Bobby Heenan

""A friend in need is a pest.""

Bobby "The Brain" Heenan is one of Professional Wrestling's most famous managers (and possibly the most successful), working throughout WWE's "Federation Years" of the '80s and '90s as the manager of many a great wrestler and tag team, often running his collective of wrestlers under the name of "The Heenan Family". The Family was constantly opposed by Hulk Hogan, and many of the wrestlers Heenan managed met with bitter defeat at Hogan's hands, despite Heenan's best efforts to ensure their victory. Aside from his managerial duties, Heenan was also a color commentator; he was one-half of (arguably) the greatest commentary duo in the history of the industry (with the late Gorilla Monsoon), and he also worked for WCW for a number of years. Heenan is also an official member of the WWE Hall of Fame.

You can read more about his life and career at That Other Wiki.

"Bobby Heenan: YES! YES! YES! YES! YES, YES, YES! HE DID IT!"
 * Big Yes: The 1992 Royal Rumble, which was won by Ric Flair. The pinnacle of his announcing career was capped off by over half a dozen of these:

"Bobby Heenan: Gorilla Monsoon: (exasperated) Will you stop?!"
 * Boke and Tsukkomi Routine. An American version, with Heenan as the Boke to Gorilla Monsoon's Tsukkomi. Happened practically once a match:


 * The Cast Showoff: In response to his snarking abilities and willingness to do virtually EVERYTHING to gain attention, Bobby Heenan was awarded his own talk show. Not an in-ring interview segmen, not a "Piper's Pit" style roadshow, an actual hour long talk-show!
 * Several of his 90s-era post round commentaries featured 'The Brain Scan' Which simply invovled Heenan doodling a famous chartoon character like Woody woodpecker or Dennis the Menace on the show's Telestrator while putting down a Face wrestler.
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Determinator: When word got out that he needed surgery to treat throat cancer, he declared he wasn't going down without a fight, and famously added that if Gorilla Monsoon couldn't shut him up, this wasn't going to, either.
 * Jerkass: Heenan ripped on the faces a lot while a commentator, but none so much as Tito Santana. Interestingly, Tito was actually one of Heenan's favorite wrestlers in real life, and Heenan's constant ripping of him was an attempt to garner fan support for him.
 * Motor Mouth: One of his greatest strengths as a manager.
 * Red Baron: The Brain.
 * Soft Water: Brought up in one WCW pay-per-view, where Hulk Hogan pushed The Giant off of a roof. Believing him to be dead from the fall, Bobby asked what side he fell into, river or street (with the implication being that falling into the water means finding his remains much more difficult). His commentary partners didn't see the difference. Cue Face Palm from Heenan.