Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan and More: Celebrating the Unforgettable Wrestling Managers
Nov 12, 2023
The Beer Brothers
Ever wondered why Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan is unanimously hailed as the best professional wrestling manager of all time? In this episode, you'll find out why as we dive into the golden era of wrestling managers. We'll be talking about Heenan's exceptional skills on the mic, managing some of the biggest names in wrestling history, and why we rank him as the best manager of all time. We also discuss other greats such as Jimmy Hart and Paul Bearer, along with some fun facts about their real-life personas.
As we get nostalgic, we also take a look at the legendary careers of other wrestling managers like Jim Cornette, Classy Freddie Blassie, JJ Dillon, Miss Elizabeth, Sensational Sherry, Mr. Fuji, and Paul Heyman. From their iconic moments to their significant contributions to the wrestling industry, we uncover it all. And as a bonus, we share a fascinating insight into Jimmy Hart's involvement with The Gentrys and their number one hit song back in 1965. This episode is an entertaining walk through memory lane, appreciating the wrestling managers who were the real heroes behind the scenes. Get ready for an exciting journey through the world of professional wrestling managers!
Ever wondered why Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan is unanimously hailed as the best professional wrestling manager of all time? In this episode, you'll find out why as we dive into the golden era of wrestling managers. We'll be talking about Heenan's exceptional skills on the mic, managing some of the biggest names in wrestling history, and why we rank him as the best manager of all time. We also discuss other greats such as Jimmy Hart and Paul Bearer, along with some fun facts about their real-life personas.
As we get nostalgic, we also take a look at the legendary careers of other wrestling managers like Jim Cornette, Classy Freddie Blassie, JJ Dillon, Miss Elizabeth, Sensational Sherry, Mr. Fuji, and Paul Heyman. From their iconic moments to their significant contributions to the wrestling industry, we uncover it all. And as a bonus, we share a fascinating insight into Jimmy Hart's involvement with The Gentrys and their number one hit song back in 1965. This episode is an entertaining walk through memory lane, appreciating the wrestling managers who were the real heroes behind the scenes. Get ready for an exciting journey through the world of professional wrestling managers!
Speaker 2:
the best of a podcast about the best of everything, from the mundane to the ridiculous. Just three buddies sitting around the car table talking about things that absolutely matter to no one.
Speaker 1:
Professional wrestling managers. That is the topic for this episode of the best of I love when we do the wrestling ones.
Speaker 3:
Wrestling ones are some of their favorite.
Speaker 1:
They're fun.
Speaker 2:
We have a lot of people that listen. That don't like the wrestling stuff, though, because they don't you know, they just don't do wrestling. But you know what I had somebody tell me? It's more about the interaction between us when we're all talking about the wrestling is what makes it fun, so I enjoy these as well.
Speaker 1:
We will make sure that we don't get visited by any, you know, professional wrestlers today.
Speaker 3:
Dusty.
Speaker 2:
Rhodes was outside and I tell you what we need to have him, I'm pretty sure I saw him. He needs to come in for an interview.
Speaker 1:
I'm kind of sure that he may not show up in this episode I'm Mark, I'm.
Speaker 2:
Chris, I'm.
Speaker 1:
Greg and professional wrestling. Razzlin's managers Managers.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, razzlin.
Speaker 1:
So here's the thing, I think, that we're going to be in somewhat of agreement on. I think there's one that just kind of stands out. I agree over the course of time.
Speaker 2:
I agree too, and his name is Jimmy Hart. But go ahead.
Speaker 3:
He is not the best manager of all time. He is a great manager.
Speaker 2:
I love the mouth of the South Absolutely. That's not who I'm going with, by the way.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, greg, why don't you start us?
Speaker 3:
I think the best manager of all times, Bobby the brain.
Speaker 1:
He know I really don't think it's close.
Speaker 3:
Yep, I think there's good managers. He was at a completely different level and it had so many wrestlers that he represented and it doesn't get bigger than WrestleMania three with Andre the giant.
Speaker 1:
When he went against Hulk Hogan, it just doesn't, and he was so good on the microphone.
Speaker 3:
Absolutely.
Speaker 1:
Andre the giant could barely speak English and barely speak English. And he didn't have to.
Speaker 2:
Was the same like Romanoff.
Speaker 1:
Andre Roostum off or something like that. So yeah, heenan was awesome on the mic. If you look at who he managed over the course of time to I mean we got some very perfect. Yeah, legitimately. You know, tully Blanchard Arne. Anderson obviously you know Andre, he had some and of course you know when, when Rick Flair came to WWE.
Speaker 3:
but I mean but you're talking about him being good on the mic. He and Gorilla Monsoon, oh, I mean they were, they were great together Awesome Doing commentary. They were great.
Speaker 1:
And you know Heenan went to WCW and was hugely successful. There's a commentator died very young actually young-ish, I guess of cancer. But universally when you watch some of those wrestling shows that were the behind the scene stuff, he was loved. Everyone loved Heenan, but you know he could be so hated. I mean he was, he was hateable.
Speaker 3:
Who you got. So you're going with Bobby the brain, I'm going to agree with you on Heenan.
Speaker 1:
I'm going to mention a few others. Sure, yeah, there's other ones to mention. For sure, who's he's your number one.
Speaker 2:
He's my number one, I'd say my number one. Close number two is Jimmy Hart.
Speaker 1:
Jimmy Hart, the mouth of the South.
Speaker 2:
Coming at you, baby, but I have to tell you who I think my number one is. I'm going to play a little intro here, ok, oh my. All right. So who wouldn't love a little Percy Pringle? It's.
Speaker 1:
Paul, yes, yeah, before he came to WWE I did know him as Percy Pringle, world class championship wrestling in Texas and fun fact.
Speaker 2:
Yep, percy Pringle was a licensed mortician in real life. That's pretty crazy. That is crazy and spooky. But I got to tell you when, when we can't call him Percy, what. What a terrible name. But that was not his real name, was it? I mean, paul. Paul Bear is a much better name than Pringle. I think he was Percival. I love Paul Bear. Not only did he look Idiotic, he was entertaining, but that voice was just terrible. But it just brought the whole undertaker it created to me, the undertaker the whole earn and the whole yeah casket Madness did he represent?
Speaker 2:
OK, yeah, his brother Kane right.
Speaker 1:
So I actually, in preparation for this episode, I saw a video on the Internet of the Undertaker and they asked the undertaker what was your, what would be your Mount Rushmore of?
Speaker 2:
of wrestling managers.
Speaker 1:
He mentioned Captain Lou Albano.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely.
Speaker 1:
He mentioned Heenan, he mentioned oh, there are a couple more on there, and then at the end they're like you didn't mention, you know, and Paul Bear. And he said, well, that's because, in all honesty, the whole mountain should be Paul Bear, that's why he loved.
Speaker 2:
His real name is William Moody, by the way, so I'm going to throw a couple more out, you guys, since a fun fact His name was William Moody, so I'm going to throw a word.
Speaker 3:
He's an honorable man.
Speaker 2:
Well, you guys are two and one. What about Jim Cornette? Jim?
Speaker 1:
Cornette Louisville's own right. He would have been my, my next one to bring up for sure.
Speaker 3:
He could have been my number two yeah, he is him and his tennis racket.
Speaker 1:
Amazing, on the mic, hatable guy.
Speaker 3:
Absolutely.
Speaker 1:
And you know, with the tennis racket, with interference during matches, you know he managed a couple of different versions of the Midnight Express Right and you know led them to championships.
Speaker 3:
Had the Smoky Mountain Wrestling and knows more about wrestling.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I would love to truly have him on this show for like three hours and we would just talk about you know just stay a name and he would speak 30 minutes yeah yeah, and he is not a fan of Vince Russo, by the way. If you've seen no absolutely, if you've seen any of those.
Speaker 3:
Dark, dark side of the ring.
Speaker 1:
Oh, he does not like Vince Russo.
Speaker 2:
No no, I am, I'll throw up another one. I don't know a lot of these guys. Again, my wrestling is limited to, you know, the 90s. But what about classy Freddie Blasey?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, pencil neck geek. That was what classy Freddie Blasey was always famous for saying. He called fans pencil neck geeks. And he carried a cane mainly because he had to walk with it, because you know when?
Speaker 1:
it's what canes are for and classy Freddie Blasey managed both the Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkov. That's right. And he led the Iron Sheik to the world title when he defeated Bob Backlund in 1984 and held the title for a month before he lost it to Halkogan. But classy Freddie Blasey was great. I mean, he would definitely be in my top 400%.
Speaker 3:
What about if we're just going to start throwing names out now? So, we've got me and you, bobby, the brain. Yep, paul Bear. Paul Bear, we've talked a little bit about, we will need to talk a little bit more about, jimmy Hart, but what about JJ Dylan?
Speaker 1:
Now, he managed the horseman, the four horsemen, that's right I mean that's, that's as high up as it gets multiple iterations of the horse.
Speaker 3:
Mm, hmm.
Speaker 1:
You know the the Ole Anderson, arne Anderson, rick Flair, tolly Blanchard horsemen then of course Barry. Windham coming in and Lex Luger and then even further down the road, so ultra successful.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, I mean the four horsemen was as good as it got, but in you know in W A W C W, and what about? I mean you got to mention her, we live in here we got to mention miss. Elizabeth.
Speaker 1:
I agree.
Speaker 3:
Started the role of the female.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, the, the wrestling manager valet.
Speaker 3:
Yes.
Speaker 1:
Married in real life do Randy Savage.
Speaker 3:
And yeah, she was she was who was better, her or sensational Sherry?
Speaker 1:
well, in terms of, you know, like Actual wrestling series clearly better yeah but in terms of every other.
Speaker 3:
Elizabeth was a different character. I mean she was. She was a shy, pretty. I mean I mean didn't have any wrestling Yep ability. She also created that whole thing.
Speaker 2:
I mean she created the whole macho man Hulk Hogan debacle they had there for a bit but she fell down and Hulk grabbed her butt.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, it happens, that's not great.
Speaker 2:
I mean what an ideal I believe she was about a 78 or 79 grad of Franklin County High School 78 I believe. I believe last name is Hewlett, Elizabeth Hewlett right. Sensational Sherry, though she's the one that got it going for the heartbreak kid. I mean, let's face it, she's the reason that Shawn Michaels got it act together.
Speaker 1:
Well, I'm gonna shift gears and mention one of my favorites as a kid, mr Fuji.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, Mr Fuji was.
Speaker 1:
Hey, hey, he was a really good wrestler Back in the day.
Speaker 3:
I didn't. I don't think I knew he wrestled.
Speaker 1:
Oh yeah, I didn't know that either and Managed a lot of you know really successful tag teams, individual wrestlers and, yeah, I love Mr Fuji. He was awesome.
Speaker 3:
When did you like Jimmy Hart the best?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, because we've talked about Jimmy Hart enough you had to like him.
Speaker 1:
Who's?
Speaker 2:
with the hammer right.
Speaker 1:
So when, when he managed Greg the hammer Valentine and Bruce beef cake, became the tag team champions, yes, him and Hulk Hogan in real life, super tight. Yeah, still, still still to this day.
Speaker 3:
What about when he was with the New World Order?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, he, that's your, that's your you didn't know. Yeah, he was you know man, he was, he was all he, he was you. He could agitate, that's for sure, yes, his voice could agitate.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, but you know he was a singer. You guys know that right in the Gentries. Gentries, they had a hit too, and he still gets paid royalties off of that.
Speaker 1:
Oh, is that a fun fact.
Speaker 2:
You still get paid royalties off the song that the Gentries had with him, and I'll think of it in a minute.
Speaker 1:
So it's kind of a fun fact. It's a part.
Speaker 3:
Partial fun fact. Well, part two here in just a little bit. Paul Heyman I liked him for what he did in ECW more than elect him as a manager Paulie dangerously right same dude. Is that?
Speaker 1:
the same guy yeah.
Speaker 3:
I thought ECW in the in the nice was fantastic wrestling and so I enjoyed him more as the producer and and creator of ECW more than I liked him as a manager. He managed Brock.
Speaker 1:
Lester Lesnar yeah yeah, he was good. Kind of forget about him, but he was really influential. I think we've got our fun fact ready now.
Speaker 2:
Jimmy Hart, the mouth of the south as part of the Gentries, and their number one hit was keep on dancing in 1965. How did that go, chris? Keep on, keep on, keep on. No, that's the Brady Bunch, sorry.
Speaker 3:
Now we didn't talk, and I don't think we talked enough about Captain Lou, about it.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, girls just want to have fun, captain Lou, the rock and wrestling connection.
Speaker 3:
You know the, the British Bulldog, I mean, yeah, I mean captain Lou, and and his and his, uh, his brother-in-law, british Bulldog right.
Speaker 1:
Yes, yep, part of the Hart family. But, captain Lou, you know he kind of transcended wrestling a little bit in in 85 when the Rockin Wrestling Connection happened and Cindy Loper got involved and you know, yeah, he was. You know he didn't have staying power.
Speaker 2:
After that they kind of just faded out after that, always like his shirts with his 15 rubber bands. Yeah, with his own picture on it.
Speaker 3:
You know, you like yourself a lot when you walk around with the shirt with your own face on it.
Speaker 1:
Well, he's Captain Lou. Well, fun fact, I'm going to give a shout out to my brother, Mike, who does he walk around with the shirt with his face on it?
Speaker 3:
Does he have a goatee with things in it?
Speaker 1:
But he, you know, he's a big Bengals fan and the defensive coordinator for the Bengals is Lou Anarumo and he affectionately refers to him as Captain Lou Anarumo, right In an honor of Lou Albano. So there you go. There's shout out to my brother Beautiful yeah, are we?
Speaker 3:
good Bobby, the brain, he's the best.
Speaker 1:
Have we transcended wrestling?
Speaker 2:
Bear, it's my son the undertaker.
Speaker 1:
Wow, that's pretty good. Actually, I kind of like that. Well, boys, I think we're out.
Speaker 2:
And thanks for listening to this week's podcast, the best of presented by the beer brothers.
Speaker 1:
The best of is available on all formats. Wherever you listen to podcasts, Be sure to catch our next episode. You never know what or who will be the best of next. Have a great day, everyone.
