SOW Special: The importance of managers and stables

The current world of professional wrestling is without a staple of the business. Back in the 80’s, there were lots of managers. Who could forget Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, Mr. Fuji, Jimmy Hart, J.J. Dillon or Paul E. Dangerously (aka Paul Heyman)?

What were the point of these people? Why have nonwrestlers in wrestling? Managers had the ability to spark feuds quickly. Managers had the ability to turn heels into faces very easily. All it took was one double cross by the manager or some back talk from the wrestler and there was tremendous character growth. The manager could easily recruit a new wrestler to take on his former wrestler. It was a simple formula that is missing from today’s product.

Managers also played a role in the creation of stables. Things like Bobby Heenan’s “Family” could mask injured wrestlers. Should a wrestler get injured during a feud, just substitute the wrestler with another stable-mate. The managers also tied together odd combos like Haku and Andre the Giant to give direction to the talent.

Stables help write feuds. You don’t have to be a creative genius to figure out the dynamic between a singular babyface versus a heel stable. It also allows for the singular babyface to create new alliances with other faces. This is very simple stuff that makes for good stories. NWA did this style of story numerous times with the legendary Four Horsemen.

Managers and stables shield inexperienced wrestlers from being exposed as poor talkers. Two great examples are Brock Lesnar and Batista. Lesnar was given Paul Heyman as his “agent.” A simple “Shut up, Paul!” and the crowd started getting behind Lesnar. Batista was able to be an enforcer while Ric Flair or Triple H would do most of the talking. These two slowly learned how to do a decent promo. No one will confuse the two for The Rock or Hulk Hogan, but still they did not have to speak and ruin their images. Bobby Lashley while in WWE did not have a mouthpiece. His soft-spoken nature did not match his impressive physique. WWE even put in “soft-spoken” in his entrance video. This did not help create the monster face WWE was hoping for.

Professional wrestling has forgotten to use classic formulas to create a compelling product. There is room for alliances and managers. These two elements help create good storylines and help the talent mature into more complete performers.

State of Wresting: May 13th

Let’s run down the State of Wrestling today, May 13th

Raw:
Some decent feuds and some good talent. Lousy execution. Y2J and HBK could be tearing it up with excellent heel promos. Unfortunately, Jericho seems to be phoning it in. Someone just become a heel already. Kennedy’s feud with Regal is eh. It does not make any sense why Kennedy went after the GM instead of buddying up to him to become some kind of champion.

Speaking of champions, what’s with the Intercontinental Championship? Jericho is the champ, but that title has become so utterly worthless that it is a shame. The WWE United States Championship and WWE Women’s Championship mean more than the once prestigious IC belt. The main event level with Triple H and Orton is going as expected. Triple H feuds are repetitive. If you’ve seen one feud where Triple H is champion, you’ve seen them all.

ECW:
ECW. What can you say about ECW? I guess the biggest thing going is the Mike Adamle experiment. The guy is trying to learn, but I think WWE could have gotten some mileage out of a “terrible announcer” gimmick. ECW is the land of the undying feuds. The ECW champion will face the former champion every week for a month is a theme ECW has had for some time now. See CM Punk/Chavo, CM Punk/Johnny Nitro (later Johnny Morrison).

Smackdown:
Smackdown – the haven for wrestling fans. MVP and Matt Hardy could be WWE’s new Rock and Triple H if they do the WWE handles this properly. MVP is very entertaining on the mic and puts together good matches regularly. The Edge/Undertaker feud is continuing with Edge being the best heel going today. I find it odd that he’s effectively playing Triple H with the whole dating the boss angle. Edge reminds of Ric Flair. You believe that Edge could lose to any one of his opponents, but Edge still manages to squeak out victories using a variety of methods.

The held up World Heavyweight Championship storyline has been done before. I am not sure I understand why the WWE would interrupt what was going to be the Undertaker’s long reign. Maybe Taker wanted to pad his stats by winning the championship for a third time.

The Skinny:
WWE’s wasting talent on Monday night but at least Jeff Hardy is back, no one watches on Tuesday night, and Friday has decent wrestling and storylines on both the midcard and main event levels.

Things I Know Now: Supermarket

Hello out there. As you know, I’m a podcaster of sorts. I have a new show called “Things I Know Now.” An adult sees things differently now that he’s found adultivity. Here’s an episode. Many more can be found at FiniteComedy.com. FiniteComedy is my production company or studio or something like that. Enjoy the show.

Many years ago I thought things. Now I think different things. Teachers belong in the school and shouldn’t be roaming free to scare you. Play Now! Direct Download: Things I Know Now 011: Supermarket. File Size: 152 KB (that’s right, KB, not MB). Duration: 15 seconds.