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Without a lot of managers throughout wrestling's history, a lot of pro wrestlers wouldn't have been as effective in either a heel or face capacity. They were just as important, and sometimes more important, as the wrestler him/herself.
Managers were necessary for wrestlers who either couldn't speak English or those who just weren't too good speaking in front of a crowd. They were either heat magnets or potential 'damsels in distress' for their clients to save.
From the 1970s to the late 1990s, we were in the golden age of managers in pro wrestling. Almost every act had one in the '70s and '80s. Nowadays, there are very few managers in the WWE. Currently, Paul Heyman, Maria Kanellis, Drake Maverick and Lana are the main managers/valets in WWE.
Outside of Heyman, the others offer very little in terms of managerial capacity. Since the lack of managers is evident in WWE and across wrestling as a whole, the 10 managers listed here are the 10 of the greatest of all time.
#10 Paul Ellering
Fans who have seen Ellering in NXT might not know that he was at first a pro wrestler himself, known as 'Precious' Paul Ellering. He was a muscle-bound pretty boy who constantly flexed.
Once his in-ring career was mainly over, he shifted focus to managerial duties. And with those duties, he ended up managing one of the most iconic tag teams in pro wrestling history, the Road Warriors or the Legion of Doom.
The Road Warriors became a team after the success of the Mad Max movie franchise. They'd come to the ring dressed in mohawks, face paint and spiked shoulder pads. They were truly an intimidating sight to behold when they made their way to the ring.
Their finishing move, 'the Doomsday Device', was just as intimidating as it was dangerous (a top-rope clothesline to an opponent hoisted on a Animal's shoulders). Ellering helped sell their dominance much like he did recently for the Authors of Pain. The Road Warriors were much more well-versed on the mic than AOP but Ellering was key in most of their feuds.
One of their main feuds included Nikita Koloff and Dusty Rhodes against the Horsemen in a WarGames match. Ellering also led them in feuds against the Midnight Express and the Fabulous Freebirds.
His run as manager of AOP helped get them over as monster heels in NXT. He led them to the NXT Tag Titles following the Book of Pain. They eventually ditched him but it was quickly apparent that they were better with a mouthpiece, hence the pairing with the diminutive Drake Maverick.
#9: The Grand Wizard
The Grand Wizard moniker might give some the wrong idea behind why Roth chose this as his name. Born Ernie Roth to a Jewish family, Roth used the name as a middle finger to the white supremacist KKK who usually used the name for its top leader.
While using the name, Roth became the manager for The Sheik, one of the wrestlers who helped to pioneer aspects of hardcore wrestling. His matches were often bloody, and the Grand Wizard would often interfere in matches and belittle US fans. The Sheik is also the real-life uncle of Sabu.
This garnered massive heat as racial and political tensions were at supreme levels when Roth was active as a manager. His flashy and flamboyant attire of a sparkled turban, sunglasses, and colorful (sometimes bedazzled) jackets helped push his heel persona against pro-USA crowds early in his tenure as a manager.
When he joined the WWWF, he started using the Wizard name but kept the ring attire. Under his tutelage, he guided Mr. Fuji and Toru Tanaka to two reigns as WWWF Tag Team champions.
He also led Stan Stasiak to a WWWF World Title win over Pedro Morales and later 'Superstar' Billy Graham to a title victory over industry icon Bruno Sammartino. Greg Valentine, Don Muraco, Ken Patera, Ox Baker, Ernie Ladd and Sgt. Slaughter also were under the Wizard's guidance at one point.
In 1980, he led Pat Patterson to become the first-ever Intercontinental Champion in WWE history. The Grand Wizard's impact wasn't just in the ring but as a figure in pop culture and pro wrestling who stood up to hate groups like the KKK.
It was a bold move during the infancy stages of the business and for that reason alone is one of the top managers of all time.
#8: Captain Lou Albano
Captain Lou Albano was one of the managers associated with the Rock N Wrestling era of the 1980s in WWF. Like the Grand Wizard, Albano was known for his flashy, colorful clothing and odd appearance of goatee and facial piercings.
Not many people in mainstream society had elastics hanging off of their piercings, but Albano wore them with pride. He was loud and entertaining but not as composed in promos as someone like Paul Heyman.
He started as a manager in the 1970s leading Ivan Koloff to the shock title victory over Bruno Sammartino, a victory that ended Sammartino's seven-year reign as WWWF Champion. He also guided Don Muraco and Greg Valentine to Intercontinental Title reigns but might be most well-known to those born after 1980 as the manager of the Wild Samoans, Afa, and Sika.
Under his tutelage, Wikipedia states that he led teams to 15 tag team title reigns. He managed teams like the Valiant Brothers, the Blackjacks, the Moondogs, the British Bulldogs, the U.S. Express and the Wild Samoans.
Also during the mid-'80s, Albano managed fan favorite George 'the Animal' Steele and Andre the Giant at various points of each wrestler's careers. Since he was such a larger than life character, he was a perfect fit in the burgeoning music video television boom that started in the early 1980s.
He appeared as Cindy Lauper's dad in her video for 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' as well as playing and voicing Mario in the Super Mario Bros. Super Show. Albano also had roles in Lauper's music videos for 'She Bop' and 'the Goonies R Good Enough' and 'Time After Time'.
Those were practically most of Lauper's hits, save for True Colors. If that wasn't an impact outside of the wrestling ring, I don't know what is. Vince must have loved it.
#7: Miss Elizabeth
If you watched wrestling in the 1980s and 1990s and were a young boy, chances are you had a crush on Miss Elizabeth. She was the real-life girlfriend and eventually wife of 'Macho Man' Randy Savage and that relationship carried over to the ring.
The two were often dressed in flashy robes and dresses as they walked to the ring. Rarely was the Macho Man seen without Miss Elizabeth in the WWE. She was one of the first valets in the WWE and set the stage for those who would come after her like Sunny, Sable and many others.
She seldom spoke but didn't need to. She was even involved in one of the biggest storylines in wrestling history when the Mega Powers 'exploded'. Savage and Hulk Hogan had been battling together as friends against the Million Dollar Man and Zeus.
They'd tag together and had a match culminating at Summerslam in 1988. After that, the two had a title match at Wrestlemania 5 for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, won by Hogan.
Hogan held the belt until losing it the next Wrestlemania to the Ultimate Warrior. When Savage lost to Hogan, he dropped Elizabeth as a valet, instead partnering with Sensational Sherri.
Macho Man would go on to become the Macho King, but after he lost a retirement match to the Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania 7, Elizabeth came to his aid after Sherri attacked Savage for losing.
She was also involved in another huge angle when Macho Man 'proposed' to her in the middle of the ring. She accepted and the two had an in-ring wedding. It was interrupted, however by Jake 'the Snake' Roberts.
The visage of a snake biting a helpless Savage tied up in the ropes was truly a startling sight to behold for fans all around the world.
Elizabeth eventually went to WCW and was a valet for the NWO and Lex Luger. Unfortunately, her partnership with Luger outside of the ring led to her death in May 2003 at the age of 43.
#6: Paul Bearer
He might have seemed like a goofy, over the top personality to some wrestling fans, but Bearer was so much more than a faux mortician. His facial mannerisms helped to up the creepy aura for himself and the Undertaker.
But even before he managed the Undertaker, he was in the corner of such legendary wrestlers as Rick Rude, Steve Austin, the Ultimate Warrior and Lex Luger, often in USWA. Before his run as a manager, he earned a legitimate degree in mortuary science and a certification in embalming and mortuary practices.
So it wasn't a big stretch for Bearer, real name William Moody, to portray one in the WWE. Bearer's main notoriety came as the manager of the Undertaker and his carrying of an urn often signified the ghastly pursuits of the afterlife.
Bearer also was key in the introduction of Kane, the Undertaker's kayfabe brother, to the WWE. He would lead Kane and even Mankind in feuds against the Undertaker, often in feuds that culminated with Casket matches, Buried Alive matches or Hell in a Cell matches.
Later in his career, Bearer was used as a hostage in Edge's title feud with the Undertaker and more controversially, in the Undertaker's Wrestlemania feud with CM Punk. Moody had died in March 2013, a month before their Wrestlemania match.
In the feud, Punk stole the urn but Paul Heyman dressed up as Bearer, complete with full makeup. It didn't sit well with some fans and was thought to be in poor taste with Moody's passing occurring just a month prior.
The Undertaker's aura wouldn't have been totally complete without Paul Bearer by his side during most of his career. For his accomplishments and contributions to the sport, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2014. Ohhh Yesssss!!!
#5: Jimmy Hart
Is there a more annoying way to anger fans than with a megaphone like Jimmy Hart used? 'The Mouth of the South' was always accompanied by his megaphone and his musical-inspired suits.
His suits were a reflection of the Mouth's talent outside of the ring as a musician both before, during and after his managerial career. Before Hart even stepped in the wrestling ring, he was involved in the music industry as a teenage vocalist for the band the Gentrys.
He was loud, brash and easy to hate - the true sign of a great heel manager. He initially knew Jerry Lawler due to the pair attending the same high school in Memphis and because of this relationship, Lawler got Hart into the wrestling business.
In Memphis wrestling, he led a stable that included future stars King Kong Bundy, Rick Rude, Jim Neidhart, Randy Savage and the Iron Sheik. His main impact came in the then WWF when he managed the Hart Foundation to the tag titles as well as Greg Valentine to the Intercontinental Title.
He also served as manager for the Fabulous Rogeaus, Dino Bravo, the Honky Tonk Man, the Nasty Boys, the Natural Disasters and the Mountie. Hart turned face in 1993 after saving Brutus Beefcake from a vicious attack from previous clients, Money Inc., composed of IRS (Mike Rotunda) and Ted Dibiase.
In that change, he would be linked to Hulk Hogan, in one way or another, for the rest of his managerial career. He led Hogan to his first WCW Championship but also turned on Hogan to lead the Dungeon of Doom stable.
Even though he turned on Hogan, the two were often paired together in WCW and often wore Hulk's signature red and yellow.
#4: Jim Cornette
Jim Cornette is a well known nowadays for both being a great manager and an outspoken wrestling personality. Cornette always brought one of his signature tennis rackets to the ring and would often use the rackets to attack his clients' opponents.
His gimmick of a spoiled rich kid manager was easy to hate for a lot of the hard-working, blue-collar audiences in front of which the wrestlers performed. He was loud and obnoxious and often interfered in his clients' matches.
His start occurred in the south and took steam when he started to manage the Midnight Express, consisting of Dennis Condrey and Bobby Eaton. Stan Lane would later replace Condrey in later versions of the express.
His earliest feud was against the Rock N Roll Express. There were never enough teams with the word 'Express' attached to their names in the 1980s. His fame grew when he managed Lane and Eaton in NWA/WCW and he gained even more notoriety when he went to WWF.
Prior to moving to WWF, Cornette started Smoky Mountain Wrestling and eventually would become the American advocate for WWF Champion Yokozuna. During this tenure, he also led a faction, Camp Cornette, that included Owen Hart, Vader, and the British Bulldog.
He also led a version of the Heavenly Bodies but it wasn't as successful as his other clients. Cornette would later become part owner of OVW, the one-time developmental territory of WWE.
During his tenure, WWE signed John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista, and Brock Lesnar. After cutting ties with WWE, Cornette had a stint in TNA and ROH but eventually departed both promotions due to inability to get along with many in charge backstage.
He has famously had verbal feuds with Vince Russo and opposed the SCUM faction during his time in ROH. He recently made controversial comments over the last few years when he said Kenny Omega wasn't that great of a pro wrestler.
I think Omega got the last laugh in that feud with his entire NJPW career.
#3: 'Classy' Freddie Blassie
Blassie was before my time but I still remember him during his WWE appearances throughout his life. Blassie was an active wrestler until the mid-1970s and even challenged then WWWF Champions Bruno Sammartino and Pedro Morales.
His managerial career began in the mid-1970s and he also represented Muhammad Ali when Ali fought Antonio Inoki is the famed 'Boxer vs. Wrestler' match in 1976. His fame included calling all of the pro wrestling fans and pundits 'Pencil-Necked Geeks.' His loud and brash rants belittling the fans made him an easy heel to hate as did his use of a cane as a weapon against opponents.
His notable clients included the Iron Sheik, whom he guided to the WWF Championship in 1983 with a victory over Bob Backlund. Prior to managing the Iron Sheik, Blassie managed a debuting wrestler named Hulk Hogan in 1979.
After the iron Sheik lost his championship, he managed the anti-American tag team of the Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff to two reigns as WWF Tag Team champions. The first was at the very first Wrestlemania when Blassie threw his famous cane into the ring for his charges to use against then champions the U.S. Express (Mike Rotunda and Barry Windham).
He was also instrumental in introducing another manager, Slick, to the pro wrestling masses. As he was trying to phase himself out of active duty with the WWF, he revealed that he had sold his clients, mainly the Sheik and Volkoff to a mystery man.
The man turned out to be the stylish Slick, one of the first African-American managers in mainstream pro wrestling. Blassie was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1994.
#2: Paul Heyman
Before he introduced himself to the WWE fans as the advocate for the reigning, defending undisputed Universal Champion, Brock Lesnar, Heyman was making his mark on pro wrestling in different ways.
Heyman was previously known as Paul E. Dangerously and made his mark in his stint in WCW. He originally portrayed the quintessential '80s New York yuppie complete with oversized cell phone.
Like many of the managers before and after him, it was often used as a means to lead his clients to wins after using it to attack opponents. Dangerously initially helped create the Dangerous Alliance, a faction including Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, Larry Zbyszko, Bobby Eaton, Arn Anderson and Madusa.
It was a play on the Four Horsemen but was a stable of five of the top heels in WCW at the time. Like most of the heel managers before him, Dangerously would loudly and boastfully promote his wrestlers as the best in the world and unbeatable.
He would later leave WCW and become lead booker in NWA affiliated Eastern Championship Wrestling in Philadelphia. Children of the 90s would later know those three initials to be associated with another newer, brasher promotion, ECW.
Heyman helped change Eastern Championship Wrestling into Extreme Championship Wrestling. From 1993-2001, Heyman was booker and owner of the upstart promotion and was seen as an alternative to the two mainstream promotions at the time, WWF and WCW.
ECW's hardcore nature and near R-rated storylines pushed the envelope in terms of violence and explicit nature. Without Heyman's ECW, wrestlers like RVD, Sabu, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Steve Austin, Mick Foley, Raven, and Tommy Dreamer might not have achieved the level of success in the business that they did.
After ECW folded in 2001, Heyman became known for his role in the WCW/ECW Invasion storyline as well as becoming the advocate for the Next Big Thing, Brock Lesnar. He would lead the Beast to an early title run and would hold numerous announcing, booking and managerial roles within WWE.
His time in each promotion helped prove why he was one of the best mic workers in the history of professional wrestling. Without his mastery of words, several feuds wouldn't have had the luster that they have had (Roman vs. Brock, Undertaker vs. CM Punk, Brock vs. Triple H, CM Punk vs. John Cena).
Heyman is one of the last true managers left in pro wrestling and WWE should look to create more in his mold to manage faltering acts or those not well-versed on the mic. In short, pro wrestling wouldn't be where it is today without the man who often says 'I'm just an advocate!"
#1: Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
Bobby 'the Brain' Heenan was an extremely gifted performer. He made it so easy to hate him when he was on commentary and when he was ringside during matches.
He did have a career as a wrestler, but he made his mark as a despicable heel manager throughout the 1980s and 1990s in WWF. Heenan originally was a wrestler in AWA and Georgia Championship Wrestling, but he became best known when he entered the WWF in 1984.
He initially managed Big John Studd against Andre the Giant at the first Wrestlemania, but his Heenan Family would include several famous wrestlers at various points of the stable's shelf life.
Wrestlers like Studd, Andre, Rick Rude, Ken Patera, King Kong Bundy, Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff, the Brain Busters (Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard) and the Islanders (Haku and Tama) were all members of the stable at one point.
He usually interfered in his client's matches and but often got his comeuppance when faces like Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan, the Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage got their hands on the Brain. One of the most notable matches in which he interfered was when he held the Ultimate Warriors' legs down so that Rick Rude could pin the Warrior for a three count. It gave Rude and Heenan the Intercontinental Title.
He would also later lead the Brain Busters and the Colossal Connection (Haku and Andre) to runs as tag team champions. He gained even more heat as the infamous 'heel commentator' when he would champion Ric Flair during Flair's tenure in WWF.
He'd often mention on commentary that 'You have to be fair to Flair' and he would accompany Flair and Mr. Perfect to the ring. Often on commentary, he'd champion the villainous heels while running down the faces. The interactions between him and Gorilla Monsoon were often as entertaining as the matches they were calling.
He later left WWF and joined WCW for commentary duties in 1994. One of his most famous moments came when Hulk Hogan returned to WCW in 1996 to presumably help the face team of Sting, Lex Luger, and Macho Man Randy Savage.
As history would have it, Hogan would turn on the faces and his former friend to help create the NWO. Heenan famously shouted 'Whose side is he on?' as Hogan walked to the ring.
Heenan left WCW in 2000 and the company went on to be purchased by WWE a year later. During his time away from the ring in 2001, he announced that he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2002.
During his battle, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004. His deterioration was sad to watch in photos as he would lose parts of his jaw. He kept his spirits up, however, as he often attended conventions and willfully took pictures with colleagues and friends throughout his battle with throat cancer. He battled the disease until his death in 2017 due to complications and organ failure caused by cancer.
He truly was an inspirational person in and out of the ring and as he battled his cancer for almost 15 years.
Honorable mentions
J.J. Dillon had a short managerial career, but it was a career made by one faction: the Four Horsemen.
From 1985-1989, Dillon would manage the legendary faction to numerous world titles and tag team titles.
He was often ringside for some of the biggest feuds of the decade against the likes of Sting, Lex Luger, Dusty Rhodes and the Road Warriors.
Sensational Sherri was originally a women's wrestler. But during the time she was active, women's wrestling wasn't nearly as popular as it is today. She wrestled in the AWA and WWF but is most memorable for being a heel manager for the likes of Macho King Randy Savage and Ted Dibiase from 1989-1992.
She often opposed Miss Elizabeth in her feuds. When she left for WCW, she ended up managing the legendary Ric Flair and a young upstart tag team known as Harlem Heat.
Harlem Heat was a revolutionary tag team at the time and Sherri led them to seven championship reigns. Unfortunately, she passed away in 2007 due to a drug overdose.
Gary Hart wasn't as well known as guys like Bobby Heenan and Jim Cornette, but he was behind the legendary feud between the Von Erichs and the Fabulous Freebirds from 1982-1985.
He also famously managed the Great Muta when the latter ventured into WCW from Japan. He was the spokesman for the Japanese legend who had feuds with the likes of Sting, Lex Luger and Ric Flair in WCW.
Slick was notable for being one of the first African American managers in the wresting business. He was a suave, well dressed jive-talking mouthpiece for wrestlers such as the One Man Gang (later Akeem), Butch Reed, the Big Boss Man, the Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov), Rick 'the Model' Martel, the Powers of Pain (Warlord and Barbarian) and Power and Glory (Hercules Hernandez and Paul Roma).
Most of his clients weren't known for their talking so Slick did the talking for them.
Most of us wrestling fans in our 30s and beyond first knew Mr. Fuji as the manager of Demolition and later Yokozuna.
But he was actually a former tag team champion in WWWF in the 1970s with Professor Toru Tanaka. He managed the Orient Express, the Powers of Pain and Demolition in feuds against the likes of the Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty), the Hart Foundation and Strike Force (Tito Santana and Rick Martel).
He is perhaps well remembered for blowing salt in Yokozuna's opponents' eyes, including Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 9.
Who else did I forget on the list? Comment below.
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