As I went through all of the superstars on WWE.com, I came across eight managers or valets. I am a fan of most of the managers and the whole concept of superstars having managers. They add gimmick to a superstar and of course, the occasional distraction to the ref for a win. As I thought about each manager, I could not help but ask – is that manager with the right superstar? Let’s investigate…
AW – For those of you who may not remember, AW actually came from FCW to the main roster as Abraham Washington. As Washington, he occasionally conducted the “Abraham Washington Show” (this segment BTW was hilarious and includes another manager! Why did they stop producing it?) For whatever reason, WWE changed Abraham Washington to AW and changed his character to be a manager. After betraying Epico and Primo (and Rosa) at No Way Out, AW sided with the Prime Time Players – Darren Young and Titus O’Neil. Are they the right fit? In my opinion, the PTPs have very little personality and need AW, who has a ton of it, to help showcase them.
VERDICT: The Prime Time Players would be nothing without AW so YES!
Aksana – Aksana began her journey on NXT season three, where I know I enjoyed listening and looking at her. After a relationship with Goldust on NXT, Aksana moved on to Teddy Long on Smackdown? Whose idea was that? Teddy Long must be near 65 years old, clearly old enough to be Aksana’s father! I hope that is what WWE realized when they had Aksana drop Teddy Long for the newcomer – Antonio Cesaro. How do these two fit together? They are both European so their gimmicks match well.
VERDICT: Teddy Long? NO! Antonio Cesaro? YES!
Cameron/Naomi - Although there are two of them, they are the dancing valets for the Funkasaurus – Brodus Clay. Coming to WWE via Tough Enough and NXT respectively, I am not sure that they could be utilized better since we only see them dance for a few minutes before and a few minutes after Clay’s matches (which also only last a few minutes, if that). So does it matter who the Funkadactyls are?
VERDICT: MAYBE?
Ricardo Rodriguez – Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome Alberto Del Rio’s PERSONAL ring announcer…. I hope those of you who speak Spanish understand what he is saying because all I can get is when he says Alberto Del Rio. Rodriguez began on the main roster (prior to this, believe it or not, he was wrestling in FCW!) with Del Rio. Rodriguez is in my opinion, someone who gets involved in matches very often for a manager. He has helped Del Rio win many matches and we have even seen Rodriguez in a few of matches himself – against Santino Marella in the unnecessary tuxedo match at No Way Out as well as in the 2012 Royal Rumble. How does Ricardo Rodriguez fit with Alberto Del Rio? Although I am becoming a bigger fan of Rodriguez than Del Rio, their gimmicks match perfectly – Del Rio as the rich superstar and Rodriguez as his personal announcer/butler/manager.
VERDICT: YES!
Rosa Mendes – Mendes went through the ranks of the WWE Diva Search 2006, OVW and FCW before going up to the main roster. After a brief angle as Beth Phoenix’s number one fan, she got her first managing gig – with Zack Ryder. She and Zack are featured in the video posted earlier about AW. I am not sure why WWE chose to put these two together other than just giving someone to Ryder to fall in love with. Ryder being a “bro” from Long Island and Mendes being a hottie from Costa Rica, the two just didn’t match. Eventually they were separated and after bouncing around for a while, Mendes is now the valet of Epico and Primo. With this tag team, Mendes has now managed former tag team champions plus they are all from Hispanic descent. Therefore, it makes sense.
VERDICT: ZACK RYDER? NO! EPICO AND PRIMO? YES!
Sakamoto – I am not sure what the point of Sakamoto is. Is he there to help Tensai look good? If so, he is doing a terrible job. He never speaks, rarely interferes in matches and occasionally gets beat up by Tensai himself.
VERDICT: POINTLESS
Vickie Guerrero – Our final manager is the most experienced WWE employee on this list. She has been manager, assistant general manager and full time general manager. She has managed a number of superstars including, but not limited to, Eddie and Chavo Guerrero, Edge, Big Show, Jack Swagger and most recently Dolph Ziggler. Vickie gets much heat from her catchphrase “EXCUSE ME!” and has helped Dolph Ziggler grow into a near main event superstar. However, does Dolph still need her? When she had to choose between Dolph and Swagger, I was hoping she would side with Swagger and allow Dolph to become a main event face. This obviously did not happen and we continue to watch Dolph Ziggler being accompanied by Vickie. Hey WWE – Dolph doesn’t need her anymore! She is a great manager and would help many others grow as superstars.
VERDICT: ZIGGLER? NOT ANYMORE!
What do you think? Which superstars and divas would make great managers? And for whom?
I personally would like to see Ricardo break away from ADR very soon. They could have a situation similar to Ted Dibiase and Virgil where Ricardo would get sick of being bullied, and then they could have a very entertaining series of matched where Ricardo would finally be able to show off his sick technical and high flying wrestling skills. May be do it closer to when ADR is heading out, so Ricardo can beat him and then continue on the roster with some big momentum.
Agreed that Vicki needs to find someone else. Looks they are trying to build up Tyson Kidd a little more. May put her with him? Regardless of who she ends up with, the interesting part will be how they seperate her from Ziggler. They will need to be careful if they want them both to stay heel after the break up.
I like your analogy of ADR/Ricardo and Dibiase/Virgil. I spoke of the analogy between ADR and Dibiase in a previous post. However, I think that Ricardo has some work to do in order to be the next Virgil. We have not seen a lot of wrestling from him and to be honest, I think he needs to get into better shape. Virgil was ripped compared to Ricardo.
I like Kidd as a face so I wouldn’t want him with Vickie. I thought Swagger would’ve been the right choice to stick with Vicki, but now Jack is a jobber. It will be interesting to see if they keep Ziggler and Vicki both heel. I was kind of hoping Ziggler would turn face when he broke up with Vickie. Only time will tell…
Pingback: WWE Managers: Are They with the Right Superstars? Second Edition | GuTTWrenchPowerBlog.com