BOBBY THE BRAIN HEENAN PRO
BOBBY THE BRAIN HEENAN TV

As they traveled the circuit, if Nick or The Crippler was not available, Heenan would get in the ring. His most-famous tag team was Nick Bockwinkel and Ray (The Crippler) Stevens. He left for 18 months or so, then came back in 1969 as the manager for Black Jack Lanza. Heenan first appeared in the Twin Cities in 1967, where he briefly was the manager for Larry Hennig (CurtвЂ™s father) and Harley Race. He managed the cream of the crop of wrestling talent вЂ“ Bockwinkel, Stevens, Duncum, Lanza, Andre the Giant, Curt Hennig, Ricky Rude, Haku вЂ¦ вЂвЂ™ And on Sunday, Brunzell was among those saddened by the loss of a dear friend.Д«runzell described Heenan as a вЂњself-taught genius,вЂ™вЂ™ and in an e-mail, called Bobby the вЂњdriving force for the success of AWA and WWF promotions. Jim Brunzell and his partner, Greg Gagne, spent the most-glorious wrestling days as the force for good taking on the evil partnerships of the Heenan Family. He was always quick of wit, a prankster in real life and around the ring, and used that to become one of the sportвЂ™s most notorious villains, as the condescending, rules-breaking manager вЂ“ a wrestling weasel in the truest sense.ДЄfter he was done as manager, he set a new standard as the match analyst for whatвЂ™s now the WWE, always seeming to spot a way in which the bad guy was noble and the hero was a cheat. Bobby (real name Raymond) started off carrying the wrestlersвЂ™ jackets back to the dressing room, after they were introduced.

BOBBY THE BRAIN HEENAN PRO

One job was mowing lawns in the neighborhood, including for Bill Afflis, a former pro football player but better known as вЂњDick the BruiserвЂ™вЂ™ of wrestling fame.Дick the Bruiser was the promoter in Indianapolis, and he started taking Heenan to the matches. He was a kid in Indianapolis, a high school dropout because of a need to support his mother. The heroes and the villains of the AWAвЂ™s golden age continue to depart this vale of tears, and Heenan became the latest on Sunday, passing away in Florida at age 73 after a long and gruesome battle with throat and mouth cancer. вЂњOf course, the man selling the posters and making the money from them was Bobby.вЂ™вЂ™ вЂњBobby would be sure to say in his interviews, вЂAnd I donвЂ™t want to see any of those posters in the arena on Saturday night,вЂ™ вЂвЂ™ said George Schire, the premier historian of the AWAвЂ™s wonderful history.

BOBBY THE BRAIN HEENAN TV

The crowds for the TV matches would bring posters defaming Heenan as вЂњBobby the Weasel,вЂ™вЂ™ rather than his preferred вЂњBobby the Brain,вЂ™вЂ™ and he would demean those poster-waving fans in return. He would sing вЂњPop Goes the WeaselвЂ™вЂ™ until it popped out of the box, and then say that was Bobby Heenan, the evil manager for the Heenan Family in the mid-вЂ70s.

The Crusher bought himself a Jack in the Box windup toy and brought it with him for TV interviews promoting upcoming AWA wrestling cards.

Bobby the brain heenan