IrishCanadian25
Going on 10 years with WrestleZone
In recent weeks, a great deal of debate has come onto these boards dealing with the apparent "death of the pro wrestling manager." I thought it only appropriate to feature managers as part of this week's "Best of the 90's" segment, since managers were a MAJOR part of the greatest decade in wrestling history.
Here are my nine choices. As always with B.O.T.N., if your choice isn't one of the nine listed, 1) I don't give a damn. I only get 9 slots and these are the first I think of. So don't whine. 2) Vote "other" and for god's sake explain why you feel that person is the best manager of the 90's or why they should make the top-ten.
1. Jim Cornette. As a loud-mouthed, tennis-raquet weilding manager, Jim Cornette enjoyed much success in the WWE. Jim was a large part of Yokozuna's two WWE-Championship reigns in the early 90's. Jim also managed "The Heavenly Bodies," a talented tag team he brought to the WWE in a vain attempt to save Smokey Mountain Wrestling from financial demise. After The Bodies and Yokozuna, Jim managed the likes of Vader, Owen Hart, and The British Bulldog. He also managed (at one time or another) Jeff Jarrett, Mantaur (lol), The Rock and Roll Express, Mark Henry, Bob Holly, and Bart Gunn. He was the PWI Manager of the Year in 1993 and 1995, and won 6 of 10 years in the 90's from Paul Meltzer's Wrestling Observer.
2. Paul Ellering. Most well-known as the manager of The Legion of Doom / The Road Warriors, Paul has seen success as a manager since a knee injury cost him a wrestling career. While spending some 14 years as the manager of L.O.D., Paul enjoyed tag team gold and mainstream success. To his credit, Paul also managed Jake Roberts, Matt Borne, and the Disciples of Apocalypse.
3. Francine Fournier. One of ECW's most well-known managers, Francine was the 1st graduate of ECW's Wrestling school "The House of Hardcore." Francine is also well known for the bumps she took through tables and the piledrivers she received. Francine was a lightning rod manager in the old ECW, managing Stevie Richards, Tommy Dreamer, The Pit Bulls, Bam Bam Bigelow, and others.
4. Jimmy Hart. "The Mouth of the South," Jimmy Hart was on championship teams regularly. After his late 80's split with the Hart Foundation, Jimmy's first team in the 90's was "Rhythm and Blues." Hart then picked up "The Nasty Boys" and led them past the Hart Foundation for the WWF Tag Team Titles. Later still, Jimmy employed "The Natural Disasters," only to turn on them and pick up 2 more tag-team titles with "Money Inc." In 1993, Hart joined forces with Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake against Money Inc., and wound up leading Hogan to a 5th WWE Title against Yokozuna. In WCW, Hart managed Hogan to the WCW Title only to turn on him and join The Giant and The Dungeon of Doom. Hart's ridiculously long managerial resume includes: The Barbarian, Beefcake, Dino Bravo, The Giant, Hulk Hogan, Kamala, Lex Luger, Meng, Money Inc., The Rougeaus, Mabel, and The Big Boss Man. He was the PWI Manager of the Year in 1994.
5. Scott Levy. Better known as "Raven," Levy enjoyed a short but successful stint in the early 1990's as "Johnny Polo," a stuck up rich kid managing Adam Bomb and The Quebecers. While Adam Bomb didn't go far (unless you count the unemployment line), Levy managed the Quebecers to 3 Tag Team Championship reigns in the early 90's, I believe the most by any one team in the decade. Despite a successful managerial career, the ring called and Raven returned to ECW full-time. Funny note - Levy is credited as a former manager of James Mitchell.
6. Sherri Martel. Possibly the greatest female manager in history, the late Sherri Martel managed The Macho King Randy Savage after the death of the WWE's women's division in 1989. The relationship with Savage tested legendary feuds such as Savage vs Hogan (where Sherri played antagonist to Miss Elizabeth) and Savage vs Rhodes (where Sherri was Sapphire's anti-heroin). After Savage lost his retirement match to The Ultimate Warrior and reunited with Miss Elizabeth, Sherri became the manager of Ted DiBiase. The time with DiBiase was just a blip on the radar screen, as Martel went on to manage Shawn Michaels, and sing his first singles theme song. When Marty Jannetty returned to the ring to get revenge on Michaels, it was Sherri taking a vicious looking mirror-bump, only to see her return weeks later at The Royal Rumble, in the corner of Jannetty. In 1993, she managed Shane Douglas to the ECW World Championship. She managed WCW's Ric Flair after that, and went on to become "Sister Sherri" with Harlem Heat. Incidentally, she has been managed by...Jim Cornette. She was the Wrestling Observer Manager of the Year in 1991.
7. Paul Heyman. His ECW career behind him, people don't often remember Heyman as a talented and prolific manager. In WCW in 1992, Heyman managed a stable known as "The Dangerous Alliance." That team consisted of Bobby Eaton, Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, WCW TV Champion Steve Austin and Larry Zbyszko. For those efforts, he won PWI's Manager of the Year award in 1992. From there, he went to ECW, where he arguable managed everybody.
8. Debra Marshall. While she may not be the first to come to mind in terms of "great managers," Debra's list of managed talent reads like a 1990's Who's Who: Ric Flair, Eddie Guerrero, Owen Hart, Jeff Jarrett, Dean Malenko, Steve McMichael, and Alex Wright. Debra's role as supporter of Jarrett's bid to join the Four Horsemen and her alliance with Ric Flair advanced her career as much as marrying those she managed helped to destroy it. She was PWI's Manager of the Year in 1999, the same year she won "Woman of the Year."
9. Ralphus. I am a biased Chris Jericho fan, so piss off. Anyway, Ralphus makes my top-9 just on the fact that he started as a truck driver for WCW. He couldn't keep his pants from falling down. He wore a dress. He shook "The Finger of Doom" at fans trying to touch the TV Champion. After Jericho let Ralphus go for what Jericho described as having learned the Dali Lama'a secret of clouding men's minds, Ralphus caught on with Norman Smiley and hilarity ensued. Many feel the Ralphus character was a shot Jericho took at Kevin Nash for holding young talent back.
10. Other. Please explain your vote.
Here are my nine choices. As always with B.O.T.N., if your choice isn't one of the nine listed, 1) I don't give a damn. I only get 9 slots and these are the first I think of. So don't whine. 2) Vote "other" and for god's sake explain why you feel that person is the best manager of the 90's or why they should make the top-ten.
1. Jim Cornette. As a loud-mouthed, tennis-raquet weilding manager, Jim Cornette enjoyed much success in the WWE. Jim was a large part of Yokozuna's two WWE-Championship reigns in the early 90's. Jim also managed "The Heavenly Bodies," a talented tag team he brought to the WWE in a vain attempt to save Smokey Mountain Wrestling from financial demise. After The Bodies and Yokozuna, Jim managed the likes of Vader, Owen Hart, and The British Bulldog. He also managed (at one time or another) Jeff Jarrett, Mantaur (lol), The Rock and Roll Express, Mark Henry, Bob Holly, and Bart Gunn. He was the PWI Manager of the Year in 1993 and 1995, and won 6 of 10 years in the 90's from Paul Meltzer's Wrestling Observer.
2. Paul Ellering. Most well-known as the manager of The Legion of Doom / The Road Warriors, Paul has seen success as a manager since a knee injury cost him a wrestling career. While spending some 14 years as the manager of L.O.D., Paul enjoyed tag team gold and mainstream success. To his credit, Paul also managed Jake Roberts, Matt Borne, and the Disciples of Apocalypse.
3. Francine Fournier. One of ECW's most well-known managers, Francine was the 1st graduate of ECW's Wrestling school "The House of Hardcore." Francine is also well known for the bumps she took through tables and the piledrivers she received. Francine was a lightning rod manager in the old ECW, managing Stevie Richards, Tommy Dreamer, The Pit Bulls, Bam Bam Bigelow, and others.
4. Jimmy Hart. "The Mouth of the South," Jimmy Hart was on championship teams regularly. After his late 80's split with the Hart Foundation, Jimmy's first team in the 90's was "Rhythm and Blues." Hart then picked up "The Nasty Boys" and led them past the Hart Foundation for the WWF Tag Team Titles. Later still, Jimmy employed "The Natural Disasters," only to turn on them and pick up 2 more tag-team titles with "Money Inc." In 1993, Hart joined forces with Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake against Money Inc., and wound up leading Hogan to a 5th WWE Title against Yokozuna. In WCW, Hart managed Hogan to the WCW Title only to turn on him and join The Giant and The Dungeon of Doom. Hart's ridiculously long managerial resume includes: The Barbarian, Beefcake, Dino Bravo, The Giant, Hulk Hogan, Kamala, Lex Luger, Meng, Money Inc., The Rougeaus, Mabel, and The Big Boss Man. He was the PWI Manager of the Year in 1994.
5. Scott Levy. Better known as "Raven," Levy enjoyed a short but successful stint in the early 1990's as "Johnny Polo," a stuck up rich kid managing Adam Bomb and The Quebecers. While Adam Bomb didn't go far (unless you count the unemployment line), Levy managed the Quebecers to 3 Tag Team Championship reigns in the early 90's, I believe the most by any one team in the decade. Despite a successful managerial career, the ring called and Raven returned to ECW full-time. Funny note - Levy is credited as a former manager of James Mitchell.
6. Sherri Martel. Possibly the greatest female manager in history, the late Sherri Martel managed The Macho King Randy Savage after the death of the WWE's women's division in 1989. The relationship with Savage tested legendary feuds such as Savage vs Hogan (where Sherri played antagonist to Miss Elizabeth) and Savage vs Rhodes (where Sherri was Sapphire's anti-heroin). After Savage lost his retirement match to The Ultimate Warrior and reunited with Miss Elizabeth, Sherri became the manager of Ted DiBiase. The time with DiBiase was just a blip on the radar screen, as Martel went on to manage Shawn Michaels, and sing his first singles theme song. When Marty Jannetty returned to the ring to get revenge on Michaels, it was Sherri taking a vicious looking mirror-bump, only to see her return weeks later at The Royal Rumble, in the corner of Jannetty. In 1993, she managed Shane Douglas to the ECW World Championship. She managed WCW's Ric Flair after that, and went on to become "Sister Sherri" with Harlem Heat. Incidentally, she has been managed by...Jim Cornette. She was the Wrestling Observer Manager of the Year in 1991.
7. Paul Heyman. His ECW career behind him, people don't often remember Heyman as a talented and prolific manager. In WCW in 1992, Heyman managed a stable known as "The Dangerous Alliance." That team consisted of Bobby Eaton, Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, WCW TV Champion Steve Austin and Larry Zbyszko. For those efforts, he won PWI's Manager of the Year award in 1992. From there, he went to ECW, where he arguable managed everybody.
8. Debra Marshall. While she may not be the first to come to mind in terms of "great managers," Debra's list of managed talent reads like a 1990's Who's Who: Ric Flair, Eddie Guerrero, Owen Hart, Jeff Jarrett, Dean Malenko, Steve McMichael, and Alex Wright. Debra's role as supporter of Jarrett's bid to join the Four Horsemen and her alliance with Ric Flair advanced her career as much as marrying those she managed helped to destroy it. She was PWI's Manager of the Year in 1999, the same year she won "Woman of the Year."
9. Ralphus. I am a biased Chris Jericho fan, so piss off. Anyway, Ralphus makes my top-9 just on the fact that he started as a truck driver for WCW. He couldn't keep his pants from falling down. He wore a dress. He shook "The Finger of Doom" at fans trying to touch the TV Champion. After Jericho let Ralphus go for what Jericho described as having learned the Dali Lama'a secret of clouding men's minds, Ralphus caught on with Norman Smiley and hilarity ensued. Many feel the Ralphus character was a shot Jericho took at Kevin Nash for holding young talent back.
10. Other. Please explain your vote.
