The best managers in wrestling have either the gift of gab or something eye-catching enough to work on the fans enough to get their clients over. Legends like Cornette, Sunny, Jimmy Hart, and Paul Heyman have worked their magic for years without having any nominal in-ring skills to speak of.
There have been other managers, however, that also had or went on to have successful in-ring careers as well. Take, for example, the former NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Harley Race. The King had one of the greatest in-ring careers of the 70s and early 80s. After his retirement, he managed Big Van Vader in WCW. Race is also just one example of many who had success both as a wrestler and as a manager.
10 Sami Zayn
The newest addition to this list, "The Great Liberator" Sami Zayn seems to be firmly back in the ring. But late last year, he began managing two of the toughest men in the locker room - "The Swiss Cyborg" Cesaro and "The King Of Strong Style" Shinsuke Nakamura.
Sami never knows when to shut up, is always annoying, and someone you just want to smack - all the qualities of a good manager.
9 Madusa
For a lot of the trailblazing, great female workers of the 80s and early 90s, there’s wasn’t a lot of work in the ring to be had. That just meant that women like Hall Of Famer, Madusa Miceli had to create work.
She landed in WCW and teamed up with Paul Heyman as part of The Dangerous Alliance. In this pseudo-replacement of The Four Horsemen, Madusa was the new Baby Doll. After her stint in WWE, she would help the Macho Man form Team Madness.
8 Kevin Sullivan
Even with the walls of Kayfabe being long gone and most fans knowing that wrestling is a work, there are plenty of fans who still believe unequivocally that the little man from Boston was and is a devil worshipper. Kevin Sullivan spent most of his career in the ring in Florida working and learning from Dusty Rhodes. His status as a dark and evil man was already established when he headed to WCW, not just to book heat, but also to manage his own group of evil heels - The Dungeon Of Doom.
7 Raven
Scott Levy was an up-and-coming flamboyant rookie in WCW and GWF working as Scotty The Body or Scotty Flamingo. When WWE hired him in the early 90s, he was rechristened as Johnny Polo and put in as a manager for The Quebecers who he led to the tag titles. But several years later, he would become an Extreme Icon when he became Raven for ECW and the rest of his career.
6 Lita
Amy Dumas might have begun to hone her craft in Mexico, but as Miss Congeniality in the original ECW and later as Lita, she became one of the toughest and most popular valets/ managers of the Attitude Era. After a short run as Danny Doring’s girlfriend, she got hired by WWE to be the Moonsaulting valet for Essa Rios. But of course, her biggest claim to fame was managing The Hardy Boys as part of Team Extreme. Make no mistake about it - some of the pops that the trio received were as big as Austin’s or Rock’s.
5 Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
As the head of The Heenan Family, The Brain was head and shoulders above every other manager. He knew when to get in the opponent’s face to cause a distraction, when to take a beating himself, and knew when to take a powder. His mouth and quick wit was and, in a lot of ways, is still second to none.
Bobby was a master of the little things, such as always catching Mr. Perfect’s towel. However, Heenan was also an accomplished wrestler long before many fans got to see him. While his in-ring work came naturally to the untrained Heenan, early promoters he worked for like Dick The Bruiser quickly saw how great of a manager he could be.
4 Luna Vachon
Originally paired up managing Shawn Michaels, the combination of HBK and the odd-looking Luna Vachon was originally intended to match skills with Marty Jannetty and a jilted Sensational Sherri. But Luna quickly was moved over to Bam Bam Bigelow and would manage Bull Nakano against Alundra Blayze. She was already an accomplished worker, but WWE fans wouldn’t see her in the ring until her second stint in the company, working against Sable and forming a demented partnership with Goldust.
3 Chyna
Standing 5'11" with massive arms that could lift and smash any foe, Chyna cut an imposing image from the moment she debuted as Triple H’s heater at In Your House: Final Four. She would stay with Triple H as DX formed and throughout the group’s epic run. After DX, The Ninth Wonder Of The World would form a relationship and start accompanying "Latino Heat" Eddie Guerrero to the ring. Throughout her career, she would also amass a string of big victories for herself, including winning the Intercontinental Title.
2 Diamond Dallas Page
Only a manager as prolific as DDP could manage several top stars in both the AWA and WCW. Names like Mr. Perfect, Madusa, Badd Company, Scott Hall, and The Fabulous Freebirds were all managed by the Hall Of Famer.
But the ever-persistent Page sought a career in the ring and worked hard to become an eventual WCW World Champion and wrestle against several of his clients when he was fighting against the nWo.
1 The Sensational Sherri
It was a match made in psychopathic hell when the Macho Man first paired up with the Sensational Sherri. The two fed off of each other’s intensities and weren’t afraid to be completely berserk - just check out their promos on the way to SummerSlam 1989 and the No Holds Barred PPV special. The former WWE Women’s Champion was also a pioneer in the ring, having great matches with Madusa in the AWA and captaining the first-ever Survivor Series female team. She once again found managerial success with Harlem Heat in WCW as Sister Sherri.