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With the re-emergence of managers in professional wrestling, it seems apparent that there needs to be more managers to help to elevate some wrestlers who seem to have trouble elevating themselves because of limited mic skills. I am not referring to obvious choices like Ric Flair, Roddy Piper, Ted DiBiase or Dusty Rhodes because though these are some of the greatest promo men in the history of the business, they are also some of wrestling’s biggest stars and the fans would be more interested in the manager than they would the wrestler and that is not what a good wrestling manager should do. The manager should use his skills to draw attention to the wrestler who he or she is promoting while the wrestler does the work in the ring. This is not a list of the best promo men currently in the business because not all promos would translate into getting someone else over instead of the person who is talking. This is a list of people who I feel would have the ability to promote someone else. With that said, these are some of the people who I think would make great wrestling managers:
Stevie (Steven) Richards – Stevie Richards was the voice behind the Blue World Order in ECW and he took what was supposed to be a parody gimmick designed to entertain Raven and turned it into a phenomenon all its own, complete with their own merchandise and their own fan base. Richards was also the voice behind Right to Censor and the only thing compelling about that group (because the story line itself was horrible) was the fact that the group was made up of some of the best mic skills in the WWF at that time. The Godfather, Val Venis and Ivory were all talented on the mic, but Richards was the best. Richards has the ability to make the fans hate him, pity him, or think that he is an absolute joke. Whatever the wrestler was being booked as, Richards could deliver the goods with his promos.
Muhammad Hassan – As good as Daivari has been as the manager of Mark Henry and Khali, when he was with Hassan, he only spoke in Farsi and Hassan would do the mic work that would stir the crowd against his character. Hassan, as Mark Copani, could do the same in the manager’s role for someone else, and his character would not overshadow his wrestler.
Raven – Raven is a borderline choice here because he is a career big fish in small ponds. In the wrong situation, his character would overshadow his wrestler, but with the right wrestler, who was booked perfectly by the federation or who was a natural in the business, Raven could be the extra ingredient that would push a person over the top. Raven is one of the smartest men in the business and his ability to generate interesting concepts in his interviews is similar to that of Dusty Rhodes when he was at his peak in the late 1970’s in the NWA with Jim Crockett Promotions.
Buh Buh Ray Dudley, BBR will never be a bigger star than he is because he will never be pushed as a world title contender. He will always be thought of as a tag team specialist and he will never get too huge that his presence will detract from another wrestler. BBR has the ability to stir a crowd into a violent frenzy with his words as well as being able to generate love and adoration from the fans with those same words. BBR has been the spokesman for the Dudleys their entire time in WWE and TNA and he has been the one who has made the fans love or hate his team and kept those feelings until the federations decided to turn the duo. He could do the same as a manager.
D-Von Dudley – Fans of the Dudleys fro their WWE days know Buh Buh Ray as the primary spokesperson of the team, but fans of the original ECW remember that BBR was stuck with the gimmick of stuttering fool while D-Von was the true spokesperson of the team. Over time, BBR was transformed into a normal person and his true mic skills came to the front, but lest we forget D-Von and the work that he did for the team in its infancy.
Joel Gertner – Joel Gertner’s whole purpose was originally to stir the crowd with his introductions of the Dudleys, and then his purpose became to stir the crowd with his introductions of himself. Either way, he could stir the crowd, and that is what a good manager does for his client. He could get the crowd to hate his man by getting them to hate Joel and then having the wrestler to fight the battles that Joel ignites with his words, like a modern day Bobby Heenan.
Christian – Christian was never the guy in WWE. Christian was Edge’s little brother then one of Kurt Angle’s protégé’s and then he was Chris Jericho’s buddy. Once he broke away from all of the, he started to established himself as a performer, then he was allowed to leave WWE for TNA. In TNA, the fans have been able to see the true talent of Christian as a performer. Christian holds the crowd in the palm of his hand with every word, face or heel. The fans want to hear what he has to say so that they can be sure if they love or hate him.
Christian’s stable of “peeps†would be put together and bred for excellence and Christian would accept nothing less, which means that he would constantly be changing his roster but they would always be a viable unit with Christian running the show with his words. His stable would switch between face & heel several times, but they would still be a unit worth caring about.
There are many more names that I could add to this list, and I am sure that the fans will agree with some, disagree with others, and have their own suggestions. In other sports, there are plenty of players who experts can immediately see will be good coaches when their playing days come to an end. That is what I have done here, and I welcome your comments.
Send comments, complaints or questions to me @ ericej@netzero.net
Eric E. Jenkins is an author who has written a semi-biographical book covering the last 20 years in professional wrestling through the eyes of a fan entitled “Reflections of a Professional wrestling Fan: My 30 Years ‘In’ the Businessâ€ÂÂÂ. He is currently writing “Dead Too Soonâ€ÂÂÂ, a book chronicling the careers of and paying tribute to many of the wrestling stars who passed away very young.
