Top 10 professional wrestling managers
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- Bobby Heenan was born on 1 November 1944 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for WrestleMania X-Seven (2001), WCW Bash at the Beach (1996) and WrestleMania V (1989). He was married to Cynthia Jean Perrett. He died on 17 September 2017 in Largo, Florida, USA.
- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Jim Cornette is an author, podcaster and former wrestling manager to The Midnight Express. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky and by the time he was 14 he was already a huge fan and working in the wrestling industry. He's worn many hats in the industry including photographer, ring announcer, color commentator, booker and co-owner of his own promotion, gaining an extensive collection of wrestling memorabilia in the process. He had a notable feud with Sunshine in WCCW and his team had feuds with The Rock & Roll Express, The Road Warriors and The Original Midnight Express all over the territories. Highly controversial, he still offers his opinion on stars of today and yesterday on his podcast and his website.- Fred Blassie was born and raised in the St. Louis, Missouri, area. Accounts about his early athletic career do not quite agree, but he first tried to make his mark as a boxer, despite warnings that his arms were too short. After being pounded by a longer-limbed opponent, he switched to professional wrestling. His career began in earnest after his service in the United States Navy during World War II. Blassie wrestled as a dark-haired good guy until he found out that the "heels" (bad guys) got better pay. He bleached his hair and quickly became a heel's heel, outraging crowds by gleefully breaking every rule in the book. His penchant for biting opponents earned him the nickname "The Vampire". One poll ranked him as the most hated wrestler in the United States. Between matches, he gave loud and boastful interviews, making him a favorite of talk shows and reportedly influencing a fellow egomaniac then known as Cassius Clay. Blassie originally wrestled mainly in the Southeast and West Coast, winning many titles in both. In the late 1960s, he moved to the East Coast and the World-Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, later the World Wresting Federation (WWF) and now World Wrestling Entertainment WWE)). Managed by "Loud" Lou Albano, Blassie continued his winning ways, but never won the WWWF's championship. In 1973, knee problems largely forced Blassie to stop wrestling personally, though he occasionally donned the tights to tag-team with one of his heels, as he did in Madison Square Garden in June 1974, teaming with the hulking Nikolai Volkoff to face then-champ Bruno Sammartino and Chief Jay Strongbow in a tag team match (Blassie was forced to submit for the final fall by a Bruno bearhug, and the fans almost tore the Garden's roof off). He started a second career as a manager in the WWWF. He, Albano, and "The Grand Wizard of Wrestling" (Ernie Roth) formed the WWWF's "Evil Trinity" of heel managers. Blassie was a regular on the WWWF's "All-Star Wrestling" and "Championship Wrestling" weekly TV shows that were videotaped at small arenas in Pennsylvania and aired throughout the Northeast. He continued to outrage crowds by distracting referees so that his men could cheat and by getting in his own cheap shots when the refs weren't looking. Occasionally, he would get too close to the action and get beaten up himself, much to the crowd's delight. Still a motormouth, he gave interviews in which he bragged about himself and his protégés and denounced anybody he didn't like as a "pencil necked geek". His heels were always a bit more exotic and meaner than most. Around 1980, he adopted a new moniker: "Ayatollah Blassie." Blassie retired from wrestling in 1986, turning over his stable of heels to another manager called Slick. By this time, Blassie has acquired a cult following, leading to appearances in several feature films. Since his retirement, he has occasionally worked as a "goodwill ambassador" (!) for the WWF.
- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Paul Heyman was born on 11 September 1965 in Scarsdale, New York, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Rollerball (2002), WrestleMania X-Seven (2001) and ECW Ultra Clash '93 (1993).- Actor
- Soundtrack
Lou Albano was born on 29 July 1933 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was an actor, known for Wise Guys (1986), Stay Tuned (1992) and The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! (1989). He was married to Geraldine Tango. He died on 14 October 2009 in Westchester County, New York, USA.- Actor
- Writer
- Additional Crew
The son of a professional wrestler, Ted DiBiase had started his pro wrestling career as a fan favorite, but soon "changed sides" and became a heel throughout the rest of his career. DiBiase entered the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the late 1980s where he gained most of his fame as "The Million Dollar Man." He employed a valet "Virgil" (formerly "Soul Train Jones, " and was an instrumental story line when Hulk Hogan's long WWF championship reign ended. DiBiase stayed in the WWF for more nearly 10 years, ending up as a manager for (soon to be star) "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. DiBiase left the WWF when Austin (then known as "The Ring Master") lost a match, and went to the WWF's rival World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as an "advisor" to Hogan's new NWO (New World Order) gang.- Sound Department
- Additional Crew
Eddie Quinn is known for The Count of Monte Cristo (2002), The Devil's Own (1997) and The Green Knight (2021).- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
American professional wrestling manager, booker, composer and promoter from Memphis, Tennessee. He was a member of the 1960s band The Gentrys, best known for their hit "Keep On Dancing." He started his career in 1974 after being brought into the business by Jerry Lawler, Memphis' top star. He became a top heel manager with his stable the First Family, which had an ever-rotating cast of characters, including Kevin Sullivan, Randy Savage, the Iron Sheik (Khosrow Vaziri), Kamala (Jim Harris), King Kong Bundy, Rick Rude, Eddie Gilbert, Jim Neidhart and MANY others. In 1985 he went to WWE (then the WWF). There he managed Greg Valentine, Bundy, the Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart), the Honky Tonk Man (Wayne Farris, who he had managed under his own name in Memphis) and many others. He turned face in 1993 after Ted DiBiase) tried to hit Brutus Beefcake (Ed Leslie) in his surgically-repaired face with a briefcase. He left WWE with the departing Hulk Hogan, and followed him to WCW in 1994. Turned heel on Hogan at "WCW Halloween Havoc 95" in the match with the Giant (Paul Wight), thus siding with Kevin Sullivan's stable the Dungeon of Doom (as Sullivan had turned on Lawler to join the First Family.) It was revealed that Hart had put a special stipulation in the contract that said that Hogan's WCW World Heavyweight Title could change hands on a disqualification, making the Giant the Champion. Hart stayed in the Dungeon of Doom all the way through the group's collapse at "WCW Bash at the Beach 1997" via Jacqueline (Jacqueline Moore) turning on Sullivan, costing him his Career vs. Career match against Chris Benoit). Hart carried on as the manager of the Faces of Fear (Meng (Tonga Fifita) and the Barbarian (Sione Vailahi)) and Hugh Morrus (Bill DeMott), until the Barbarian turned on Meng, turning Meng face as a result. In early 1999, Hart reunited the Faces of Fear and Morrus as the First Family. Meng was randomly kicked out of the group again, and Hart added Brian Knobbs (Brian Yandrisovitz, who Hart had managed to the WWE World Tag Team Titles with Jerry Sags (Jerry Sags) as the Nasty Boys in 1991) and Jerry Flynn (Jerry Brenneman). After this group fell apart, Hart drifted, sometimes managing Hulk Hogan or challenging radio DJs to matches. He also worked behind the scenes writing theme songs for wrestlers. After WCW died, he and Hogan formed the short-lived XWF. Has since worked for TNA and many other promotions. Among his achievements, he is a 1x Southern (Memphis) Heavyweight Champion, won Dave Meltzer's "The Wrestling Observer Newsletter"'s "Manager of the Year" Award in 1983 and its "Best on Interviews" Award in 1984 and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005. (He inducted Greg Valentine into the Hall a year earlier). He published his autobiography, "The Mouth of the South: The Jimmy Hart Story" in 2004.- Gary Hart was an American professional wrestler/manager/booker/promoter from the 1960s to the 1990s. He wrestled primarily around the U.S. with some appearances in Canada and Australia. As a wrestler, he held the NWA American (World Class in Dallas) Tag Team Titles twice, both times with The Spoiler (Don Jardine). He was one of the wrestlers in the infamous February 20, 1975 plane crash that killed wrestler Bobby Shane. Despite suffering several injuries, Hart was able to rescue Austin Idol and Buddy Colt, but failed to save Shane.
His first charge as a manager was The Student (George 'The Animal' Steele). He built a stable called Gary Hart's Army, which included Abdullah the Butcher, Mark Lewin, Robert Roop, Beau James (Jimmy 'Jam' Garvin), The One Man Gang (George Gray), Dusty Rhodes, King Curtis Iaukea, Dory Funk Jr., Dingo Warrior (Jim Hellwig), Giant Baba, Pak Song (Song Pak), Al Perez, Dick Slater, Dick Murdoch, Professor Toru Tanaka, The Great Kabuki (Akihisa Mera) and Kendo Nagasaki (Kazuo Sakurada).
His last major run as a manager was in the NWA/WCW in 1989-1990, as the leader of The J-Tex Corporation, which comprised The Great Muta (Keiji Mutô), Terry Funk, Sawyer, Slater and The Dragon Master (Nagasaki). His last match was Sting (Steve Borden) defeating him at a house show (non-televised event) at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia on October 8, 1989.
He made a surprise return to wrestling at "MLW Reloaded Tour 2004 Night 2", Tabu Nightclub, Orlando, FL, January 10, 2004, sending Homicide (Nelson Erazo) and Low Ki to attack Terry Funk after Funk had lost a barbed-wire match to MLW World Heavyweight Champion Steve Corino. This was meant as Hart's retribution against Funk for having lost the "I Quit" match to NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair at Clash of the Champions IX: New York Knockout (1989). This never led to anything because of MLW closing soon after, and the promotion didn't return until 2017, and Hart passed away in 2008.
Hart's son Chad wrestled for a while in Texas during the 1990s, winning the World Class II Texas Tag Team Title, the TAP Television Title and the EPW Texas Title.
Fellow manager Sir Oliver Humperdink was the best man at Hart's 2005 wedding.
His autobiography, "My Life In Wrestling...With A Little Help From My Friends" was published posthumously in 2009.
He was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2014, the NWA Hall of Fame in 2016, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2018 and the WWE Hall of Fame in 2020. - William Moody went to Mobile's Catholic School, and later graduated from the McGill Institute. After enlisting in the U.S. Air Force and completing basic training, he received his honorable discharge and went straight into a Funeral Director service job.
Moody was a regular at Gulf Coast Wrestling events in Mobile, Alabama while growing up. He got to know many of the wrestlers, as well as the front office personnel and later became a ringside photographer.
Though known through most of his career as a manager, Moody started out as a wrestler. In June 1974, he made his wrestling debut, wrestling as "Mr. X" (under a mask) in Greenville, AL. He continued to wrestle later known as "The Embalmer".
In April 1977, he began his managerial career as Percy Pringle III. Moody married and he and his wife Dianna, welcomed their son Michael in 1979. He left the wrestling business and went back to school and earned his Funeral Director/Embalmer's Certification from San Antonio College.
In 1984, Moody returned to wrestling again as Percy Pringle and worked for Fritz von Erich's World Class Wrestling Association. During this time he managed the likes of Rick Rude, Blackjack Mulligan, The Great Kabuki, Lex Luger and even Steve Austin.
On December 22, 1990, he joined the World Wrestling Federation and would be known as "Paul Bearer". His charge this time was the Undertaker. Moody worked for the company for ten years, most of the time managing the Undertaker, but also managing Kane and Mankind (Mick Foley). He also worked as a road agent for the time he was not on television.
In 2001, William's wife Dianna was striken with breast cancer and he cut his time with the WWE back to care for her. He left the company in late 2002 when his contract came up. After this, he made several appearances with NWA Total Nonstop Action again as Percy Pringle.
When the Undertaker returned to his old "deadman" gimmick at Wrestlemania 20, Moody returned with him as Paul Bearer once again. However after a few months, the storyline involving Paul Bearer had ran its course and he has left the WWE again, at least as far as television is concerned.
Moody and his wife also have another son, Daniel.