Authority figures are as significant as wrestlers for the success of a show. Similar to the performers, we've seen the authority figures take up babyface and heel personas and either run the shows with dignity or act as tyrants. Throughout the years, the fans have witnessed iconic names take over the managerial duties of the WWE shows. From Theodore Long to Vince McMahon himself, various performers have taken up the authority roles and played them to perfection.
While the fans are very familiar with some names as the WWE authority figures, they might not remember some wrestlers who were the bosses on TV. With that said, let's take a look at ten WWE wrestlers we forgot were authority figures on Raw and SmackDown.
10 David Otunga
David Otunga is a lawyer in real life and had worked with one of America's largest law firms Sidley Austin from 2005 to 2007 until he left to pursue his acting aspirations. He signed with WWE in 2008, and after his run with The Nexus, WWE decided to use his qualification as a legal practitioner in their storylines.
He acted as John Laurinaitis' legal counsel from October 2011 to June 2012 and was instrumental in riling up the disgruntled superstars against Triple H, leading to them walking out on The Game after a vote of no confidence.
9 Val Venis
Val Venis is a one-of-a-kind superstar who would've never even made it to the ring if he were around during the PG era. However, he wasn't only a competitor throughout his WWE career, as he embraced the role of Chief of Staff in 2002. Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff picked Val Venis for the position, and the latter went by the name Chief Morley for the entirety of his run as an authority figure.
He held the position until February 2003 until Eric Bischoff fired him for losing a match against Jerry Lawler, in which Jim Ross' job was on the line. However, Raw Co-General Manager Stone Cold Steve Austin rehired him and Venis held the position until May 2003.
8 Eve Torres
Eve Torres gained the admiration of John Laurinaitis after she helped his team defeat Team Teddy at WrestleMania 28, and as a result, Laurinaitis became the General Manager of both Raw and SmackDown. Eve got rewarded for her actions as she became the new Executive Administrator of Raw and SmackDown. She used the power to her advantage and even fired The Bella Twins in a backstage segment, humiliated The Big Show in the middle of the ring, and made Teddy Long's life a living hell.
Torres lost her job after John Laurinaitis got fired by Vince McMahon at the 2012 No Way Out PPV.
7 Booker T
Booker T became the SmackDown General Manager on July 31, 2012, and appointed Eve Torres as his assistant and Teddy Long as his senior advisor. He got inducted into the 2013 class of the WWE Hall of Fame while he was still the GM. He became angry with Teddy Long for making matches without his permission, and among all this ruckus, he took some time off for a torn distal triceps and had surgery.
He continued as the SmackDown GM until Vince McMahon replaced him with Vickie Guerrero on the July 19, 2013, episode of SmackDown.
6 AJ Lee
After crashing her wedding with Daniel Bryan on the Raw 2000 episode, AJ Lee became the new General Manager of Monday Night Raw. Her only memorable moment during her time as the Raw GM was being instrumental in the formation of Team Hell No with Daniel Bryan and Kane. Apart from that, she had altercations with Vickie Guerrero and Paul Heyman in which she attacked them. She got reprimanded for her actions by the board of directors, and both Heyman and Guerrero demanded the GM job for themselves.
She stepped down from the GM role after Vickie Guerrero accused her of having an affair with John Cena, and presented various evidence to back up her claim.
5 Bret Hart
After Bret Hart defeated The Miz to win the United States Championship, WWE named him the new General Manager of Raw. His first order of business was to vacate the US title. He also announced qualifying matches for the WWE Championship bout at the 2010 Fatal 4-Way PPV, and Batista, who had lost John Cena in the previous PPV, took exception to his decision and quit WWE.
After Nexus went on a rampage on Raw attacking Bret Hart, Vince McMahon, and some WWE Hall of Famers, McMahon fired Hart as the Raw General Manager for failing to control the NXT rookies.
4 Alexa Bliss
When Baron Corbin took charge as the acting General Manager of Raw, he took the liberty to promote Alexa Bliss as the Supervisor of the Raw women's division. Bliss' first action as the new Supervisor was to have an open forum discussion with Sasha Banks and Bayley and used the opportunity to stir the pot between the Boss 'n Hug Connection.
She held the position until the December 17, 2018, episode of Raw where the McMahon Family announced that they would take full control of Raw and SmackDown, thus relieving the authority figures on both brands of their duties.
3 Batista
After Vince McMahon bought Monday Night Raw back from Donald Trump, he addressed the crowd on the June 29 episode and said Raw would have special guest hosts every week and they would have control of Raw for the night.
McMahon announced Batista would be the first guest host and would take charge of Raw that night. The Animal was taking time off to heal a torn right bicep but dropped by on Raw to take on the one-day authority role. Randy Orton and Legacy confronted Batista, but the Animal threatened Orton that he would fire him if he did anything stupid. He also put on a one-night tournament to decide the No.1 contender for Orton's WWE Championship at the Night Of Champions PPV.
2 John Cena
Leading to their WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 24, John Cena, Triple H, and Champion Randy Orton found themselves in an interesting scenario.
Raw General Manager William Regal announced that the three of them would take charge of Raw in the following weeks, with no repercussions to their actions. He picked John Cena as the first superstar to take up the managerial role for the night, and Cena made sure his WrestleMania opponents didn't have an easy day at work. Cena booked himself in a match against Mr. Kennedy and had Randy Orton take on Triple H in the main event. But the night didn't end well for Cena as he got taken out by Orton to end the show.
1 Randy Orton
After managing to escape without any damage during Cena's night as the acting GM of Raw, it was Randy Orton's turn to take over as the boss the following week. He announced Triple H would take on Kane, and John Cena would go one-on-one with Shawn Michaels for the night. Orton tried to give Kane a pep-talk before his match against Triple H, however, the Game emerged victorious in their bout.
He then turned his focus to John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels. He caused the disqualification by attacking Michaels, but Cena got back at him for the previous week and took him out to end the show.