Managers were responsible for so many fun moments back in the day, and they were an everyday aspect of wrestling during the Hulk Hogan era, whether the WWE chose to provoke this or not. Here are ten of the greatest WWE managers.
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When wrestling saw a huge surge in the 1980s, the manager figure continued to play an important role. Managers might add to the plots and rivalries, and they could occasionally invent their own feuds out of nowhere.
They were mostly employed to help wrestlers with inadequate mic abilities win over the crowd. They served as a spokesperson in their interviews, assisting them in finding their voice. However, during the Attitude Era, the manager breed began to die out, owing to the fact that sexuality and aggression were all that was required to get by.
Roman Reigns “The Tribal Chief” is at the top of his game but I believe it is because of his manager Paul Heyman where he stands today. As, WWE tried to push Roman Reigns so, much but they couldn’t get what was happening wrong as the audience disliked Reigns. But after his gimmick change and putting Heyman alongside Reigns altered his career into a career-defining era.
Jim Cornette’s accomplishments as management clearly stretches well beyond the WWF. If this list were an all-inclusive breakdown of a manager’s career throughout all promotions, he would be significantly higher on the list because of his tenure with the Midnight Express. However, for the sake of this article, we will focus solely on his tenure with the WWF.
Jim Cornette will be remembered as a superb wrestling commentator and manager. In his career, Cornette has managed wrestlers like as Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith, as well as tag teams such as The Rock ‘N’ Roll Express and The Midnight Express. He was a controversial character in wrestling because of his outspoken temperament, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t good at what he did.
As a championship wrestler, Freddie Blassie had a long and distinguished career. He was a consistent winner in the WWA’s California edition, as well as a successful tour in the Georgia region. Blassie’s antics prompted some admirers to have heart attacks as he was one of the first gaijin to frequently visit Japan. A few of these were also deadly.
He was well into middle life by the time he joined the WWF as a performer. He was in charge of the Iron Sheik throughout his brief reign as world champion. Blassie was present when the Sheik handed over the title to Hulk Hogan. He also helped Sheikh and Nikolai Volkoff win many tag team titles.
Blassie’s work was always excellent, and he introduced new terminology into the language of wrestling fans everywhere, such as “pencil-necked geek” and “the fashion plate of professional wrestling.” Blassie became somewhat of elder statesman to wrestlers and wrestling fans alike after retiring. Freddie Blassie was a one-of-a-kind character.
Sunny began managing Brian Lee in July 1993. Lee won the SMW Heavyweight Championship that year. She also began to appear with her then-boyfriend Chris Candido. Sunny supervised Lee and Candido’s tag team the next year.
Sunny began managing The Bodydonnas after joining WWE in early 1995. Later in her career, she also handled The Godwinns and Faarooq. Sunny was named PWI’s Manager of the Year in 1996. She was also the “most downloaded woman” on AOL in 1998.
Elizabeth Hulette revolutionized the game for female wrestling managers. Hulette was a crucial component of her real-life husband’s climb to prominence, coming at the tail end of a period dominated by The Grand Wizard, Lou Albano, and Freddie Blassie. Randy Savage would not have been the same without the presence of Miss Elizabeth.
Elizabeth became a megastar during the mid-1980s when the WWF had more eyes on it than ever before thanks to Vince McMahon’s successful excursion into national growth. While her husband played a jealous heel on television (which was occasionally true to their real relationship), viewers embraced Elizabeth as the heroine in distress who deserved better treatment. Her famous exchanges with George “The Animal” Steele leading up to WrestleMania III in 1987 are a prime illustration of this.
Sherri Martel was not only a terrific manager, but she was also a great wrestler, having won three AWA Women’s Championships before entering the WWF in the late 1980s. However, it was her tenure in the WWF that cemented her status as a global celebrity.
Sensational For many years, Sherri was a regular on WWF television. She is well known for her feuds with Ted DiBiase, Randy Savage, and Shawn Michaels. Sherri’s tenure with Savage was possibly her most noteworthy, as Savage turned heel during his rivalry with Hulk Hogan and ended up with Sherri by his side. During this time, Savage was developing into the Macho King, and Sherri was the ideal villain by his side.
This era resulted in Savage’s breakup with Sherri following his WrestleMania VII encounter with The Ultimate Warrior. Following the match, Savage reunited with Miss Elizabeth in one of WrestleMania’s most iconic moments.
Sherri, on the other hand, was not finished. Shawn Michaels was teamed with Sherri after splitting with Marty Jannetty to pursue a career as a singles star. The senior WWE manager provided the young star with the necessary credibility to thrive in the job while still maturing as a performer. The love-stricken manager and the young heartthrob made for wonderful television, and Michaels rose to become one of the top WWF stars of the 1990s as a result.
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Paul Bearer was on hell of a WWE manager. He is substantially responsible for the early popularity of two of wrestling’s most well-known gimmicks. The Undertaker and Kane were both non-speaking personas when they first appeared on the WWF scene in 1990 and 1997, respectively.
This emphasized Percy Pringle’s position as the haunting funeral director, whose high-pitched tones and constant references to The Undertaker’s “power of the urn” contributed to The Undertaker’s mystery. Bearer, along with Paul Bearer, was resurrected in 2010 as part of the Kane-Undertaker feud that has lasted 14 years.
Unfortunately, his last encounter with the company was during the horribly written Edge/Kane angle. He will be remembered, though, for revealing Kane’s impending arrival, betraying the Phenom several times, and, most significantly, assuring the success of one of wrestling’s all-time greats.
Captain Lou Albano wrestled for more than 15 years before opting to become a manager. He coached various tag teams and singles wrestlers to championship gold. Andre The Giant, Ivan Koloff, The British Bulldogs, and Barry Windham are among Lou Albano’s most well-known clientele.
He began managing in 1970 and remained with WWE until his resignation in 1986. In his career, he was named PWI’s Manager of the Year three times (1974, 1981, and 1986). He laid the framework for others like Bobby Heenan and Jimmy Hart to follow in his footsteps.
Perhaps his most memorable position was as WWE manager of the British Bulldogs, a super-talented tag team.
“The Mouth of the South” was important in the establishment of the Hart Foundation, ensuring that Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart’s early lack of confidence did not become a stumbling obstacle. His loudhailer symbolized his status on the mike, and he swiftly earned a reputation as an arrogant loudmouth.
He was an expert at developing heel heat and establishing the Hart Foundation as a threat to the tag team division. He was most known for managing The Honky Tonk Man, but he also worked with Hulk Hogan, King Kong Bundy, and Greg “The Hammer” Valentine.
Bobby Heenan is one the best WWE manager of all time. It’s difficult to top managing Andre The Giant at WrestleMania III. Heenan did all of that and more. While Heenan’s ability to provide color commentary might fill a full column, Heenan’s main source of income was as a manager.
He handled a who’s who of wrestling Hall of Fame talent, including Andre The Giant, Rick Rude, Nick Bockwinkel, Ray Stevens, The Blackjacks, Harley Race, Mr. Perfect, Ric Flair, and many more. Some of those names were, of course, before Heenan’s WWF stint, so in order to stay loyal to the remainder of this feature article, let’s focus entirely on Heenan’s time with the WWF.
He was a key figure in the build-up to WrestleMania III’s main event, which pitted Andre The Giant against Hulk Hogan. Heenan, as Andre’s mouthpiece, helped promote the match that packed the Pontiac Silverdome. Andre had been a babyface for so long, but Heenan managed to turn the public against the much-loved Giant. That night, Heenan and Andre were both attacked with rubbish as they walked up and down the aisle.
The whole WWE universe and fans might not agree with me by putting Paul Heyman over Bobby Heenan but man what a work by Paul Heyman to make Roman Reigns the biggest superstar of this era. If I recall no superstar can ever come close to Roman Reigns’ legacy by even miles.
As of now, no one is a better WWE manager than Paul Heyman. He has handled a slew of wrestlers over his tenure, but Brock Lesnar will always be his favorite. Heyman is currently acting as a “special counselor” for Roman Reigns, and their collaboration has made The Tribal Chief so much better.
While Heyman was able to win over numerous wrestlers as their manager, there were a few he couldn’t. Stars like Ryback and Curtis Axel were Paul Heyman’s clients at one point, but they just couldn’t connect. Heyman, on the other hand, has always enhanced every client he has represented.
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