Harvey Wippleman was one of the WWF’s most memorable managers. For a brief time, one of his clients also referred to him as a doctor, too.
WrestleZone recently spoke with Downtown Bruno, who was also known as “Dr. Harvey Wippleman” during his run in the World Wrestling Federation. Dr. Harvey Wippleman was the manager of Sid Justice, who actually came up with the idea for the name in the first place.
“The doctor title was when I was managing Sid [Justice]. If you remember, Sid would powerbomb his opponents or chokeslam his opponents. The preliminary guys, let’s call them,” They would be stretchered out and I would have a stethoscope and I would pretend like I was examining them. [I’d yell] ‘He’s out, he’s done.’ That was Sid’s idea and Jack Tunney loved it,” he explained. “He says, ‘Well, that’s Dr. Harvey Wippleman.’ For a while, that was my gimmick. So, it came through Sid. I didn’t do it with the other people, just with Sid.”
After mentioning that Sid probably doesn’t get credit for that idea, Bruno said that he wants to give his former client the proper acknowledgment.
“I want Sid to get the credit for it, that’s what I’m on here for,” he added. “Hell, I could barely remember what I had for breakfast but I can remember stuff that happened 40 years ago.” [laughs]
During his career, Harvey Wippleman also managed names such as Kamala, Giant Gonzalez and Bertha Faye, among others. Asked if he had any favorite memories from that era, he said it was all a privilege to be part of.
“Well, nothing that stands out in particular to me every day, whether it’s WrestleMania or a live even in a smaller venue. To me, it’s just another day at work. I love the business,” he said. “I’ve always loved the business. I love the WWE. And I wanted to perform to the best of my abilities for any crowd, any event, any venue that I’m at. I enjoyed making friends all over the country. I enjoyed traveling and getting to see places a lot of people never would get to see. And I’ve been very privileged with that.”
“Anytime a lot of us get down, we get on the road, the trip is tiresome. The flights canceled, the flights delayed. I always remind myself we could be digging ditches, so I try to stay positive,” he added. “Even if I get delayed and can’t get home for an extra day or I’m late or whatever. ‘Hey, we could be digging ditches.’ So, I love it. I love every minute of the business that I’ve been in and for 44 years now, and hopefully another 44, if I live that long.”
Check out the full interview with Downtown Bruno aka Harvey Wippleman below:
More must-reads: