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It's Been Three Years Since Bobby Heenan, The Greatest Wrestling Manager Ever, Died: TRAINA THOUGHTS

Celebrating Bobby Heenan's greatness on the three-year anniversary of his death.

Jimmy Traina

1. We've covered a ton of sports media stuff lately, but today we take a break from that to honor the greatest professional wrestling manager of all time, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.

The hilarious Heenan died three years ago today at the age of 72.

I don't need to explain why Heenan was the GOAT. If you are of a certain age, you know why Heenan is the GOAT. He was on a completely different level than every other manager in pro wrestling history. 

Here's all you need to know about how good Heenan was: When you discuss "The GOAT" for any category, whether it's quarterback, musician, comedian and on and on–there's always a debate. When it comes to the greatest pro wrestling manager of all time, there is no debate.

If you asked me to rank my top 10 wrestling managers ever, I'd put Heenan 1 through 10. If you won't let me do that, this would be my top 10:

1) Heenan
2) Jim Cornette
3) Paul Heyman
4) Lou Albano
5) J.J. Dillon
6) Jimmy Hart
7) Freddie Blassie
8) Mr. Fuji
9) Miss Elizabeth
10) Paul Bearer

There are some gems on that list ranked 2 through 10, but the man at No. 1 is in a category of his own. Here are some highlights from Heenan's brilliant career.

• Everyone loves Shawn Michaels kicking Marty Jannetty through the barbershop window. Heenan, of course, added to the moment by saying Jannetty "tried to jump through the window to escape."

• This was the WWE's official tribute to Heenan after his death. It's a great watch.

• You can't do a Heenan tribute without featuring a vintage clip of Bobby and Gorilla Monsoon arguing like an old married couple.

• Here's an excellent clip of David Letterman and Bob Costas talking about Heenan's greatness.

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2. The man with the best pipes in sports broadcasting, Kevin Harlan, is the guest on this week's SI Media Podcast.

Harlan talks about TNT wanting him to call the Western Conference finals, but it didn't work out. He also discusses the differences in calling NBA and NFL games without fans in the building, whether he works on keeping his voice healthy, working with a new NFL partner this season, whether it's ever a bummer to call a game that's going head-to-head against a better game, the art of making a big call and much more.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher and Google Play.

3. There's been A LOT written about the NFL's Week 1 ratings. People are going to believe what they want to believe because facts no longer matter, but if you want a reality check, this nugget from Sports Business Journal's John Ourand is important to keep in mind:

"The confusion was evident in the first reports of the NFL Kickoff rating last week. Deadline put out the first story I saw based on those fast affiliate ratings, saying that the game showed a 16.1 percent drop with 16.4 million viewers in the 18-49 demo. The story said those numbers “will certainly be adjusted upward,” but that note largely was ignored and other publications and social media ran with the 16.1 percent drop.

When the final numbers came out, the viewership drop in the 18-49 demo was only 5%. That’s a big difference."

4. NFL Network will have more than five hours of coverage leading up the Browns-Bengals game tonight.

5. Here's Phil Mickelson getting mocked by Larry David for his past performance at Winged Foot.

6. If you watched the last season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, you know that one of the best episodes featured Jon Hamm. The Mad Men star reunited with Larry David for this video about saving the post office.

7. SPORTS VIDEO OF THE DAY: Jim Cornette, who came in at No. 2 on my top managers list, turns 59 years old today. I've posted this video before and I've said this on Twitter a few times: Cornette's NSFW breakdown of the Montreal Screwjob is one of the most hilarious videos you'll ever see as a wrestling fan.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Stitcher. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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