Dark Pegasus Video Review: The World’s Greatest Wrestling Managers

The World’s Greatest Wrestling Managers

Your host is Todd Grisham.

What Makes a Good Manager?: John Cena explains it’s not enough to walk out with the guy, you have to explain why he’s going to beat someone else. Trish Stratus thinks that the most important thing is winning. Talk turns to the 1970s and early 1980s. The Boston Brawler says Harvey Whippleman was underrated. Bruce Prichard says that a good manager keeps the focus on his wrestlers and not him or her. Oh, and you can’t get caught handing your wrestler foreign objects.

Freddie Blassie: Jim Ross calls the late Freddie Blassie the Babe Ruth of wrestlers. He was the ultimate bad guy as a wrestler, but he was one of the most-feared managers. We hear a lot of “pencil-necked geeks.” Vince McMahon says Freddie always kept the focus on the protégé, not himself. Blassie managed Muhammed Ali when he wrestled Antonio Inoki and later Hulk Hogan in the late 1970s. The Rock says he loved when Blassie managed the Iron Sheik. The Iron Sheik himself says he owes a lot to Blassie. SO I WILL NOT FUCK HIS ASS, BREAK HIS BACK, MAKE HIM HUMBLE! Everyone puts Blassie over as a manger and human being.

The Grand Wizard: The Wizard was Ernie Roth, who actually had a number of managerial identities. He managed The Original Sheik, Killer Kowalski, Billy Graham, Sgt. Slaughter. Gerald Brisco says the Wizard added to Graham’s career, but he turned guys like Sgt. Slaughter, who had a no-nonsense approach, into sports entertainers.

The Mouthpiece: You have to be a good talker to be a manager. Chris Masters says there are a lot of guys who aren’t that good at self-promotion. **cough** We see Bill Alphonso and JJ Dillon. Things get a bit repetitive as they say that a manager has to get heat for his wrestler.

Sunny: Tazz says he met her back in SMW. Trish says she thinks Sunny’s hot and she wants to soap her up and…wait. I guess she didn’t say the last part. Anyway, her sex appeal really helped female managers. Of course, it all went to her head (and her ass). Vince talks about her drug problems and how she squandered her talent.

Jimmy Hart: And from the sublime to the ridiculous. Jimmy says he was one of the first guys to want to stay at ringside. That really doesn’t sound right, but who am I to call Jimmy a liar? Jimmy says the focus should be on the wrestler (take a drink). Vince came up with the megaphone, and it got more over than Hart himself. Jimmy admits that any of the fans could probably kick his butt. He says he actually loved being humiliated and that people remember the humiliating tricks not what happened in the match. He credits Vince for helping him achieve his dream.

Todd Grisham on the Megaphone: Todd irritates an intern with his own megaphone. He introduces a segment on women with some double entendres.

Women Managers: Everyone says that female managers have an advantage (Trish says she can think of two). The idea is that the sex appeal makes it hard to concentrate on the match, and you can’t really smack around a female like you can a male. We see Precious, Miss Elizabeth and Missy Hyatt to represent the early generation. Triple H puts over Chyna and Luna as women who were almost as strong as the men. We see Chyna winning the Intercontinental Title. We also see early Trish Stratus. Yummmmmmmmm. And, of course, that leads to Sharmell and Melina. Sharmell reminds us of Prince Iaukea and Kwee Wee. Wow. I’m surprised she even remembers those two.

Paul Bearer: Vince plucked him out of Texas where he was doing a poor man’s Bobby Heenan shtick as Percy Pringle. Heenan warned him not to do that for the sake of his own career because the fans wouldn’t accept that. Paul was a legitimate licensed mortician, so Vince’s wheels started turning. Lawler talks about what a perfect fit he was with the Undertaker.

Arnold Skaaland: And we jump around a bit. Sgt. Slaughter calls Skaaland the best manager in history because he managed Sammartino and Backlund as World Champions. Pat Patterson says he was the one they gave a young guy with potential to in order to teach them the ropes. We see him throw in the towel for Backlund. Skaaland kayfabes it by saying he was worried for Backlund’s health. Of course, given what we now know about the Sheik, it may have been a shoot. A young Shane McMahon inducts Skaaland into the Hall of Fame.

Previous Wrestling Experience: Finkel says you don’t have to have in-ring experience to be a good manager. Prichard and Mr. Kennedy disagree because you have to know where to be at a certain time. Arn Anderson says no. Michael Cole says yes. Well, that cements the argument as far as I’m concerned. The final tally is 5-4 for the “yeses.”

Sensational Sherri: Shawn Michaels says Sherri was a great manager because she was so good in the ring. He credits her for much of the success he had in the AWA and later in the WWF. Sharmell credits her as an influence. Vince says Sherri would do anything you asked her to do. We see Marty Janetty accidentally hitting her with the mirror to drive home the point. However, she often overshadowed her wrestlers. My best testament to Sherri’s skills is to say that I could not STAND her back in the day.

Jim Cornette: Speaking of not being able to stand someone, we move on to Jimmy Corn an his hyperactive motormouth act. Watch as Stan Lane tries to keep a straight face during one of Cornette’s promos. Teddy Long credits him with having such a great mind for the business. Ted Dibiase begs someone to shut Cornette up. Cornette debuts the trash talk on commentary during the match, which the Rock would actually lift and make famous. We see Cornette talking about his mama during his early days. We see Cornette and Paul E. Dangerously trying to kill each other, which is probably how the OVW booking meetings looked. Vince calls Cornette a bit one-dimensional. **cough**

Todd Grisham Swinging Away: Grisham practices his tennis swing and talks about cheating.

The Art of Cheating: Heenan says it’s pretty easy. You just have to distract the referee at the right time. We see examples of that from many managers. You have to be able to trip the babyface. We also see examples of that throughout the years. Lastly, you have to be able to pass an object to your wrestler, which is tougher than it looks because of the time involved.

Paul Heyman: Ken Kennedy calls Paul Heyman the best manager of all time. Suck up. He always had the cellular phone back in the early days. We see bits of the AWESOME Original Midnights versus the Midnights. Joey Styles explains that the WWE really had to turn him into “Paul Heyman” during his 2001-2003 run because he was more famous as an ECW owner than as a manger.

Captain Lou Albano: Albanos big draw was his look. He credits his ugliness for his success. He had a lot of success as a tag team manager, but he credits the talent. Of course, he also had a lot of crossover success with Cindy Lauper and Super Mario Bros., plus he had a song written about him.

Managers in Matches: Everyone says it was always fun to watch these guys get their asses kicked. Arn relates the story about Cornette falling off the scaffold. Everyone remembers the weasel suit match, though. Heenan did it twice. Once in the AWA with Greg Gagne and once in the WWE with the Ultimate Warrior. Danny Doering and Roadkill talk about the Beulah vs. Bill Alphonso match, which was quite good, all things considered. Cole sarcastically mentions the Hervina vs. Miss Kitty match.

Miss Elizabeth: Liz never really interfered in the early days. Most of her appeal was her reaction to what was happening, and when she finally got involved in matches, it was important. We see clips of the Macho Man/Liz wedding, which ironically happened just before their real marriage began to dissolve. Everyone talks about how nice she was.

Bobby Heenan: Well, this is one way to make people watch through to the end. Indeed, they saved the best for last. Bobby actually started as a manager. The promoter dubbed him “Pretty Boy” Bobby Heenan, but that was clichéd, so Bobby wanted a new name. Ray Stevens said, “Well, you’re the brain. Come up with something.” The “Brain” moniker stuck. He lives up to that name by saying he saw the WWWF becoming popular and jumped ship. Virtually every major heel had Heenan as his manager. He says he loved managing Flair, Hennig, Orndorff and Race the most. Of course, the fans preferred to call him weasel. We see Gorilla Monsoon throwing Heenan out of the arena during one of the early episodes of Raw. Vince calls him the greatest of all time.

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Extras:

Lou Albano vs. Arnold Skaaland (12.19.77)
Albano attacked Skaaland from behind. The footage is not the greatest, but neither is the match. Skaaland attacks during the prematch patdown, and Albano storms to the back before returning and attacking Skaaland with a foreign object. The rest of the match becomes a game of red light/green light with Albano hiding the object from the ref. Finally, Skaaland blocks a swing and grabs the object. Albano freaks and runs to the back for the countout at 4:39. I miss these kinds of matches where the heel had to hide things from the ref. I think that’s why Eddy Guerrero’s shtick became so popular because it was basically the same thing only targeted at the heels. 3/4*

Weasel Suit Match: Bobby Heenan vs. Greg Gagne (8.17.80)
We’re JIP to Heenan going low. Gagne totally overpowers him, but Heenan keeps cheating to gain back the advantage in between bumping around like a pinball. Heenan may be the best bumper in the history of wrestling. Gagne grabs the sleeper, but Heenan rakes the eyes to counter. Gagne hits him with a dropkick and finishes with the crossbody moments later at 6:20 (shown). Heenan doesn’t want to put the suit on, but the promoter threatens to suspend him if he doesn’t. Gagne catches Heenan and puts him out with the sleeper so they can put the suit on him. Bobby’s not happy when he wakes up. *3/4

Tuxedo Match: Jim Cornette vs. Paul E. Dangerously (7.23.89)
This, of course, is from the AWESOME Great American Bash ’89 PPV. The idea is that Dangerously has invaded the NWA with his Original Midnight Express (Randy Rose & Dennis Condrey), trying to replace Cornette’s Midnights (Stan Lane & Bobby Eaton). Cornette attacks early, but Heyman throws powder in his face and starts bashing Cornette’s knee with his cellphone. PSYCHOLOGY~! You might remember Cornette blowing his knees out in that scaffold match a few years earlier. Cornette can barely move. It’s odd that this should be a comedy match between two managers, but they’re putting more effort into it than some of the wrestlers. Paul misses an elbowdrop and takes a Hennigbump off a Cornette uppercut. DIE FOR YOUR CRAFT, PAUL E! Paul tries the powder trick again, but Jimmy kicks it back in his face and strips him down to his BVDs at 6:28. **1/4

Vince McMahon Interviews Freddie Blassie & Nikolai Volkoff: Volkoff looks funny here because he’s so young. Blassie runs down select members of the audience. A woman runs in and holds up a “Blassie is a Bum” sign. This is quite a long interview segment for the time.

Tony Schiavone Interviews Jim Cornette, NWA World Championship Wrestling 6/29/85: Jimmy Corn refuses to shake hands because it spreads germs. He should do the fistbump like Howie Mandel. He debuts the “crippled more people than polio and arthritis” line that Undertaker ripped off a few years ago. Of course, it sounded a lot better coming from Taker. Cornette announces that Mama Cornette is the new president of the company, but he’s going to run the day-to-day details.

“Fuji Vice” Tuesday Night Titans 5/7/86: Oy. I don’t even know where to begin with this one. Well, maybe I do. Tuesday Night Titans (or TNT) was Vince McMahon’s variety show during the 1980s. One of the segments was the now-famous “Fuji Vice.” You see, Mr. Fuji (Tubbs) and Don Muracco (Crockett) are two detectives on the trail of the Seahawk, an infamous drug dealer. Muracco and Fuji are SUCH bad actors, often starring straight at the camera uncomfortably and delivering their lines with about as much enthusiasm as Keanu Reeves in “The Devil’s Advocate.” This puts all other things, from the cure for polio to the Sistine Chapel to the moon landing, to shame. Quite simply, this is the finest thing to ever be produced by a wrestling show.

Vince McMahon Interviews The Grand Wizard & Bob Duncum, All-Star Wrestling 4/2/75: The Wizard dubs his new charge the uncrowned world champion. Duncum is a big Texan who, I believe, was related to the Windhams in some way. Wizard aches for the day when Duncum gets his hands on Ivan Putski. We see why Duncum needed a manager as his eyes tend to dart all around during the interview.

Mean Gene Okerlund Visits the Hart Foundation: Mean Gene Okerlund tries to get a word with the Hart Foundation (back when they were heels). Actually, Okerlund acts like the heel most of the way. A bunch of secretaries and assistants run interference for about five minutes. Bret looks a lot like Johnny Nitro sitting there in his fur. This dragged on way too long for what they wanted to accomplish.

Bobby Heenan Wins the 1976 Manager of the Year Award, AWA All-Star Wrestling 12/25/76: A young Bill Apter awards Bobby Heenan his trophy. His Heenan Family surrounds him to congratulate him. Ray Stevens tries to congratulate him, but Heenan shoves him away and tells him to shut up while he’s talking. Stevens gets pissed and attacks Heenan, chasing him and Nick Bockwinkel out of the ring. Stevens smashes Heenan’s trophy, complains about not getting mic time, and threatens to expose Heenan’s organization. The Blackjacks and Bockwinkel attack Stevens, but the babyfaces in the locker room run in and make the save. Heenan kicks Stevens out of the Family.

Capt. Lou Albano Wins the 1985 Manager of the Year Award, Tuesday Night Titans 9/27/85: You should be able to guess what happens in this segment just by the people in and around the ring. Bobby Heenan, Hillbilly Jim, and Lou Albano are the finalists for Manager of the Year, like some demented American Idol (well, more demented). Big John Studd and King Kong Bundy are seconding Heenan on the outside. Heenan grabs the mic and says that Freddie Blassie and Jimmy Hart have pledged their votes to him and dropped out of the running. That puts Heenan at 500,000+ votes. Hillbilly Jim then pulls out of the running and awards his votes to Albano, putting him over the top. Of course, that leads to Bundy and Studd attacking Studd and leaving him lying.

Larry Nelson Interviews Paul E. Dangerously, AWA Championship Wrestling 9/30/87: Paul has threatens for Tommy Rich. He reads a letter from Rich’s mom begging him not to hurt Tommy for dropping out of the Dangerous Alliance. This is some great stuff.

“Together” Randy Savage & Miss Elizabeth’s Wedding Video, Summerslam 8/26/91: Pretty self-explanatory.

Sensational Sherri Visits the Funeral Parlor, 2/1/92: Sensational Sherri announces that she is in love with Shawn Michaels.

Bruno Sammartino Interviews Arnold Skaaland, Championship Wrestling 5/27/80: Sammartino looks like Jimmy Caan’s Santino Corleone here, interviewing Skaaland.

Sunny sings “Happy Birthday” 2/9/96: BOING!

And on that note, we end.

The 411: While I appreciate the idea, the execution could use some work. The main program becomes repetitive about a third of the way in. We get that the manager shouldn't overshadow his/her wrestlers somewhere in the first five minutes and then it just gets pounded in repeatedly. Mostly, the main program is good only for nostalgia because we don't spend enough time on any one manager to learn anything about them. The extras don't add much outside of the Weasel Suit Match, Fuji Vice, and the Tuxedo Match, but the only thing the Tuxedo Match makes me want to do is watch the rest of the Great American Bash. Sorry, there's just not enough meat here to recommend the DVD even with Fuji Vice.

Final Score:  4.0   [ Poor ]