Top 10 Managers Ever in your view Options

[JerryvonKramer]

J.J. Dillon

Was positioned as a main eventer in Amarillo and the Maritimes, but wouldn't have been a top five guy in the history of either territory. I always liked him as the Horseman manager but I doubt that he's a top ten manager of all time. Backstage stuff may have been more significant than I know but he'd have to have had a massive presence to be an HoFer based on that.

I don't think he'd get in, but Robert Fuller may be the better pick over Ron Fuller. They both did well in Georgia, Southeastern and Memphis. Robert had more longetivity but Ron took care of more of the behind the scenes stuff and was a better manager(one of the most underrated managers ever).

Interested to see what people say if Dillon doesn't make top 10, who is getting in there? Would anyone rate Fuller over Dillon?

A lot of questions for this one, I'd say number one is undisputed (Heenan) and probably number 2 as well (Cornette), but the conversation after that is interesting.:

There are people who like Jimmy Hart and people who don't, same with Gary Hart. What about the old WWWF's "Triumvirate of Terror" (Blassie, Albano, Grand Wizard)? How do they rate? If there are really 10 better managers than Dillon, who were they? Do you rate Vince and Shane as "managers", or Bischoff? Was Meltzer right to rag on Mr. Fuji for all those years? What about Slick? Do we count women and if so is Sherri top 10, or Liz for that matter? What about manager runs people seldom talk about? Race in WCW, DiBiase post-93, Perfect as Flair's "Executive Consultant" in 92, Teddy Long as manager of Doom, Bruce Pritchard as Brother Love, Lanny Poffo as The Genius, Harvey Wippleman, Paul E. Dangerously in WCW, Paul Ellering in general -- do any of these have a case to be considered "top 10"?

[Slasher]

J.J. Dillon

Was positioned as a main eventer in Amarillo and the Maritimes, but wouldn't have been a top five guy in the history of either territory. I always liked him as the Horseman manager but I doubt that he's a top ten manager of all time. Backstage stuff may have been more significant than I know but he'd have to have had a massive presence to be an HoFer based on that.

I don't think he'd get in, but Robert Fuller may be the better pick over Ron Fuller. They both did well in Georgia, Southeastern and Memphis. Robert had more longetivity but Ron took care of more of the behind the scenes stuff and was a better manager(one of the most underrated managers ever).

Interested to see what people say if Dillon doesn't make top 10, who is getting in there? Would anyone rate Fuller over Dillon?

A lot of questions for this one, I'd say number one is undisputed (Heenan) and probably number 2 as well (Cornette), but the conversation after that is interesting.:

There are people who like Jimmy Hart and people who don't, same with Gary Hart. What about the old WWWF's "Triumvirate of Terror" (Blassie, Albano, Grand Wizard)? How do they rate? If there are really 10 better managers than Dillon, who were they? Do you rate Vince and Shane as "managers", or Bischoff? Was Meltzer right to rag on Mr. Fuji for all those years? What about Slick? Do we count women and if so is Sherri top 10, or Liz for that matter? What about manager runs people seldom talk about? Race in WCW, DiBiase post-93, Perfect as Flair's "Executive Consultant" in 92, Teddy Long as manager of Doom, Bruce Pritchard as Brother Love, Lanny Poffo as The Genius, Harvey Wippleman, Paul E. Dangerously in WCW, Paul Ellering in general -- do any of these have a case to be considered "top 10"?

Nevermind.

[Dylan Waco]

If you've seen Memphis there is really no reason to not include Hart in the top ten other than general bias/hatred for the man. Realistically I struggle to see any argument for him outside of the top five, and he is certainly no worse than a number one contender.

Sherri fits my definition of a manager and would be an easy top ten pick.

I'd be interested to see if Khawk thinks that Adnan should be considered a manager.

[JazeUSA]

in no order this would be my 10:

Gary Hart
JJ Dillon
Bobby Heenan
Jimmy Hart
Sherri Martel
Freddie Blassie
Jim Cornette
Baby Doll
Skandar Akbar
Paul E. Dangerously

[El-P]

In no order :

Jim Cornette (obvously)
Paul E. Dangerously (obviously)
Bobby Heenan (obviously)
Sherry Martel (how many matches did she improve dramatically ?)
Woman (great presence in ECW with the Sandman, one of my favourite duo ever)
Jimmy Hart (Memphis baby, no matter how lame his Hulkamania days were)
Gary Hart (really underrated)
JJ Dillon (4 Horsemen)
Francine (yeah, she was that great in ECW at one point. You would just want to bitchslap her. Biggest cunt ever.)
Liz (probably more for aesthetical reasons than anything else, as she didn't do that much outside of being part of an incredible and historical outfit, then looking ridiculously hot in WCW).

[Dylan Waco]

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Tommy Rich as "The Big Don" with the FBI. He would absolutely make my top ten as he added to ever match he was in and actual got real heel heat in an ECW setting where that wasn't always easy.

[El-P]

I wouldn't put him in my top 10, but yeah, Rich was gold in this role.

[goodhelmet]

If you've seen Memphis there is really no reason to not include Hart in the top ten other than general bias/hatred for the man. Realistically I struggle to see any argument for him outside of the top five, and he is certainly no worse than a number one contender.

This. No one did more with less than Jimmy Hart in Memphis.

[Mad Dog]

Jimmy Hart
Bobby Heenan
The Grand Wizard - more for his Detroit work than anything else
Gary Hart
Sherri Martel
Jim Cornette
Ron Wright
Captain Lou Albano
JJ Dillion
Paul E. Dangerously

[Boon]

Probably because he's on my TV at the moment, but no love for Paul Jones?

[Dylan Waco]

I've not seen enough but Richard Lee might be worth discussing

[Tim Evans]

In no order

Jim Cornette
Paul E
Ron Wright
Scott Bowden
Tommy Rich
Jimmy Hart
Gary Hart
James Mitchell
Bobby Heenan
Brandon Baxter

Scott Bowden is seriously underrated.

[Mad Dog]

There can't be enough said about Ron Wright's promos in SMW. He'd come out talking about how his medication went up in price and how winter was going to be extra cold that year and the fans would absolutely hate him for it. He got the fans to hate a man in a wheelchair and it's just an experience to sit through his work.

[Johnny Sorrow]

Bobby Heenan
Jimmy Hart
Jim Cornette
Paul E
Gary Hart
Captain Lou Albano
The Grand Wizard
JJ Dillon
Skandar Akbar
Paul Jones

[Loss]

Hmmm ...

Jim Cornette
Jimmy Hart
Bobby Heenan
Gary Hart
Sherri Martel
Skandor Akbar
Paul E. Dangerously
Lou Albano
Ron Wright
JJ Dillon

Heenan I'm basing solely on WWF stuff, and could go a little higher as I see more AWA. Hart and Cornette was a close call. I honestly struggled to think of ten good managers, but I think everyone on this list did their job very well. Sherri offset being a pretty bad promo by adding so much heat and excitement to matches.

[Cross Face Chick...]

I'm embarrassed to admit this, so I'll just say it: Kim Chee.

Watching him try to handle Kamala and convince him to actually wrestle instead of trying to eat his opponent or the ref cracks me up every time.

[sek69]

I've always wondered, I know Steve Lombardi was Kim Chee in the WWF, but who was under the mask elsewhere when the character was called Friday?

Also, rewatching the 1988 NWA Saturday Night shows on demand is a good way to remind yourself how awesome Cornette was. Not only does he do his usual rant against the jobbers of the week (all without stopping to breathe), when the announcers offhandedly mention that Tully and Arn will probably be #1 seed for the upcoming Crockett Cup tournament due to being world champs it causes him to go off on another rant mentioning the MX were champs for the first one in 1986 and were not named #1 seed. It put over his team and he had an absolute legit reason for feeling his team got boned before by the seedings and reason to feel they should be ranked ahead of the champs.

[Jingus]

What good stuff involving Gary Hart should I track down? I only remember him from WCW circa 1989, and wasn't impressed. He seemed like an awfully selfish sumbitch, sometimes not even bothering to sell when the wrestlers would hit him. Yeah he was a former wrestler himself; but I'm sorry, if you're a manager and World Champion Ric Flair punches you in the face, "storming off with a petulant expression while not even trying to look like you're in pain" shouldn't be your go-to reaction.

What's the consensus on James Mitchell these days? He's one of the few modern managers who stuck around long enough in different companies to make an impression, just wondering how y'all think he stacks up to the fabled managers of yore.

[Mad Dog]

WCCW for Gary Hart is his peak.

Mitchell was a good promo but he added virtually nothing once the action in the ring started. I liked his run in TNA a lot and his ECW stuff was fun. But it always kind of felt like he should have been better and more memorable than he was.

[rzombie1988]

I'll put more time into this later but my list would have these guys in it:

Heenan
Hart
Richard Lee - He was so much fun as the Moondogs manager and no one ever talks about him. He sang, he wrestled and he always wore cool neon stuff with a suit. The most underrated manager ever.
Ron Fuller - I've seen some discs of him managing the Stud Stable in Southeastern and he was great. He was such a jerk and played Colonel Rob Parker 10 years before his brother did. He also wore the biggest hat I have ever seen.
Grand Wizard - Him and Superstar are the greatest combination ever. The definition of cool.
Eddie Creatchman - I really like some of the stuff I've seen with him. He comes across as the biggest piece of sludge you have ever seen. He had a real heel voice too.
Jim Cornette
Paul E - So underrated as a manager. He should have been the manager of the 1990's.
Lord Alfred Hayes - His feud with Heenan in the AWA was great stuff. He was really good in his role and I wish he would have done it in the WWF.
Captain Lou

I'd love to put Sherri in it too. Oh and a tip of the hat for Lord Littlebrook when he managed the Royal Kangaroos in WCW. Him dressed up in a suit managing those two was hilarious. I do like Scott Bowden too.