Happy Birthday, Brain

Bobby "The Brain" Heenan will forever be known as the greatest wrestling manager of all-time.

One of the biggest stars in the history of the WWE turns 67 on Tuesday. Bobby “The Brain” Heenan was a staple of the WWE’s golden era in the 80′s & 90′s. The Brain was born in Chicago, and will forever go down as the best wrestling manager in the history of the business. Heenan mastered the heel manager routine perfectly. He’s the guy who once famously said, “if you can’t win fair, cheat.” And that’s exactly what Heenan would try and do if one of the members of the Heenan Family was ever in danger of losing a match.

My favorite Heenan moment was WrestleMania V as Ravishing Rick Rude looked to take the then WWF Intercontinental title from The Ultimate Warrior. The Warrior (who I loathed even as a 9 year old kid) was seemingly unbeatable. I never thought Rude would come away with the IC title, but that’s why they called him the Brain…

The ending to that match is vintage Heenan. I watched WrestleMania V with my father, and we of course, both rooted for the ravishing one. Even as a naive kid, I appreciated Heenan’s brand of comedy. The things he did during his wrestlers matches are even funnier now. Like when he would put his guy’s leg on the bottom rope to break up a count without the referee seeing for instance.

Heenan was also one of the two best color commentators in WWE history. The Brain & Jesse “The Body’ Ventura are 1 & 1A for me as commentators go. They added personality, comedy & always rooted for the heels. Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon had such a tremendous chemistry that they were able to carry Prime Time Wrestling by themselves before it turned into Monday Night Raw. Do you know how hard it is for two guys to sit in a studio and keep fans entertained between matches? It’s not easy, but those two constantly had you rooting for the matches to be over so you could hear the banter. Here is a classic line from Heenan at WrestleMania VII…