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  NoDQ.com > Columns > Wrestling: In Your Face - Return of the Manager
Posted by Eric Jenkins on 07/02/2006 at 02:27 PM

In 1999, Pro Wrestling Illustrated awarded Miss Debra with the final Manager of the Year award. The victory by Debra McMichael over runners-up Jimmy Hart, Bill Alfonso & Paul Bearer would usher in an era where managers were no longer a factor in professional wrestling and valets were becoming more prominent. The next year, Stephanie McMahon would become the first winner of the award that would replace Manager of the Year as she would be chose Woman of the Year by PWI. Stephanie would be the only woman who was not a full time wrestler to win the award as it would transition into an award for the best woman wrestler. These days, it appears that PWI will have to reinstitute the manager’s award as several managers have emerged in the past few months.

Professional wrestling still has their share of valets, which in essence are women who manage male wrestlers, but currently, there is a growing group of male managers appearing in professional wrestling, which for older fans of the sport, is a reminder of a bygone era when practically every heel wrestler was represented by a manager who conducted most of the interviews and interfered in many of their charges’ matches.

In TNA, James Mitchell has served for some time as the manager of the Monster Abyss and has managed to secure for his man several shots at the NWA World Heavyweight Title. Though Abyss has thus far been unable to win the title, Mitchell is always right there, using his interview skills in combination with Abyss’ ring skills to keep his man near the top of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. TNA has also until recently been the home of Team Canada and their manager Scott D’Amore. With as many as six charges at any one time, the rotund leader of TNA’s Canadian contingent had established his men as perennial contenders to every title in TNA.

In addition to those two men, TNA has recently added yet another member to the managerial fraternity as former NWA & ECW World Champion Shane Douglas has taken up the challenge of returning former NWA Tag Team Champions the Naturals to the top of TNA. It is still unknown if Douglas’ endeavor will be successful, but Douglas joins manager/wrestler Simon Diamond as men attempting to lead struggling tag teams to TNA’s Promised Land.

In WWE, while Melina might be the manager of the hottest wrestling in the federation after leading Johnny Nitro to the Intercontinental Title, Daivari and Armando Alejandro Estrada might be managing the most dominant.

Estrada’s man Umaga has gone on a legend destroying rampage lately after first beating Ric Flair before leaving Hacksaw Duggan & Doink the Clown lying in the middle of the ring as they attempted to come to the aid of a helpless Eugene. Umaga is gearing up for a showdown with the Ugandan Headhunter Kamala and his manager Kim Chee. Estrada is the most over new personality in WWE and his popularity should keep Umaga in major story lines for some time.

The Great Khali has been a rampage of destruction as well after defeating the Undertaker in their PPV bout. So far, the Undertaker has yet to address the challenges for a rematch that have come from the mouth of Khali’s manager Daivari. After having his first “client” Muhammad Hassan leave WWE, Daivari has rebounded, first with Mark Henry and then with Khali.

There are still women like Lita, Tracy and Gail Kim who will do whatever it takes to see that their men have the best chance at victory in their matches, but these days, professional wrestling seems to be returning to a time when there were managers who have actually wrestled at championship levels themselves.

While pro wrestling is still a performance art and all of the participants are playing a role, having someone who actually walked in the shows of the person that they are trying to advise adds to the realism of the product. Since success in professional wrestling is totally subjective and the fans, and moreover the promoters, decide who will advance and who will fall behind, a good manager, either man or woman, who can hide the deficiencies of the wrestler assigned to them can only help that wrestler’s career.

Send comments, complaints or questions to me @ ericej@netzero.net

Eric E. Jenkins is an author who has written a semi-biographical book covering the last 20 years in professional wrestling through the eyes of a fan entitled “Reflections of a Professional wrestling Fan: My 30 Years ‘In’ the Business”. He is currently writing “Dead Too Soon”, a book chronicling the careers of and paying tribute to many of the wrestling stars who passed away very young.


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