Greatest managers in wrestling history

[TootsieBear]

Recently I've stumbled upon an awesome and interesting video on YouTube, by WWE about renowned managers in pro-wrestling history. This video looks to be from the early 2000's.
[YOUTUBE]uvU6zidhJAw[/YOUTUBE]

What I loved is looking down memory lane and seeing many performers who not only entertained us throughout the years, but we lost since then. Sad to know several of them have passed on.

Thankfully we have the memories to last for many, many years to come. Now after watching this video I'm curious who you consider that greatest manager in pro-wrestling history.

I know it's impossible to narrow it down to one individual. But this is an opinion thread and I like reading what you guys have to say about wrestling in general.

For my money, I'll have to say Paul Heyman. He's always entertained me, great on the mic, and has a good eye for both talent and the business. I don't need to explain the success he has had with numerous of different performers over the years.

 

[Prince Vee]

I'm not an Old School Wrestling fan, its not because I don't like Old School, its just that I started watching Wrestling only from Summerslam 2002. In my perspective, its just gonna be obviously Paul Heyman. He really can sell even a piece of crap if he's provided with. His runs with Curtis Axel and Cesaro wouldn't been so memorable but even in that he sold them well.

No ones gonna forget his epic promo being The One behind the Twenty one And One. He's been a great manager to Brock Lesnar through out his career, without him Brock Lesnar would've never been the same.

One of the most Underrated Manager in the history of WWE is ZEB COLTER. He's a great mouthpiece, his promos against Rusev and Lana on behalf of Jack Swagger have been so entertaining much. Unfortunately for him, WWE doesn't use him very well and all of a sudden he had disappeared now.

Cheers!!

 

[TootsieBear]

Man, I forgot all about Dutch Mantel aka. Zeb Coulter. Zeb Coulter was a great manager for the likes of Jack Swagger and Cesaro. I wish he would come back soon.

 

[Goldie]

I've got this DVD - it was released in 2006 from memory.

Managers are a dying breed in a sense... I think breaking kayfabe in the 90s wiped out managers..... I mean, how can you have a manager cheat to have his guy win- when everyone now knew it was all scripted and pre-determined?
That makes Trish Stratus' comment all the more funny when she said' a managers objective is to make sure your client wins... period!' .... this was released in 2006 Trish- we all know its a work!

Another thing we saw in the late 90s was divas replacing managers to accompany wrestlers to the ring.

However there were so great names on this DVD... Bobby Heenan (who would later have his own profile DVD) is saved till last- and even Vince calls Bobby the greatest of all time.
The likes of Blassie, Wizard, Skaaland represent the 'old old school' era- doing the talking for their wrestlers.... Sunny, Liz, Sherri represent the females.... Cornette and Heyman for WCW.... and then theres Jimmy Hart and Paul Bearer in the gimmick ridden era of the WWF.

Good clip for a bit of nostalga!

 

[OldSchoolWrestlingFan]

I'm not an Old School Wrestling fan

Just want to thank you for the shout out & for the acknowledgment that you aren't me - I find that to be very touching! (Just messing with ya man, just have fun playing the heel on issues from time to time)

Now onto the subject at hand - As I sat and pondered the massive list of managers over the years it was very simple for me to come up with a top 5

5. Capt. Lou Albano
4. Freddie Blassie
3. Jimmy Hart
2. Paul Heyman (aka Paul E Dangerously)
1. Bobby Heenan

Honorable mention: James E. Cornette

To me, these guys optimize everything a manager should be!

 

[enviousdominous]

Without a doubt, my absolute favorite (until I change my mind again) manager has to be the late great Gary Hart.

Gary had a stern demeanor that commanded respect for his clients. When he spoke, you listened because he was being stone cold serious when he emphasized how powerful his performers were.

I remember watching Muta on NWA, I was terrified of him. Gary only added to that terror by looking deep into the camera and explaining just how dangerous Muta was. Watching Muta and Sting mix it up created some of my fondest memories of being a young fan of pro-wrestling. I don't know that I would have been as intimidated by Muta is it hadn't been for Gary Hart's promos.

 

[Prince Vee]

Just want to thank you for the shout out & for the acknowledgment that you aren't me - I find that to be very touching! (Just messing with ya man, just have fun playing the heel on issues from time to time)

Now onto the subject at hand - As I sat and pondered the massive list of managers over the years it was very simple for me to come up with a top 5

5. Capt. Lou Albano
4. Freddie Blassie
3. Jimmy Hart
2. Paul Heyman (aka Paul E Dangerously)
1. Bobby Heenan

Honorable mention: James E. Cornette

To me, these guys optimize everything a manager should be!

Ohh I never felt uncomfortable playing a heel. Can't you see its obvious that "I draw heat" (payback mate, just messing back)

With the regards of your top 5 list, I do respect it. But I have never seen any of these managers so I don't wanna hypocritically put my praise on someone that I didn't know just after watching an hour long YouTube video!

Cheers!!

 

[Burritocover]

This is easy for me. Bobby Heenan. He could get you so pissed off that you wanted to kill him and the whole Heenan family. But then he could have you laughing hysterically. He could also bump his ass off so when it was time for the payoff in an angle he was perfect. Someone a while back on either JRs or Stone Colds podcast said he might have been the most well rounded performer ever. Greatest manager. Greatest announcer. And was actually a great worker in the ring. If I were asked who was the most well rounded performer ever I don't know if I'd ever think of Heenan but once whoever it was brought that up I'd have a hard time arguing with it.

 

[Waylon Mercy]

What? No love for Kimchee (manager of Kamala)?

 

[OYDK]

Bobby The Brain without a doubt for me. This guy was my favorite talent throughout the 80s and early 90s. Not Hogan, not Savage (although I loved the Macho Man), not Piper; Bobby Heenan.

 

[Aquaman6686]

Paul Heyman is the most overrated manager in wrestling history. Heyman's only gift is spotting talent. It's not in getting them over, it's not in keeping them over once they are, and it's sure as hell not in running a business. With the sole exception of Brock Lesnar, Heyman does nothing but steal heat from his clients, make it all about himself, and then leave them in a worse position than they were in before. If anything, Heyman is Kryptonite to any star he aligns with other than Lesnar.

The top choice in my book is Booby Heenan. Heenan consistently turned turds to gold and made so many guys into stars it can't be counted. Bobby Heenan was THE manager for over a decade.

Paul Heyman will always be a 2nd rate Bobby Heenan wannabe.

 

[World Class Mark]

1. Gary Hart -- his work in World Class was enough for me. But then you throw-in The Great Muta and all the rest in NWA/WCW and that just puts him waaaaay over the top. He typically managed guys that the smarks liked, huge plus. Behind the scenes was a beloved guy who genuinely took care of his people. Always did what was right for the business.

2. J.J. Dillon -- haven't seen a lot of mention of him on this thread, odd. Or, I dunno, maybe people assume The Horsemen would've been The Horsemen with or without him. But, he did add a certain class to the initial groups that was somewhat lacking later on when Ole and even later the valets came.

3. Paul Heyman -- Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Punk, Lesnar, and the list goes on. Oh yeah, and that ECW thing where he was more than just a storyline manager.

4. Bobby Heenan -- WWF's greatest manager from the golden years, and it's not even close. They threw out so many managers in the 80s, so many of them just drivel, but when a guy went to Heenan, you knew that guy would get a major angle (Perfect, Andre, Flair, Brain Busters, Rude, and the list goes on). His work in the AWA alone would've put him in the top 5.

5. To me, there is a huge drop off after the four listed above. So I'll just give a nice shout-out/honorable mention to guys like Jim Cornette, Lou Albano, Classy Freddie Blassie, and, although he always managed jobbers, Skandar Akbar was a great territory-era manager who handled mid-carders.

 

[FlairFan2003]

JJ Dillon was the perfect add on to the Horsemen in their heyday....he had the total look of the aristocratic, crooked businessman rich guy snob type that fit so well with the rolex wearing, thousand dollar suits, obnoxiously wealth flaunting arrogance of Flair & Blanchard that defined that group. He was also very good on the mic, able to stand out and make significant contributions to promos despite sharing the stage with one of the greatest promo guys ever (Flair) and two of the best of their era (Blanchard & Arn Anderson) and as a former wrestler he was skilled in taking bumps, etc....he rarely actively wrestled but he routinely got very physical in big matches and events and took a lot of big bumps to entertain the crowds and put over the faces.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

My personal favourite:
1. Bobby Heenan (probably the consensus best of all time)
2. Paul Heyman (by far the greatest in the current era)
3. Vince McMahon (he counts doesn't he? he was basically the manager for The Rock and the entire The Corporation)
4. Ted DiBiase (sucker for the Million Dollar Corporation and the New Generation in general, sue me)
5. Jim Cornette (Midnight Express, plus see DiBiase above, Camp Cornette!)

 

[JerichoStreet]

Bobby Heenan.

And it sick that Ultimate Warrior said that he was happy that Bobby Heenan got cancer. Absolute sick.

Fuck Ultimate Warrior. Truth need to leak out to the casufal fans.

Long live Bobby Heenan GOAT manager and GOAT commentator.

 

[MINISTRYrising]

1. Heyman/heenan
For me it would have to be a toss up between Heyman and Heenan for the number one spot, I really can,t choose between them as they are head and shoulders above everyone else in there respective eras.

3. james mitchell
I could listen to him cut promos all day long, hes just that good. Still can't believe TNA let the guy go.

4. Jimmy Hart
Never really liked him when he was playing a face, but as a heel he was golden.

5. Jim Cornette
Cut some great promos in his time and is somebody you took serious as a manager despite him carrying a tennis racket with him.

 

[TDFG]

1. Bobby Heenan is arguably the greatest manager/commentator we've ever had. Heenan Family, Flair, Mr. Perfect. Heenan would make you concentrate on what he was doing while the guys in the ring would wrestle.

2. Paul Heyman. I'm going right back to The Dangerous Alliance days, with the big mobile phone, Rude, Austin, Double A, Eaton, Zbyszko. I was only a kid at the time but after a few years of being a wrestling fan you really look at this stable and it is a super-stable. To think Heyman is still at the top of his game today with Brock Lesnar, Heyman does not get enough praise.

3. Mr. Fuji, evil little Mr Fuji. I think up until now he hasn't been mentioned, somewhat underrated, Fuji managed Yokozuna, The Orient Express, Demolition, I think he managed or had some sort of input with Owen Hart & British Bulldog as well.

4. Jim Cornette, how a tennis racquet has attributed to so any match wins I'll never know, but it's a great gimmick. Cornette has been around for years upon years. A tag-team manager specialist, also a nutcase as well.

 

[Goldie]

He hasn't been mentioned yet but I'll give a shout out to Jimmy Hart.
Though Heenan is my pick in an earlier post... as a kid watching the WWE at the time, Jimmy was still pretty successful in terms of his wrestlers grabbing gold:

Hogan (technically) had Jimmy as his manager for his brief 1993 title run, there was the Mountie with the IC title... and several tag titles (Hart Foundation, Nasty Boys, Money Inc).
The mega phone gimmick fit him perfectly - as he barked orders or antagonised his clients opponents from afar with his squeaky voice (Gorillla Monsoon often referred to him as 'Pip squeaked little runt').... though by Jims own admission - he was such a weakling that even the 6 year olds in the audience could probably beat him up!

The mega phone was often a prop used for his bad guys to take the win with a foreign object!