Who is the third man? It was the biggest mystery in professional wrestling when twenty-seven years ago, 250,000 households ordered WCW Bash at the Beach on pay-per-view.
Speculation was white hot about who would join Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, the aptly named Outsiders, who seemingly represented promotional competitor WWF in their crusade to take over WCW.
“Macho Man” Randy Savage, Lex Luger, and Sting would symbolically lose the first battle in what became a multi-year war to Hall, Nash, and their “surprise buddy,” Hulk Hogan. And Bobby “The Brain” Heenan ruined the whole thing.
But did he?
The notion that the famed manager turned commentator spoiled the biggest heel turn of all time is something I learned of many years later.
As Hogan came down the aisle to seemingly save the day, Heenan posed the controversial question yelling, “YEAH, BUT WHOSE SIDE IS HE ON?” Dusty Rhodes, on the call, acted befuddled, yelling, “WHAT ARE YOU TALKIN’ ABOUT?” Heenan repeated himself as if Dusty didn’t understand the question shouting, “WHOSE SIDE IS HE ON?”
WCW head honcho Eric Bischoff spoke on the matter during an episode of his 83 Weeks podcast. Bischoff confirmed Heenan nor the commentary team knew who the third man was until it happened. However, the call by Heenan was the first of two considerable commentary faux pas during his tenure with the company. Bischoff said Heenan often needed to be the smartest person in the room.
Well, he is “The Brain,” after all. Besides, Heenan was a dedicated Hulk Hogan troll. He cast many aspersions and false claims about all things Hulkamania.
Heenan spoke about the infamous call in his 2002 autobiography Bobby The Brain: Wrestling’s Bad Boy.
“We didn’t even know Hulk Hogan was turning at the Bash and the Beach in Daytona during the summer of 1996. They kept him in a car the whole time. We didn’t even know he was in it. I knew he was there because I saw Brutus Beefcake, who is a long-time friend of Hogan’s, hanging around.”
The facts have been laid out, and upon examination, it is clear that Bobby Heenan did spoil Hulk Hogan’s heel turn. Diehard fans who scour the internet for wrestling news and saw Bash at the Beach years after the fact had a pivotal moment ruined for them.
However, they don’t count. It’s easy to say in hindsight that Heenan spoiled Hogan’s heel turn—only those who watched Bash at the Beach live matter in this equation.
Internet access was not widespread in 1996. Most people who watched wrestling only knew what occurred on their television screen and nothing more.
I was one of those fans who bought into the WCW vs. WWF aspect of the angle. I thought Bret Hart would be the third man since he hadn’t appeared on WWF TV in months.
Watching it live, I completely dismissed Bobby Heenan’s “WHO’S SIDE IS HE ON,” comment. Heenan had said some cockamamie things over the years, but suggesting that Hulk Hogan was the third man took the cake.
It went in one ear and out the other.
Hogan entered the ring, and Hall & Nash took a powder and looked on in shock as Hulk ripped his shirt to the roar of the crowd. I thought Hart would arrive at any moment to rescue the Outsiders.
Shockingly, the third man was already in the ring. Hulk Hogan subtly shoved the referee out of the way, lowered the boom on Randy Savage with his signature leg drop, and the rest is history.
None of my friends who watched it live had a clue it was Hogan. The heel turn was the hot topic of water cooler conversation at my summer job. Folks who I didn’t even know watched wrestling were shook when the third man was revealed.
I’ve spoken to many people who saw it live, and none of them felt Heenan ruined the big heel turn and chalked it up to “The Weasel” being “The Weasel.”
I’m not so bold as to say Heenan didn’t spoil it for anyone watching Bash at the Beach on the evening of July 7th, 1996. Wrestling storytelling is not a hard nut to crack. It’s the same with soap operas. The names and faces change, but the troupes are ever-present.
Heenan may have read the tea leaves due to his years of experience when Hogan appeared in front of the sold out Ocean Center crowd in Daytona Beach, FL. Perhaps, Heenan’s unintended spoiler instinctively clued in some viewers.
The biggest superstar in wrestling history is the answer to wrestling’s biggest mystery ever makes logical sense.
Casual fans make up the majority of every audience in every genre. Despite Bobby Heenan’s call, the majority had no idea. Even if they did, it stopped no one from wearing shirts with white spray paint shouting “nWo 4-Life.”
RingsideLogic.com 