Could a tweener GM work?

[The Scarred One]

Much like the wrestlers, authority figures like the general managers always fall into the role of either being either a face or a heel. In the case of John Lauranitis, the general manager would use his powers corruptly to benefit the other heels. With the likes of Teddy Long, the general manager would use his powers to support the faces and stop the heels from getting away with shenanigans.

But for the life of me, I can't recall a case of a general manager, or any on-screen authority figure, being completely neutral.

So the question I put forward here: Could a neutral, tweener GM work in the WWE?

What I mean by that is someone who shows no favoritism to either faces or heels. For example, someone who would punish both CM Punk and Chris Jericho if things got really out of hand in their feud.

Thoughts?

 

[TheLoneCharles]

In a sense, the tweener GM you speak of in my opinion has to be the former President of the WWF Jack Tunney. He has got to be as neutral as you get. Second probably had to be that stupid GM sends an e-mail to Cole thing.

But to have a neutral GM like Jack Tunney was would be hard to pull off if they were a consistent on-screen character. I think that is why they took the laptop GM route.

 

[#BabyFace]

The stupid anonymous GM was technically a tweener. He probably showed a little more heel side, but would also disipline the heels.

 

[Sinabite]

That's why I had a Love/Hate relationship with the guest star GMs.......you had NO idea what they were bringing to the table. They were either face or heel.........or even flipped halfway into a show. But atleast there was an element of surprise........even the mystery GM was neutral from time to time.......this whole Team Johnny vs Team Teddy is boring........i didnt like John and I didnt like Teddy. They are both boring and predictable

 

[RavensEdge]

i was going to post this as its own thread but i feel like it fits in to this topic...

Is it possible that people will start cheering Johnny Lauranitis(sometimes, not like a face turn)? I know he is 100% heel but so is D Bryan and hes more over than some faces. The reason I ask is the whole Lesnar angle. Lauranitis brought Brock in to replace Cena as the face of the WWE, which is something a large part of the fans want to happen. You hear cheers whenever Brock comes in and drops Cena on his face, its not crazy to think the man who sent him to do so may get some pops under those circumstances.

 

[nxtgeneration]

im going to put it out there - although i dont know how many of you watch nxt, but i think william regal could easily fill this role. outside of reks/hawkins storyline going on atm, i think the way his commentary has been has shown the perfect balance - especially as he has been both the bad guy and the good guy in the past

 

[Mr-excitement]

I really wish the WWE would move beyond the Wrestler X vs. the GM storyline. They have done it to death

 

[c13vyper]

I dont see why everyone hates Laurinitis so much. Yeah he's bland on the mic, no charisma, books one sided BUT

We've seen some great matchups, Punk v Ziggler, Zack Ryders title reign, Bryan v Punk in Champion vs Champion, i like the shit hes booked.

It feels like hes a stooge manager, yes hes supposed to be heel, but were seeing great matchups, and the times hes biased, the opponent fails (Ziggler, Swagger, Jericho, Henry, Otunga) Punk keeps coming out ahead.

A heel GM should be bad and Laurinitis is comically failing. Id compare him to Elmer Fudd.

 

[ProWrestlingFan]

Mike Adamle was a Tweener GM.

Either heel or face the best GM in WWE history is Eric Bischoff.

 

[Headman]

Does a tweener anything really work? I've always found the idea of a tweener to be a directionless individual unworthy of my attention. If the idea is for a Jack Tunney character who only shows up to correct a horrible injustice then so be it, but in my opinion the GM character only works as an antagonist.

 

[drugfreeford]

Mike Adamle was a tweener GM and damn good at it. I wish the WWE brought him back to somehow share Laurinitis' spot with him. I used to have so much enjoyment by his Adamle Moments or whatever he used to call it.

The Anonymous Laptop GM was a tweener but more on the heel side.

John Laurinitis is mainly a heel GM but from time to time, he becomes a tweener GM and a face GM.

I dont know who Jack Tunney is but he sounds interesting.

If the WWE really wants a tweener GM, they will have to bring Mike Adamle back, bring Wlliam Regal back, bring Johnathan Coachman back, or use Mick Foley or Edge or Triple H as the GM. They can also make superstars be the GM like Randy Orton because he's clearly a tweener. They can use Abraham Washington. Maybe Ted DiBiase Jr. Jinder mahal. They can also make legends like Shawn Michaels, The Rock, Booker T, Kevin Nash, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and even The Undertaker to be the tweener GM.

 

[zones.]

id LOVE to see Edge as a GM... or back with the company in any type of on camera role. edge being back on tv would be great right now. but umm, Adamle absolutely SUCKED on every level. that man was worse on the mic then anyone iv ever heard in wrestling. he messed up every night, faithfully... and more then once. he always seemed a bit lost and out of place as well. WWE knows he sucked, thats why he didnt last on any shit... not even ecw as an announcer.

 

[SomeAreSet]

I don't think it'll work because the audience wouldn't be able to connect with someone without a clear agenda. Laurinaitis is a heel. They boo him. It's simple. If a tweener GM does something that gets cheers,then later does something that gets boos,it'll confuse the audience. Besides,people don't like people who would do the "right" thing no matter what,just look at Cena. They'd rather see a heel or a face GM abuse his power than someone who would ensure that everything that happens is fair and just.

 

[VinnieSunshine]

I HATE that word. Tweener...stupid word.

A NEUTRAL GM I think is what WWE needs right now. Im over JL and his antics against faces. I was over it the first week it happened. Because it has been done to death.

The Anonymous GM worked because it played to the strengths and weaknesses of both heels and faces. There were no sides. It was booed when it went against a face and favored heels...and it was cheered when it favored faces (of course there were times when it was cheered for favoring heels and booed for faces).

We've seen the heel/face GM so many times now. Vince, Vickie, Bischoff, Stephanie, Teddy Long, Bret Hart, JL...it's old.

Last summer Punk preached about CHANGE. Where is the change? It's been the same things over and over with some new stuff sprinkled in.

 

[Workrate]

Not only would a "tweener" work, but it's what they SHOULD do.

Ever since the Mr. McMahon character was born (and even before that, with Gorilla Monsoon as commissioner), there's been an obsession with having an authority figure smack dab in the middle of major storylines. Enough. It's about time they get a respectable former wrestler -- who is definitely, 100%, positively inactive as a wrestler -- stick him in a suit and give him a desk, and plant the camera on him only when a decision or announcement needs to be made. Have wrestlers approach him asking for opportunities, show him notifying wrestlers of future opponents, things like that. There's no need to constantly have an authority figure with an agenda. It dilutes the product, in my opinion, and robs credible stars of valuable television time.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Could a neutral, tweener GM work in the WWE?

By definition, someone who is neutral wouldn't be a 'tweener, no? A 'tweener displays heel and face tendencies....and you never know which side you're going to see in a given circumstance.

A neutral GM is another thing entirely. In every place except the scripted world of pro wrestling, neutral is what the leader should be. It's not interesting, because it's not supposed to be. It's simply an administrative position, and someone like Jack Tunney was a good example of neutral. He was also a good example of boring.

An example of a 'tweener GM?......The anonymous GM we had a short time ago. Yes, he came off as a bad guy a good deal of the time, yet he would occasionally infuriate a heel who expected to get his way by suddenly enforcing the rules properly and making the heel do something he didn't want to do. It was actually pretty effective theater.

So, yes; a 'tweener GM could work.....if we never know whether he's going to dispense justice or chaos, it can add real spice to the proceedings.

 

[MCMG]

A tweener in the sense that the GM would be biased against faces yet still makes intriguing and perhaps gimmicky matches.

For example, the GM would put John Cena in a handicap match yet he would also make a heel defend his belt in a gimmick match one on one. This would allow to get the best of both face GM's and heel Gm's.

 

[Devlin]

The anonymous RAW general manager was more or less a tweener, sometimes helping the heels, sometimes the faces but more or less in between.

I think that hurt the concept in the long run, the decisions were so over the place that there was no one who could be revealed as the GM that would make any kind of logical sense

 

[Headman]

Mike Adamle was a tweener GM and damn good at it. I wish the WWE brought him back to somehow share Laurinitis' spot with him. I used to have so much enjoyment by his Adamle Moments or whatever he used to call it.

The Anonymous Laptop GM was a tweener but more on the heel side.

John Laurinitis is mainly a heel GM but from time to time, he becomes a tweener GM and a face GM.

I dont know who Jack Tunney is but he sounds interesting.

If the WWE really wants a tweener GM, they will have to bring Mike Adamle back, bring Wlliam Regal back, bring Johnathan Coachman back, or use Mick Foley or Edge or Triple H as the GM. They can also make superstars be the GM like Randy Orton because he's clearly a tweener. They can use Abraham Washington. Maybe Ted DiBiase Jr. Jinder mahal. They can also make legends like Shawn Michaels, The Rock, Booker T, Kevin Nash, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and even The Undertaker to be the tweener GM.

Jack Tunney was the "President" of the WWF during the Hulk Hogan era. He would be referenced fairly often but would rarely appear on television unless something huge happened that needed to be weighed in on. For example, Hogan gets screwed out of the title and Andre sells it to Dibiase. In comes Tunney to order the title vacant and sets up the WM4 Tournament. Another Example, Randy Savage was contractually obligated to retire after losing to the Ultimate Warrior but when Jake the Snake Roberts poisoned him with his cobra Tunney reheard Savage's case and waved the retirement stipulation so that Savage could return and get his revenge on Roberts. His off camera decisions were reflected only in the promos of wrestlers. In 1990 Hulk Hogan insinuated Tunney was the reason he hadn't recieved a re-match against the Ultimate Warrior. Hogan would throw Tunney's name in from time to time as if he we obstructing Hogan's career in some fashion, even though Tunney's decisions were usually pretty even handed.

Anyway, Jack Tunney worked because he wasn't always there hanging over the wrestler's heads. Screw jobs happened without Tunney coming out and restarting the match. Even though his judgements were flawed he never appeared to be out to screw anyone over. If this is what the OP is talking about, I'm fine with that. But if they want a tweener or neutral GM to interfere consistantly on behalf of both heels and faces, I'm not feeling that at all.

 

[Workrate]

Jack Tunney was the "President" of the WWF during the Hulk Hogan era. He would be referenced fairly often but would rarely appear on television unless something huge happened that needed to be weighed in on. For example, Hogan gets screwed out of the title and Andre sells it to Dibiase. In comes Tunney to order the title vacant and sets up the WM4 Tournament. Another Example, Randy Savage was contractually obligated to retire after losing to the Ultimate Warrior but when Jake the Snake Roberts poisoned him with his cobra Tunney reheard Savage's case and waved the retirement stipulation so that Savage could return and get his revenge on Roberts. His off camera decisions were reflected only in the promos of wrestlers. In 1990 Hulk Hogan insinuated Tunney was the reason he hadn't recieved a re-match against the Ultimate Warrior. Hogan would throw Tunney's name in from time to time as if he we obstructing Hogan's career in some fashion, even though Tunney's decisions were usually pretty even handed.

Anyway, Jack Tunney worked because he wasn't always there hanging over the wrestler's heads. Screw jobs happened without Tunney coming out and restarting the match. Even though his judgements were flawed he never appeared to be out to screw anyone over. If this is what the OP is talking about, I'm fine with that. But if they want a tweener or neutral GM to interfere consistantly on behalf of both heels and faces, I'm not feeling that at all.

Yeah, this is exactly the type of scenario I was referencing: a GM that stays the hell out of the action.

I think another way of looking at it is this: when is the last time there has been a match involving an authority figure that people truly rallied behind? It certainly wasn't the WM28 Johnny Ace/Teddy Long match. And inevitably with these guys, they end up in a match. And if interest in that match is going to be nil -- let's face it, Johnny Ace facing Punk wouldn't exactly be Austin/McMahon, even on its best day -- then what's the point?

Even if you look at it from a business perspective: Teddy Long isn't going to sell merchandise. I realize that's a shallow way of looking at things and, sure, a few dummies are liable to buy a "playa" t-shirt. But he's not a superstar, he's not an important piece of the foundation, he's not going to fill seats. Yet over and over again valuable television time is poured into these figureheads while potential stars sit on the sidelines. It's a horribly faulted logic and creative approach.

 

[webhead]

no a gm works best when he is a heel. because it is more of a uphill battle for a face.

 

[tomthebodz]

I don't think it would work. For me a GM needs to either favour the faces or the heels. A GM who favours some faces and some heels would just come across as inconsistent. Teddy Long was a tweener for a while when he screwed The Undertaker, that didn't work.

I much prefer a heel GM.