I think we get one of our wishes, www.ROHwrestling.com says that Bobby Heenan will return to managing. Yet again, ROH is becoming the greatest wrestling company ever in the US!
Kevin Sullivan doesn't get enough love for his Varsity Club days. I have always thought the "Games/Task Master" image was too original and too strange not to love. I only now realize what the character is, though: some type of freaky Animal House fraternity ceremony person.
Originally posted by Aldo D 2112I doubt that even Jim Cornette's expertise could make Jackie Gayda watchable.
I can think of a few things that would make Jackie Gayda much more watchable, but I can assure you that it's not anything that you will be seeing on a basic cable station anytime soon.
Back to the topic at hand, errr, being discussed, I think one of the problems with bringing back ringside managers is that heel/face turns seem to happen much more frequently now than they did, say, twenty-thirty years ago (of course, I could be wrong on this point, as it is just based on my own personal observations). Now, back in the WWWF/WWF of the 1970's and the early 1980's, if you were a heel wrestler and you were above the rank of jobber, you had a manager (with very rare exceptions). Turning face meant dropping your manager (often literally). Turning heel meant joining a manager's stable. IMHO if you were to try to do that today with the much more frequent face/heel turns, you would leave a lot of fans very confused as to which wrestlers were in which manager's stable.
Another problem I would see with trying to bring back ringside managers is that most of today's top heels simply don't need them; the manager would be excess baggage in their programs. Yes, I know that you could bring back managers without having every (or even most) heel wrestlers assigned to one, but IMHO if all the heel title holders don't need a manager, then why in storyline terms does anyone else? Or, to put it another way, if a manager isn't managing any existing or former title holders in his stable, then where does his legitimacy as a good manager come from?
Mind you, I'm not arguing against bringing ringside managers back into wrestling; rather the point I'm trying to make is that if you are going to have ringside managers, you will need to make other adjustments to today's wrestling programs in order for them to be effective. At least, that's my opinion.
But I'd have to say that where managers are most needed is the tag team divisions. Right now, Evolution is involved in that overaraching storyline involving the tag belts, but in a lot of ways, this was due to a lack of faith in Jindrak & Cade, who it appeared were turning heel and making a run for the titles. Yet, the fans didn't pick up any resultant interest, and it appears the turn/push was scrapped. A manager, one who's adept at drawing heat, as well as cheating for his/her team, would be important in the development of the team. (Compare the different positions of Jindrak/Cade and the Basham Brothers for an illustration of the difference a manager can make.)
The kayfabe rationale of a manager is that he assists his clients in the out-of-ring aspects of being a wrestler, as well, as sometimes playing the role of coach/strategist for in-ring situations. In tag team wrestling, team strategy CAN be enhanced by the addition of a manager. One can imagine that like athletes in other sports, wrestlers study their craft, practicing moves, studying videotape on their upcoming and potential opponents, and train. A manager, especially one with more wrestling experience than his/her charges, can offer valuable insight, as well as assist with the aforementioned preparation tactics.
In addition, in the kayfabe universe, the manager is the certified representative of the person or people he represents. Thus, the manager can sign a match on behalf of a tag team he manages, or agree to stipulations. Legally, he is what's known as an agent with express or apparent authority. This is important in the case of the Big Dumb Hoss, who isn't expected to be able to take full advantage of the backstage politics that goes into the signing of matches on RAW and Smackdown, and were it not for his manager, might be relegated to Heat or Velocity. If a guy like John Heidenreich had a manager, the manager could schmooze with Bischoff, and get an Intercontinental Title shot, whereas Heidenreich might not ever get one, on his own merits.
In modern times, I think fans understand that wrestlers make money through various non-wrestling means, such as appearing in movies and television, or on commercials. A manager would be the guy brokering these deals. The manager would also sometimes own the legal rights to team names and catchphrases, and thus, would be able to develop marketing devices (e.g. T-shirts) to enrich his clients even further, as well as to develop a following that ensures his clients will remain in high-profile matches. These are all important roles that a manager CAN play, and the plausible explanation for why everyone doesn't have one is because not everyone wants to pay one. A manager, I'd imagine, earns a percentage of what his wrestler client earns, and depending on the deal he signs, that might be a substantial amount.
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Right now, I think there are a few people under contract that could benefit from a manager. These candidates are:
1. Rob Van Dam, if he were to ever explore a heel turn, could fall under the spell of a slick-talking figure who explains that he is stagnating because of his lack of killer instinct and proper representation. Under the guidance of The Manager, he could make millions off "RVD" merchandise. He can also stop pandering to fans by befriending their favorites; for Rob Van Dam to be successful, he has to rediscover the cocky swagger that made him the Whole F'n Show or Mr. Monday Night. Also somebody's gotta toss the chair for the Van Daminator.
2. Scott Steiner - Yes, I know he is capable on the mic, but recently, he has been creatively stagnant and directionless. In order to take his character in a bold new direction, taking on a manager would assist him in articulating that this was a "New and Improved Scott Steiner." That, coupled with a moderate push, would put Steiner back in the main events, or near them.
3. John Heidenreich - Somethings gotta explain the sudden heel turn. And hey, if we're lucky, he'll explain who "Little Johnny" was...
4. Tajiri & the Triad - Yes, I understand that Tajiri is more than capable of conveying emotion in the ring, but no one here can tell me that if he had a guy giving promos in English, he wouldn't be helped. I mean, he has the in-ring chops to be a legitimate contender for both the Cruiserweight Title and the U.S. Title, but he is constantly held back by not having a voice backstage. And now, with a quasi-Yakuza backing him, he really would benefit by having the evil organization that is his benefactor have a voice as well. All it would take is a guy in a suit who represents "business interests" back in Japan.
I agree, I was actually thinking earlier that Van Dam and Steiner would most benefit from a manager.
Theoretically, RVD getting a heel manager would be great, but in practice, no matter how heelish the manager is, the fans would cheer Van Dam. It's not even the fans' fault. RVD is just a terrible heel. And him getting a manager while face is 'eh'. A light did go off in my head, though, that a heel RVD being led by Flair would be *awesome*.
As for Steiner, I would mark out like all hell if Teddy Long became his manager. If I were WWE creative, I would tell Long and Steiner to go fill up seven minutes of promo time and let them loose. It would be comedic gold.
Originally posted by madiq4. Tajiri & the Triad - Yes, I understand that Tajiri is more than capable of conveying emotion in the ring, but no one here can tell me that if he had a guy giving promos in English, he wouldn't be helped. I mean, he has the in-ring chops to be a legitimate contender for both the Cruiserweight Title and the U.S. Title, but he is constantly held back by not having a voice backstage. And now, with a quasi-Yakuza backing him, he really would benefit by having the evil organization that is his benefactor have a voice as well. All it would take is a guy in a suit who represents "business interests" back in Japan.
Of the guys madiq mentioned, I fervently (or fervidly -- whatever) agree that a manager would be great for Tajiri & his guys. The idea of a representative of interests back home is very interesting, & could even be expanded to leverage a little (eventual) tension between Tajiri vs. the manager. I like that a lot.
To me, Steiner & RVD wouldn't benefit from managers. Steiner has been a solo star in the past, got a shot at that level again, & just wasn't able to produce. (Whether his skills have fallen off, or his schtick has gotten old, or he's lost his edge, or whatever -- it is what it is.) RVD, while better than Steiner, is also pretty much already working at his max, & is respectably over with a healthy amount of fanbase. I never saw him play heel, but I can't imagine it. His whole character is "Hey, whatever, dude." How can that personality care enough to be eeeee-vil? I would imagine that turning him would entail a major risk, & can't see what the real benefit would be.
With Heidenreich & Jordan, you're looking at "kids". That's tricky. I'm inclined to think that the plan with them (& with some of the other newbies) is to get them some experience & visibility, make sure that they're really "ready", & see if they happen to catch on on their own. That's sort of what happened with Cena -- just hanging out being a jobber, til the infamous Halloween party when the rapper gimmick came out & caught fire. Shelton Benjamin was just floating with Bull Buchannan for a while -- if they'd forced a manager & a push on them, they'd have sunk together, & we wouldn't have WGTT today. With Brock, they knew that they had an entity that they wanted to push very hard, very fast, so they immediately paired him with Heyman for his big push. That's got to be the exception rather than the rule though.
Same kind of thing for Jindrak & Cade, although they're some getting higher profile stuff. You could put a good manager with them, & they'd definitely move up. However, the E still seems to be playing with "tuning" them, so until the E is sure what direction they want to go with the boys, it's probably best to let them float. Having just come up, there's time to let them find something that's going to really work for them long-term.
Maybe they're holding open some manager slots for Regal & Nowinski, eh? (Either one of them speaking Japnese with Tajiri's crew would be great.)