We are very saddened to report that Bobby “The Brain” Heenan has passed away.
Heenan was one of the most charismatic and memorable wrestling personalities of all-time. Heenan burst onto the national wrestling scene in the early 80’s as a manager in AWA. He then joined the World Wrestling Federation in 1984.
Heenan worked alongside Gorilla Monsoon on WWF Prime Time Wrestling and on early 90’s WWF PPVs. He then went on to WCW and was heard every Monday night as WCW surpassed WWF as the most watched wrestling promotion.
Bobby “The Brain” Heenan managed legends such as “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig, Rick Rude, Nick Bockwinkel, King Kong Bundy, Harley Race, Jesse Ventura, The Brain Busters (Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson), Andre The Giant and more. Heenan took his rightful spot in the WWE Hall of Fame back in 2004.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jVRs0t-X4c
In 2002, Heenan was diagnosed with throat cancer and then later tongue cancer. Through his battle with the disease, Heenan still made the time to attend wrestling conventions to interact with fans.
Rest in peace, Bobby Heenan. Thank you for the countless memories and for entertaining us for so many years.
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.
— Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) September 17, 2017
Bobby Heenan… The Greatest Manager, One Of The Greatest Announcers, And One Of The Best In-Ring Performers In The History Of The Business
— Ric Flair® (@RicFlairNatrBoy) September 17, 2017
https://twitter.com/RealDDP/status/909549691947372544
https://twitter.com/OfficialTAZ/status/909550754922471424
Bobby Heenan was great at all that he did
Manager
Wrestler
Announcer
Host
The Brain
Weasel
Celebrate his life on @WWENetwork
1 of a kind pic.twitter.com/RdcVzUCmK4— Tommy Dreamer (@THETOMMYDREAMER) September 17, 2017
Bobby Heenan died today and it has left me very sad. He was the best of the best in the biz and a friend. RIP Bobby. Praying for you Cindy pic.twitter.com/T8wuFAYuST
— Ted DiBiase (@MDMTedDiBiase) September 17, 2017
Today we lost one of our legends.
Im just happy the last words I said to him were, "I love you Bobby."
RIP Bobby Heenan pic.twitter.com/ofqi6IJguD
— Bully Ray (@bullyray5150) September 17, 2017
https://twitter.com/JeremyBorash/status/909555294795108352
Hearing of the passing of Bobby Heenan certainly brings sadness, but, being blessed to witness his genius 1st hand, also brings a smile, RIP
— Michael PS Hayes (@MichaelPSHayes1) September 17, 2017
…one of a kind. pic.twitter.com/2uM1qpWHaF
— Triple H (@TripleH) September 17, 2017
RIP Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. He was one of the greatest mananagers in the history of our business!
— Howard Finkel (@howardfinkel) September 17, 2017
RIP Bobby The Brain Heenan…one the greatest announcers, managers & personalities of all time… https://t.co/KuFoNE9p06
— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) September 17, 2017
RIP Bobby "The Brain" Heenan – one of the GREATEST and most influential personas our business has ever known. pic.twitter.com/BUDikV0z2X
— Mick Foley (@RealMickFoley) September 17, 2017
WWE has released the following statement:
WWE is saddened to learn that WWE Hall of Famer Bobby Heenan, regarded by many as the greatest manager in sports-entertainment history, has passed away at age 73.
With a career spanning more than four decades, Bobby Heenan was the “The Brain” behind some of the most prolific Superstars in sports-entertainment history. Heenan plied his trade as their mischievous manager by running his mouth on their behalf with a sarcastic wit considered among the best in the business.
Heenan named competitors under his guidance as the Heenan Family, a moniker meant to show the strength of their alliance over any of their opposition. Members of the Heenan Family in the AWA and WWE read like the who’s who of sports entertainment, including legends and WWE Hall of Famers such as Nick Bockwinkel, the Blackjacks, Big John Studd, King Kong Bundy, “Ravishing” Rick Rude, “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig, the Brain Busters (Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard), Harley Race, and of course, the first WWE Hall of Famer, Andre the Giant, whom Heenan led to the ring at WrestleMania III before 93,173 fans.
As impossible as it may seem, Heenan’s overwhelming success as a manager was matched by that of his announcing career. Heenan’s constant verbal jousts with fellow WWE Hall of Famers Gorilla Monsoon and “Mean” Gene Okerlund on USA Network remain among the most entertaining moments in sports-entertainment history. In fact, “The Brain” was so entertaining, that “The Bobby Heenan Show” had a brief run on USA Network as well.In addition “The Brain” was part of the original broadcast team for Monday Night RAW in 1993, and also sat at the announcers’ table for both Raw and WCW Monday Nitro.
WWE extends its condolences to Heenan’s family, friends and fans.
