Thoughts From Ringside…

Manangers Matter.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013 saw the death of one of the greatest managers in professional wrestling history, William Moody, aka. Percy Pringle III, aka. Paul Bearer.

For the duration of this column, I will refer to Mr. Moody as Paul Bearer. This isn’t in disrespect for his real name, it’s just how he had connected with me the most throughout the last 20 years, as this character.

As I saw the news drop on Twitter Tuesday night and then began writing the news article reporting the story here on WrestlingRumors.net, I began to think about Paul and what he meant to the WWE during the 90’s. Then, I started thinking about what he meant to the character of The Undertaker, especially in his formative years. Then I just thought about how awesome he was at what he did (he will go down as one of the greatest on ANYONE’s top 10 list. Period.). I started thinking about managers in general: how they once were and how they are now, and I came to an ultimate thought that I want to share with you today.

Managers matter.

A couple of weeks ago, I said that it was Razor Ramon and The Undertaker’s characters that got me into professional wrestling. While this is certainly true, an important part of who The Undertaker was back then came from the excellent mic work and presence of Paul Bearer. The funeral parlor promos with Bearer doing 90% of the talking for ‘Taker was one of the creepiest things my 7 year old brain had ever been exposed too. It was amazing “character acting” though by Paul. He knew how much to give and how much to take as the mouthpiece/support system for whatever wrestler he was being paired with. This is the mark of an amazing managerial talent.

Why are managers important Doug? We don’t see a lot of them today. Why do they matter?

I’m glad you asked. I’ll explain. You see, even from the start of professional wrestling’s popularity growth in the 1970’s-80’s, the promotions understood that some of their best athletes had very little charisma. Some of the best “bodies” in the business could not speak. At all. They’d fumble over their words (sometimes in broken english…like Andre would) and never could get “over” completely because of their lack of connection verbally with the crowds. Here’s where the manager comes in. The manager becomes the mouthpiece for the “body” that can’t show charisma on his own, and NOW you have a complete package. The superstar AND the manager get over because the manager is providing the emotional/verbal connection with the fans while physical connection belongs to the superstar.

Managers like Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, Jim Cornette, Jimmy Hart, Sensational Sherri, “Classy” Freddie Blassie, J.J. Dillon, and Paul Bearer himself provided the most excellent of mouthpieces for superstars that were either just starting out in the business or that struggled with charisma. Stars like Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Randy Savage, The Undertaker, Kane, The Four Horsemen, Curt Henning, Shawn Michaels, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Rick Rude, and Jesse “The Body” Ventura all had managers at some point in their career. Some of them ALWAYS had a manager, because they lacked the “voice” to get over.

Managers like Paul Bearer, Blassie, Heenan, and Cornette would connect with the fans so greatly, that they would sometimes overshadow the wrestlers that they were managing. Whether face or heel, these guys would get such a response from the crowd, that even without a wrestler by their sides they were superstars themselves. It just goes to show how crucial having guys like that is to your brand. They are the blueprints for anyone that wants to be a manager in the wrestling business. Not many other men or women could garner such love or hate from the fans AND be able to transfer those emotions to the wrestlers they managed quite like these guys. Thankfully, the WWE is realizing the need for such mouthpieces again, and it appears that the “wrestling manager” might be seeing a resurgence.

Paul Heyman (who has been managing superstars for over 20 years) is STILL doing his job and being one of the most captivating managers in wrestling history. He manages both Brock Lesnar (who needs a mouthpiece), and CM Punk (who doesn’t NEED a mouthpiece, but can garner much better heel heat with Heyman by his side).  It’s been awesome getting to see Heyman on television each and every week. He always has known how to get whatever response he wants from the fans, and I’ll always enjoy watching him do so.

“Dirty” Dutch Mantel is back in a managerial role as well. This time, he’s “Zeb Coulter,” and attached to Jack Swagger, who has been in dyer need of a manager since he started. I love the amount of emotion and controversy he getting already in his 4 week tenure with Swagger and their “new America” story line. He continues to prove that managers matter because if you would have told me a year ago that Jack Swagger would be in a World Heavyweight title picture at WrestleMania 29, I would have told you to shut up, would have called him “Jack S’WASTER,” and checked out of that title’s program completely. However, I am digging Swagger’s new character now that he has Coulter as his mouthpiece. I am interested in (if not looking forward to) their promos each week, and this definitely is proof that managers matter.

There are plenty of other wrestlers in the WWE and Impact Wrestling that need managers. Antonio Cesaro stands out to me as someone that could benefit from an outstanding mouthpiece, and the WWE just needs to bring managers in for guys like this. Talent is a dime a dozen on the roster right now, but not many guys are over. I believe if they can get an influx of new and productive managers, we could see more of these guys becoming superstars instead of being released due to their lack of getting over.

Managers matter for the benefit of certain superstars that need them, which will in turn hopefully get them over and create new superstars, which will help grow and better the product.

Managers matter.

 

 

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