10 Wrestlers Who Would Have Made Better Managers
Whose talents might be better off employed in a slightly different capacity?
Making the switch from wrestler to manager is often seen as
something of a negative. Many might see it as an admission of failure, or a
relegation to a less prominent role. Many people would also be wrong, because often
that kind of thinking is anything but true.
Managers aren’t just failed wrestlers; usually a manager is someone who possesses a unique charisma or eccentricity, or perhaps they just have that “it” factor that makes them stand out from the crowd. Considering their roles to be “less prominent” or somehow not important as that of a wrestler is seriously undermining a manager’s value and the great contributions they’ve made over the years.
Take Paul Heyman for example; would Brock Lesnar’s initial rise have worked out so well if he hadn’t had a mouthpiece to talk for him? And what about the work of the likes of Bobby “the Brain” Heenan, “Classy” Freddie Blassie, or Captain Lou Albano?
Obviously these guys are the cream of the crop, but the point remains that managers can be an awesome addition to proceedings if used in the right capacity.
So rather than see this as a list of stars whose in-ring work is being criticised, view it for what it really is; a list of wrestlers whose wider-ranging talents could be of benefit to the product elsewhere.
10. Damien Sandow
See; I told you this wasn’t going to simply be a list of
wrestlers being bashed for their abilities. Because during his run as Mizdow,
Damien Sandow was one of company’s most entertaining performers.
The only problem was; the writers didn’t seem to have a position for him once his alliance with the Miz had ended. So why not officially rebrand him as a manager and channel that brilliance from the Mizdow shtick in a pairing him with someone else? Or better yet, revisit the Intellectual Saviour of the Masses gimmick that he portrayed with such eloquence and excellence.
Plus, given his background as a wrestler, he could still have been the type of manager to have got involved in the thick of it as and when the situation demanded.
Point being, the guy’s a natural entertainer and capable of performing any number of roles. If the WWE didn’t have a slot for him as a wrestler, then there was nothing stopping them from making him a manager and he likely would’ve smashed it out of the park.
To me, that sounds like a far better alternative to terminating his contract and giving him a chance to shine with the competition.