Wrestling Legend Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan (1944-2017)

[Zoneboy]

Link

Pro Wrestling Sheet has confirmed Bobby Heenan passed away on Sunday.

The news first broke on Twitter after Jim Ross tweeted, “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.”

We’re told Bobby’s daughter informed those close to him via Facebook and said he was surrounded by family when he passed. His daughter noted that he’d been sick, but his passing was sudden.

Heenan is, without question, one of the most iconic personalities in wrestling history and his on-screen relationship with fellow announcer Gorilla Monsoon is unforgettable. In 2002, “The Brain” announced he had throat cancer. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame two years later.

Bobby had reconstructive surgery on his jaw in 2007 and it’s been an uphill battle ever since.

[1960'sTVfan]

Sad to learn about this, although I know Heenan had been in rough shape for awhile.

Bobby Heenan was a fixture in Chicago wrestling during the early and mid 1970's, Heenan was one of the "bad guys". I used to watch Bob Luce Wrestling every weekend on the good ol' WSNS TV channel 44. Man, those were the days. As a wrestler, Bobby Heenan often got his butt kicked, so eventually he quit as a wrestler and became a full time manager. Bob Luce Wrestling was usually sponsored by a used car lot on Chicago's south side, for example Ben's Auto Sales, Southland Motors, places like that.

My favorite memory of Bobby Heenan is a funny commercial he made for Southland Motors which would appear on the Bob Luce Wrestling shows. The commercial started as if Heenan was doing a stand up comedy routine, but as the commercial went on Heenan got increasingly irritated, and by commercials end Heenan was shouting in a rage. This is what Heenan said at the end of the commercial:

"I'm going to tell you one thing right now. If you want to buy a car anyplace, don't go to Southland Motors because I don't shop there. Bruiser shops there, Cholak shops there, Snyder shops there and Gomez, but I don't. They say they get great deals, they say their cars shine and they run fine, believe me they're clunkers! They don't shine, they don't run, they just sit there and collect rust!!"

LOL, that is just too funny.

The four wrestlers that Heenan referred to in the commercial are Dick The Bruiser, Moose Cholak, Wilbur Snyder, and Pepper Gomez.

R.I.P. Mr. Heenan.

[Zoneboy]

Was Bob Luce the commentator who most always called Sailor Art Thomas Seaman Art Thomas?

[1960'sTVfan]

Originally Posted by Zoneboy

Was Bob Luce the commentator who most always called Sailor Art Thomas Seaman Art Thomas?

That I don't remember, I'm not sure.

They used to do some crazy things on that Bob Luce wrestling show. I remember the guy who interviewed the wrestlers in the studio, his name was Sam Menacker. Menacker was a middle aged guy, balding and wore glasses. When Menacker would interview one of the "bad guy" wrestlers, and when the wrestler would start acting mean and talk tough, Menacker would have this frightened look on his face, the look on his face was priceless.

Another thing they did on Bob Luce's show was a stunt with wrestler Pepper Gomez. The gimmick Pepper Gomez had was his midsection was said to be hard as a rock, they called him "the wrestler with the cast iron stomach". One time they had Gomez in the studio, Gomez laid down on the floor stomach side up, and they brought in these guys with mopeds and they drove the mopeds over Gomez's stomach. I think Gomez actually got injured during that stunt, they had to call paramedics to the studio and check him out.

Another wrestler I remember from those days is Baron Von Raschke. He was tall, bald, had a raspy voice and spoke with a German accent. Raschke's gimmick was the "claw hold", he would defeat his opponents in the ring using his claw hold. I guess he had big hands and strong fingers.

[Dude111]

Very sad......Boy alot leaving!!!!