10 Things You Didn't Know About Bobby "The Brain" Heenan

10. A Fan Once Tried To Shoot Bobby During A Match

In wrestling, the heel really has one major job: generate heat and hatred from the audience. Because the more they hate you, the more they'll be willing to pay top dollar to see you get your ass kicked. And that's always "best for business". Throughout his career, Bobby Heenan had so much heat that not only was he pelted with coins, nails, beer cans, and frozen hard boiled eggs (ten points for originality for whoever came up with that one), one "fan" even caved his head with a hammer. However, all of that paled in comparison to an incident in Chicago during a 1975 match between Verne Gagne and Heenan's protege, Nick Bockwinkel. In full heel mode, Heenan jumped on the ring apron to interfere on Bockwinkel's behalf, when suddenly he heard two gunshots. It turned out that someone in the audience had aimed a gun at Heenan and actually fired off two rounds. While the shooter thankfully missed Bobby, the bullets unfortunately went through the bodies of five fans, leaving them severely injured, and also permanently deafening a young child who was sat next to the perpetrator. While Bobby wasn't hurt, he was left severely shaken and it was a long time before he found the courage to interfere in a matches again.