10 Wrestlers Who Became Successful Bookers

Since spiting WWE with his fabled Twitter list, Cody has turned his turned his career towards selling a different dream.

The American Dream.

By some sort of sorcery, the 'son of the son of a plumber' was able to make at least 10,000 people believe that in 2018, the NWA title was somehow relevant. The NWA title which at the time, rested around the waist of Nick Aldis.

The whole purpose of this act of resurrection wasn't to instigate a golden revival for the 10lbs of gold - Cody ditched the title shortly after, passing the burden back over to his beaten champion. The point had been the moment itself: to follow in the footsteps of his father's star-spangled boots.

The same personal motivations inform Cody's role within AEW. His legendary father held the pen as Vince McMahon gradually ground down the NWA, before forcing him into polka dots as punishment for his professional impertinence. Alongside The Bucks, his son has the opportunity to legitimately turn the tables on McMahon's hegemony. There's more to this than making money.

Heritage is on Cody's side in making the transition from ring to office, but he needn't rely on the example of his father alone as inspiration. Some of the best ever bookers - as is eminently logical - learned their craft at the coalface.

Four Horseman thug Ole Anderson was one nasty customer in the ring. It was no act; as Georgia Championship Wrestling's head booker, he was just as much a piece of work.

Bobby Heenan described working for the ersatz Anderson as a complete ordeal - "a man with a size 10 foot in a size 9 shoe" - who had absolutely no compassion for anybody. His hard-hearted mentality caused many arguments behind the curtain, but nobody in the industry could argue with his record.

GCW thrived under Anderson's direction. He was the man personally responsible for giving muscle-bound rookies Michael Hegstrand and John Laurinaitis their big break in the business, decking them out in face paint and rechristening them 'The Road Warriors'. Booked in short, dominant squashes, they soon became stars lusted after by each of the territories. A host of others prospered with Ole at the helm, as the mid-south promotion grew into one of the most exciting outfits around.

After the calamitous 'Black Saturday' fiasco, Jim Crockett Promotions took over GCW, but still kept Anderson on as booker, such was his value to the company. For a time, the Horseman oversaw affairs at both JCP and his own breakaway GCW, even combining the pair for supershows.

Anderson kept his place in the company when JCP was eventually absorbed by Turner, and was once more the go-to-guy after Bill Watts was forcibly ousted from his booking duties. Ultimately, Anderson was collateral during Eric Bischoff's 1995 "house cleaning" - a change made out of personal animosity more than anything.