Match These Former Wrestlers To Their Managers And We'll Reveal Who'd Manage Your Career!
- by Joshua Laurent
- – on
- in Sports
While you don't see them nearly as much as you used to, the manager used to be an important part of wrestling. If you had a bad guy who couldn't act well, the manager was the mouthpiece. If you had a bad guy who needed to be booed right away, the manager was already hated. And if you needed a bad guy to win in a dastardly way, the manager was always there to interfere.
When The Attitude Era arrived, the manager was almost completely wiped out of existence, traded for women with bleached blonde hair and big fake chests. All psychology was out the door in exchange for having someone who could enter bikini contests. While we love skin as much as the next guy, losing the manager really resulted in a loss for wrestling.
Managers have made a little bit of a comeback in recent years but not like it was back in the 1970s and 1980s when managers really made their mark. Sure, it's another person to pay, but there are so many more interesting ways a character can be presented and matches can go with a manager.
If you were a pro wrestler, who would your manager be? Well, let's take a look at your knowledge of managers and figure it out based on that. Enjoy!
The Wild Samoans
If you're kind of sick of hearing about The "Samoan Wrestling Dynasty," which includes The Rock, Rikishi, Roman Reigns, The Usos, and about a dozen other wrestlers, you can thank the Wild Samoans because they're at the top of that family tree... but who managed them?
Jack Swagger
He was pushed hard as the "All-American" when he debuted, but beyond saying "We the People," nobody really cared, even during his brief reign as WWE champion. Once he turned heel, he was given a manager who was known as "Dirty Dutch Mantell" when he wrestled, but what was his name at this time?
The Honky Tonk Man
When The Honky Tonk Man first came to the then-WWF, he was pushed as a good guy, but after the fans voted that they didn't like him, he turned heel and really played the obnoxious Elvis impersonator like no other. He also took on the services of which loudmouth manager?
Andre the Giant
He never needed a manager during his many years as a good guy, but during those years, he never was given a shot at the WWF title, held by his good friend, Hulk Hogan. Which manager put an end to that and escorted Andre to the ring for his historic WrestleMania III match?
The Undertaker
While he debuted at the Survivor Series with Brother Love as his manager, it wasn't long before The Undertaker took on the man who would be his iconic manager for a good chunk of his career before health forced this large man off the road. Who was this former Percy Pringle?
Badd Company
These are Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond. They were the AWA Tag Team Champions before that company imploded, and they settled into jobber roles with the WWF. In the AWA, they were managed by someone who would go on to be a Hall of Fame wrestler. Who was this?
Big John Studd
When fans of today look down the list of Royal Rumble winners over the years, they may not understand why Big John Studd is there. He captured that match during a comeback, but health forced him out soon after. He really made his mark as a heel with which manager?
Essa Rios
If you blinked, you probably missed the run of Essa Rios in WWE back in the 1990s. He brought a style of high flying that had not yet been seen. His lack of English hurt his push, and he'll mostly be remembered for introducing the world to his manager who went on to a Hall of Fame wrestling career.
George "The Animal" Steele
Most fans don't remember the long first part of the career of George "The Animal" Steele when he was a heel. After being turned on by The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff, this manager came to the aid of Steele and, in the process, turned him into a fan favorite.
Andy Kaufman
Andy Kaufman had a manager? That's right. While his biopic Man on the Moon may have glossed over it, the most notorious manager in Memphis represented Kaufman at the time. This manager went on to great fame years later in the WWF. Who was he?
Randy Savage
When he arrived in WWF, they ran a story where every manager wanted to represent "The Hottest Free Agent" the company ever had. He turned down all of the well-known managers and instead chose an unknown. Who was this person who served as his manager for most of his WWF run?
Harley Race
While some say it wasn't the best way for a legend like Harley Race to end his career, he arrived in the WWF and was given the gimmick as the King of Wrestling, complete with a purple robe and crown. He was also given a manager as a mouthpiece. Who was he?
The Four Horsemen
There have been many, many versions of The Four Horsemen. Some had a manager; some didn't. We're talking about the early Horsemen before they became a joke like in this picture. Who was the manager who helmed the greatest stable in wrestling history?
Adorable Adrian Adonis
Apparently, acting effeminate used to be a bad thing, so naturally, Adorable Adrian Adonis was a heel. His biggest feud was against Rowdy Roddy Piper, culminating in a Hair vs. Hair match at WrestleMania III. Who accompanied the Adorable One to the ring?
Test & Albert
You see, the big joke was that their names started with the letters T&A. While Test never amounted to much in the WWE and died shortly after leaving, Albert went on to be the lead performance center trainer. Their manager debuted in the WWE with them but had a pretty nice career. Who was it?
Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka
Most remember Snuka as the guy who would give the sign-language gesture for "I love you" and then leap from the top rope to the delight of the crowd. Early on, though, he was a vicious heel and had an equally vicious manager. Who was this person?
Chris Candido
Had he not died so early in his career, it would've been interesting to see what happened with Candido. Would he have gone down the same road as his manager in real life and ended up a loser drug addict... or might he have stopped his manager from becoming like that in real life?
Sabu
When ECW went extreme, there was no better poster boy for the company than Sabu. Dubbed the most homicidal, suicidal, genocidal wrestler, he put his body through agony most couldn't imagine. He didn't say a word, leaving that to his famous manager. Who was it?
Sgt. Slaughter
When you mention "bad guy" Sgt. Slaughter, most remember his run with Gen. Adnan around the time of the gulf war, but 15 years earlier, before he became loved by the fans, he debuted as a very hated man with a very hated manager. Who was this legend that managed Slaughter?
Taz
ECW probably wouldn't have happened without a few very dedicated people, and Taz was one of them. Along with being the human suplex machine, he also designed most of the T-shirts for the company. When it came time to wrestle, who accompanied him to the ring?
The Headshrinkers
There have been many Samoan tag teams over the years, and this was the WWF's 1990s version. The one on the right, Fatu, would go on to be Rikishi, who is the dad of the Usos, but at the time, a manager made a brief comeback to serve as their manager. Who was it?
Demolition
They were supposed to be the WWF's answer to The Legion of Doom, but instead of coming off as a rip-off, fans embraced Ax and Smash, who went on to a long and successful tag-team run. When they debuted, they had a devious manager. Who was it?
Rick Rude and Manny Fernandez
Before WCW became WCW, it was known as the NWA, and one of the greatest tag teams in those waning years was Rick Rude, who went on to later success in the WWF, and Manny Fernandez, who went on to nothing we know about. Who managed this duo in the NWA?
Bam Bam Bigelow
While he had a few managers over his long career, we're looking for the person who debuted as a manager in the WWF with The Beast from the East. This manager never managed anyone else in the WWF and left wrestling shortly thereafter. Remember who it was?
The Godwinns
If you're looking for the end of the era when wrestlers had gimmicks that were either all occupational or racial, the Godwinns, with their hog-farmer gimmick, were the very last of this kind of character. They had a former well-known wrestler as their manager. Who was it?
The Beverly Brothers
We know that they were managed by The Genius Lanny Poffo at the tail end of their short WWF career, but we're looking for the manager whom they debuted with. This manager was a legend in wrestling in the 1960s and 1970s but never quite made the WWF transition.
The Legion of Doom
They were one of the few tag teams to successfully go by two names, and nobody ever cared which one you used. WWF just didn't want to pay rights to the movie makers for "The Road Warriors" name, so they used Legion of Doom. Who was their longtime famous manager?
Big Bubba Rodgers
Yeah, yeah, yeah... you're thinking it's a picture of The Big Bossman, but this is actually Ray Traylor before he left NWA for WWF and the prison-guard gimmick. He was brought in as an enforcer for The Midnight Express. Which manager brought him in?
Brock Lesnar
Here's a crazy easy one for you. Even if you get nothing else right, you've got to know who isn't quite a manager but more an advocate for the reigning, defending... blah, blah, blah. You should know Brock's manager because he introduces himself at the start of every promo.
The Dungeon of Doom
For a while in WCW, in the mid-to-late 1990s, everybody who seemed to be a former WWE castoff that Hulk Hogan brought into the company was lumped together in this group of misfits nobody took seriously. Which former wrestler was also their manager?
The Midnight Express
There were a few different versions of The Midnight Express and even an "imposter" team that surfaced in WCW for a while, but we're looking for the manager of Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane. They were the Midnight Express we're always going to remember.
Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin
While he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of The Fabulous Freebirds, Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin had a long career before he became the final Freebird. He spent a lot of time in World Class Championship Wrestling before going to NWA. Who was by his side in both places?
Paul Orndorff
One of the first great heel turns of the Vince McMahon WWF era was when Paul "Mr. Wonderful" Orndorff stabbed Hulk Hogan in the back and joined this manager's stable. After his feud with Hogan, his career somewhat fizzled, and he spent his last days in WCW.
Bob Backlund
Long before he was a bowtie-wearing maniac, Bob Backlund was the "goodest" of good guys in the pre-Hulkamania WWF. He actually has the second-longest championship reign in the history of the company. Who was his manager for most of that timespan?
Kamala
The best wrestlers are the ones who never break character, and if you're looking for the greatest example of that, it's Kamala, the Ugandan Headhunter. It wasn't until after his career was over that he started to talk and revealed, gasp, that he was just acting! Who was his second?
