There’s actually quite a good argument, that if you go to Youtube and find a Nick Bockwinkel promo from the right era of the AWA, that the video you’ll be watching would be containing the finest collection of wrestling talkers you would ever likely find. Bockwinkel himself, a fine talker and perennial AWA heel, Bobby Heenan – an almost universal pick as the best manager in the history of professional wrestling and Gene Okerlund – another standout when it comes to interviewers in the business. But while Okerlund’s role was required, if a tad redundant in this case, the one question that immediately comes to mind is whether Heenan and Bockwinkel even needed to be a pairing in the first place.
While AEW are making a good fist at reviving the role of a manager in professional wrestling, such is the stranglehold Vince McMahon and the WWE have had on the industry in the past thirty years you’d be forgiven for calling it a dying industry. Where once talented acts who couldn’t quite put people into an arena could be supplanted by any number of talkers, McMahon’s desire for marketability has, for the most part, meant that either you find your voice on the national stage or you lose your spot.
There are of course, notable exceptions to this – Paul Heyman has been an regular on WWE television in the past ten years, but with a couple of exceptions (stares at Curtis Axel) Heyman’s role has been pretty exclusively with main event talent. In the case of Brock Lesnar, it was a perfect mix – not only was Lesnar’s talking style not suited to Vince McMahon’s rigid scripting style, but Lesnar’s status as a part timer meant someone to “advocate” for him was a way of keeping a main event talent in the storylines.
But go back to the 1970s – while managers were a lot more common, in a time where being able to talk was vital in getting people to attend shows. And Nick Bockwinkel could talk – his promo style, one that stood out even then but stood out even more now, one of a considered, well-spoken and educated person. Bockwinkel used words that other wrestlers didn’t use, he talked in ways other wrestlers didn’t talk – he talked like a champion too. Bockwinkel wasn’t the first guy you’d think of who needed someone to talk for him.
Perhaps it was just timing, it’s worth pointing out that some of the promos you’ll see with Bockwinkel and Heenan were from the 1980s, Heenan was paired with Bockwinkel and tag team partner Ray “The Crippler” Stevens as early as 1970. There was a quote on the “Spectacular Legacy of the AWA” DVD that WWE released from Bockwinkel who said: “I was extremely fortunate to have the best performer in the business as my partner (Stevens) and the best manager in the business as a partner (Heenan). I could've looked like a clutz all day long and the two of them would've carried me.”
And it’s worth pointing out too, that while Heenan’s role was ostensibly a manager of the team he would regular lace up his boots, to play part in six-man tags and sometimes even tag matches. Heenan’s great ability to bump around and generally take a beating would also be of benefit when later managing Bockwinkel as a champion. Such was Verne Gagne’s tendency to have big matches end with indecisive finishes, in an era that you could just about get away with placating fans with such endings, Heenan’s ability to get involved and take a beating would be a very useful piece of insurance.
But it’s on the microphone where Heenan really came into his own alongside Bockwinkel. Rather than fighting for air-time Heenan and Bockwinkel seemed to make for the perfect pairing, certainly in an era where a talking segment would last 2 or 3 minutes. Heenan could go on these irate, angry rants building sympathy on the babyface while Bockwinkel was the more calm and reserved figure – sometimes they’d both talk at the same time, such was the skill of the duo they made it work.
It’s a shame perhaps, that when Heenan moved to the WWF in 1984 it wasn’t to take Bockwinkel with him – although Bockwinkel was 50-years-old by this point, and never mind that Bockwinkel’s demeanour and presentation would perhaps lacked the colour that Vince McMahon wanted in the 1980s. There was a thought that Bockwinkel might be suited to a Million Dollar Man type character in the WWF, but he retired from in-ring action by 1987.
But let’s celebrate what we had – maybe it wasn’t a pairing that needed to happen but both Heenan and Bockwinkel were better off for it, and both are remembered as greats in their own right.
Read More: Why didn't Hulk Hogan become AWA Champion in 1983
While AEW are making a good fist at reviving the role of a manager in professional wrestling, such is the stranglehold Vince McMahon and the WWE have had on the industry in the past thirty years you’d be forgiven for calling it a dying industry. Where once talented acts who couldn’t quite put people into an arena could be supplanted by any number of talkers, McMahon’s desire for marketability has, for the most part, meant that either you find your voice on the national stage or you lose your spot.
There are of course, notable exceptions to this – Paul Heyman has been an regular on WWE television in the past ten years, but with a couple of exceptions (stares at Curtis Axel) Heyman’s role has been pretty exclusively with main event talent. In the case of Brock Lesnar, it was a perfect mix – not only was Lesnar’s talking style not suited to Vince McMahon’s rigid scripting style, but Lesnar’s status as a part timer meant someone to “advocate” for him was a way of keeping a main event talent in the storylines.
But go back to the 1970s – while managers were a lot more common, in a time where being able to talk was vital in getting people to attend shows. And Nick Bockwinkel could talk – his promo style, one that stood out even then but stood out even more now, one of a considered, well-spoken and educated person. Bockwinkel used words that other wrestlers didn’t use, he talked in ways other wrestlers didn’t talk – he talked like a champion too. Bockwinkel wasn’t the first guy you’d think of who needed someone to talk for him.
Perhaps it was just timing, it’s worth pointing out that some of the promos you’ll see with Bockwinkel and Heenan were from the 1980s, Heenan was paired with Bockwinkel and tag team partner Ray “The Crippler” Stevens as early as 1970. There was a quote on the “Spectacular Legacy of the AWA” DVD that WWE released from Bockwinkel who said: “I was extremely fortunate to have the best performer in the business as my partner (Stevens) and the best manager in the business as a partner (Heenan). I could've looked like a clutz all day long and the two of them would've carried me.”
And it’s worth pointing out too, that while Heenan’s role was ostensibly a manager of the team he would regular lace up his boots, to play part in six-man tags and sometimes even tag matches. Heenan’s great ability to bump around and generally take a beating would also be of benefit when later managing Bockwinkel as a champion. Such was Verne Gagne’s tendency to have big matches end with indecisive finishes, in an era that you could just about get away with placating fans with such endings, Heenan’s ability to get involved and take a beating would be a very useful piece of insurance.
But it’s on the microphone where Heenan really came into his own alongside Bockwinkel. Rather than fighting for air-time Heenan and Bockwinkel seemed to make for the perfect pairing, certainly in an era where a talking segment would last 2 or 3 minutes. Heenan could go on these irate, angry rants building sympathy on the babyface while Bockwinkel was the more calm and reserved figure – sometimes they’d both talk at the same time, such was the skill of the duo they made it work.
It’s a shame perhaps, that when Heenan moved to the WWF in 1984 it wasn’t to take Bockwinkel with him – although Bockwinkel was 50-years-old by this point, and never mind that Bockwinkel’s demeanour and presentation would perhaps lacked the colour that Vince McMahon wanted in the 1980s. There was a thought that Bockwinkel might be suited to a Million Dollar Man type character in the WWF, but he retired from in-ring action by 1987.
But let’s celebrate what we had – maybe it wasn’t a pairing that needed to happen but both Heenan and Bockwinkel were better off for it, and both are remembered as greats in their own right.
Read More: Why didn't Hulk Hogan become AWA Champion in 1983