Managers, Bravo, the 80s

Scott,

As context, I watched wrestling religiously during the Hogan era, i.e. right after he beat the Sheik until he lost the belt. I’ve loosely paid attention afterward, but rarely watched and have never bought PPVs.

My son, now 13, became a fan through playing WWE16 on PS4. Being a non-cable household, he essentially relies on WhatCulture YouTube videos to recap shows, and pirated feeds of PPVs. Otherwise, he loves watching old DVDs somebody gave him of past Summerslams and Wrestlemania, focusing on the late 80s and late 90s.

Anyway, he loves discussing wrestling booking theory and apes a lot of the online criticism of booking angles and particular wrestlers. One thing that came up that we both regard as puzzling is the absence of managers as a key component of booking and storytelling. I remember Heenan always generating huge heat at the house shows I attended in Toronto back in the day. Why have managers disappeared? Do you see a place for them in the current product?

As an aside, in the mid to late 80s, cityTV in Toronto would show International Wrestling out of Montreal – guys like Joe LeDuc, the Butcher, the Rougeaus, etc. It was insanely entertaining. They had the "Canadian Champion" who was way over as effectively the face in peril in a singles context until he’d somehow eke out a win to retain the belt. His name was Dino Bravo, he wasn’t on roids, and he didn’t suck.

​I can’t advocate pirating PPV feeds when the WWE Network is RIGHT THERE for $10 a month and well worth every cent. Plus it’s insanely easy to get the full version, even as a Canadian​. Just saying.

​Anyway, clearly you’re confused, so let me clear up the Dino Bravo situation: It’s a different guy. The original Dino Bravo died in 1986 as a result of a batch of tainted poutine, so in order to cover it up the Montreal wrestling promotions cloned a new one from the remains of Kerry Von Erich’s severed foot. Unfortunately the new Bravo was "born" addicted to steroids and couldn’t cut a promo to save his life, and by 1991 the cloning process was breaking down due to a bad reaction with the blond hair dye and he was forced out of the sport. After scientists got rid of the evidence by pretending it was a mafia hit (Canadian mafia? What a story!) they also got rid of Kerry Von Erich so that no one would connect the two​. It was a really bad scene in 1993. I hear they tried it again with Ultimate Warrior and that ALSO went sideways on them.

In conclusion, Dino Bravo sucks. He’s just the worst.