09/17/2026
9 YEARS AGO TODAY
REMEMBERING BOBBY “THE BRAIN” HEENAN
November 1, 1944 – September 17, 2017
Nine years ago today, professional wrestling lost Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, one of the rare performers who could manage, wrestle, announce, take a beating and make you laugh while doing all of it. For Philadelphia wrestling fans, Heenan wasn’t simply somebody we watched on national television. The Brain left plenty of fingerprints on wrestling history inside the Spectrum.
On February 16, 1985, 19,701 fans packed the Philadelphia Spectrum and Heenan actually stepped into the ring, teaming with Paul Orndorff against Bruno and David Sammartino. It was Bruno’s first match in more than three years. The Sammartinos won by disqualification after Orndorff attacked Bruno while Bruno had Heenan trapped in a bearhug. Philadelphia therefore became the setting for an important chapter in Bruno’s comeback, with Heenan right in the middle of it.
A few months later, Heenan was back at the Spectrum managing Ken Patera against WWF Champion Hulk Hogan. Patera accidentally caught his own manager with a running kneelift after Hogan pulled Heenan onto the apron, and Patera and Heenan attacked Hogan afterward. It was classic Brain: even when he wasn’t wrestling, somehow he wound up physically involved in the action.
Then came January 11, 1986, before another Spectrum sellout of 19,710. Heenan joined King Kong Bundy and Big John Studd in a handicap match against Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant. Andre ultimately pinned Heenan after a boot to the face. Imagine being Bobby Heenan: standing across the ring from Hogan and Andre in a sold-out Philadelphia Spectrum and knowing that, sooner or later, you were probably the one taking the fall.
Philadelphia also got one of the quintessential Heenan experiences. On June 18, 1988, the Spectrum hosted The Ultimate Warrior vs. Bobby Heenan in a Weasel Suit Match. Warrior put Heenan to sleep at 2:24 and stuffed him into the suit before Hercules intervened. The match was televised on PRISM, meaning Philadelphia viewers got their own version of one of wrestling’s great running gags: Bobby Heenan desperately insisting he wasn’t a weasel while continually finding himself dressed like one.
But Philadelphia also experienced the other side of his genius. On December 17, 1988, Heenan sat alongside longtime Philadelphia wrestling voice Dick Graham to call the action from the Spectrum on PRISM. Heenan’s ability behind a microphone eventually became every bit as celebrated as his managerial work, and Philadelphia was one of the cities where fans heard The Brain transition from ringside troublemaker into one of wrestling’s greatest color commentators.
And when the WWF brought one of its biggest events of the year to Philadelphia, Heenan was again everywhere. SummerSlam 1990 at the Spectrum drew 19,304 fans. Heenan accompanied Mr. Perfect when Kerry Von Erich defeated Perfect for the Intercontinental Championship, then returned for the main event alongside Rick Rude, who challenged Ultimate Warrior for the WWF Championship inside a steel cage. Even on a card filled with Hogan, Warrior, Savage, Dusty Rhodes and the Hart Foundation, Bobby Heenan remained woven through the biggest stories of the night.
That was Bobby Heenan’s gift. He didn’t need to be the champion. He didn’t even need to be the wrestler. Put him near the action and suddenly whatever was happening felt more important, more entertaining and usually a lot funnier.
Philadelphia saw The Brain as a wrestler, a manager, a punching bag, a weasel, a commentator and a participant in some of the biggest nights the Spectrum ever hosted.
Heenan died on September 17, 2017, at age 72 after a career spanning more than four decades. WWE remembered him as one of wrestling’s greatest managers and broadcasters, while Philadelphia’s own PhillyVoice published a tribute remembering the unmistakable wit and timing that made him impossible to replace.
Nine years later, wrestling still hasn’t found another Bobby “The Brain” Heenan.
