Bobby Heenan Brings WWE Ric WOO Flair

Heenan and Flair fed off each other
Photo Credit: WWE.com

One cannot talk about Ric Flair in WWE without talking about Bobby Heenan. The funny thing is the inverse isn't true. Heenan could have retired in early in 1991, and his place in WWE history would have been secured. Flair, however, may owe the successes of his first run in the company to Heenan. One could argue that Flair was charismatic enough and that his star shone brightly enough that he could have gotten over on his own. Given that he came into these waters on a challenge to Hulk Hogan that the latter never once thought about meeting outside a house show displayed how fraught with political peril navigating the Fed in those days was. Hell, the way Hogan ran roughshod over Flair in WCW is another pointed reminder at how Hogan was never more agile than he was when maneuvering in and out of keeping his shoulders off the mat backstage.

With Heenan, however, Flair had the primacy that came with being a member of WWE's first family of villainy. Putting Heenan with Flair also meant every segment they appeared in together would be must see. Some people think you only put managers with people who can't talk for themselves. However, putting two guys who are among the best speakers together only makes the entertainment value go up, up, up. Given that Heenan and Flair specialized in two different areas of speaking, they complemented each other so well. Heenan introduced him into WWE officially on September 9, 1991's episode of Prime Time Wrestling, and granted, the following segment is more Flair addressing Hogan and Roddy Piper. However, Heenan added more than just standing in the background with the Big Gold Belt. The first part, where he's walking frantically through the production area, showed off what made him so special, firing off Borscht Belt burns at various lookers-on ("Who dressed you, the state?"). It definitely put on display why the Heenan/Flair dynamic worked and worked so well.