8 Wrestlers Who Were Nearly KILLED By Fans
2. Bobby Heenan
Legendary commentator Bobby Heenan could spin a yarn like a motorised granny, so most of his anecdotes of wrestling's wild old days should be taken with a sachet of salt. That said, even without 'The Brain's embellishments, the story of the time he and ward Nick Bockwinkel were shot at remains utterly extraordinary.
On 27 January 1975, the AWA came to Chicago's International Amphitheatre, and perhaps feeling the post-Christmas blues, the crowd were just a little strained, to say the least. During the night's main event, as he often would, 'The Weasel' interrupted proceedings to save his charge's championship. That's when one member of the crowd - "dressed up like one of those dude pimps," according to the witness who contemporaneously recounted the event to The Chicago Tribune - made his grievances loudly known.
By unfurling a pistol, and shooting at the ring. Repeatedly.
Though the heels narrowly escaped down the aisle unscathed, the gunman's fellow attendees were not so fortunate. According to Heenan, wistfully reminiscing about the incident with Bockwinkel and AWA promoter Verne Gagne in 2010, a woman was shot in the arm, another in the chest, two in the neck, and one in the thumb.
The law - or rather, lack of law - of the ring dictated that the shooter was never arrested, as if this was some outlandish wrestling angle. But this was a shoot, brother - if it ever actually happened, anyway.