American Wrestling Association (1974–1979) Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, a professional wrestling
manager, joined the
American Wrestling Association (AWA) full time in 1974 managing the team of
Nick Bockwinkel and
Ray Stevens.
Bobby Duncum, Sr. joined within the next year forming the first version of the Heenan family. He went on to later manage
The Blackjacks (
Lanza and
Mulligan). Heenan led his members to many title reigns, including the
AWA World Heavyweight Championship and the
AWA World Tag Team Championship before leaving AWA in 1979 to join
Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW).
Georgia Championship Wrestling (1979) In GCW, Heenan formed his second version of Heenan Family, where Blackjack Lanza remained in the stable, while Heenan received new members in
Masked Superstar,
Killer Karl Kox,
Professor Toru Tanaka, and
Ernie Ladd. He also led this version to numerous title reigns before he left GCW.
Return to AWA (1979–1984) After leaving GCW, Heenan returned to AWA, where he reformed Heenan Family with
Nick Bockwinkel. He added
Super Destroyer Mark II shortly after arriving.
Ken Patera joined in 1982. Toward the end of his time in the AWA,
Mr. Saito became part of the Heenan Family.
World Wrestling Federation (1984–1993) 1984–1985 Heenan made his debut appearance in the
World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in September 1984, seconding
Big John Studd to the ring. While
Jesse Ventura was originally supposed to be the first member of the WWF version of the Heenan Family, he was forced to retire due to health problems. Studd officially became the first member of the WWF version of the Heenan Family, and it wasn't long before Patera joined the fold. Heenan managed
Buddy Rose From December 1984 to January 1985 and appeared with him on ''Piper's Pit''.
Adrian Adonis and Missing Link joined the Heenan Family in May 1985. The Heenan Family's first target was
André the Giant, with whom Studd had been embroiled in a bitter feud over who was the true "giant" of wrestling. The Heenan Family scored the first major victory in the feud when Heenan helped instigate a 2-on-1 attack on André, an incident that resulted in Studd and Patera cutting André's famous locks of hair. André regained the upper hand. In response, Heenan then traded Adrian Adonis and Missing Link to manager
Jimmy Hart in September 1985 for
King Kong Bundy. Bundy, along with Studd, continued to make life difficult for André, who turned to
Hulk Hogan and
Tony Atlas for assistance.
1986 Studd and Bundy also formed a successful
tag team, though they never seriously challenged for the
WWF Tag Team Championship, instead concentrating on Heenan Family feuds with André and Hogan. At
WrestleMania 2, Heenan would manage King Kong Bundy at the main event. In May 1986, Heenan managed longtime friend
Harley Race, bleaching his hair blond and billing himself as "Handsome" Harley Race. During a time when the WWF did not recognize the existence of other promotions and the accomplishments a wrestler made there, WWF officials came up with a solution to recognize his wrestling pedigree by having him win the
King of the Ring tournament. After this, he referred to himself as "King" Harley Race, coming to the ring in a royal crown and cape, to the ceremonial accompaniment of the tenth movement (known as "The Great Gates of Kiev") of
Pictures at an Exhibition by
Modest Mussorgsky. After winning a match, Harley would make his defeated opponent "bow and kneel" before him and Heenan would usually assist the defeated opponent to "bow and kneel" by grabbing their hair and forcing them to bow before King Harley Race. As part of a
storyline explaining André's leave of absence from the WWF (due to health problems and a tour of Japan), the Heenan Family campaigned to have André suspended for failing to show for matches against Studd and Bundy, and later to require a lifetime suspension from the WWF if they could prove a masked man competing as the "Giant Machine" was André. In addition to André,
WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan was another frequent target of the Heenan Family (though in real life the pair were friends and, when he was leaving the AWA, Heenan had actually called Hogan about getting work in the WWF and then suggested him to WWF owner
Vince McMahon). Early on, Heenan turned to Studd, Bundy and Hogan's on-again, off-again friend
"Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff to win the title from Hogan, but they were all unsuccessful. In October 1986, Heenan purchased the contract of
Hercules from his previous manager
Slick. On the November 26, 1986 ''
Saturday Night's Main Event VIII, Heenan would lead Hercules in a title match against Hogan. Although he was able to put Hogan in the "Hercules Backbreaker" torture rack, he lost by pinfall. On December 14 at the following Saturday Night's Main Event IX'' taping in Hartford, CT, he would manage Paul Orndorff in
steel cage rematch against Hogan, who again won the match.
1987 Although John Studd had departed at the end of 1986, Heenan scored a major coup for his stable in January 1987, when André
turned heel and challenged Hogan for the title at
WrestleMania III. In what was billed as "the biggest title match in wrestling history", Hogan was successful in his match against André in front of a reported 93,173 fans at the
Silverdome in
Pontiac,
Michigan. Following the defeat at WrestleMania, André would go into seclusion; Heenan would meanwhile set about expanding the Heenan Family and leading Harley Race in matches against Hogan. In May 1987,
The Islanders (
Haku and
Tama) were scheduled for a match on
Superstars of Wrestling. Their opponents were the popular
Can-Am Connection (
Rick Martel and
Tom Zenk), in what was billed as a scientific match. Heenan appeared at ringside during the bout, seemingly surprising both teams, the referee, and the commentators. The confusion allowed The Islanders to attack the Can-Ams from behind, giving The Islanders a countout win. Tama's gave a
flying headbutt to Zenk on the arena floor as Heenan gloated over his new tag team. A summer feud between the two tag teams was brewing, but was scrapped when Zenk departed the WWF. Bundy was once again defeated and would leave the WWF the following month, but André would attack Hogan and set up a rematch for 1988.
1988 One year after signing André the Giant, Heenan sold Andre's contract to
Ted DiBiase. This would essentially end his two-year primary quest to end Hulk Hogan's reign, and he would instead turn his efforts to The Islanders. They became embroiled in a feud with
The British Bulldogs (
Davey Boy Smith and the
Dynamite Kid), whose mascot Matilda was "dog-napped" by The Islanders
"High Chief" Afi joined the tag team to make a trio for one episode of
Superstars, taped April 21, 1988 and aired on May 7, 1988. On March 7, 1988 in
Nashville, Tennessee, Heenan would lead King Harley Race against former champion Hulk Hogan on ''
Saturday Night's Main Event XV. During the match, Race would suffer an abdominal injury that would sideline him for most of the year. On June 21 at a Superstars
taping, Heenan replaced him with Haku as the new "King". The Family was further reduced on September 13 when he sold the contract of Hercules to Ted DiBiase on Superstars'', resulting in Hercules turning face when he refused to become DiBiase's "slave". The two slots in the Family were then filled on October 5 in
Fort Wayne, Indiana when
Arn Anderson and
Tully Blanchard joined as
The Brain Busters. In the fall, newcomer "Scary"
Terry Taylor acquired Heenan as his manager and was rebranded "The Red Rooster", a
gimmick which saw him don red tights and ring coat and, later as a babyface, style his hair like a
rooster's
comb and strut like a rooster. Early in his Red Rooster stint, the heel Taylor was portrayed as a
novice wrestler who could not navigate his way through matches without constant instructions from Heenan. The Rooster made his pay-per-view debut in the main event of
Survivor Series, where he was the first wrestler eliminated from the match. On December 6, Heenan tried to further expand the Family by bringing Big John Studd back to the group. However, in a segment on
The Brother Love show Studd announced that he wanted nothing to do with the organization. At the end of the year, Harley Race did come back, setting up a friendly match with King Haku for the crown at the upcoming
Royal Rumble.
1989 King Haku was successful in retaining his crown against Race in the latter's comeback attempt. Heenan appeared at ringside cheering on both men, but afterwards Race departed. Also that month on the January 7, 1989 episode of ''
Saturday Night's Main Event XIX'', The Red Rooster lost a match to
Tito Santana due to being distracted by an argument with Heenan. Following the loss, Heenan slapped Taylor, who was tired of Heenan's demeaning style of coaching, and turned against his manager and attacked him. After going more than a year without winning any of the WWF championship (World Heavyweight,
Intercontinental or Tag Team), the Heenan Family got its first title when Rick Rude (with help from Heenan) upset
The Ultimate Warrior to win the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania V. Shortly thereafter, he led The Brain Busters (former
Horsemen members Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard) to the WWF Tag Team Championship with a win over
Demolition (
Ax and
Smash) on ''
Saturday Night's Main Event XXIV'', giving the Heenan Family two champions at one time. The Brain Busters would later lose the titles to Demolition in a rematch, and in November 1989 departed the company. A month later, Heenan formed a new team,
The Colossal Connection (André and Haku), who defeated Demolition.
1990 On February 13, Heenan would add to the Family by acquiring the contract of
The Barbarian from
Mr. Fuji. At
WrestleMania VI in
Toronto, Ontario,
Canada, Demolition regained the titles from The Colossal Connection and after the match, Heenan angrily berated Andre, leading André to turn on him and depart. Later that month, his spot in the Family would be filled by
Mr Perfect, and the Heenan Family got its fourth title when Mr. Perfect defeated former champion Tito Santana and won a tournament at a
Superstars taping on April 23 in
Austin, Texas to fill the vacant Intercontinental Championship. Going into the match, Perfect had told that he would have a "new" manager, with the surprise that it was Bobby Heenan, who came to ringside midway through the bout and distracted Santana enough to allow Perfect to get the win. The same month, Heenan would manage a charge against the world title for the first time in over two years, when he led Haku in a match against new world champion The Ultimate Warrior. Although Haku was unsuccessful, Heenan managed Rick Rude in a series of challenges against Warrior throughout the summer, but Rude was unsuccessful. At
SummerSlam, Mr. Perfect lost the Intercontinental Championship to
Kerry Von Erich. Rick Rude departed the WWF in September, leaving the Heenan Family with just Hennig, Haku, and Barbarian as members. Perfect regained the title on November 19, 1990, thanks to interference from Ted DiBiase. This title win aired on the December 15, 1990 episode of
Superstars.
1991–1993 Mr. Perfect faced
Big Boss Man at
WrestleMania VII in
Los Angeles, where a disqualification loss after Bossman was attacked by Heenan Family members Haku and The Barbarian meant that he retained his title; during the match, Perfect had been hit in the head with the Intercontinental Championship title belt by former Heenan member André the Giant, though he managed to kick-out of a pin attempt. Despite this, the following month Heenan became one of several managers to attempt to sign Andre the Giant to their respective stables. Andre refused and forced Heenan to march in a tub of grapes on
Prime Time Wrestling. A month later, the Heenan Family came to a temporary conclusion as Heenan announced on May 28 at a
Superstars taping that he was selling the contract of Intercontinental Champion Mr. Perfect to "Coach"
John Tolos and retiring to become a "broadcast journalist"; in reality, he retired as a manager due to lingering effects of a broken neck suffered in 1983 and being an announcer offered a less strenuous travel schedule as well as no longer taking bumps. However, he would go to associate with
Ric Flair when he came to the WWF soon after, and was wildly excited when Flair became WWF Heavyweight Champion at the
1992 Royal Rumble, and was seen celebrating with Flair after the match. Heenan's commentary during the Royal Rumble match was highly biased in favor of Flair even by his own standards as a heel announcer. Heenan also introduced
Lex Luger in January 1993 and was known as his advisor, though he did not appear as his manager at ringside. On the July 26, 1993 episode of Monday Night Raw, an excited Heenan left the announce booth to welcome his "good friend"
Jim Cornette to the WWF. Cornette has later praised Heenan for putting him over, claiming Heenan's endorsement gave him instant heat with the WWF audience.
Roster Other wrestlers who were part of the Heenan Family, at one time or another, were
Ken Patera, Paul Orndorff,
Adrian Adonis,
The Missing Link,
"The King" Harley Race,
The Islanders (Haku and
Tama),
Hercules,
The Barbarian,
The Red Rooster, and
The Brooklyn Brawler. Several of them—most notably Hercules and Race—challenged Hogan for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, while others played key roles in various mid-card and main-event storylines. == Members ==