10 greatest wrestling managers of all time

#8: Captain Lou Albano

Lou Albano also made a mark outside of wrestling.

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.