"The Brain": Bobby Heenan Trivia Quiz

Answer: Worked the concession stand

Raised by his mother and elderly grandmother Raymond Heenan (aka Bobby Heenan) dropped out of school at age fifteen to supplement the family income. A longtime fan of wrestling young Heenan decided to look for employment there. His very first job was working a concession stand at local events. From there Bobby graduated to helping wrestlers with their gear and taking jackets and robes from the ring to locker room.

In 1965 he got his break as a preliminary wrestler and from there a manager.

Answer: "Pretty Boy" Bobby Heenan

In 1965, Bobby Heenan took on the name of "Pretty Boy" Bobby Heenan and began to compete as a preliminary competitor. Before long it became clear he was not cut out for a wrestler but his gift of gab made him a very entertaining and successful manager.

In the late 1960s managers were still a very big component of the industry and all heel grapplers were required to have one. In 1969 the legendary Verne Gagne brought Heenan to the AWA and the rest is history.

Answer: Larry Zbyszko

It did not take too long for Bobby Heenan to establish himself as one of the premiere managers in the business and the most hated manager in the AWA. His stable of wrestlers was called "The Heenan Family" and included many legendary stars. For almost fifteen years Bobby was a mainstay in the promotion and his list of charges included Ray Stevens, The Blackjacks, Bobby Duncum Sr, Baron Von Raschke and Ken Patera.

Heenan's most notable protege during this period was the smooth talking Nick Bockwinkle whom he lead to multiple reigns as AWA Heavyweight Champion. During this time Larry Zbyszko was competing in the WWF and from there went to JCP, it wasn't until 1984 that he arrived in the AWA.

Answer: Ray Stevens

In December 1976, Bobby Heenan was honored as "The Manager of The Year" and naturally a big ceremony was held in which he was presented with a trophy with his charges at his side. For a while dissention had been brewing between the duo of Ray Stevens and Nick Bockwinkle as "The Crippler" felt that Heenan favored the AWA Champion Bockwinkle more than him. On December 25, 1976 when Heenan was presented his award neither Bobby or any of the other members of "The Heenan Family" let Stevens have a chance to offer congrats. Irate Stevens pushed Heenan and was immediately jumped by his former colleagues thus making "The Crippler" the very first in long list of "Ex Heenan Family Members".

Answer: "The Weasel"

Right from his debut as a manager Bobby Heenan quickly garnered a reputation for always sneaking and scheming against rival wrestlers and foes of his proteges. He also made a reputation for physically interfering in the matches of his men when things began to take a turn for the worse.

In the mid-1970s famed AWA wrestler Dick "The Bruiser" began to refer to Bobby as "The Weasel" in a series of interviews and the name stuck for the remainder of his career.

Answer: The Missing Link and Adrian Adonis

In the fall of 1985 several heel managers got together and decided to swap some talents which each man getting making some substantial gains. First, the reigning WWF Tag Team Champions Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine which had been co managed by Johnny Valiant and Jimmy Hart were solely managed by Valiant. Next Hart was able to garner the contracts of both Adrian Adonis and the eccentric Missing Link from Bobby Heenan.

They did not call him "The Brain" for nothing as Heenan was able to secure the contract of the gargantuan King Kong Bundy, one of the premiere heels in the company, from Hart. Unfortunately for Hart while Adrian Adonis would have great success for a while, The Missing Link was gone in a matter of weeks.

Answer: The Ultimate Warrior

The idea of a "Weasel Suit Match" was nothing new as the gimmick was originated in 1980 in AWA. Popular AWA star and son of AWA Owner Verne Gagne, Greg Gagne, defeated Heenan in a series of this bouts which saw Bobby stuffed in a life size "Weasel Suit" complete with claws and a tail.

In the summer of 1988, the WWF revived the gimmick, as Heenan owned the suit, and the insanely popular Ultimate Warrior fought Bobby in a series of these bouts. Bobby being the true professional he was sold the matches very well as he disliked The Warrior who intentionally injured him on several occasions.

Answer: "Ravishing" Rick Rude

Bobby Heenan arrived in the WWF in September 1984 and it did not take long for him to become reviled by the fans and opposing wrestlers. However, it was not until April 2, 1989 at "Wrestlemania V" when the late Rick Rude defeated The Ultimate Warrior for the WWF Intercontinental Title that Heenan managed a champion in the company. Very shortly afterward in July 1989 Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard defeated Demolition and gave Heenan his first set of WWF Tag Team Champions.

Answer: "Dr.D" David Schultz

After securing the services of Ken Patera, Paul Orndorff and Big John Studd manager Bobby Heenan began to seek even more members for "The Heenan Family". In January 1985 Heenan joined forces with "Dr D" David Schultz, a man who had a legitimate bad attitude and a very short fuse.

The alliance did not last long as the two made just a few televised appearances in January/February 1985 before Schultz was terminated. Schultz's firing stemmed from a December 1984 incident at Madison Square Garden when he slapped reporter John Stossel who made light of the industry. Reportedly Dave had been under orders by Vince McMahon to "due whatever needed to be done" against the mocking Stossel.

Answer: Financial Advisor

In the fall of 1986 Bobby Heenan began doing color commentating on weekly WWF telecasts alongside the late, great Gorilla Monsoon. The duo of Monsoon and Heenan are ranked among the best commentating tandems ever in the industry. By 1991 Bobby's success as a "Broadcast Journalist" was so over with the fans that he gave up managing to concentrate solely on commentating.

In the summer of 1991 "Nature Boy" Ric Flair arrived in the WWF and Bobby took on the role of his Financial Advisor with Mr Perfect serving as his Executive Consultant aka manager.

Originally Heenan was to be the manager but the injured Perfect needed an outlet while his back healed, which it never really did.