Wrestling legend and AWA stalwart Greg Gagne has explained how a fan broke his nose with a chair aiming for Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan.
Long before Heenan was at a commentary desk or the scourge of Hulkamania in WWE, The Brain was a part of Verne Gagne’s American Wrestling Association. As part of the AWA Bobby Heenan was aligned with Nick Bockwinkel and Ray Stevens for a spell where they came up against The High Flyers – Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell.
Speaking on UnSKripted, Greg Gagne discussed how the fan reaction was so strong against Heenan, that he ended up getting his nose broken by an errant chair:
“(Bobby Heenan) was a dandy! We were wrestling in Peoria. They stuck us in there with Nick and Ray. This is, Jim and I had just gotten together, and it’d draw about 1500 to 2000 people in this gym down in Peoria.”
“So we get down there, and the place is sold out, they’ve got 4000 people, and they are turning them away, and this was kind of our first big shot, and Bobby Heenan got involved, and of course, the people went bananas, and I was behind him, and a fan threw a chair at Bobby Heenan, and he ducked, and just as I turned, it hit me at the bridge of my nose. It busted my nose.”
“I went the next day and had it repaired, and we had matches the next two weeks. And every other day, I’d get my nose, I’d get it broke, I’d go get it fixed, get it broke again, and Heenan did it twice to me. Soon as we get into the ring, he would get over and go by the corner, and I’d go after him, and he would throw his head back and hit me right in the nose. Boop!”