10 Most Successful Wrestling Managers (Statistically Speaking)
It's all about the gold.
There has been a lot of debate over the years regarding who, exactly, was the best manager in the history of professional wrestling. One could argue for Bobby Heenan based on his pivotal role in promoting WrestleMania III, or Paul Heyman for his advocacy of Brock Lesnar alone, but in wrestling, success is measured in gold. If we frame success in terms of championships won -- which is the idea of wrestling, after all -- who was the statistically best manager of them all?
To answer that question, it was necessary to not only tally the number of championships, but also to weigh them appropriately in terms of prestige. Championships were therefore tiered in the following categories:
Tertiary titles (Television, Hardcore, European, and state-specific titles of national promotions), both single and tag, are worth one point.
Secondary titles (Intercontinental, U.S., King of the Ring, and regional titles of national promotions), both single and tag, are worth two points.
World tag team titles are worth three points.
World heavyweight titles are worth five points.
Finally, only titles affiliated with a major, national promotion (AWA, WWE, WCW/NWA, TNA, ECW) were considered eligible for this list, so don't get mad when you see that we ignored the time when Jimmy Hart came to town and helped Vic Villainous steal the Western Kalamazoo Featherweight crown from your high school gym teacher, okay?
10. Mr. Fuji
Secondary Titles: Don Muraco (2)
World Tag Titles: Demolition (3), Hart/Yokozuna (3)
World Titles: Yokozuna (10)
Total Points: 18
The Devious One loved to make opponents suffer, and he managed to impart at least some of his sadism to his charges, many of whom were monstrous in their own right. He led Demolition to the tag team titles, although he eventually abandoned them for the Powers of Pain; despite his betrayal, the Demos would ultimately enjoy a reign that lasted 478 days, a record that stands to this day.
His most prestigious client was undoubtedly the mighty Yokozuna, who Fuji led to two world titles and a tag team championship along with Owen Hart. Despite these triumphs, Fuji's best-remembered partnership was likely with King of the Ring Don Muraco, with whom he filmed the still-hilarious "Fuji Vice."