Greatest overall Wrestling performer of all time - Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
The phrase "never meet your heroes” is often credited to French writer Marcel Proust. It could be him or it could be someone else. but I say it's bullshit. Yeah you definitely have the potential to meet someone you've looked up to your whole life and be completely devastated because they are a raging douchebag but that just lets you know you were wrong and that person is in fact a raging douchebag. Live and learn. But what if you meet one of your heroes and they are just as cool or maybe even cooler than what you hoped. This was my quandary when I had the opportunity to introduce myself Bobby "The Brain'' Heenan.
I grew up watching the WWF (now WWE) starting in 1984 and since I started watching there was one guy who I was immediately drawn to. Yep, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. Initially I hated him because he was a "bad guy" manager with an obnoxious, self-centered and egotistical character. As time wore on, I found myself really enjoying it when he was on tv. I didn't know why, he was still the same character but there was just something about him. Fast forward to 1986 when Bobby replaced Jesse "The Body" Ventura on Prime Time Wrestling. Prime Time Wrestling was the 2 hour precursor to Monday Night Raw on the USA network. It was hosted by Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby. It was this program and the soon to follow Sunday Morning syndicated show "Wrestling Challenge" (also hosted by Bobby & Gorilla) that cemented my admiration for him.
Bobby had a way of making you hate and love him all at the same time. The back and forth banter between Gorilla and Bobby before and after commercial breaks were some of the best non-wrestling things I’d ever seen on a wrestling TV show.
In December of 1993 Bobby would leave the WWE and in typical fashion it was a comical exit at the hands of Gorilla Monsoon. Tired of Bobby’s antics, Gorilla kicked Bobby out of the WWE and into the street. Bobby would end up going to WCW in 1994 and that’s where I would finally meet him in 1999.
I was scheduled to make my WCW debut in March of 1999 at the Uncensored PPV from Louisville, Kentucky against Cruiserweight Champion Billy Kidman. Now the story leading up to this match is a story in itself but that’s for another time. Before the match Bobby came up to me to introduce himself and to say I was starstruck was an understatement. I tried playing it cool but internally I was over the moon with excitement. He asked who trained me, where I broke in and if it would be ok if he made fun of my name and acted as if he couldn’t remember what it was. I let him know I was a huge fan of his and he could say absolutely anything he wanted. I also let him know it was going to be my first match in the company and I was pretty nervous coming from ECW which didn’t draw a crowd bigger than 1200 people very often let alone the 12,000+ that would be in attendance that night. He chuckled and said he’d heard of me and he was sure I’d do just fine.
Kidman and I were the first match that night and as I was standing in the ring waiting for Kidman to make his entrance I looked over at Bobby and he winked at me. I don’t know why but that totally put my mind at ease and the match went really well. After the match I received a phone call from my old buddy TAZ telling me I did a great job and then said during the match Bobby was playing with my name and really put me over. He also said Bobby called me Mikey SheepDick. As I was getting ready to leave the building I ran into Bobby who was also leaving. I asked him if he had any criticisms or advice that he could remember. He sat down and we chatted for about 10 minutes. As he was walking away I stopped him and asked if he really called me SheepDick. He said, “I prefer Lamb Penis but call it what you will”. He winked at me again and left.
I always made it a point to find Bobby at shows and say hi and ask him questions. He was always willing to talk to me and always had joke after joke.
I get asked all the time what my favorite match is or who my favorite opponent is and I can say without a doubt, the absolute highlight of my career is During a Nitro show in Memphis, Tennessee. I was working with William Regal and during my entrance, Bobby stood up at the announce table and shook my hand. This wasn’t something he normally did to people and all I could think was please god let that be on camera. It was! :)
The last time I saw him was at a convention but cancer had taken such a toll on him that he lost the ability to really talk and he looked so sick and frail. I was so upset that I couldn’t bring myself to go up and say hi. I regret that decision almost every day. I should have told him how much he meant to me growing up and how I appreciated his kindness in WCW.
Sorry Marcel Proust, I met my hero and he was awesome!
-Mikey-
Or today….
-SheepDick-
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Here’s Bobby’s WWE Hall of Fame speech from 2004. It’s about 22 minutes long but it’s a great watch!
