Manager (professional Wrestling) - History

History

From the early years of pro wrestling to the mid-1990s, managers were very common because they served a secondary purpose: "getting heat." A manager's job was to cut promos on behalf of clients who may not be as charismatic (or had gimmicks depicting them as silent, or with limited ability to speak English). As such, successful managers almost invariably had the "gift of the gab", though it wasn't unheard of to see managers paired with wrestlers who had no trouble cutting their own promos. In this case, the manager's role was often mainly to help their clients cheat in matches.

In the territorial days of wrestling, most managers did not travel from territory to territory, but instead remained in one territory to provide instant heat to the promotion's new heel acts. Notable examples would be Jimmy Hart in Memphis, Bobby Heenan in the American Wrestling Association, and the "Three Wise Men" (Lou Albano, Freddie Blassie, and Ernie Roth) in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (now the WWE).

Some managers, such as Paul Ellering, were managers in the truest sense of the word, taking care of the day-to-day needs of their "charges" by dealing with travel arrangements, rentals, and lodgings.