Most memorable wrestling MANAGER!

ShawnRaven

Well, as it says on the tin.
To you, who's the most memorable pro wrestling manager you've seen over the years. So pick one, and although you don't have to, it would help if you do explain your reasons why, for the sake of discussion.

Promotion doesn't matter.

I'll get the ball rolling with Jimmy Hart, not only for what he said in promos, but the way he took bumps from faces, and his facial expressions if he got busted interfering in matches. I also remember being well impressed in 87 when he managed Honky and The Harts, both IC and Tag title holders respectively. His list of people he has managed over the years is also quite a whos who of wrestling.

So, your pick?

gimmick

Ill go with Bobby The Brain Heenan. Perfect heel manager with quite a large stable. Plus he was probably the best heel co commentator WWE ever had.

SuperWoody101

gimmick wrote: »

Ill go with Bobby The Brain Heenan. Perfect heel manager with quite a large stable. Plus he was probably the best heel co commentator WWE ever had.

Loved him as a commentator but not so much as a manager, I will pick The Doctor of Style Slick (just cos he was so fake it was funny) gota love the Jive Soul Bro.

Otis Driftwood

Heenan is top for me too.
Always had a soft spot for Harley Race with Vader in WCW.

krudler

Heenan for me too, and Mr Fuji when he managed Demolition who were my favourite tag team when I was a kid, till he turned on em, booo!

besty

Paul Bearer.

Most memorable - why?
Just that face gripping the urn. Demented!

Red Sleeping Beauty

I agree with all mentioned. Especially the Weasle

James E Cornette from 95 through 96 was pretty good. Michaels spanked him with his tennis racket once or twice I think during summer 96. I loved his rapid fire promos, he looked like he had a blood pressure problem! The guy wouldn't take a breath between sentences and would go red in the face. I never got into that odd short lived NWA thing he had in early '98 though. Anyway, yeah , him and Owen Hart were a perfect combo. I was just watching the main event from KotR 96 there earlier. Good stuff

brendansmith

besty wrote: »

Paul Bearer.

Most memorable - why?
Just that face gripping the urn. Demented!

Plus he was awesome

ShawnRaven

alan dunne 27 wrote: »

James E Cornette from 95 through 96 was pretty good.

Haaaaah! His WWE stuff from that era was nothing compared to his 80s NWA stuff! Especially with the Fantastics and the MX. Although his weekly semi-shoot promos on RAW in 1997 were gold.

"Bret Hart is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, but if he’d have been screwed as many times as he claims, he’d have struck oil by now"

... and that was BEFORE Montreal, folks.
AWESOME!

D-FENS

ShawnRaven wrote: »

Haaaaah! His WWE stuff from that era was nothing compared to his 80s NWA stuff! Especially with the Fantastics and the MX. Although his weekly semi-shoot promos on RAW in 1997 were gold.

"Bret Hart is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, but if he’d have been screwed as many times as he claims, he’d have struck oil by now"

... and that was BEFORE Montreal, folks.
AWESOME!

Bet he's delighted he took the option of explaining his choice now for you to laught at it!

Agree about Cornett's '97 promo's though, his comment about the only reason Hall and Nash kept Waltman around was to laugh at him puking up at drinking contests was priceless.

My choice - well, everyone's already picked the good ones(Heenan by a country mile), so i'll go with the Baron aka James Raschke, very brief manager of the Powers of Pain in '88, just because i know no one else will

ShawnRaven

D-FENS wrote: »

Bet he's delighted he took the option of explaining his choice now for you to laught at it!

I didn't "laught" at it, (although i do laugh at your spelling), I was merely comparing that Cornette's stuff from the era that he highlighted was watered down by comparison to his NWA stuff. It was! Dunno about you, but where i come from, that's called discussion.

Agree about Cornett's '97 promo's though, his comment about the only reason Hall and Nash kept Waltman around was to laugh at him puking up at drinking contests was priceless.

As well as his Icons speech.

My choice - well, everyone's already picked the good ones(Heenan by a country mile), so i'll go with the Baron aka James Raschke, very brief manager of the Powers of Pain in '88, just because i know no one else will

Baron Von Raschke did a lot more than his WWE stuff and was a very underrated worker. Unfortunately his management skills were dull as dishwater. Did he even last past Summerslam 88? Because he wasn't seen on TV or PPV after that. WWE did all they could to get the Powers uber-over, but it wasn't happening at all. Crowd still cheered for Demolition as if the world was going to end that night.

Good times to watch Pro Wrestling though.

ShawnRaven

SuperWoody101 wrote: »

Loved him as a commentator but not so much as a manager, I will pick The Doctor of Style Slick (just cos he was so fake it was funny) gota love the Jive Soul Bro.

Yeah, that tune was class, including the video for it that wound up on the Piledriver video! But when Slick would sing "turn out the lights, the party's over!" every time one of his men won.

Simple stuff like that really that made all the difference.
Now there's no such thing as managers, just glorified tits and ass.

rovert

ShawnRaven wrote: »

Now there's no such thing as managers, just glorified tits and ass.

ShawnRaven

I'm pretty sure you could get a support bra for Larry Sweeney! :pac:

gimmick

How the bloody hell did I forget Sweeney? Such a fantastic throw back to the classic heel manager. Surprised WWE have not picked him up yet as he is gold on the mic.

Prince Nana was great in his run with ROH as well with The Embassy. I know he is back in ROH now but am not that far yet.

Sunny was good also in terms of being the original and best of the tits and ass manager.

ShawnRaven

gimmick wrote: »

Sunny was good also in terms of being the original and best of the tits and ass manager.

Very unfair statement there. Sunny was a little more than T&A, she was great on the mic, was always able to sell who she managed (she made the Godwinns look threatening for christs sake), could take bumps the few times she needed to, was always able to take one for the team (that slop incident being one example, dressing up to suit whoever they managed, including the goofy LOD 2000).

Sunny set the bar for womens managers, it's just too bad she crashed and burned the way she did.

gimmick

That is kind of what i was trying to get at, but having a crappy morning here at "work".

D-FENS

ShawnRaven wrote: »

I didn't "laught" at it, (although i do laugh at your spelling)

Baron Von Raschke did a lot more than his WWE stuff and was a very underrated worker. Unfortunately his management skills were dull as dishwater. Did he even last past Summerslam 88? Because he wasn't seen on TV or PPV after that. WWE did all they could to get the Powers uber-over, but it wasn't happening at all. Crowd still cheered for Demolition as if the world was going to end that night.

I think everyone needs spell check around here in fairness, including yourself, but hey, it rasslin after all

I only remember seeing the Baron once. As for the Demo's, i'm going on a 20 year memory here and literally hav'nt seen it since, but i remember being rather confused at the end of Survivor Series 88, i thought when Fuji turned on them that he was going face with the POP, not Az and Smash, and i'm pretty sure the crowd on the night thought that too and cheered for him? Remember him up on POP's shoulders milking it...

D-FENS

ShawnRaven wrote: »

she was great on the mic

I believe she was great on Sabu's "mic" anyway, and Bret's, and Shawns etc.

I do agree though about what she contributed to the industry as far as future women where concerned.

ShawnRaven

D-FENS wrote: »

I believe she was great on Sabu's "mic" anyway, and Bret's, and Shawns etc.

According to her shoot, she was with Shawn alright, but denies flat out anything happened with Bret. The flipside to that is that Bret gets uber-defensive on Beyond The Mat with the "to me, she's just a friend", which to me screams guilt right off the bat. And Bret was no doubt a player in his days on the road.

Just one of those things we'll never fully know, some people have secrets they'll take to the grave.

rovert

Sunny and Bret didnt do the business. The Sunny days comment was just made to get back at Sunny after Shawn and her broke up.

D-FENS

rovert wrote: »

Sunny and Bret didnt do the business. The Sunny days comment was just made to get back at Sunny after Shawn and her broke up.

I've haven’t read his book yet, fingers crossed for xmas, but I’ve heard he mentions adultery in it, does he say who if not Sunny (If it was even someone in the business)?

gimmick

Too many adulterous mentions to count. Random girl at every town it seems.

rovert

gimmick wrote: »

Too many adulterous mentions to count. Random girl at every town it seems.

Nah it wasnt really random girls from my understanding reading the book.

ShawnRaven

D-FENS wrote: »

I think everyone needs spell check around here in fairness, including yourself, but hey, it rasslin after all

Yeah we all f*ck it up at some stage or another (Calloway anyone?)

I only remember seeing the Baron once. As for the Demo's, i'm going on a 20 year memory here and literally hav'nt seen it since, but i remember being rather confused at the end of Survivor Series 88, i thought when Fuji turned on them that he was going face with the POP, not Az and Smash, and i'm pretty sure the crowd on the night thought that too and cheered for him? Remember him up on POP's shoulders milking it...

I watched an entire years worth of Wrestling Challenge TV from 88 a couple of years back and i didn't see him there either, maybe with the exception of recaps.

That double turn had to be done. I think the original plan was to build up the Powers as monster babyfaces and give them the straps from Demolition. That way Vince could say he built his own version of the Road Warriors and got away with it. Unfortunately for Vince, the Powers didn't get as over with the fans as they thought they would, and neither of them had the ring talent or mic skill of the Road Warriors, (although neither did Eadie or Darsow, but they had the presence to make up for it).

So when that experiment failed, he turned the Powers heel, and the Demos face because they were over with the crowd anyway (hell you can hear them cheering like crazy at Mania IV when they won the belts from Santana and Martel), and they had the tag belts. Powers still couldn't get over as heels, so they were pretty much relegated to Challenge tapings for the guts of 10 months after Wrestlemania V and then split when Fuji "sold" Barbarian to Heenan and Warlord to Slick "to fund" The Orient Express.

ShawnRaven

rovert wrote: »

Nah it wasnt really random girls from my understanding reading the book.

I've over halfway through it myself, it seems to be random girls from every town, usually the same girls in each town every time they came back unless he got sprung by his wife.

ShawnRaven

rovert wrote: »

Sunny and Bret didnt do the business. The Sunny days comment was just made to get back at Sunny after Shawn and her broke up.

Yeah, thats my understanding as well. Basically Sunny and Candido had a temporary split and Sunny had hooked up with Shawn. Shawn had bought a house and tried to get Sunny to be the live in lover. After the pair had settled on the interior design and everything, Sunny wanted to go back to Chris, which Shawn took pretty badly.

DinnyBatman

D-FENS wrote: »

I believe she was great on Sabu's "mic" anyway, and Bret's, and Shawns etc.

I do agree though about what she contributed to the industry as far as future women where concerned.

Bobby Heenan was great. Fair play to Sunny as well. She always got my attention when she cut her promos:p

rovert

ShawnRaven wrote: »

it seems to be random girls from every town, usually the same girls in each town every time they came back

How can the same girls in each town be random?

gimmick

They started off as random maybe?

ShawnRaven

rovert wrote: »

How can the same girls in each town be random?

He contacted the same girl when he went to random towns. I'm assuming I read the book.

Or are you just being a dick today because someone pissed in your cornflakes?

D-FENS

ShawnRaven wrote: »

Fuji "sold" Barbarian to Heenan and Warlord to Slick "to fund" The Orient Express.

Ah yes, the 80's transfer market, just one thing you'd miss from the lack of managers these days. Who could forget Heenan selling Herc the Jerk to DiBiase as a slave (And people give out about modern day soccer agents?!) or the bidding war for Bam Bam, brilliant stuff. I wonder was there a cut off window like in football?!

ShawnRaven

D-FENS wrote: »

Ah yes, the 80's transfer market, just one thing you'd miss from the lack of managers these days. Who could forget Heenan selling Herc the Jerk to DiBiase as a slave (And people give out about modern day soccer agents?!) or the bidding war for Bam Bam, brilliant stuff. I wonder was there a cut off window like in football?!

Hell they were still doing that til recent enough. Didn't Bischoff trade in Big Slow for Jericho, Lance Storm and Test during the first ever draft in 2002?

Loved all the managers back then . The Heenan Family (greatest stable??)

I would like to see Manager's back in wrestling again .

rovert

ShawnRaven wrote: »

He contacted the same girl when he went to random towns. I'm assuming I read the book.

You know I read the book as I helped to encourage you read it. If he contracted the same girl how can she be random as they were already pre-selected? That was my question.

ShawnRaven wrote: »

Or are you just being a dick today because someone pissed in your cornflakes?

That was unwarranted

ShawnRaven

rovert wrote: »

You know I read the book as I helped to encourage you read it. If he contracted the same girl how can she be random as they were already pre-selected? That was my question.

I didn't need encouragement to read it dude, i just needed the time. I had already started reading it before you even surfaced here! And you knew exactly what i meant rovert, you're being awkward.

That was unwarranted

No it wasn't, you derailed the Rock/Jarrett thread by bring up topics that were already buried, and now you're being a complete ass over something you knew damn well what i meant. You're out of order on both counts rovert, and you know it.

gimmick

How exactly did the bidding war for Bam Bam finish. I remember every week on Superstars anothe rmanager would be darkened out to say he was out of the running, but cannot remember how it ended up.

ShawnRaven

gimmick wrote: »

How exactly did the bidding war for Bam Bam finish. I remember every week on Superstars anothe rmanager would be darkened out to say he was out of the running, but cannot remember how it ended up.

Slick came out and claimed he was Bam Bam's manager and announced Bam Bam, but when Bigelow came out he declared he wasn't, sent Slick flying to the Floor and announced that his manager was Oliver Humperdink.

D-FENS

ShawnRaven wrote: »

Hell they were still doing that til recent enough. Didn't Bischoff trade in Big Slow for Jericho, Lance Storm and Test during the first ever draft in 2002?

Ah yeah, but not really the same, all that official GM's / Draft stuff (Although it was funny when Booker T & the Dudleys = HHH in ‘04) , I’m talking briefcases and golden handshakes behind the steroid vending machine!

rovert

ShawnRaven wrote: »

I didn't need encouragement to read it dude, i just needed the time. I had already started reading it before you even surfaced here!

I know that but Im not got to look up old posts you stopped reading for a long while and I did encourage to finish it.

ShawnRaven wrote: »

And you knew exactly what i meant rovert, you're being awkward. No it wasn't, you derailed the Rock/Jarrett thread by bring up topics that were already buried, and now you're being a complete ass over something you knew damn well what i meant. You're out of order on both counts rovert, and you know it.

Im just saying your post was confusing. What burried topics did I bring up in the Rock/Jarrett thread exactly?

ShawnRaven

I'm not gonna repeat myself rovert. Go back a few posts if you really want to know.
Now if you'll excuse me, i gotta try and help get this back on topic.

ShawnRaven

D-FENS wrote: »

Ah yeah, but not really the same, all that official GM's / Draft stuff (Although it was funny when Booker T & the Dudleys = HHH in ‘04) , I’m talking briefcases and golden handshakes behind the steroid vending machine!

Ah no, but i was just comparing it to the transfer market example you had made a few posts back.

rovert

ShawnRaven wrote: »

Now if you'll excuse me, i gotta try and help get this back on topic.

Then just answer "What burried topics did I bring up in the Rock/Jarrett thread exactly?" post #40 either in here or the Rock/Jarrett.

D-FENS

ShawnRaven wrote: »

Slick came out and claimed he was Bam Bam's manager and announced Bam Bam, but when Bigelow came out he declared he wasn't, sent Slick flying to the Floor and announced that his manager was Oliver Humperdink.

Brilliantly done way to build up a new guy (I remember Jesse Ventura every week, breaking the news to the likes of Johnny V and Heenan that they were unsuccessful, classic), really made people sit up and take notice of Bam Bam (Vince obviously had high hopes for him with a start like that, he even outstayed Hogan in Survivor Series that year) it was a pity his 1st run in WWF was cut short by injury.

ShawnRaven

D-FENS wrote: »

Brilliantly done way to build up a new guy (I remember Jesse Ventura every week, breaking the news to the likes of Johnny V and Heenan that they were unsuccessful, classic), really made people sit up and take notice of Bam Bam (Vince obviously had high hopes for him with a start like that, he even outstayed Hogan in Survivor Series that year) it was a pity his 1st run in WWF was cut short by injury.

I always wondered why his first run was cut so short. I had heard that he had pissed off the office in some way back then, of course that was on a thread in the deathvalleydriver forums so that was taken with a truckload of salt.

Actually watched that buildup about six months ago when i sifted through Superstars 87. That and the Savage/Steamboat storyline were the highlights of that year. That was another one where they had everyone on the edge of their seat, as to who was gonna manage him. He had everyone queuing up to manage him, only for him to bring his wife out. Priceless.

krudler

rovert wrote: »

Then just answer "What burried topics did I bring up in the Rock/Jarrett thread exactly?" post #40 either in here or the Rock/Jarrett.

for christs sake:rolleyes:

Sherri Martel was a cool manager too, had a good run of partnerships with solid workers

Handsome Bob

From what I've seen going back on DVDs- The Brain. From what I can remember myself, Cornette.

chopperbyrne

"The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart.

That megaphone was quality! "Come on baby!"

Vince135792003

My favourite male manager is Bobby Heenan and my favourite female manager would be Sherri Martel.

brick tamland

Jimmy Hart for me, up until they turned him face, when i think IRS smashed Brutus Beefcake in his injured face with a briefcase

was never a fan of face managers.


I'm trying to remember but was it the case in the late 80s that all heels had managers. From what i remember most of the major heels had managers, maybe they all did

Red Sleeping Beauty

ShawnRaven wrote: »

Haaaaah! His WWE stuff from that era was nothing compared to his 80s NWA stuff! Especially with the Fantastics and the MX. Although his weekly semi-shoot promos on RAW in 1997 were gold.

"Bret Hart is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, but if he’d have been screwed as many times as he claims, he’d have struck oil by now"

... and that was BEFORE Montreal, folks.
AWESOME!

Was the Bret/screwed thing early '97 between RR and Mania ?


Never saw Cornette's NWA stuff . Remember his santa tennis racket :pac:

ShawnRaven wrote: »

According to her shoot, she was with Shawn alright, but denies flat out anything happened with Bret. The flipside to that is that Bret gets uber-defensive on Beyond The Mat with the "to me, she's just a friend", which to me screams guilt right off the bat. And Bret was no doubt a player in his days on the road.

Just one of those things we'll never fully know, some people have secrets they'll take to the grave.

Was Bret was in Beyond the Mat ?

State of Hart's wife back then anyway.

brick tamland wrote: »

Jimmy Hart for me, up until they turned him face, when i think IRS smashed Brutus Beefcake in his injured face with a briefcase

Ah yes, setting Mega Maniacs vs. Money Inc. snoooooze

brick tamland wrote: »

was never a fan of face managers.

Jose Lothario anyone ?