If you want to get check it out for the first time or refresh your memory, just look up "Heenan Monsoon Prime Time" and go wild.Īs a color commentator calling matches, his undisputed finest moment is the 1992 Royal Rumble match, which is embedded above. There's not a lot to say other than that it was brilliant. Heenan turned a largely throwaway show into an excuse to riff on everything, and Monsoon was his perfect foil. The real reason to watch, though, was the interplay between the two of them. In 1986, Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon (who, while a great straight man for Heenan, I felt was too flawed to include here) replaced Jesse Ventura and Jack Reynolds as the hosts of Prime Time Wrestling, which recapped recent angles and aired matches from house shows. Two things come to mind when I think of Bobby Heenan: Broadcast journalist. When Embry wins and Lowrance compares it to other great moments in the decades-long history of the Dallas Sportatorium, you believe him.īobby Heenan is the funniest announcer in wrestling history. Chu-Hi (WCCW, an "Oriental assassin" portrayed by the very white Phil Hickerson of Jackson, Tenn.).Īs bizarre as the premise is, Lowrance's announcing makes it work. It culminated in a winner-take-all cage match for control of the company: Eric Embry (USWA) vs. World Class became overrun with corrupt officials like Tojo Yamamoto, so the babyfaces sided with the USWA. The "World Class Championship Wrestling" name had to be dropped for legal reasons, so a larger governing body named the United States Wrestling Alliance was introduced so that name could be used as a replacement. The example embedded above was the culmination of a months-long angle. Who else could yell, "AND THERE GOES KEVIN INTO THE ORCHESTRA PIT!" in the middle of a Freebirds-Von Erichs brawl (which unfortunately isn't online) and not sound goofy? With a great voice and a serious but friendly demeanor, Lowrance was well-suited to anchor the wild Texas wrestling going on around him. When I think of what made Marc Lowrance a great announcer, one word always comes to mind: Gravitas. With that out of the way, let's start the countdown. There are no Ed Whalen types on this list. Everyone who saw Stampede tapes after the fact sees him as a terrible announcer who thought he was more important than the wrestlers and would kill the heels' heat. Most fans that grew up with Ed Whalen in Calgary love him.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |