Pro wrestling icon Bobby Heenan dies at 72

Bobby Heenan, who elevated "bad guy" bluster to artistry for countless pro-wrestling matches, died Sunday at age 72.

Before Heenan became a mainstream star — accompanied by nicknames "The Brain" or "The Weasel" — in the 1980s World Wrestling Federation, he launched his career in Indianapolis.

Working with Dick "The Bruiser" Afflis from 1965 to 1974 in the Indianapolis-based World Wrestling Association, Heenan irritated crowds at Tyndall Armory, Bush Stadium, Indiana Farmers Coliseum, the Indiana Convention Center and Market Square Arena.

The WWE, formerly known as the World Wrestling Federation, announced Heenan's death. Deteriorating health had challenged Heenan since a 2002 diagnosis of throat cancer.

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As a wrestling manager, Heenan hyped a parade of A-list heels: Andre the Giant, Nick Bockwinkel, Blackjack Lanza, Big John Studd, King Kong Bundy, Mr. Perfect and more.

“I’ve been shot at and stabbed. I’ve had people throw rocks, batteries and cups of urine and beer at me," Heenan wrote in his 2002 book "Bobby the Brain: Wrestling's Bad Boy Tells All." "They even spit right in my face. That’s because they hated me. And I was good enough at what I did to make them do that.”

Born Raymond Heenan in Chicago, he moved to Indianapolis as an adolescent. His introduction to pro wrestling arrived in the early '60s, when he worked as a stagehand at Indiana Farmers Coliseum.

In addition to being a manager, Heenan distinguished himself as a wrestler and TV commentator.

Indianapolis TV great David Letterman reminisced about wrestler Bobby "Pretty Boy" Heenan during a 1989 appearance on "Later with Bob Costas."

"We would go to the matches periodically," Letterman said. "They always had a big Thanksgiving card. ... Even then I thought it was a real touch of genius (for) Bobby Heenan to be introduced as being from Beverly Hills. You couldn't have said anything more irritating to these people."

The "Pretty Boy" character betrayed Dick the Bruiser at the first-ever sporting event at Market Square Arena in 1974, and Heenan moved on to the Minnesota-based American Wrestling Association.

Heenan's World Wrestling Federation tenure lasted from 1984 to 1994, during which he transitioned from manager to TV commentator.

An announcing stint for World Championship Wrestling lasted from 1994 to Heenan's retirement in 2000. The WWE inducted Heenan into its Hall of Fame in 2004.

Hulk Hogan wrote the foreword to Heenan's "Bad Boy Tells All" memoir.

“Bobby was a legendary wrestler, legendary," Hogan wrote. "He will go down in the books as someone who mastered the craft.”

Heenan returned with a 2004 book titled "Chair Shots and Other Obstacles: Winning Life's Wrestling Matches."

Ric Flair referred to Heenan as "the best manager of all time" when writing that book's foreword.

“He was a phenomenal performer and he was unselfish," Flair wrote. "He got beat up every night, got up and did it again the next night.”

Heenan is survived by his wife, Cynthia Jean, and daughter Jessica.

Call IndyStar reporter David Lindquist at (317) 444-6404. Follow him on Twitter: @317Lindquist.