the likes of Killer Karl Kox, Masked Superstar, Ernie Ladd and Blackjack Lanza. According to Heenan, he moved his family to Atlanta after being told by GCW promoter Ole Anderson that he could work for the promotion as long as he wanted, only to release him less than a year later. Anderson admitted to releasing him but denied promising him indefinite employment.

Return to AWA (1979–1984)

In late 1979, Heenan returned to AWA and resumed managing Nick Bockwinkel to renewed championship success, including against Hogan in 1983. Heenan and the Heenan Family had a feud with Hulk Hogan in the 1980s, and Heenan managed two WrestleMania challengers to Hogan's title. In 1986, Heenan managed King Kong Bundy in his main event bout at WrestleMania 2. During the André the Giant–Hulk Hogan rivalry preceding WrestleMania III, André sided with Heenan and challenged Hogan at the event. While neither Bundy nor André won the title at that time, André later bested Hogan for the championship on The Main Event I on February 5, 1988, in a controversial win after he aligned himself with "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. After the Busters had lost the titles back to Demolition a few months later, Demolition would win the titles back at WrestleMania VI. A few months after that, he led Mr. Perfect to Intercontinental Championship success.

Heenan also wrestled sporadically in his WWF run. In his in-ring debut at Madison Square Garden in November 1984, he cleanly pinned Salvatore Bellomo. Most of the matches he was in were tag team matches. At WrestleMania IV, he teamed with The Islanders to defeat The British Bulldogs and Koko B. Ware. The following year, he was defeated in 30 seconds by former client The Red Rooster at WrestleMania V. Heenan also wrestled a series of "Weasel Suit matches" against Ultimate Warrior, who defeated Heenan by forcing him into a weasel costume. His final in ring match came on August 2, 1991, at a house show in Long Island, New York, where he defeated Mr. Fuji.

Heenan retired from managing in 1991 to become a full-time commentator. Nonetheless, Heenan crossed the line to managing sporadically. When the WWF signed Ric Flair, Heenan spent several weeks talking Flair up as "The Real World's Heavyweight Champion", appearing onscreen with Flair's Big Gold Belt. At the 1993 Royal Rumble, he introduced "The Narcissist" Lex Luger to the WWF to exact revenge on his former protégé, Mr. Perfect.

Commentator (1984–1993) Heenan became a commentator while in the World Wrestling Federation, but continued to manage various wrestlers, such as The Brooklyn Brawler (behind Heenan) in 1989. In 1984, WWF owner Vince McMahon took full advantage of his microphone and comedic skills and Heenan became a color commentator in addition to his managing duties. He replaced Jesse Ventura on Prime Time Wrestling and All American Wrestling, aired on the USA Network, teaming up with Gorilla Monsoon. He also replaced Ventura to team up with Monsoon on the syndicated All-Star Wrestling, which was replaced in the fall of 1986 with Wrestling Challenge. Although the purpose of these shows were to summarize weekly WWF events, viewers tuned in to see Heenan and Monsoon's interactions.

At the following pay-per-view, Bash at the Beach, Heenan reacted incredulously when his old rival Hulk Hogan walked out during the main event match between The Outsiders (Kevin Nash and Scott Hall) and Sting, Lex Luger and Randy Savage by shouting "Whose side is he on?"

Starting in late January 2000, WCW replaced Heenan on Monday Nitro and pay-per-view events with Mark Madden. Heenan continued to commentate on Thunder along with Mike Tenay, and later Schiavone, until he was replaced by Stevie Ray beginning in July 2000. Heenan was then only seen with Scott Hudson on Worldwide until he was released by WCW in November 2000.

Later career (2001–2009) On April 1, 2001, Heenan returned to the WWF and provided commentary to the Gimmick Battle Royal match at WrestleMania X-Seven alongside "Mean" Gene Okerlund. In his last WWE appearance, he was one of the speakers for "Mr McMahon appreciation night" on the June 11, 2007 episode of Raw.

Heenan made several appearances on the independent circuit. In February 2001, Heenan did color commentary for the WOW Unleashed pay-per-view. Also in 2001, Heenan worked briefly as a "sports agent" in the Xcitement Wrestling Federation with Curt Hennig under his tutelage. Heenan made a series of appearances for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in December 2005, culminating at the Turning Point pay-per-view, where he provided commentary for the Six Man Tag Team Basebrawl match between The Diamonds in the Rough and Chris Sabin, Dale Torborg and Sonjay Dutt. His final appearance for TNA was on the September 7, 2006 episode of Impact!, when he appeared to make a bid to manage "free agent" Robert Roode. Pro Wrestling Report honored Heenan at the annual Blizzard Brawl event on December 5, 2009, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as he was given their Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition to this, the mayor of Milwaukee, Tom Barrett, declared December 5, 2009, to be "Bobby Heenan Day". Despite declining health in his final years, Heenan continued to make appearances at fan conventions. He enjoyed staying in touch with former colleagues and fans.

His first memoir, Bobby The Brain: Wrestling's Bad Boy Tells All, was released by Triumph Books on September 1, 2002, with a foreword from Hulk Hogan. After his Hall of Fame induction, Heenan provided comments for use in WWE documentary releases. In December 2010, WWE released a retrospective two-disc DVD on Heenan's career titled WWE: Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.

Health and death In January 2002, Heenan announced that he had throat cancer. The treatments caused a great deal of weight loss, dramatically altering his appearance and voice. In December 2007, Heenan had reconstructive surgery on his jaw, after the first surgery was unsuccessful. He was placed in a medically induced coma and was slowly brought out. He fell out of bed and broke a shoulder in April 2014.

On September 17, 2017, Heenan died at the age of 72 while surrounded by family at his home in Largo, Florida. His cause of death was organ failure due to complications from the throat cancer that had been in remission since 2004. including WWE, who placed him at the top of their 25 greatest managers list in 2011. The Post and Courier columnist Mike Mooneyham said Heenan became a blueprint for managers and fellow manager Jim Cornette said: "He formed in my mind as a fan and performer what I thought a manager should be." Author Brian Shields notes that many consider him "one of the most significant figures in professional wrestling history".

Longtime on-screen rival Hulk Hogan wrote in the foreword to Heenan's Bad Boy Tells All: "Bobby was a legendary wrestler ... He will go down in the books as someone who mastered the craft". Journalist Wade Keller states that what sets him apart from other managers was his ability to take "tremendous bumps" (falls to the mat after being attacked). Pro wrestling historian George Schire praised his in-ring ability, commenting: "Bobby was a good athlete – flipping over the ropes, he could do it all. And whether it was as the manager or as a wrestler, he could get the crowd going as well as anyone." WWE Hall of Fame commentator Jim Ross selected Heenan as the greatest talent in the history of the wrestling business. Ross praised Heenan's ability as a color commentator, stating: He was naturally funny ... and enhanced every single talent, including the heroes, even though Bobby did not support the fan favorites as the bad guy announcer. [Heenan] did what every announcer should strive to do and that is to make talent bigger stars than they are and to embellish every talent's TV persona.

Awards and accomplishments Many wrestlers managed by Heenan became champions, including Curt Hennig, who is pictured here with the WWF Intercontinental Championship. Cauliflower Alley Club Iron Mike Mazurki Award (2004) Pro Wrestling Report Lifetime Achievement Award (2009) St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame Class of 2010 World Wrestling Entertainment WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2004) Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)