Once, Bobby Heenan said he didn’t have a “stable” and that it was a place for “inbred horses”. Instead, Heenan had a family. Looking at throwback WWE and this applied for both The Heenan Family and Jimmy Hart’s First Family incarnations. If you watch late 80s-early 90s WWE, you’ll notice that at times there was no…rhyme or reason to these factions’ rosters. Meanwhile, a stable has some theme, common goal, or strong common link. The link isn’t simply the manager leading them–everyone has a specific role.
Remember When There Were No Stables in WWE?
Bobby Heenan had an assortment of talents that were mostly monsters, tag teams, or bruisers. They were the perfect foils for Hulk Hogan and the guy just kept amassing them. Up until 1990, he always had a giant of some kind and from the late 80s until 1991, a Polynesian tag team or bruiser.
It wouldn’t be until 1991 that his faction began to morph into a theme. He wasn’t exactly an active manager but he had top-tier competitors that he represented.
Jimmy Hart was a little different. In WWE, the guy managed whichever heel needed his services and wasn’t tied down to Bobby Heenan, Slick, or Kim Chee. Mind you, the Mouth of the South could hype any match-up in under one or two minutes. However, whereas Heenan’s crew kind of worked in unison, Hart could be seen managing two different tag teams or something.
Not only that, he had an airbrushed jacket for everyone. If he didn’t, he still matched his clients. He did have this odd thing about always getting the Canadian wrestlers and I’m sure if that was intentional.
Also odd is that there was a period when he could’ve had a French Canadian faction. He was managing Dino Bravo and The Fabulous Rougeaus.
C’mon, you couldn’t see Dino Bravo coming out to “All-American Boys” as well?
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