Chris Jericho Talks Why Bobby Heenan May Be The Greatest All-Around Wrestling Talent Of All Time
Bobby Heenan's passing on Sunday has impacted countless wrestlers, past and present. Chris Jericho joined the Q Radio Show on CBC to discuss how Heenan influenced his career.
Jericho, known as one of the best wrestling technicians ever and a sure-fire future Hall-Of-Famer, made the case that Heenan might be the best all-around worker to ever grace the pro-wrestling industry. Heenan was an incredible talent that left his mark as a manager, commentator and in-ring performer.
"There's a case to be made that Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan is the best all-around performer in wrestling history," Jericho said. "From a commentating standpoint, the best. From a managing standpoint, the best. From a promo standpoint, the best. From a wrestling standpoint, he could work better than 90 percent of the guys. If you watch some of the bumps he would take when he would get hit, he took these tremendous flippy floppy bumps because he started as a wrestler."
Heenan's cause of death was revealed to be organ failure caused by throat cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 2002 and had been in remission since 2004. He managed legendary wrestlers like Big John Studd, King Kong Bundy, "Ravishing" Rick Rude, "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig, the Brain Busters (Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard), Harley Race, King Kong Bundy and Andre The Giant.
As a commentator, Heenan created magic with fellow WWE Hall of Famers Gorilla Monsoon and "Mean" Gene Okerlund. Heenan worked for WCW during the early part of Jericho's career, and Jericho appreciated how professional he was and how he had a hand in getting him over as a heel.
"He commentated my matches for three years in WCW. I wasn't the best, sometimes his commentary was better than my matches, but he always said something funny or interesting," Jericho said. "And then when I turned heel and started finding my way, he always subtly supported that as the heel commentator should, whereas the other guys were burying and burying me just trying to get themselves over. Bobby was a true professional, and like I said, there is a debate that he could be the best all-around [performer] of all-time."