50 Fascinating Facts About WWE in The 1980s

Fans tuning into Survivor Series 1989 were given a rare treat in the main event. Sharp manager-meets-commentator Bobby Heenan stepped foot in the ring to team with Andre The Giant, Arn Anderson and Haku vs. The Ultimate Warrior, The Rockers and Jim Neidhart. Originally, Heenan was supposed to camp out around ringside and watch Tully Blanchard do his thing, but the WWF pivoted.

Why? Well, Brain Busters duo Arn and Tully had told management shortly after SummerSlam '89 that they planned to finish up dates then go back to the NWA/WCW. Vince McMahon was understandably peeved by this, so he took the tag straps from the pair and started jobbing them out. Standard practice for promoters in that era, sadly. Even so, The Busters were supposed to play a major part at Survivor Series.

Then Blanchard failed a drugs test.

Instead of punishing Arn some more, McMahon asked Heenan to step in as a late replacement. The boss knew Bobby could get the job done, because he'd been an accomplished wrestler before becoming more of a mouthpiece. Remarkably, Heenan was the final one eliminated by Warrior's team. He even got to eliminate Marty Jannetty earlier in the match.

None of this would've happened had Tully passed the backstage test. Seeing Heenan out there in a singlet similar to Andre's was some laugh, and the manager pretty much stole the show with his bumping and facial expressions. Blanchard missed out on a payoff, but fans got to see Bobby main event a WWF pay-per-view.

That's a win.