Will WWE ever bring back managers?

[rge2010]

I used to love the days of Bobby Heenan, Jimmy Hart, Slick and Harvey Whippleman. They all had a multitude of talent under their wings they would accompany to the ring and cheat and steal at all costs to get their man the victory. The mere association with some of these characters would garner lots of heat.

I really think todays Superstars, or at least some of them could really benefit from having managers and being a part of 'mini factions'. I am not saying that all the members need to appear at the same time and try and wreck havoc, each could individually be associated with a manager.

Paul Heyman is the obvious one but he is firmly in camp Lesnar and that is where he should stay, he doesnt really click with anyone else, especially heels because although he is meant to be a heel, he is cheered weekly.

A couple of superstars not really doing a lot would make great managers in my opinion because they are both good talkers and both fairly easy to despise. Those being The Miz and David Otunga. I would love to see both sign a small talent pool to their tutorage and see where it leads. William Regal would also make a fine heel manager.....upcoming talent from NXT could really benefit and could get over much quicker being associated with a manager the crowd despises.

 

[Inferno Prince]

Xavier Woods has filled out that sort of role quite well. He barely wrestles, Kofi and Big E are the ones with the belts yet Xavier is front and center for New Day. Lana to me was a brilliant manager for Rusev when he was still riding the undefeated streak, now being downgraded to a gullible love interest which I find to be a total waste.

As far as The Miz, I find him extremely entertaining and would love to see him take a few guys under his wing. I could see him representing Tyler Breeze once he's called up to the main roster, along with possibly Adrian Neville down the road since I think Neville really needs a mouthpiece if he's gonna get over.

Otunga's too wrapped up with working with WWE's legal team to be of any use on screen but that's fine to me anyway, I don't think anyone cares about him nearly enough for him to make a decent manager. Regals also set in his role as GM on NXT, I can't see him leaving that gig.

To me, another ideal manager down the road would be Mr Excitement, the patriarch of People Power, Johnny Ace. I'm not sure what he's doing these days but seeing him on the Smackdown 15th birthday episode reminded me of what a good utility he could be on screen. Now that he's married into the Bella family, he could make a perfect cover for the Bella's atrocious mic work. But I'm just spitballing here.

 

[N!CKALAS CAGE]

I've always liked managers, even since I was a kid. It's a shame Paul Heyman is the only true manager around since Lana is more of a valet and girlfriend to Ziggler. And Heyman is only around part-time as he has Lesnar's schedule.

I would like to see a retired wrestler come back as a manager. I think Christian coming back as a heel manager and mouthpiece would be awesome. Booker T could be a good one, heel or face.

 

[Heath Slater's Trainer]

I think a legend like Ric Flair being someone's manager would be pretty cool. I thought it was gonna happen with Dolph Ziggler, where he might even be the next Nature Boy or something. But I guess that probably won't happen at this point. I definitely likes the suggestion of Regal as a manager because he is awesome in so many ways and he would fit very well with Bad News Barrett or even maybe even make Sheamus more interesting (they're already friends in kayfabe too, back from the Sheamus/Show feud). And don't forget it doesn't have to be a wrestler. There are managers all over the indies WWE could sign. There's Stu Stone who managed Brian Cage around the west coast, and he did some other media stuff earlier in his life. There's also Jonny Ferrari. He's managed EC3 a few times in the Hardy's promotion Omega and he managed AJ styles also, pretty cool. I can't really think of a whole lot of others, but those are the indie managers that stick out to me.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

Gosh I hope so. There are so many great memories and moments associated with managers There are also a great number of downsides, particularly where heels are concerned.

Often a manager is put with a star that has trouble on the stick, which leads to trouble connecting with the crowd. Sometimes the manager rub works, other times it just leads to the manager being the one that gets over. Zeb Coulter is a great example, he got heat, Tea Party political dogma got heat, Jack Swagger did not.

In the case of Rusev, Russia had heat, Putin had heat, Lana had heat, Lana got over, Rusev didn't really, did he? When Brock Lesnar debuted in 2002, he and Paul Heyman were broken up before years end and Brock went on to get himself over.

Lesnar isn't the only one who was successful in breaking away from his manager. Undertaker did it, ditto for his brother Kane, and many others, but when it comes to betrayal in wrestling, inevitably the betrayer must get his comeuppance.

How does a retired or non-wrestler get his comeuppance? How awful was it watching CM Punk defecate all over Axel and Ryback trying to get to Heyman, a non-wrestler. It was cringe worthy. Yeah it's scripted, no it's not real to me still dammit, Punk's weapons were gimmicked, blah-blah-blah, but I like to suspend a little disbelief when I watch pro-wrestling.

What happens when the manager is someone that WWE (or any promotion) can't or won't clear a competitor to wrestle? This is why you'll never see Edge as an onscreen character or manager. A person who can't take a bump can never get their ass whooped, therefore no comeuppance. This is entertainment that is fundamentally about bad guys being bad, then good guys getting even through beatings. You take that out of the equation, then it isn't really wrestling is it?

I want to see more wrestlers managing other wrestlers. Xavier Woods has been mentioned often in this thread. He's a heat magnet and he can take bumps like crazy. I want to see more of that. More wrestlers that WWE has no intention of pushing should be connected with others they do.

Bo Dallas, Heath Slater, Damien Sandow, and others would all make excellent managers. Imagine David Otunga as Seth Rollins' lawyer for an example. WWE seems afraid of the word manager these days, what other people are involved in the lives of wrestlers?

I doubt John Cena agrees to all his matches, books his flights, does his schedule, and makes sure his jorts are ironed before every match. He probably has a manager, an agent, or at least an assistant. Why not make these on screen characters.

Heyman should at least be Lesnar's kayfabe agent, if not his manager. What on Earth is an advocate? Who in other pro-sports has an advocate? Everyone has agents.

I want to see a return to prominence of the manager as it creates a lot of great moments and opportunities. They need to move away from booking managers that can't get their comeuppance. Heel Michael Cole couldn't really get comeuppance, neither could Taz in Aces and Eights. Let's get effective managers that can take bumps.

 

[whoopin' ass]

I find wwe very weird when it comes to managers. They see the ability to cut a promo as a very important thing for a wrestler - we have heard of guys not getting opportunities because of thier lack of mic skills. Yet they will put a Lana or Paul Heyman out there with someone and prove that as long as they have a manager who can cut a good promo, the wrestler doesn't have to say much if anything. They are constantly proving themselves wrong yet it doesn't look like they are going to be using more managers in the future which is crazy.

 

[yourdamnluck]

I can see someone like edge coming back to manage Cesaro or Owens. These guys have enough in ring talent and average on mike, with a good manager they can be really great.

 

[stingray11214]

In the realm of Sports Entertainment, Managers are not needed because the content is more overtly soap operistic than its Professional Wrestling counterpart. in SE, EVERYONE needs to learn how to act and perform on that stage. Can you picture Greg Valentine cutting a promo?, The Wild Samoans? George "The Animal" Steele? Those guys would not make it in today's WWE. They NEEDED a Manager to speak for them. Who, in today's WWE, when you are given acting and public speaking lessons in NXT, need a Manager to speak for them (Lesnar being the exception)?

 

[agentmichaelscarn]

I don't think managers would work as well in the non kayfabe era now. It worked back in the day because most people really thought that these guys were representing the wrestlers and negotiating their contracts and such. Now everybody knows that if somebody has a manager it basically is because they need a mouthpiece. The exception is Lesnar because he is like a prize fighter so having somebody represent and talk for him actually comes across as natural.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

That's why I miss Zeb Colter.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

WWE should bring back Santino Marella and use him strictly as someone's heel manager. A guy like Adam Rose, who's new gimmick immediately sucks....he could really use a comically heel manager like Santino singing his praises in interviews and cheating on his behalf at ringside.

 

[theuk savior]

good managers now would be the miz booker him from nxt corey groves and maybe someone else and they should bring back aw

 

[@smarkmouth]

Historically speaking, managers were best used in the territory days, when they were mainstays in a given company and represented any talent that was "coming through town" so to speak. This was done to help garner heat on talent that the audience was not familiar with.

Obviously, a role in that capacity is not required in a modern day WWE. While there are some decent mouthpieces in WWE, the manager role would have to evolve to stay relevant. That being said, I do think that there's room for a manager in the NXT Roster. The manager could represent a talent on their way up until they reach the main roster, then moves on to the next talent. It would take a particularly interesting person to fill such a role, but it could work. In fact, Corey Graves comes to mind. He could play a very nuanced manager, a former wrestler who now lives vicariously through his proteges.

 

[FlairFan2003]

I don't think managers would work as well in the non kayfabe era now. It worked back in the day because most people really thought that these guys were representing the wrestlers and negotiating their contracts and such. Now everybody knows that if somebody has a manager it basically is because they need a mouthpiece. The exception is Lesnar because he is like a prize fighter so having somebody represent and talk for him actually comes across as natural.

First, what is the "Non kayfabe" era ? Every week on TV and at arena shows all over the country these guys play specific roles and characters just as they did 40 years ago ?

Second, " It worked back in the day because most people really thought that these guys were representing the wrestlers and negotiating their contracts and such. " - The only people who thought that "back in the day" were grade school kids too young to know wrestling is a soap opera and isn't real. Ive been a fan since the early 1980s and can tell you I (and pretty much all of my classmates) knew in GRADE SCHOOL this stuff was fake. Same as today. We might not have had insight into promotional strategies and known when wrestlers were taking vacations, etc like we do today thanks to the Internet, but just as fans today know we knew at a very young age many years ago !) Wrestling IS Fake 2) It isn't real 3) And when we were a bit older (say Junior High/High School Age) we knew it was a soap opera.


Maybe back before there television was prevalent and the industry had little exposure outside occasional local radio broadcasts people thought it was real, thought the characters actually liked/disliked each other and thought managers truly represented certain characters but that was back in the 30s and 40s, wrestling exploded in the main stream conscious thanks to TV exposure in the 50s and 60s, became mainstream entertainment by the 70s, and became a major cultural touchstone in the 80s, all the while everyone knowing "its not real" no matter how much certain promotions tried to pretend it was.

Managers easily could work today, as evidenced by the success Ric Flair had leading Evolution (he mostly acted as a ring side manager & mentor, he occasionally wrestled but for the most part was an inactive member of the group) and Paul Heyman has had today with Lesnar.