World Wrestling Association (1965–1974) In 1965, Heenan became a regular in William Afflis' (known by his in-ring persona
Dick the Bruiser) Indianapolis-based
WWA promotion under the moniker "Pretty Boy" Bobby Heenan. During his time in WWA, he managed
Angelo Poffo and
Chris Markoff, the Assassins (
Guy Mitchell and Joe Tomasso),
The Valiant Brothers and
The Blackjacks. In particular, Heenan was credited with making
Blackjack Lanza one of the top wrestling villains in the country. In 1974, he left the WWA. He attributed his departure to a dispute with Afflis over pay for his participation in the first-ever wrestling event held at
Market Square Arena, emphatically stating that he never returned to the promotion as a result.
American Wrestling Association (1969–1979) After leaving WWA, Heenan announced he was now to be known as "The Brain" at his AWA debut in 1969. He took up managing the team of
Nick Bockwinkel and
Ray "The Crippler" Stevens, a duo which won a third
AWA World Tag Team Championship under his leadership. According to Heenan, he moved his family to
Atlanta after being told by GCW promoter
Ole Anderson that he could work for the promotion as long as he wanted, only to release him less than a year later. Anderson admitted to releasing him but denied promising him indefinite employment.
Return to AWA (1979–1984) Nick Bockwinkel In late 1979, Heenan returned to AWA and resumed managing Nick Bockwinkel to renewed championship success, including against Hogan in 1983. Heenan and the Heenan Family had a feud with
Hulk Hogan in the 1980s, and Heenan managed two
WrestleMania challengers to Hogan's title. In 1986, Heenan managed King Kong Bundy in his main event bout at
WrestleMania 2. During the
André the Giant–Hulk Hogan rivalry preceding
WrestleMania III, André sided with Heenan and challenged Hogan at the event. While neither Bundy nor André won the title at that time, André later bested Hogan for the championship on
The Main Event I on February 5, 1988, in a controversial win after he aligned himself with
"The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. After the Busters had lost the titles back to
Demolition a few months later, Demolition would win the titles back at
WrestleMania VI. A few months after that, he led Mr. Perfect to Intercontinental Championship success. Heenan also wrestled sporadically in his WWF run. In his in-ring debut at
Madison Square Garden in November 1984, he cleanly pinned
Salvatore Bellomo. Most of the matches he was in were tag team matches. At
WrestleMania IV, he teamed with The Islanders to defeat
The British Bulldogs and
Koko B. Ware. The following year, he was defeated in 30 seconds by former client The Red Rooster at
WrestleMania V. Heenan also wrestled a series of "Weasel Suit matches" against The Ultimate Warrior, who defeated Heenan by forcing him into a weasel costume. His final in ring match came on August 2, 1991, at a house show in Long Island, New York, where he defeated
Mr. Fuji. Heenan retired from managing in 1991 to become a full-time commentator. Nonetheless, Heenan crossed the line to managing sporadically. When the WWF signed
Ric Flair, Heenan spent several weeks talking Flair up as "The Real World's Heavyweight Champion", appearing onscreen with Flair's
Big Gold Belt. At the
1993 Royal Rumble, he introduced
"The Narcissist" Lex Luger to the WWF to exact revenge on his former protégé, Mr. Perfect.
Commentator (1984–1993) , but continued to manage various wrestlers, such as
The Brooklyn Brawler (behind Heenan) in 1989.|alt=Bobby Heenan, dressed in a black sequin jacket, leads The Brooklyn Brawler to the ring in 1989 In 1984, WWF owner Vince McMahon took full advantage of his microphone and comedic skills and Heenan became a
color commentator in addition to his managing duties. He replaced Jesse Ventura on
Prime Time Wrestling and
All American Wrestling, aired on the
USA Network, teaming up with
Gorilla Monsoon. He also replaced Ventura to team up with Monsoon on the syndicated
All-Star Wrestling, which was replaced in the fall of 1986 with
Wrestling Challenge. Although the purpose of these shows were to summarize weekly WWF events, viewers tuned in to see Heenan and Monsoon's interactions. At the following pay-per-view,
Bash at the Beach, Heenan reacted incredulously when his old rival Hulk Hogan walked out during the main event match between
The Outsiders (
Kevin Nash and
Scott Hall) and
Sting,
Lex Luger and
Randy Savage by shouting "Whose side is he on?" Starting in late January 2000, WCW replaced Heenan on
Monday Nitro and pay-per-view events with
Mark Madden. Heenan continued to commentate on
Thunder along with
Mike Tenay, and later Schiavone, until he was replaced by
Stevie Ray beginning in July 2000. Heenan was then only seen with Scott Hudson on
Worldwide until he was released by WCW in November 2000.
Later career (2001–2009) On April 1, 2001, Heenan returned to the WWF and provided commentary to the Gimmick Battle Royal match at
WrestleMania X-Seven alongside
"Mean" Gene Okerlund. In his last WWE appearance, he was one of the speakers for "Mr McMahon appreciation night" on the June 11, 2007 episode of
Raw. ringside at a
WOW! Women of Wrestling event|alt=Two men wearing headsets to commentate a professional wrestling event Heenan made several appearances on the
independent circuit. In February 2001, Heenan did color commentary for the
WOW Unleashed pay-per-view. Also in 2001, Heenan worked briefly as a "
sports agent" in the
Xcitement Wrestling Federation with
Curt Hennig under his tutelage. Heenan made a series of appearances for
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in December 2005, culminating at the
Turning Point pay-per-view, where he provided commentary for the Six Man Tag Team Basebrawl match between
The Diamonds in the Rough and
Chris Sabin,
Dale Torborg and
Sonjay Dutt. His final appearance for TNA was on the September 7, 2006 episode of
Impact!, when he appeared to make a bid to manage "free agent"
Robert Roode.
Pro Wrestling Report honored Heenan at the annual
Blizzard Brawl event on December 5, 2009, in
Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, as he was given their Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition to this, the mayor of Milwaukee,
Tom Barrett, declared December 5, 2009, to be "Bobby Heenan Day". Despite declining health in his final years, Heenan continued to make appearances at fan conventions. He enjoyed staying in touch with former colleagues and fans. ==Other media==