A gimmick welcome home for two iconic voices Photo Credit: WWE.com |
However, Heenan did call another battle royale with high notoriety. The Gimmick Battle Royale at WrestleMania X-7 not only brought out nostalgia overload to the fans as a palate cleanser between epic matches at one of the top two Mania events of all-time, but it marked the return of both Heenan and Mean Gene Okerlund to WWE after they both left in the early '90s for the greener pastures of World Championship Wrestling. It's not the classic Heenan/Gorilla Monsoon pairing; Monsoon couldn't have been a part even if he wanted to since he died in 1999. However, Heenan and Okerlund had great rapport with each other, and it showed here. The video is 14:45 long, and about ten minutes of it is entrances with Heenan riffing over them. It's not classic Brain, but it's still great, especially coupled with the warmness of his grand homecoming to WWE.
Content warning: you're going to see a bit of Confederate flag imagery. Michael Hayes' robe is patterned after the traitor's flag, and someone actually brought the thing to the event to wave around.