BOBBY HEENAN INTERVIEW RECAP: TALKS ABOUT HIS CAREER,
- 08/06/2006 (9:50:08 pm)
- Victoria Lee
WM3, BEING SHOT AT AND MUCH MORE….
Bobby Heenan interview recap: Talks about his career, WM3, Being shot at, and much moreRECAP WRITTEN BY VICTORIA LEE OF HTTP://WRESTLINGWEE
On Tuesday August 1st, at 8pm Eastern, Wrestling Weekly welcomed a very special guest to this week's show - the legendary Bobby "The Brain" Heenan! Wrestling Weekly declared it "Heenan Night" on the show.
Doc joked that if it weren't for Heenan being on the show, he would have declared it "Doc Young Night", because his birthday was the next day.
Early in the show, Bobby's phone cut out and made us all worry that "Heenan Night" was going to miss the guest of honor. But luckily, we were able to reconnect with Bobby, and Heenan Night was underway!
You can hear the entire show at http://www.wrestlin
Bobby and Les discussed the psychology of wrestling, and not always giving the fans what they want when they want it. You gotta leave the fans wanting more, or else they'll lose interest. Bobby compared it to auto racing: if
crashes happened every year, the novelty would wear off, and it wouldn't be as exciting.
Bobby said that he actually had red hair as a baby, but when he had surgery to remove a tumor on his stomach wall, his head was shaved, and his hair grew back blond. His beard was always red, though. Now, it's all gray. Bobby
said that he still bleaches his hair, and joked that his natural hair makes him look like Aunt Bea from The Andy Griffith Show.
Bobby said that he admires Jim Cornette and thinks he was an incredible heel manager. Bobby said that Cornette looked his part, and also praised the tennis racquet.
Bobby said that he had the most fun in his career from 1972-1979. His mother was still alive, he got married, had kids, was making good money, and lived close to where he worked, so he could return home to his family every night.
Bobby talked about the unique talent it takes to be a wrestling commentator. He said that it's something you can't teach or script because of the unpredictability of wrestling - it's something one has to be able to do naturally. If you can't react to what's happening as it happens, you can't call wrestling well. Bobby can't call baseball or be an astronaut, but he can call wrestling.
Bobby said that he's probably managed between 40 and 50 wrestlers in his career.
Bobby began breaking up again, but we were able to get a hold of him and continue the show with questions from the chat room.
The first chat room question came from "BigDaddyCool"
WW listener "D-Ray" asked Bobby who he would manage today if he could manage any wrestler. Bobby said Vince McMahon, "'cause he owns the company."
Listener "Andy" asked Heenan if he really believes that TNA is the future of wrestling and is better now than WWE is, as he stated in a promo for TNA a while ago. Bobby said he doesn't know which is better, because it depends on one's taste.
A chat room regular, "RhodeIslandRed"
Bobby said he wasn't at all upset about being moved from managing to announcing in the then-WWF. In fact, Bobby didn't want to manage anymore. His neck was hurt, and he was sick of taking bumps. Commentating was much easier, because he didn't have to take anymore bumps.
"Hollywood's Rock" in the chat room asked Heenan for his thoughts on Ric Flair being thrown into thumb tacks. Bobby said that if Ric wants to do it, he can do it.
Bobby said that he doesn't watch wrestling anymore, because it doesn't fit into his life schedule. Bobby gets up early in the morning, and goes to bed around 9:00pm. Most wrestling programs air after 9:00, so he doesn't get the
chance to watch.
Who invented "The Weasel" gimmick? The name was invented by Crusher. Crusher would talk in promos about "catching that little weasel" and "POP! goes the weasel." Bobby, though, was the brain (no pun intended) behind the weasel suit.
WW listener"Venus" asked Heenan if he was familiar with John Cena. Bobby said that he doesn't really know Cena personally, but Cena is a good worker.
Doc asked Bobby if he was ever involved in a riot, or if he was ever involved in a situation where he was worried that there would be a riot. Bobby told of an incident in 1973, during a match between Nick Bockwinkle and Verne Gagne, when Heenan was managing Bockwinkle. The finish was scripted so Bockwinkle would try to pin Gagne, but Gagne would put his foot on the rope just before the 3-count. Bockwinkle and Heenan wouldn't realize
that Gagne had his foot on the rope, though, so Bobby would jump up onto the apron and they would celebrate their "victory" together. Verne would dropkick Nick from behind, causing him to hit Bobby, then roll Nick up for the pin. When Bobby jumped up to the apron, though, he heard three "pops". Bobby didn't know what they were. When he got backstage, he found out that they were gun shots. It turned out that when Bobby jumped onto the apron,
somebody in the audience yelled "I'll get him down!" and fired five shots at Heenan. The shots hit the front row of the audience instead. Unfortunately, the shooter was never caught.
"King Booker's Peasant" from the chat room asked Heenan for his thoughts on "Mr. Perfect" Kurt Hennig. Bobby said that his death was a "horrible tragedy", and that he had known Kurt since Kurt was a kid.
Bobby said that The Sheik was the "best heel ever", because he didn't do interviews or take bumps, but he was one of the biggest draws around because people wanted to see what crazy thing he was going to do next.
"Main Ingredient" asked Bobby if any of the wrestlers ever took offense at the comments he made behind the announce booth. One time, Bobby said that Sid Vicious was "not the sharpest fork in the drawer." Sid didn't like the
implication that he was stupid. The funny thing was, Bobby said that to make himself look stupid, because the cliché is supposed to be "not the sharpest 'knife' in the drawer."
Listener "Raw Sewage" asked Heenan what he thought of his time working with Ring of Honor. Bobby said that he enjoyed it, because they were always nice, and they always paid him. It's always a good thing when a wrestler actually gets paid.
Bobby was asked for his thoughts on Bruno Sammartino not accepting invitations to the WWE Hall of Fame. Bobby feels that whatever Bruno's problems with Vince McMahon are, they are Bruno and Vince's business, not Bobby's. Bobby likes Bruno, and he likes Vince.
"D-Ray" asked Bobby what his favorite WrestleMania he was in was. Why, WrestleMania 3, of course!
Last but not least, Bobby discussed the incident in which Andre the Giant punched the Ultimate Warrior, which Bobby had talked about on the WWE-produced "Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior" DVD. Bobby was asked
if Warrior ever responded to what Andre did. Bobby laughingly said that Warrior wouldn't dare respond to Andre, but the way Bobby actually phrased his answer is not fit for this report.
As Bobby left, Doc and Les thanked him for joining us on Heenan Night - we couldn't have had it without him! Bobby joked that they could have if they just lied to the people like he's done for 40 years.
Bobby also discussed Nick Bockwinkle, Bruiser Brody, and how he went 12 years with a broken neck without surgery or time off, Andre the Giant's drinking prowess, and TONS more! You have to hear this, the running gag
about Siamese twins, and more on this past Tuesday's Wrestling Weekly radio program with Doc Young and Les Thatcher.
Wrestling Weekly is a part of the Wrestling Radio Network at
The Wrestling Weekly radio program featuring Doc Young and Les Thatcher can be heard every Tuesday from 8:00-10:00pm EST at http://www.wrestlin
-Doc Young
Co-Host
http://www.wrestlin
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