The Thayer Report – Managers Are Still Alive

Columns, Features

“Miss Elizabeth, Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan….and Don West? Great, Pulse Wrestling hired a crazy person”

First off I would like to start by thanking Pulse Wrestling and everyone involved in allowing me to write my first ever column. My love for wrestling started when I watched Goldberg win the WCW title from Hulk Hogan in 98. I’ve watched the good, the bad and certainly the ugly just like most of you and I’m excited to spill my guts. Letting each and every one of you be my own personal therapists.  I can’t promise you that I’m going to be one of the best writers you have ever seen, but I’m certainly going to try my best.  Only possible with the help of great wrestling fans and the Pulse Wrestling Nation!

Not the best Cheap Pop you’ve ever seen but who do you think I am Mick Foley?

So I’m thinking of different ideas and letting all these different thoughts cross my mind. Trying to decide what I’m going to talk about and thinking of exactly what I want to say.  This is my first article after all and I need to be clever, I need to be creative. I’m a no body in this business and you people don’t know who I am. I’ll have to do something crazy.  Yes, something so crazy that it might actually work.  I’ll compare the great managers of all time to a man that most of you can’t stomach.  Don West and Heenan in the same sentence, let alone in the same thought? Ok so maybe I’m not that crazy but I hope that by the end of this column you at least think about it.

I recently got done reading a great column by Chris Morgado. He talked about the death of Captain Lou and also the death of the traditional manager.  While there is some truth to what he said and while I can’t argue that WWE has moved away from traditional managers at this time. I can’t use the words dead, not just yet. Not when I think there is still some hope that we might see those great managers once again.   There is some great wrestling talent that I think could be the future of managing and I think it comes from TNA. I also think that TNA’s success will translate into great managers coming back to the WWE again. Nothing in wrestling is dead and history repeats itself more in wrestling than anything else.  That’s why WWE is often making the same mistakes WCW did during its final years. It’s why John Cena is likely to repeat Hulk Hogan in making a big heel turn before we go into the great depression. It’s why I am predicting here today, (Only on Pulse Wrestling) that managers will make their return once more.

No one can replace Miss. Elizabeth, she was a perfect manager, heck maybe she was the perfect woman.  So I’m not going to sit here and say that I have found the next Miss. Elizabeth.  What I’m trying to say is that there are some women that can be great managers and they are more than just eye candy. The first example is Sharmell and when you think of Booker T you think of Sharmell by his side.  What Sharmell does great is letting Booker T’s opponents know that she is around the ring and that she isn’t afraid to break a few rules to get her husband the win.  She doesn’t do a lot of wrestling but she still gets remembered.  The biggest improvement that Sharmell could make is by talking more. I never liked Booker T and I hate him even more now that I can’t understand what he’s saying. Sharmell should be allowed to do most of the talking with her husband doing most of the ass kicking. It’s a perfect combination and it’s what a wrestler-manager team should be.  Another great example is So Cal Val; you might remember her storyline with Black Machismo and Jay Lethal. While it was a pretty terrible feud and many believe it was a plain rip off.  The one good thing that might have come from that storyline was proof that So Cal Val can be a manager. She almost reminded me of Lita during her time managing Edge. She’s a redhead, she’s beautiful and she had that personality that made you think that she would do anything for a dollar. I’m here to say there is nothing wrong with that, at least in the wrestling world and it makes for another great manager personality. Finally there is Velvet Sky and Velvet was in an interesting situation. She wasn’t your average manager because she was also working as a full time wrestler as well. But when Velvet was standing at ringside with Angelina Love you knew that you would get the best out of both ladies. They were a great team, who doesn’t love The Beautiful People?  Her gimmick is mocking the eye candy over at WWE and she does it great.  I feel she’s a “Do It All” type manager and with more experience and a little more T.V time all three women that I mentioned could be huge ringside personalities.

Now is the moment you’ve all be waiting for. I finally get to mention my main man Don West. Do you understand the storyline with Amazing Red?  Do you understand how Don West went back to being a baby face? If you answered no to both of those questions then you are in the same boat as me.  So what happens when I ask you if Don West could be the next big manager? Most of you will probably say no and if he continues to stay a “face” then I might agree.  I enjoyed Don West as a heel commentator because it’s a rare breed in wrestling. I also enjoyed his promo on Impact, regardless of how little sense it made.  If Jeff Hardy could have half the charisma that Don West showed in that promo then I might actually like him.  Imagine Don West being a heel with Amazing Red. Don West could say that Amazing Red is a shy kid and was getting bullied around, looked down upon and thought of as weak. Don West could explain that Bobby Lashley was a perfect example. Lashley didn’t believe Amazing Red could win the X-Division title without his help.  With those words spoken a new heel could be born and a great chemistry could be ignited.  He has the charisma and half of the wrestling fans already hate him. He is your traditional manager and in Don West I trust. That is of course that TNA doesn’t screw it all up.

So what do you think? Am I onto something here or have I completely lost my mind?  Give me your feedback on the comments section or email me if you choose. Also give me some helpful feedback on how my first column was and help me improve.

Goodnight America