LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Readers share Bobby Heenan memories including chemistry with Monsoon and memorable one-liners

If you have fond memories of Bobby “The Brain” Heenan you’d like to share, send them to kellerwade@pwtorch.com for possible publication this week.

I got into wrestling in the late-’80s and my parents were kind enough to repeatedly rent WWF PPV’s for me on video cassette.

I love Heenan’s back-and-forths with Gorilla Monsoon. It’s magic every time Monsoon interrupts Heenan with, “Will you stop!” You know Heenan was really dialed in when Monsoon would threaten to have him removed.

Also, who can forget Wrestlemania IX – Caesars Palace. Heenan’s introduction, riding backward on the camel, was a tour de force of physical comedy. He was so selfless for the good of the show. As a bonus, Heenan and Randy Savage harassed each other on commentary throughout the mostly lackluster show.

Heenan was a gem. Thanks for dedicating Sunday’s VIP Wade Keller Hotline to his career.

Mike Meyers
Grand Rapids, Michigan

I listened to the Wade Keller Hotline about Bobby Heenan, and it made me genuinely sad. I’m now 40 and got into wrestling at the time when Heenan and Monsoon were the voices of the WWF. Heenan was (as you said) a part of many peoples childhood memories and I was a huge fan of his. His abilities to be an obnoxious, cheating, underhanded heel yet be absolutely box office in all the best ways really puts him a league with very few others. His wit, his one liners, his mannerisms, and his body language both as a commentator and as a manager were top class, and I look back on that time fondly.

His lines also stayed with me far beyond his on-screen days. I will still describe jobbers as “ham and eggers.” I will still jokingly rib my father that “death never takes a holiday” (his great line about the emerging Undertaker) because my Dad lived through that era with me and instantly cracks up knowing it’s a Heenan line. And when I see someone in public that I think is getting a hard time, I will chirp up with “You’ve gotta be fair to …” which comes from the Heenan line “You’ve got to be fair to Flair.”

For someone to have that many lines and comments still pop in to my head 25 years later shows what an impression he made on my young mind. He will be missed, he was a great one.

Graham Hall
London, England.

First off, that was a really nice Wade Keller Hotline about Bobby Heenan. It had me a little choked up in a couple of places, thinking about how he never gave up and still came to meet the fans and former colleagues at a point when a lot of people probably would have understandably taken it easier. (I’m sure you must hear it all the time, but my Torch subscription is the best value for money of all my monthly outgoings. For the record, my favorite shows are your hotlines and The Fix, which is absolutely one of the highlights of my week.)

I was a 10 year old who got really into the stories… It seems strange to use the word “jerk” about someone who has just died, but that’s what Bobby Heenan was, and he was really, really good at it.

I was about 10 years old when I got into WWF, just in time for the tail-end of Bobby Heenan as a manager and then his transition into solely a commentator. In hindsight with PWTorch history lessons in my brain, I’m pretty sure that I didn’t live through Heenan at his best but as a kid, I loved seeing his guys lose because there was nothing worse than a gloating Bobby Heenan. Mr. Perfect eventually ended up being one of my favorites but as a kid, the combined arrogance of him and Heenan made me crazy.

I was furious when he helped Rick Rude win the Intercontinental Championship from Ultimate Warrior, but I loved seeing him get his in their weasel suit match (not so fun in hindsight as a more knowledgeable adult fan!).

Getting into wrestling around that time also meant that Heenan and Monsoon are the commentary team I look back on most fondly. There’s no doubt that there are objectively better commentary teams throughout history, but because it was the period that I first got into wrestling, they’ll always be one of my favorites.

What wrestling fan of that time doesn’t immediately think of Heenan being a jerk if you ever hear someone say “Will you stop!.” Also, who could forget the immortal line during the most romantic moment in wrestling history, while Monsoon is praising the reunited lovers, the camera shows weeping fans, Savage and Elizabeth are hugging in the ring, and Bobby Heenan adds… “This is better than Love Story… if you like that kind of mush.”

Thanks Bobby. You made us hate you and we loved you for it.

Matt
Aylesbury, UK

If you have fond memories of Bobby “The Brain” Heenan you’d like to share, send them to kellerwade@pwtorch.com for possible publication this week.