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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

Mike Tenay: "Just who is the leader of the nWo?"
Bobby Heenan: "I'm not sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if Tony Danza comes out."

https://youtu.be/i0_6bebu4lo

This is some funny shit from Heenan doing Color at the survivor series.

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Been listening to some stuff on Heenan. JR on his podcast called Heenan the greatest talent in wrestling history. His reasoning was that he was a main event worker in his day. He was arguably the greatest manager of all time. And he was one of the greatest announcers of all time. The last two are no doubt IMO. The first one is the one I am not sure about. Was Heenan really a main event worker in his day? That was well before my time but I dont think I have ever heard that before. Is JR right about this or he is just stretching things in the wake of the guys death?

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Many consider him to be one of the best workers in the ring because of his bumping, selling, ability to generate heat, and ring psychology. Listen to Prichard's latest podcast- 3 1/2 hours dedicated to Heenan.

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Sherman remarked, "Well, Grant, we've had the devil's own day, haven't we?" Grant looked up. "Yes," he replied, followed by a puff. "Yes. Lick 'em tomorrow, though."

He was a huge deal in the AWA and a couple of the territories and would wrestle fairly often, and when he did, he would take absurd levels of punishment: enough to screw up his neck and eventually ask Brian Pillman what the fuck he was doing on live TV.

"Greatest talent in wrestling history" is tough to reckon with because you look at how Hogan and the Rock transcended the show-business ghetto of professional wrestling, or how Ric Flair was the best pure performer in the business, but he certainly deserves some superlatives.

It's amazing how much eye-popping talent came out of Minnesota and/or the AWA: Ric Flair, Scott Hall, Rick Rude, Curt Hennig, Bobby Heenan, Eric Bischoff, and of course Hogan, to name a few. I was thinking the other day about ECW and the notion of a "Big Three" in the '90s: how would a third promotion have fared if it had been based in the Midwest instead of Philadelphia? The WWF owned the Northeast and WCW owned the Southeast, but our neck of the woods was kind of divided between the two.

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I think it's meant to show how great he was as an in-ring performer, manager, and announcer. He excelled at all three areas, which is an accomplishment few, if any, achieved.

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Sherman remarked, "Well, Grant, we've had the devil's own day, haven't we?" Grant looked up. "Yes," he replied, followed by a puff. "Yes. Lick 'em tomorrow, though."

Has anyone else excelled in all three?

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Hennig was one of the best wrestlers of all time, a manager, and an announcer, but I'd hardly say he excelled at broadcasting. Guess he wasn't perfect after all.

Paul Heyman was an elite announcer and manager but had no in-ring career.

Jerry Lawler is kind of a poor man's southern Bobby Heenan. Probably the closest comparison.

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http://wrestlingdata.com/index.php?befehl=bios&wrestler=1484&bild=1&details=11

Seems plausible ... here's the page for January 1976: http://wrestlingdata.com/index.php?befehl=bilanzen&wrestler=1484&jahr=1976&monat=1

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

Lawler & Ventura in the wrestling & announcing area, but was never a manager

Freddie Blassie as a wrestler & manager

Flair- great wrestler, only a short time as a manager

Vince did all three, but he was only above-average in the manager (or second) area.


So the answer is probably no

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Sherman remarked, "Well, Grant, we've had the devil's own day, haven't we?" Grant looked up. "Yes," he replied, followed by a puff. "Yes. Lick 'em tomorrow, though."

Good stuff, thanks.

So it seems JR was correct then.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."