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| The tribute graphic Screengrab via WWE.com |
As expected, WWE featured a tribute to Bobby "The Brain" Heenan on RAW last night. While the tribute was missing a ten bell salute (if anyone in the company's history deserved one, it was The Brain), it was otherwise loving and warm, befitting a man who was a titanic presence for at least three major companies whose tape libraries WWE currently owns. The tribute included montages featuring reactions from former and present personalities on Twitter, a graphic, and of course, Corey Graves dropping his best Heenanism, albeit in response to Michael Cole's confused attempt at making one.
The centerpiece, however, was the three-minute tribute video that I'm going to embed below. It focused mostly on his time in WWE, which does his entire career a disservice. He was the American Wrestling Association's MVP, and he probably called more matches for World Championship Wrestling on Nitro than he did for WWE across all programs. To be fair though, the world got to know the genius of Bobby Heenan through his time in WWE, especially alongside Gorilla Monsoon. A huge chunk of the video highlighted their relationship, which was not only heartwarming, but essential. Heenan is inexorably tied to many in his WWE tenure — Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Andre the Giant, Mr. Perfect — but he and Monsoon were the greatest wrestling commentary team of all-time and had such a perfect rapport no matter what the setting that it is the most imitated and least successfully duplicated vibe in wrestling history.
The centerpiece, however, was the three-minute tribute video that I'm going to embed below. It focused mostly on his time in WWE, which does his entire career a disservice. He was the American Wrestling Association's MVP, and he probably called more matches for World Championship Wrestling on Nitro than he did for WWE across all programs. To be fair though, the world got to know the genius of Bobby Heenan through his time in WWE, especially alongside Gorilla Monsoon. A huge chunk of the video highlighted their relationship, which was not only heartwarming, but essential. Heenan is inexorably tied to many in his WWE tenure — Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Andre the Giant, Mr. Perfect — but he and Monsoon were the greatest wrestling commentary team of all-time and had such a perfect rapport no matter what the setting that it is the most imitated and least successfully duplicated vibe in wrestling history.