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John Shane lists the 10 Greatest Managers of All Time
Rolling Stone magazine recently did an article on the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.In the spirit of that list, I did decided to do a 10 Greatest Managers of All Time. Now, I know some of you will not agree with my choices (just as I did not agree with some of RS picks), so of course its up to debate. Any how, heres my list and the reasons why
1) JIM CORNETTE....The best of the best. The manager of The Midnight Express, Jim Cornette did it all. Great mic skills, funny reactions, killer promos and a great gimmick as the tennis racquet swinging Momma's boy. Still active working with the young talent in OVW and in ROH with the Brisco's........CLASSIC MOMENT...Falling from the scaffold in The Starrcade match "Night of the Skywalkers"
2) BOBBY "THE BRAIN" HEENAN....As soon as Heenan came down
the ramp the "weasel" chants started, this guy was a heat magnet
and you could always count on an entertaining performance from The Brain.
I loved his color commentary with Gorilla Monsoon, especially the 92 Royal
Rumble......CLASSIC MOMENT....The debate with Ken Patera where Patera
almost took Heenan's head off.
3) CAPTAIN LOU ALBANO....The guiding light who lead countless tag teams
to WWWF gold.including The Wild Somoans, The Valliant Brothers, The British
Bulldogs, among others.He also managed a few IC champions including Pat
Patterson, Don Muraco and Greg Valentine. Always remember his funny antics
at ringside......CLASSIC MOMENT......Leading "The Russian Bear"
Ivan Koloff to the world championship over Bruno Sammartino.
4) "CLASSY" FREDDY BLASSIE...... Part of the holy trinity of managers that included Albano and The Grand Wizard. Probably invented the wrestling catch-phase, with his "Pencil neck geeks" line. Always had a big smile on his face till he heard the fans response to his introduction, then he would scowl at the crowd. Loved the cane gimmick, used it to perfection...CLASSIC MOMENT Blassie mouthing the words and trying to sing along as Volkoff sang the Russian National Athem.
5) JIMMY HART........The Mouth of The South made his name in Memphis
before taking it to the WWF. His megaphone and his airbrushed jackets
were his trademark. At his height, managed The Honky Tonk Man and The
Hart Foundation to titles CLASSIC MOMENT... Joining forces with Andy Kaufman
against Jerry Lawler in that famous feud.
6) THE GRAND WIZARD.....The crazy turban and sunglasses were the mark
of The Grand Wizard of Wrestling, a big part of the WWWF in the 1970s.
Wiz was a master at working the crowd and also cut some great promos.....CLASSIC
MOMENT..In the Greg Valentine/Chief Jay Strowbow match, The Wizard grabs
a pitcher of ice and water and pours it on the unconsious Valentine and
procedes to demand Valentine to put Strowbow in the figure-four leglock,
starting their legendary feud.
7) PAUL E DANGEROUSLY (Paul Heyman) Paul started out his career as a ringside
photographer and learned the ropes from the likes of the trinity of Albano,
Wizard and Blassie. His always present portable phone was often broken
over the heads of his foes and sometimes his own wrestlers.......CLASSIC
MOMENT...Attacking Jim Cornette and jumping the Midnight Express with
his own version of the original Midnight Express.
8) PERCY PRINGLE aka PAUL BEARER........I always liked his Percy Pringle
character better than the Bearer gimmick in WWF. Most fans will forever
remember him at the side of the The Undertaker, but he way a main stay
in the Texas working USWA and World Class for many years Great facial
expressions........CLASSIC MOMENT....Taking a beating from the smallest
Von Erich, Chris as part of the Austin/Addams fued in World Class
9) TEDDY LONG.....Began his career as a ref in the old Georgia Championship
Wrestling. Started a sucessful career managing Doom (Ron Simmons and Butch
Reed), among others. Still active, managing Mark Henry in the E.
10) PAUL ELLERING......The manager of the Road Warriors, enough said.
Great promos, great lines, funny guy.. CLASSIC MOMENT. Helping the LOD
beat up Dusty Rhodes, using the spikes on the eye of the American Dream.
GARY HART.....This guy was unique, a soft spoken man, manager of The Great
Muta, not in the top ten, but I wanted to add him to the list.
So thats my list. I can honestly say I have taken a little bit from all
these great managers and I learned much watching them over the years.
As far as the Rolling Stone article on the greatest guitarist, heres my
top ten....1)Jimi Hendrix, 2) Duane Allman, 3)Stevie Ray Vaughan 4)Eric
Clapton 5)BB King 6)Albert King 7)Dickey Betts 8) Johnny Winter 9)Allen
Collins 10)Carlos Santana...there, let the debate begin....
Be sure to check out The Sure Thing's new website at JohnShane.com!!
