The Need For Managers In Wrestling

The Need For Managers In Wrestling
July 18, 2015
By Ryan Porzl

Wrestling Managers. They are heat seekers, mouthpieces, and can be the deciding factor for victory in their wrestler's matches. For decades, managers have been a great addition to professional wrestling for these reasons. They are also capable of helping wrestlers catch on with the fan base and can eventually transition to other positions in wrestling later Unfortunately, the concept of managers has fallen out of popularity in recent times. Many major and minor companies in America rarely use them and mostly prefer their talent to speak for themselves even if they're not capable of doing so. Even in 2015, managers can still be very useful and here are some examples why.

We'll start with the obvious which is they're usually great mouthpieces. Over the decades, there have been many wrestlers who were not able to cut good promos which is important in wrestling. Some wrestlers were from countries like Japan or Mexico and couldn't speak English. As a result, they required a manager to cut promos for them. While some have learned English, not everyone is going to quickly learn it. Even if they did learn it, there's no guarantee that they would be great on the mic. With companies like the WWE and TNA bringing in talent from around the world these days, a manager would be great to speak for them. Even if they learn English, they could benefit from having a manager until they become comfortable speaking. In the past, many great international wrestling legends benefited from having a manager like Killer Khan, The Great Kabuki, and The Great Muta. It's very possible that they likely would not have caught on with the fans like they did without someone to talk for them. In American wrestling, talking is important and wrestlers can have a hard time connecting with the fans if they can't talk and there's no one to talk for them.

Speaking of wrestlers who don't know English, there's also wrestlers who have gimmicks that make them pretend not to know English. For decades, we've seen many legendary wrestlers who knew English but had to pretend they didn't for the sake of the gimmick. Wrestlers including Yokozuna, The Wild Samoans, and Kamala are the best examples of this. Even in the last twenty years, we've seen it. During his first full year in 1998, Kane came off as someone who couldn't talk without the use of a voice box. Sabu has always been known for being mute and never talking. Then there's Umaga who was a Samoan savage that couldn't grasp the English language. In the end, each and everyone of these wrestlers had someone to speak for them and it helped them connect with the fans in ways they probably would not have been able to.

Along with wrestlers who can't speak English or have gimmicks where they can't, there's the wrestlers that don't have those problems but have other ones. Good example is Jack Swagger. Not only is Swagger not a good talker but he has a lisp. So even if Swagger learned to cut a promo, his lisp may make it difficult for fans to take seriously. Then there's the Great Khali who did learn English but has a thick accent that makes it difficult to understand what he is saying at times. They're only two examples as there's other wrestlers who may have these problems so a manager would be very beneficial to them.

Managers can also allow wrestlers to be off TV for a week or two. If a wrestler gets hurt or the company doesn't have anything for them, the manager can represent them for that week or two. By doing this, wrestlers don't get stale with the fans but they're still fresh in the fans memories. This can be very important since wrestling is more about television then live events these days which means the main stars are on every week which can result in fans getting bored of them faster. As a result, if a manager can help a wrestler stay fresh for even a little bit longer then they're a great asset.

Then there's the fact that many legends were either able to have careers in wrestling or have a new lease on life because of managing. Ultimately, managers can mostly be divided into three categories. One is managers who were too small and/or didn't have the athletism to make it as wrestlers which includes Jimmy Hart, Paul Heyman, Jim Cornette, Slick, and the Grand Wizard of Wrestling. The second is managers who started as wrestlers but never really made it as one like Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, "Playboy" Gary Hart, and "Captain" Lou Albano. Then there's managers who were successful as wrestlers but got too old to wrestle like "Wild" Red Berry, "Classy" Freddie Blassie, Mr. Fuji, JJ Dillon, Skandor Akbar, and Tojo Yamamoto. A fourth possible category is women who either weren't meant to be wrestlers like Miss Elizabeth and Sunny or women who were working in a major company that didn't have a women's division like Sensational Sherri. Managing has given many people the opportunity to either be successful in wrestling or continued success after their in-ring careers ended. Without managing in wrestling, we never would've seen the likes of Hart, Heyman, Cornette, Slick and Wizard. Meanwhile, Heenan, Hart, and Albano would've been forgotten and faded out of the business by the early 70s. Then there's the successful wrestlers who retired and would've been done in wrestling despite being able to still offer something.

An important factor that no one thinks of is the fact that a lot of successful managers found success or careers in other areas of wrestling after managing. Jimmy Hart became a composer and songwriter for the WWF and WCW, Paul Heyman would go on to run ECW, Jim Cornette would find and run SMW, Bobby Heenan would become a legendary color commentator, and Hart booked for World Class. Meanwhile, Lou Albano became an important part of the WWF national expansion thanks to the Rock n' Wrestling Connection and his ties with Cyndi Lauper. Each of these men either got their foot in the door because of managing or their first taste of success in wrestling because of managing. As a result, think of what things would be like if there were no managers. Shawn Michaels and Ted Dibiase would never have had their signature theme songs. ECW would not have been as revolutionary as it was. SMW would never have existed. The wrestling business would never have, what many consider, the greatest announce team in history. World Class wouldn't have been as successful in the 70s and 80s. The Rock n' Wrestling Connection would never have happened which would mean the WWF national expansion would not have been as successful.

Even in the 21st century, managers can still have a place in wrestling. They can be very beneficial to many wrestlers and possibly transition to other positions later on which can benefit companies and wrestlers for different reasons depending on the position. Managers have been some of the most fun and colorful characters in wrestling and without them, wrestling is a little more black and white.