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=== World Wrestling Federation (1984-1991) ===
=== World Wrestling Federation (1984-1991) ===
====1984 - 1985====
Heenan made his debut appearance in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in September 1984, seconding [[Big John Studd]] to the ring. While Jesse Ventura was originally supposed to be the first member of the WWF version of the Heenan Family, he was forced to retire due to health problems. Studd officially became the first member of the WWF version of the Heenan Family and wasn't long before Patera joined the fold.
Heenan made his debut appearance in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in September 1984, seconding [[Big John Studd]] to the ring. While Jesse Ventura was originally supposed to be the first member of the WWF version of the Heenan Family, he was forced to retire due to health problems. Studd officially became the first member of the WWF version of the Heenan Family and wasn't long before Patera joined the fold.


The Heenan Family's first target was [[André the Giant]], with whom Studd had been embroiled in a bitter feud over who was the true "giant" of wrestling. The Heenan Family scored the first major victory in the feud when Heenan helped instigate a 2-on-1 attack on André, an incident that resulted in Studd and Patera cutting André's famous locks of hair. André regained the upper hand, prompting Heenan to bring [[King Kong Bundy]] into the Family. Bundy, along with Studd, continued to make life difficult for André, who turned to [[Hulk Hogan]] and [[Tony Atlas]] for assistance.
The Heenan Family's first target was [[André the Giant]], with whom Studd had been embroiled in a bitter feud over who was the true "giant" of wrestling. The Heenan Family scored the first major victory in the feud when Heenan helped instigate a 2-on-1 attack on André, an incident that resulted in Studd and Patera cutting André's famous locks of hair. André regained the upper hand, prompting Heenan to bring [[King Kong Bundy]] into the Family. Bundy, along with Studd, continued to make life difficult for André, who turned to [[Hulk Hogan]] and [[Tony Atlas]] for assistance.


====1986====
Studd and Bundy also formed a successful tag-team, though they never seriously challenged for the [[WWF World Tag Team Championship]], instead concentrating on Heenan Family feuds with André and Hogan. In 1986, as part of a storyline explaining André's leave of absence from the WWF (due to health problems and a tour of Japan), the Heenan Family campaigned to have André suspended for failing to show for matches against Studd and Bundy, and later to require a lifetime suspension from the WWF if they could prove a masked man competing as the "Giant Machine" was André.
Studd and Bundy also formed a successful tag-team, though they never seriously challenged for the [[WWF World Tag Team Championship]], instead concentrating on Heenan Family feuds with André and Hogan. At WrestleMania 2 Heenan would manage King Kong Bundy at the main event. In May 1986, Race entered the WWF managed by longtime friend [[Bobby Heenan|Bobby "The Brain" Heenan]], bleaching his hair blond and billing himself again as "Handsome" Harley Race. During a time when the WWF did not recognize the existence of other promotions and the accomplishments a wrestler made there, WWF officials came up with a solution to recognize his wrestling pedigree by having him win the ''[[King of the Ring]]'' tournament. After this, he referred to himself as "King" Harley Race, coming to the ring in a royal crown and cape, to the ceremonial accompaniment of the tenth movement (known as "The Great Gates of Kiev") of ''[[Pictures at an Exhibition]]'' by [[Modest Mussorgsky]]. After winning a match, Harley would make his defeated opponent "bow and kneel" before him. Usually Bobby Heenan would assist the defeated opponent to "bow and kneel" by grabbing their hair and forcing them to bow before King Harley Race.


In addition to André, [[WWE World Heavyweight Championship|WWF World Heavyweight Champion]] Hogan was another frequent target of the Heenan Family (though in real life the pair were friends and when he was leaving the AWA Heenan had actually called Hogan about getting work in the WWF who then suggested him to WWF owner [[Vince McMahon]]). Early on, Heenan turned to Studd, Bundy and Hogan's on-again, off-again friend [[Paul Orndorff|"Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff]] to win the title from Hogan, but they were all unsuccessful. In early 1987, Heenan appeared to score a major coup for his stable when André turned heel and challenged Hogan for the title at [[WrestleMania III]]. In what was billed as the biggest title match in wrestling history, Hogan was successful in his match against André in front of a reported 93,173 fans at the [[Pontiac Silverdome|Silverdome]] in [[Pontiac, Michigan|Pontiac]], [[Michigan]].
As part of a storyline explaining André's leave of absence from the WWF (due to health problems and a tour of Japan), the Heenan Family campaigned to have André suspended for failing to show for matches against Studd and Bundy, and later to require a lifetime suspension from the WWF if they could prove a masked man competing as the "Giant Machine" was André. In addition to André, [[WWE World Heavyweight Championship|WWF World Heavyweight Champion]] Hogan was another frequent target of the Heenan Family (though in real life the pair were friends and when he was leaving the AWA Heenan had actually called Hogan about getting work in the WWF who then suggested him to WWF owner [[Vince McMahon]]). Early on, Heenan turned to Studd, Bundy and Hogan's on-again, off-again friend [[Paul Orndorff|"Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff]] to win the title from Hogan, but they were all unsuccessful. In October 1986, Heenan purchased the contract of [[Hercules Hernandez]] from his previous manager [[Slick]]. On the [[Saturday Night's Main Event results#Saturday Night's Main Event VIII|November 26, 1986 edition]] of ''[[Saturday Night's Main Event]]'', Heenan would lead Hercules in a title match against [[WWE Championship|WWF World Heavyweight Title]], [[Hulk Hogan]]. Although he was able to put Hogan in the "Hercules Backbreaker" torture rack, he lost by pinfall<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/usa/wwf/snme.html#8 | title = Saturday Night’s Main Event | accessdate = 2007-04-03| author = prowrestlinghistory.com}}</ref>. On December 14th at the following Saturday Night's Main Event taping in Hartford, CT he would manage Paul Orndorff in steel cage rematch against Hogan. Again Hogan came out triumphant.<ref>http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/86.htm</ref>


====1987====
⚫
After going more than four years without winning any of the WWF championship (World Heavyweight, [[WWE Intercontinental Championship|Intercontinental]] or Tag Team), the Heenan Family got its first title when [[Rick Rude|"Ravishing" Rick Rude]] (with help from Heenan) upset [[Warrior (wrestler)|The Ultimate Warrior]] to win the Intercontinental Championship at [[WrestleMania V]]. Shortly thereafter, he led the Brain Busters (former [[Four Horsemen (professional wrestling)|Horsemen]] members [[Arn Anderson]] and [[Tully Blanchard]]) to the WWF World Tag Team Championship with a win over [[Demolition (professional wrestling)|Demolition]] ([[Bill Eadie|Ax]] and [[Barry Darsow|Smash]]) on ''[[Saturday Night's Main Event]]'', giving the Heenan Family two champions at one time. Late in 1989 after Demolition had regained the titles from the Brain Busters, [[The Colossal Connection]] (André and [[Tonga Fifita|Haku]]) defeated Demolition. Demolition then regained the titles at [[Wrestlemania VI]] in [[Toronto]], [[Canada]]. In the spring of 1990, the Heenan Family got its fourth title when [[Curt Hennig|"Mr. Perfect"]] defeated former champion [[Tito Santana]] and won a tournament to fill the vacant Intercontinental Championship. Going into the match, Perfect had told that he would have a "new" manager with the surprise that it was Bobby Heenan who came to ringside midway through the bout and distracted Santana enough to allow Perfect to get the win.
Although John Studd had departed at the end of 1986, in January 1987 Heenan scored a major coup for his stable when André turned heel and challenged Hogan for the title at [[WrestleMania III]]. In what was billed as the biggest title match in wrestling history, Hogan was successful in his match against André in front of a reported 93,173 fans at the [[Pontiac Silverdome|Silverdome]] in [[Pontiac, Michigan|Pontiac]], [[Michigan]]. Following the defeat at WrestleMania Andre would go into seclusion; meanwhile Heenan set about expanding the Heenan Family and leading Harley Race in matches against Hogan. In May 1987 the Islanders were scheduled for a match on the ''[[WWF Superstars of Wrestling]]''. Their opponents were the popular [[Can-Am Connection]] ([[Rick Martel]] and [[Tom Zenk]]), in what was billed as a scientific match.<ref name=Encyclopedia>{{cite book|title=WWE Encyclopedia|last1=Shields|first1=Brian|last2=Sullivan|first2=Kevin|page=143|publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley|DK]]|year=2009|isbn=978-0-7566-4190-0}}</ref> Manager [[Bobby Heenan]] appeared at ringside during the bout, seemingly surprising both teams, the referee, and the commentators. The confusion allowed the Islanders to attack the Can-Ams from behind, giving the Islanders a countout win. Tama's gave a flying headbutt to Tom Zenk on the arena floor as Bobby Heenan gloated over his new tag team. A summer feud with the most popular tag team in the federation was brewing, but was scrapped when Tom Zenk departed the WWF.<ref name=WWF6389Book/> On July 15th, [[Rick Rude]] was added to the Heenan Family at a WWF Superstars taping in Glens Falls, NY. At this point the group was at its largest, with Andre, Bundy, Orndorff, Rude, Race, Hercules, Haku and Tama all managed by "The Brain".


In August 1987 the Family took a hit when Paul Orndorff dumped Heenan and joined [[Oliver Humperdink]]. A month later he joined other managers in an effort to sign Bam-Bam Bigelow, in an angle that was called "The Battle for Bam Bam." Bigelow in the end wound up a [[Face (professional wrestling)|babyface]] when he denounced all the heel managers and announced that his manager was going to be [[Oliver Humperdink]].<ref name="OWOW"/> In November Andre would officially return and win the inaugural [[Survivor Series]]. On December 7th Heenan would again lead King Kong Bundy in an effort to dethrone Hulk Hogan at a Saturday Night's Main Event taping in Landover, MD. <ref>http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/87.htm</ref> Again Bundy was defeated (and would leave the WWF the following month), but Andre would attack Hogan and set up a rematch for 1988.
⚫
The Heenan Family officially came to an end in June 1991 when Heenan became a full-time broadcaster (in reality he retired as a manager due to lingering effects of a broken neck suffered in 1983 and being an announcer offered a less strenuous travel schedule as well as no longer taking bumps). However, he would go to associate with [[Ric Flair]] when he came to the WWF soon after. Heenan was to have been on the road with Flair for 6 months, but told in his WWE Hall of Fame speech that he went to Vince McMahon after only a month and said he couldn't do it, that Vince had teamed him with Larry Flint and that he simply couldn't keep up with Flair's party lifestyle, though he would continue to heavily support Flair in his commentating with his catch line being "That's not fair to Flair" when he was getting beat up in the ring. Later Heenan also introduced [[Lex Luger]] in January 1993 and was known as his advisor, though he did not appear as his manager.


====1988====
One year after shocking the WWF by signing Andre the Giant, Heenan again pulled off another shocker and sell Andre's contract to [[Ted Dibiase]]. This would essentially end his two year primary quest to end Hulk Hogan's reign, and he would instead turn his efforts to The Islanders. They became embroiled in a feud with [[The British Bulldogs]], whose mascot Matilda was "dog-napped" by The Islanders<ref name=Encyclopedia/> on an episode of ''[[WWF Superstars of Wrestling]]'';<ref name=WWF6389Book/> in the weeks following the "dog-napping" incident, the Islanders and Heenan brought a leash to the ring and — to taunt their foes — would pantomime feeding and caressing a dog. The two teams met on opposite sides of a 6-man tag team match (along with [[Koko B. Ware]] teaming with the Bulldogs and Bobby Heenan with The Islanders) at [[WrestleMania IV]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania/4/results|title=WrestleMania IV official results|publisher=WWE|accessdate=June 18, 2015}}</ref> [[Sivi Afi|"High Chief" Afi]] joined the tag team to make a trio for one episode of ''[[WWF Superstars of Wrestling]]'', taped April 21, 1988 and aired on May 7, 1988.<ref name=WWF6389Book/> However, the trio would not last long. Tama's last match with the WWF took place on April 24, 1988 in [[Toronto]]'s [[Maple Leaf Gardens]] and Haku and Afi would wrestle only a small number of matches through May as the Islanders before Afi departed. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/88.htm|title=1988|publisher=The History of WWE|accessdate=2011-12-31}}</ref>

On March 7th, 1988 in Nashville, TN Heenan would lead Harley Race against former champion Hulk Hogan on Saturday Night's Main Event. During the match Race would suffer an abdominal injury that would sideline him for most of the year. <ref>http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/88.htm</ref> On June 21st at a WWF Superstars taping Heenan replaced him with Haku. The Family was further reduced on September 13th when he sold the contract of Hercules to Ted Dibiase at a WWF Superstars. The two slots in the Family were then filled on October 5th in Fort Wayne, IN when [[Arn Anderson]] and [[Tully Blanchard]] joined as [[The Brain Busters]].

In the fall newcomer "Scary" Terry Taylor acquired Heenan as his manager and was rebranded "The Red Rooster", a [[List of professional wrestling terms#G|gimmick]] which saw him don red tights and ring coat and, later as a babyface, style his hair like a [[rooster]]'s [[comb (anatomy)|comb]] and strut like a rooster.<ref name=WWF6389Book>{{cite book | first=Graham | last=Cawthon | title=the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 1: WWF 1963 - 1989 | publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform | year= 2013 | isbn=1492825972}}</ref> Early in his Red Rooster stint, the [[Heel (professional wrestling)|heel]] Taylor was portrayed as a [[novice]] wrestler who could not navigate his way through matches without constant instructions from Heenan. The Rooster made his pay-per-view debut in the main event of [[Survivor Series (1988)|Survivor Series '88]], where he was the first wrestler eliminated from the match.<ref name=SSeries1988info>{{cite web|url=http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/usa/wwf/survivor.html#88|title=WWF Survivor Series 1988 results/info|publisher=Pro Wrestling History|accessdate=2011-12-21}}</ref>

On Dec 6th Heenan tried to further expand the Family by bringing John Studd back to the group. However in a segment on [[The Brother Love]] show Studd announced that he wanted nothing to do with the organization. At the end of the year Harley Race did come back, setting up a friendly match with King Haku for the crown at the upcoming [[Royal Rumble]].

====1989====
King Haku was successful in retaining his crown against Race in the latter's comeback attempt. Heenan appeared at ringside cheering on both men, but afterwards Race departed. Also that month on the January 7, 1989 episode of ''[[Saturday Night's Main Event]]'', the Red Rooster lost a match to [[Tito Santana]] due to being distracted by an argument with Heenan. Following the loss, Heenan slapped Taylor. Taylor, tired of Heenan's demeaning style of coaching, [[List of professional wrestling terms#T|turned]] against his manager and attacked him.<ref name=WWF6389Book/> He became a [[Face (professional wrestling)|face]] as a result, though he retained the Red Rooster gimmick.<ref name=WWF6389Book/>. Heenan feigned wanting to make amends with Taylor on ''Prime Time Wrestling'', but it was a set-up for Taylor to be ambushed by Heenan's new protege, long-time [[Job (professional wrestling)#Jobbers|enhancement talent]] [[Steve Lombardi]], who Heenan reinvented as The Brooklyn Brawler.<ref name=WWF6389Book/> The two feuded, leading to the Rooster defeating the Brawler on the March 11, 1989 episode of ''Saturday Night's Main Event'' and then defeating Heenan in a 30-second [[Squash (professional wrestling)|squash]] at [[WrestleMania V]].<ref name=SNME20info>{{cite web|url=http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/usa/wwf/snme.html#20|title=WWF Saturday Night's Main Event #20 results/info|publisher=Pro Wrestling History|accessdate=2011-12-21}}</ref><ref name=ManiaVinfo>{{cite web|url=http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/usa/wwf/mania.html#V|title=WWF WrestleMania V results/info|publisher=Pro Wrestling History|accessdate=2011-12-21}}</ref>

⚫
After going more than four years without winning any of the WWF championship (World Heavyweight, [[WWE Intercontinental Championship|Intercontinental]] or Tag Team), the Heenan Family got its first title when [[Rick Rude|"Ravishing" Rick Rude]] (with help from Heenan) upset [[Warrior (wrestler)|The Ultimate Warrior]] to win the Intercontinental Championship at [[WrestleMania V]]. Shortly thereafter, he led the Brain Busters (former [[Four Horsemen (professional wrestling)|Horsemen]] members [[Arn Anderson]] and [[Tully Blanchard]]) to the WWF World Tag Team Championship with a win over [[Demolition (professional wrestling)|Demolition]] ([[Bill Eadie|Ax]] and [[Barry Darsow|Smash]]) on ''[[Saturday Night's Main Event]]'', giving the Heenan Family two champions at one time. The Brain Busters would later lose the titles to Demolition in a rematch, and in November 1989 departed the company. A month later Heenan formed a new team , [[The Colossal Connection]] (André and [[Tonga Fifita|Haku]]) who defeated Demolition.

====1990====
On February 13th Heenan would add to the Family by acquiring the contract of [[The Barbarian]] from [[Mr. Fuji]]. At [[WrestleMania VI]] in Toronto, Demolition regained the titles from The Collosal Connection. After the match Heenan angrily berated Andre, leading the Giant to turn on him and depart. Later that month his spot in the Family would be filled by [[Mr Perfect]], and the Heenan Family got its fourth title when Curt Hennig defeated former champion [[Tito Santana]] and won a tournament at a WWF Superstars taping on April 23rd in Austin, TX to fill the vacant Intercontinental Championship. Going into the match, Perfect had told that he would have a "new" manager with the surprise that it was Bobby Heenan who came to ringside midway through the bout and distracted Santana enough to allow Perfect to get the win. The same month Heenan would manage a charge against the world title for the first time in over two years when he led Haku in a match against new World Champion [[The Ultimate Warrior]]. Although Haku was unsuccessful, Heenan managed Rick Rude in a series of challenges against the Warrior throughout the summer.

At [[SummerSlam]] Hennig lost the Intercontinental championship to [[Kerry Von Erich]]. Rick Rude departed the WWF in September, leaving the Heenan Family with just Hennig, Haku, and Barbarian as members. Hennig regained the title on November 19, 1990, thanks to interference from [[Ted DiBiase]].<ref name=meltzer/> This title win aired on the December 15, 1990 edition of [[WWF Superstars of Wrestling]]. It would be the fifth and final title win for the Heenan Family.

====1991 - 1993====
Perfect faced the [[Ray Traylor|Big Boss Man]] at [[WrestleMania VII]] in [[Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena|Los Angeles]], where a disqualification loss after the Bossman was attacked by Heenan Family members [[Tonga Fifita|Haku]] and [[Sione Vailahi|The Barbarian]] meant that he retained his title (during the match Perfect had been hit in the head with the IC title belt by former Heenan member [[André the Giant]], though he managed to kick out of a pin attempt).<ref>{{cite web|title=Wrestlemania VII results|url= http://www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania/history/wm7/results/|publisher=[[World Wrestling Entertainment]]|accessdate=2009-03-18}}</ref> Despite this, the following month Heenan became one of several managers to attempt to sign Andre the Giant to their respective stables. Andre refused and forced Heenan to march in a tub of grapes on [[Prime Time Wrestling]].

⚫
A month later the Heenan Family came to a temporary conclusion. Bobby Heenan announced on May 28th at a WWF Superstars taping that he was selling the contract of Intercontinental Champion Mr Perfect to "Coach" [[John Tolos]] and retiring to become a "broadcast journalist" (in reality he retired as a manager due to lingering effects of a broken neck suffered in 1983 and being an announcer offered a less strenuous travel schedule as well as no longer taking bumps). However, he would go to associate with [[Ric Flair]] when he came to the WWF soon after. Heenan was to have been on the road with Flair for 6 months, but told in his WWE Hall of Fame speech that he went to Vince McMahon after only a month and said he couldn't do it, that Vince had teamed him with Larry Flint and that he simply couldn't keep up with Flair's party lifestyle, though he would continue to heavily support Flair in his commentating with his catch line being "That's not fair to Flair" when he was getting beat up in the ring. Later Heenan also introduced [[Lex Luger]] in January 1993 and was known as his advisor, though he did not appear as his manager.

====Roster====
Other wrestlers who were part of the Heenan Family, at one time or another, were [[Ken Patera]], Paul Orndorff, [[Adrian Adonis]], [[The Missing Link (wrestler)|The Missing Link]], [[Harley Race|"The King" Harley Race]], [[The Islanders (professional wrestling)|The Islanders]] (Haku and [[Sam Fatu|Tama]]), [[Hercules (wrestler)|Hercules]], [[The Barbarian (wrestler)|The Barbarian]], [[Terry Taylor|The Red Rooster]], and [[Steve Lombardi|The Brooklyn Brawler]]. Several of them -- most notably Hercules and Race -- challenged Hogan for the WWF Heavyweight Championship, while others played key roles in various mid-card and main-event storylines.
Other wrestlers who were part of the Heenan Family, at one time or another, were [[Ken Patera]], Paul Orndorff, [[Adrian Adonis]], [[The Missing Link (wrestler)|The Missing Link]], [[Harley Race|"The King" Harley Race]], [[The Islanders (professional wrestling)|The Islanders]] (Haku and [[Sam Fatu|Tama]]), [[Hercules (wrestler)|Hercules]], [[The Barbarian (wrestler)|The Barbarian]], [[Terry Taylor|The Red Rooster]], and [[Steve Lombardi|The Brooklyn Brawler]]. Several of them -- most notably Hercules and Race -- challenged Hogan for the WWF Heavyweight Championship, while others played key roles in various mid-card and main-event storylines.


Revision as of 03:45, 17 September 2015

The Heenan Family
Stable
MembersSee Below
Debut1969
Disbanded1991
Years active1969-1991

The Heenan Family was a stable of heel wrestlers managed by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan beginning in the 1970s. Heenan managed wrestlers under the Heenan Family name in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the National Wrestling Alliance's Georgia Championship Wrestling, and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The term "stable" refers to a group of wrestlers in an ongoing alliance, often under a single manager. Heenan notoriously disliked the term, stating that "A stable is a place where you keep a bunch of fly-infested horses", and instead referred to his collective wrestlers as his "family". The name moved with him, and changed members frequently.

History

American Wrestling Association (1969-1979)

Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, a professional wrestling manager, debuted in American Wrestling Association (AWA) in 1969, where he began managing teams like The Blackjacks (Lanza and Mulligan), the team of Nick Bockwinkel and Ray Stevens, and Bobby Duncum, Sr. forming the first version of Heenan Family. Heenan led his members to many title reigns, including the AWA World Heavyweight Championship and the AWA World Tag Team Championship before leaving AWA in 1979 to join Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW).

Georgia Championship Wrestling (1979)

In GCW, Heenan formed his second version of Heenan Family, where Blackjack Lanza remained in the stable, while Heenan received new members in Masked Superstar, Killer Karl Kox, Professor Toru Tanaka, and Ernie Ladd. He also led this version to numerous title reigns before he was fired by GCW.

Return to AWA (1979-1984)

After his firing from GCW, Heenan returned to AWA, where he reformed Heenan Family with Nick Bockwinkel. The stable got its newest member, Ken Patera in 1982, but Patera left the group in 1983 when Heenan suffered an injury in Japan.

World Wrestling Federation (1984-1991)

1984 - 1985

Heenan made his debut appearance in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in September 1984, seconding Big John Studd to the ring. While Jesse Ventura was originally supposed to be the first member of the WWF version of the Heenan Family, he was forced to retire due to health problems. Studd officially became the first member of the WWF version of the Heenan Family and wasn't long before Patera joined the fold.

The Heenan Family's first target was André the Giant, with whom Studd had been embroiled in a bitter feud over who was the true "giant" of wrestling. The Heenan Family scored the first major victory in the feud when Heenan helped instigate a 2-on-1 attack on André, an incident that resulted in Studd and Patera cutting André's famous locks of hair. André regained the upper hand, prompting Heenan to bring King Kong Bundy into the Family. Bundy, along with Studd, continued to make life difficult for André, who turned to Hulk Hogan and Tony Atlas for assistance.

1986

Studd and Bundy also formed a successful tag-team, though they never seriously challenged for the WWF World Tag Team Championship, instead concentrating on Heenan Family feuds with André and Hogan. At WrestleMania 2 Heenan would manage King Kong Bundy at the main event. In May 1986, Race entered the WWF managed by longtime friend Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, bleaching his hair blond and billing himself again as "Handsome" Harley Race. During a time when the WWF did not recognize the existence of other promotions and the accomplishments a wrestler made there, WWF officials came up with a solution to recognize his wrestling pedigree by having him win the King of the Ring tournament. After this, he referred to himself as "King" Harley Race, coming to the ring in a royal crown and cape, to the ceremonial accompaniment of the tenth movement (known as "The Great Gates of Kiev") of Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky. After winning a match, Harley would make his defeated opponent "bow and kneel" before him. Usually Bobby Heenan would assist the defeated opponent to "bow and kneel" by grabbing their hair and forcing them to bow before King Harley Race.

As part of a storyline explaining André's leave of absence from the WWF (due to health problems and a tour of Japan), the Heenan Family campaigned to have André suspended for failing to show for matches against Studd and Bundy, and later to require a lifetime suspension from the WWF if they could prove a masked man competing as the "Giant Machine" was André. In addition to André, WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hogan was another frequent target of the Heenan Family (though in real life the pair were friends and when he was leaving the AWA Heenan had actually called Hogan about getting work in the WWF who then suggested him to WWF owner Vince McMahon). Early on, Heenan turned to Studd, Bundy and Hogan's on-again, off-again friend "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff to win the title from Hogan, but they were all unsuccessful. In October 1986, Heenan purchased the contract of Hercules Hernandez from his previous manager Slick. On the November 26, 1986 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, Heenan would lead Hercules in a title match against WWF World Heavyweight Title, Hulk Hogan. Although he was able to put Hogan in the "Hercules Backbreaker" torture rack, he lost by pinfall[1]. On December 14th at the following Saturday Night's Main Event taping in Hartford, CT he would manage Paul Orndorff in steel cage rematch against Hogan. Again Hogan came out triumphant.[2]

1987

Although John Studd had departed at the end of 1986, in January 1987 Heenan scored a major coup for his stable when André turned heel and challenged Hogan for the title at WrestleMania III. In what was billed as the biggest title match in wrestling history, Hogan was successful in his match against André in front of a reported 93,173 fans at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. Following the defeat at WrestleMania Andre would go into seclusion; meanwhile Heenan set about expanding the Heenan Family and leading Harley Race in matches against Hogan. In May 1987 the Islanders were scheduled for a match on the WWF Superstars of Wrestling. Their opponents were the popular Can-Am Connection (Rick Martel and Tom Zenk), in what was billed as a scientific match.[3] Manager Bobby Heenan appeared at ringside during the bout, seemingly surprising both teams, the referee, and the commentators. The confusion allowed the Islanders to attack the Can-Ams from behind, giving the Islanders a countout win. Tama's gave a flying headbutt to Tom Zenk on the arena floor as Bobby Heenan gloated over his new tag team. A summer feud with the most popular tag team in the federation was brewing, but was scrapped when Tom Zenk departed the WWF.[4] On July 15th, Rick Rude was added to the Heenan Family at a WWF Superstars taping in Glens Falls, NY. At this point the group was at its largest, with Andre, Bundy, Orndorff, Rude, Race, Hercules, Haku and Tama all managed by "The Brain".

In August 1987 the Family took a hit when Paul Orndorff dumped Heenan and joined Oliver Humperdink. A month later he joined other managers in an effort to sign Bam-Bam Bigelow, in an angle that was called "The Battle for Bam Bam." Bigelow in the end wound up a babyface when he denounced all the heel managers and announced that his manager was going to be Oliver Humperdink.[5] In November Andre would officially return and win the inaugural Survivor Series. On December 7th Heenan would again lead King Kong Bundy in an effort to dethrone Hulk Hogan at a Saturday Night's Main Event taping in Landover, MD. [6] Again Bundy was defeated (and would leave the WWF the following month), but Andre would attack Hogan and set up a rematch for 1988.

1988

One year after shocking the WWF by signing Andre the Giant, Heenan again pulled off another shocker and sell Andre's contract to Ted Dibiase. This would essentially end his two year primary quest to end Hulk Hogan's reign, and he would instead turn his efforts to The Islanders. They became embroiled in a feud with The British Bulldogs, whose mascot Matilda was "dog-napped" by The Islanders[3] on an episode of WWF Superstars of Wrestling;[4] in the weeks following the "dog-napping" incident, the Islanders and Heenan brought a leash to the ring and — to taunt their foes — would pantomime feeding and caressing a dog. The two teams met on opposite sides of a 6-man tag team match (along with Koko B. Ware teaming with the Bulldogs and Bobby Heenan with The Islanders) at WrestleMania IV.[7] "High Chief" Afi joined the tag team to make a trio for one episode of WWF Superstars of Wrestling, taped April 21, 1988 and aired on May 7, 1988.[4] However, the trio would not last long. Tama's last match with the WWF took place on April 24, 1988 in Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens and Haku and Afi would wrestle only a small number of matches through May as the Islanders before Afi departed. [8]

On March 7th, 1988 in Nashville, TN Heenan would lead Harley Race against former champion Hulk Hogan on Saturday Night's Main Event. During the match Race would suffer an abdominal injury that would sideline him for most of the year. [9] On June 21st at a WWF Superstars taping Heenan replaced him with Haku. The Family was further reduced on September 13th when he sold the contract of Hercules to Ted Dibiase at a WWF Superstars. The two slots in the Family were then filled on October 5th in Fort Wayne, IN when Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard joined as The Brain Busters.

In the fall newcomer "Scary" Terry Taylor acquired Heenan as his manager and was rebranded "The Red Rooster", a gimmick which saw him don red tights and ring coat and, later as a babyface, style his hair like a rooster's comb and strut like a rooster.[4] Early in his Red Rooster stint, the heel Taylor was portrayed as a novice wrestler who could not navigate his way through matches without constant instructions from Heenan. The Rooster made his pay-per-view debut in the main event of Survivor Series '88, where he was the first wrestler eliminated from the match.[10]

On Dec 6th Heenan tried to further expand the Family by bringing John Studd back to the group. However in a segment on The Brother Love show Studd announced that he wanted nothing to do with the organization. At the end of the year Harley Race did come back, setting up a friendly match with King Haku for the crown at the upcoming Royal Rumble.

1989

King Haku was successful in retaining his crown against Race in the latter's comeback attempt. Heenan appeared at ringside cheering on both men, but afterwards Race departed. Also that month on the January 7, 1989 episode of Saturday Night's Main Event, the Red Rooster lost a match to Tito Santana due to being distracted by an argument with Heenan. Following the loss, Heenan slapped Taylor. Taylor, tired of Heenan's demeaning style of coaching, turned against his manager and attacked him.[4] He became a face as a result, though he retained the Red Rooster gimmick.[4]. Heenan feigned wanting to make amends with Taylor on Prime Time Wrestling, but it was a set-up for Taylor to be ambushed by Heenan's new protege, long-time enhancement talent Steve Lombardi, who Heenan reinvented as The Brooklyn Brawler.[4] The two feuded, leading to the Rooster defeating the Brawler on the March 11, 1989 episode of Saturday Night's Main Event and then defeating Heenan in a 30-second squash at WrestleMania V.[11][12]

After going more than four years without winning any of the WWF championship (World Heavyweight, Intercontinental or Tag Team), the Heenan Family got its first title when "Ravishing" Rick Rude (with help from Heenan) upset The Ultimate Warrior to win the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania V. Shortly thereafter, he led the Brain Busters (former Horsemen members Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard) to the WWF World Tag Team Championship with a win over Demolition (Ax and Smash) on Saturday Night's Main Event, giving the Heenan Family two champions at one time. The Brain Busters would later lose the titles to Demolition in a rematch, and in November 1989 departed the company. A month later Heenan formed a new team , The Colossal Connection (André and Haku) who defeated Demolition.

1990

On February 13th Heenan would add to the Family by acquiring the contract of The Barbarian from Mr. Fuji. At WrestleMania VI in Toronto, Demolition regained the titles from The Collosal Connection. After the match Heenan angrily berated Andre, leading the Giant to turn on him and depart. Later that month his spot in the Family would be filled by Mr Perfect, and the Heenan Family got its fourth title when Curt Hennig defeated former champion Tito Santana and won a tournament at a WWF Superstars taping on April 23rd in Austin, TX to fill the vacant Intercontinental Championship. Going into the match, Perfect had told that he would have a "new" manager with the surprise that it was Bobby Heenan who came to ringside midway through the bout and distracted Santana enough to allow Perfect to get the win. The same month Heenan would manage a charge against the world title for the first time in over two years when he led Haku in a match against new World Champion The Ultimate Warrior. Although Haku was unsuccessful, Heenan managed Rick Rude in a series of challenges against the Warrior throughout the summer.

At SummerSlam Hennig lost the Intercontinental championship to Kerry Von Erich. Rick Rude departed the WWF in September, leaving the Heenan Family with just Hennig, Haku, and Barbarian as members. Hennig regained the title on November 19, 1990, thanks to interference from Ted DiBiase.[13] This title win aired on the December 15, 1990 edition of WWF Superstars of Wrestling. It would be the fifth and final title win for the Heenan Family.

1991 - 1993

Perfect faced the Big Boss Man at WrestleMania VII in Los Angeles, where a disqualification loss after the Bossman was attacked by Heenan Family members Haku and The Barbarian meant that he retained his title (during the match Perfect had been hit in the head with the IC title belt by former Heenan member André the Giant, though he managed to kick out of a pin attempt).[14] Despite this, the following month Heenan became one of several managers to attempt to sign Andre the Giant to their respective stables. Andre refused and forced Heenan to march in a tub of grapes on Prime Time Wrestling.

A month later the Heenan Family came to a temporary conclusion. Bobby Heenan announced on May 28th at a WWF Superstars taping that he was selling the contract of Intercontinental Champion Mr Perfect to "Coach" John Tolos and retiring to become a "broadcast journalist" (in reality he retired as a manager due to lingering effects of a broken neck suffered in 1983 and being an announcer offered a less strenuous travel schedule as well as no longer taking bumps). However, he would go to associate with Ric Flair when he came to the WWF soon after. Heenan was to have been on the road with Flair for 6 months, but told in his WWE Hall of Fame speech that he went to Vince McMahon after only a month and said he couldn't do it, that Vince had teamed him with Larry Flint and that he simply couldn't keep up with Flair's party lifestyle, though he would continue to heavily support Flair in his commentating with his catch line being "That's not fair to Flair" when he was getting beat up in the ring. Later Heenan also introduced Lex Luger in January 1993 and was known as his advisor, though he did not appear as his manager.

Roster

Other wrestlers who were part of the Heenan Family, at one time or another, were Ken Patera, Paul Orndorff, Adrian Adonis, The Missing Link, "The King" Harley Race, The Islanders (Haku and Tama), Hercules, The Barbarian, The Red Rooster, and The Brooklyn Brawler. Several of them -- most notably Hercules and Race -- challenged Hogan for the WWF Heavyweight Championship, while others played key roles in various mid-card and main-event storylines.

Members

AWA members

WWA members

NWA Georgia members

WWF members

Championships and accomplishments

See also

References

  1. ^ prowrestlinghistory.com. "Saturday Night's Main Event". Retrieved 2007-04-03.
  2. ^ http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/86.htm
  3. ^ a b Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia. DK. p. 143. ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Cawthon, Graham (2013). the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 1: WWF 1963 - 1989. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 1492825972.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference OWOW was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/87.htm
  7. ^ "WrestleMania IV official results". WWE. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  8. ^ "1988". The History of WWE. Retrieved 2011-12-31.
  9. ^ http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/88.htm
  10. ^ "WWF Survivor Series 1988 results/info". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2011-12-21.
  11. ^ "WWF Saturday Night's Main Event #20 results/info". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2011-12-21.
  12. ^ "WWF WrestleMania V results/info". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2011-12-21.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference meltzer was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ "Wrestlemania VII results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia. Dorling Kindersley. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
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