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Credit: WWE.com
Some wrestlers have all the tools to succeed except one: the gift of gab.
While some Superstars have been able to reach the top of the industry on pure athleticism alone, most of the greats such as Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker and John Cena have been able to hold their own in the ring and on the microphone.
When someone lacks the charisma to cut an amazing promo but are too good not to still invest in, the best course of action is to assign them a manager; a mouthpiece who can do the talking for them while they get the job done between the ropes.
Right now, several stars in WWE and All Elite Wrestling are reaping the benefits of this exchange. Von Wagner is much better with Robert Stone, Taz has done wonders for Powerhouse Hobbs, and even The Lucha Brothers are a better act when Alex Abrahantes translates for Penta.
Let’s look at some other wrestlers in AEW and WWE who could soar to new heights if they had a manager by their side to carry the mic.
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There is no denying Ronda Rousey’s success in sports. She was a megastar in UFC and a trailblazer for popularizing women’s mixed martial arts.
In WWE, though, the 35-year-old can struggle in the entertainment aspect of sports entertainment.
Rousey has two speeds. She smiles to the ring, grabs a microphone, puts on her serious face and reads her lines, stressing more about remembering what to say rather than putting the right inflection on it.
But when she’s able to relax and be herself in other environments like casual interviews, she isn’t as wooden, but cutting a traditional promo seemingly causes some stage fright to activate.
That becomes more and more obvious if the woman she’s feuding with is a great talker, like Becky Lynch.
A manager would allow Rousey confidence to shine through her physicality and bypass this air of uncertainty.
If Paul Heyman wasn’t tied up with Roman Reigns, he would be the best fit. Malcolm Bivens would be a great hype man for her, too, if Diamond Mine collapsed.
She needs someone who can inject more energy into her promos and come across more like they mean what they say.
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Nothing is official until it airs on television, but in dark segments these past two weeks, WWE has tested out a new faction with LA Knight as the front man.
Knight Model Management is the name and it looks to be featuring Mace and Mansoor as two of the cocky talents who have been scouted.
Knight is more than capable in the ring, but he is a far better talker than his recruits and that makes this a great pairing.
Mace is tall and looks like he could wreck nearly anyone on the roster with ease, yet hasn’t been able to convey that.
Mansoor was likable as a happy-go-lucky babyface, but WWE clearly wasn’t interested enough to push him beyond shows prior to events in Saudi Arabia shows.
A more versatile speaker like Knight will help both men bring in some variety.
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T-Bar’s size makes him an intimidating presence, but his lack of character means no one sees it unless they check out Main Event.
Similar to Mace, everything T-Bar says is a variation of how he’s going to demolish his opponent. Yawn.
He would be a perfect addition to Judgment Day. He is as physically commanding in stature and in-ring skills as Damian Priest but with even less confidence on the mic. Edge could use another enforcer and T-Bar could lean on the Hall of Famer for guidance on promos (and a name change).
It wouldn’t hurt to try to pick up some of The Ultimate Opportunist’s tips from when he was taking acting classes, either.
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Credit: All Elite Wrestling
Please, please put Abadon in The House of Black.
On her own, she’s a textbook example of what would have happened to The Undertaker if he couldn’t cut a promo. She’s visually interesting, but her zombie character has no room for growth if she just lurches to the ring, looks scary, fights and leaves.
In the past 15 months, all she’s done is wrestle on Dark or Dark: Elevation once every four weeks or so. The only exceptions to that were the Halloween edition of Rampage (for obvious reasons) and to fill out the numbers in the Casino Battle Royale at All Out in September.
Malakai Black is the poet who can translate her dark desires and twisted demeanor. Abadon can stay silent and be an emissary for the vision he wants to spread to the women’s division.
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Wrestlers who might cut a great promo in another language but can’t do the same in English often have their success greatly hindered.
Shinsuke Nakamura is a good example. He is over with the crowd and able to keep their attention when he’s wrestling. But when it comes time to tell a story, everything falls apart, even though he managed to make “Sorry, no speak English” work.
He can spend months holding the Intercontinental or United States Championship without any feuds because WWE seemingly doesn’t know what to do with him unless he’s partnered with Sami Zayn or Rick Boogs to do the talking for him.
Boogs can’t be his sidekick forever, and Nakamura could get lost in the shuffle if he doesn’t have a manager or teammate to cut his promos.
It could be someone on the comedic side like Drew Gulak or a more serious direction such as how MVP talks up Omos. Either strategy would work, so long as Nakamura can focus solely on what happens when the bell rings.
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Dante Martin can wow audiences with his high-flying acrobatics, but that will only get him so far.
To reach his potential and become one of the top guys in AEW, he’s going to need to have feuds in which it isn’t his opponent who’s speaking the bulk of the time.
Truth be told, Martin is far from bad on the mic. He has more confidence than a good number of his peers. But if he’s given a manager to learn from for a while, he’ll mature into a major player even quicker than doing it all on his own and cutting significantly less promos.
AEW has played with this already. He’s had brief alignments with Team Taz and Lio Rush to carry the stick for him, and they did wonders to boost his stock. Imagine how much more notoriety he could gain if he had a manager on a full-time basis.
No one in AEW fits the bill save for possibly William Regal. Martin isn’t quite cut from the same cloth as Bryan Danielson or Jon Moxley, but he could be the group’s man in the skies.
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WWE is eager to make Gable Steveson the next big thing, but can he back up his Olympic pedigree when he holds the microphone?
So far, the only time he’s grabbed the mic, it was snatched right away from him.
In his interview above, though, he comes off like an everyman, rather than someone over the top like WWE wants. There is so much pressure on him to be something wonderful.
Kurt Angle thought he could get away with that and was proved wrong. It wasn’t until he became a heel that he caught on with the crowd.
It’s a lot to ask of Steveson to handle on his own, but a seasoned manager who can carry half the load for him while he focuses on fine-tuning his in-ring work and developing a persona would be a solid idea.
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AEW has no shortage of talented in-ring workers, but the vast majority of them who cycle through AEW Dark and AEW Dark: Elevation have little ability in captivating an audience with a promo. They’re all about what maneuvers they can do and not well-versed at telling stories or crafting feuds.
QT Marshall has acted as a manager of sorts for Aaron Solo, Nick Comoroto and others, but everyone else in the camp needs to get a mouthpiece, too, or they’ll continue to blend together as “just another guy who wrestles.”
What differentiates Brock Anderson from Lee Johnson if you aren’t talking about how one is the son of a legend? Does Captain Shawn Dean have any character without the prefix to his name?
All these people who are supposed to be the future of the business but are easily interchangeable with the rest of the enhancement talent should be paired with a talker if they can’t exude the charisma by themselves.
That is how someone like Lee Moriarty goes from being swept under the rug to being on the same level as Wheeler Yuta alongside William Regal.
Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.
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