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WWE’s Greatest Moments - Season 3 Episode 10 - Managers
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00:00You listen to me, you go to the top.
00:03You don't listen to me, you're never heard from again.
00:07Devious.
00:09Scheming.
00:10You rule the world of professional wrestling.
00:12Manipulative.
00:13Everything from now on will be on my terms.
00:16Behind some of the greatest superstars is a powerful manager.
00:19I can spot the next big thing.
00:24More than just a mouthpiece advocating for their client,
00:27a wrestling manager can be a crucial element that will secure a victory
00:31by any means necessary.
00:33Oh, you saw that.
00:34He has no business out there.
00:36Today we look back at some of the most iconic manager moments
00:39in professional wrestling history.
00:41Oh, yeah.
00:43This is WWE's Greatest Moments.
00:47That was fabulous, baby.
00:49Woo!
00:50He's just a man!
00:52Oh, my God, what the hell are you doing?
00:56Absolutely.
00:57Unbelievable!
00:58Oh, my baby, I'm the best of you!
01:06Welcome, everyone, to WWE's Greatest Moments.
01:09I'm Michael Cole.
01:10And on this edition, we're looking back at the brains and beauties
01:14behind the brawn, the professional wrestling manager.
01:18You take orders from me!
01:20Because I am the manager of the year.
01:22One of the most important roles one can hold in the squared circle,
01:25a manager's goal is to elevate a superstar's career
01:29and bring the eyes of the world to them.
01:31Everybody knows Freddie Blassie knows managing from A to Z.
01:36But some managers end up overshadowing the talent they represent.
01:40And that's not hard to do when you're as visually striking as Captain Lou Albano.
01:45Who's the handsomest of us all?
01:47It said, you are a captain!
01:49Many would say that Captain Lou even revolutionized sports entertainment
01:53when he introduced pop icon Cindy Lauper to the world of WWE.
01:57What determination!
01:59What will to win!
02:00Woo!
02:00Don't get too excited.
02:01Remember, it makes your medulla swell.
02:04I'd like to see Cindy.
02:04But would Captain Lou take too much of the credit?
02:07You've heard of gold, gold albums.
02:10The female entertainer of the year, Miss Cindy Lauper!
02:15First time we saw Cindy Lauper in WWE was when she appeared on Piper's Pitch.
02:21Captain Lou Albano, your manager, the man who has taken care of you
02:24and actually brought you from nothing, had taken you...
02:27Roddy, wait, wait.
02:28Yes, darling.
02:28No, I love Lou, but Lou would never say that.
02:31Hey, how are you?
02:32Cindy, tell all these people out here how I found you in New York City and Queens
02:36and how I made you a superstar.
02:38Lou Albano just starts talking this really sexist talk.
02:41Tell him how women, Cindy, belong in a kitchen.
02:44Wait, wait, but Lou, Lou, you know, I don't like that.
02:47Cindy, just shut up for a minute, Cindy.
02:48There was a lot of resentment brewing and everything,
02:51and Lou was saying all these terrible things and this and that.
02:54Tell him how you came off my reputation, Cindy.
02:56Captain Lou Albano, Cindy.
03:02It was just amazing.
03:04We started crossing all these boundary lines that no one had ever done before,
03:09and I could feel the rumbling.
03:15It was awesome.
03:16It was Captain Lou that made it fun,
03:19and I'm proud to say that I worked with him.
03:23There was no rock and wrestling connection without Captain Lou Albano.
03:27That meeting with Cindy Lauper changed the trajectory of this industry forever.
03:37Mr. Fuji was perhaps one of the most dangerous villains to grace the squared circle.
03:42Through his shady methods, the devious one developed his in-ring success into a managerial career,
03:48one where he would represent talent that was larger than life.
03:56In 1992, Mr. Fuji introduced his newest superstar, the Japanese sumo wrestler known as Yokozuna.
04:03Together, they would tear through the WWE roster, and at WrestleMania IX, nothing was off the table for Fuji,
04:11as his client would challenge the excellence of execution, Brett, the Hitman Hart.
04:20The match is underway. We've been waiting for it. This is it.
04:25Fuji was one of the most feared guys in wrestling business, and nobody got to mess with Yokozuna with Fuji
04:30around.
04:31Oh, center ring around, Brett Hart.
04:34Fuji was very stoic, just an evil presence.
04:39Brett Hart's got the shot, too.
04:46Mr. Fuji was ready with the powder.
04:49It was very fitting from a character standpoint.
04:53We got a new champion!
04:55How many tag team titles did Mr. Fuji win by throwing salt in the eyes of the opponents?
04:59And here he is, on the grandest stage of them all,
05:03determining the outcome of the WWE Championship.
05:07Fuji threw something right in the heart's eyes,
05:09and we have a new WWF champion!
05:14Former women's champion Sherry Martell's physical prowess and tough persona
05:19made her a force to be reckoned with inside the squared circle.
05:22You're looking at a woman that is didn't mean!
05:26Sherry was also a valuable asset alongside any male superstar,
05:30as she became one of the most prominent female managers of all time.
05:34I am in love with Shawn Michaels!
05:39In the lead-up to SummerSlam 1992,
05:42Sherry was caught between a rock and a hard place,
05:44as her main man, Shawn Michaels,
05:46came to blows with another potential client,
05:49in Rick, the model Martell.
05:54Where do you stand for tonight's match-up?
05:57I stand just like any other good woman, right by my man.
06:02It's intentional, Sherry is the kind of lady, and is lucky to leave with the winner.
06:06Sherry Martell having to make a choice between Rick Martell and Shawn Michaels.
06:10You see Martell checking Sherry up.
06:13Look at the hug!
06:14It was something that you didn't always get the chance to see,
06:17that spotlight on managers like that.
06:21Wait a minute, what happened to Sherry?
06:23She fainted!
06:24She didn't faint.
06:26Earthra's coming out!
06:28What are you trying to touch?
06:29These two men fight over her!
06:31Wait a minute, you think that's delivering what she's doing?
06:33I got carried to the dressing room.
06:35Tell me what, they got a bucket of water.
06:37Oh no, what's it gonna do?
06:40Good face, you know, Sherry is fast!
06:43I got it right in the face.
06:45She just had the innate ability to enhance everything that she was a part of.
06:52She has been humiliated!
06:56In his heyday, classy Freddie Blassie was one of the most despised men in professional wrestling.
07:02And over the years, the Hollywood fashion plate became one of the most feared managers,
07:06leaving pencil-neck geeks everywhere quaking in their boots.
07:10You pencil-neck geeks!
07:12Blassie's managing resume included the likes of Nikolai Volkoff,
07:16the incredible Hulk Hogan,
07:17and even the greatest himself, Muhammad Ali.
07:21I'm gonna destroy our razzles just like I destroyed all fighters.
07:24Right, fans?
07:25Right!
07:26But his greatest accomplishment would come when Blassie himself changed his style
07:30to meet that of his top star, Iran's favorite son, the Iron Sheik.
07:36Whenever I'm in the presence of the Iron Sheik,
07:39I will be called by my rightful name, Ayatollah Blassie!
07:44In December 1983, Ayatollah Blassie would lead the Sheik to the world's most famous arena,
07:51Madison Square Garden,
07:52where he would take on the All-American boy, Bob Backlund,
07:56for the WWE Championship.
08:01Bob Backlund knew wrestling from A to Z,
08:05and Arnold Skollin was his manager.
08:08I was without a doubt the most hated man in wrestling,
08:12because I liked Iran.
08:14He must be calling himself Ayatollah Blassie.
08:17He hooked back, hooked back, he's right in the center of the ring!
08:20He's sitting right on that lower back.
08:22The Backlund's got a bad neck.
08:24Hold on!
08:24I'll have him in the camel collage.
08:27Oh!
08:27Oh, no!
08:28Backlund did not submit, Arnold Skollin threw something into the ring!
08:33And Arnold conceded the match,
08:36and the Sheik became the new world champion.
08:39We have a new champion in the world wrestling for the region!
08:43Freddie Blassie was never the WWE champion.
08:47The Iron Sheik winning the title was a victory for Freddie Blassie.
08:52I come to Minnesota Square Garden with my greatest manager!
08:56All right, God bless you, do I get that belt?
09:00The four horsemen truly were the symbol of excellence.
09:03They ruled the world of professional wrestling with an iron fist,
09:07and looked good doing it.
09:08We control wrestling, we rule the world of professional wrestling!
09:13Who better to corral the horsemen than the infamous James J. Dillon?
09:17Diamonds are forever, and so are the four horsemen, yeah!
09:21J.J. Dillon looked, spoke, and dressed the part better than countless others.
09:25But as clean-cut as he looked, the job sometimes required you to get your hands dirty.
09:29If we have to be vigilantes, we'll be vigilantes!
09:32After a match with Dusty Rhodes landed Tully Blanchard on the sidelines,
09:36J.J. and the rest of his horsemen went for a little road trip.
09:41This is how we handle Dusty Rhodes!
09:43Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's him!
09:45Tully and I right on his tail, I don't think he's seen us!
09:48They had the car, and they had the camera guy, and they were waiting for me to drive by.
09:52That's it.
09:53I think it was natural for the horsemen to kind of focus everything on Dusty.
09:59Once you get him in that parking lot, there's no turning around.
10:02It was J.J.'s idea.
10:03It was J.J.'s strategy.
10:05And the four horsemen implemented from the imagination of J.J. Dillon.
10:12It's like a hit.
10:13I mean, it's like they were making a hit on a mafia.
10:20It was an outcry for us to have criminal charges brought against us for assault.
10:25The fans really bought into it.
10:29We were sending a message to them that, hey, don't mess with us.
10:32We'll gang up and beat bullies and beat you up.
10:34How about it now, Rhodes?
10:36How about it now?
10:37It'll be sick, Rhodes.
10:38A major attack on the common man, the American dream, the plumber's son, drew nothing but big money.
10:45I want this to stand as a warning, Rhodes.
10:50The Undertaker is one of the most unique characters to ever exist in WWE history.
10:55A dead man, a few words, Undertaker needed someone equally as extraordinary to give him his ticket to superstardom.
11:02Enter a real-life mortician, Paul Bearer.
11:05Oh, are you looking for me?
11:08Paul Bearer soon became the herald of doom for any competitor willing to step into the ring with a phenom.
11:14Oh, what a busy afternoon is going to be at my funeral parlor.
11:20But after six years together, the paranormal partnership ended.
11:23I can't believe what you're saying.
11:25In 1997, Undertaker confronted his former manager.
11:28And in response, Paul Bearer delivered some astonishing news about the dead man's storied past.
11:34Undertaker, this is the beginning of your end.
11:40We're going to have to go back a few years.
11:43We're talking about a little funeral home.
11:46Paul Bearer was so special because of a super high-pitched voice that really actually made you listen.
11:52But there were two little kids there.
11:54One kid was a little red-headed punk.
11:58And then there was a second kid named Kane.
12:02I'm willing to suspend my disbelief.
12:04That was all because of Paul.
12:06And he knew what to say and when to say it.
12:09Undertaker!
12:10You burnt the funeral home to the ground!
12:14You killed your family, Undertaker!
12:17Paul tells his side of the story.
12:19He was left for dead.
12:21I showed him the love and the care that you as his blood never did.
12:26Carry the crowd, baby!
12:28Kane's home for...
12:29Breathe a breath of fresh air in all those characters.
12:33Kane is alive, Undertaker!
12:36He's alive!
12:38It was just the perfect storm.
12:40Kane's alive!
12:42I swear!
12:43It's the truth!
12:45It's the truth!
12:50You know, you're jealous.
12:52You're like everybody else in the WWF.
12:53You're jealous of Jimmy Hart, aren't you?
12:55Of all the managers in professional wrestling history,
12:57the mouth of the South, Jimmy Hart, was one of the most colorful.
13:00I told you, I told you, I told you!
13:02He's the greatest intercontinental champion of all time!
13:04Once the manager of the legendary tag team, the Hart Foundation,
13:08Jimmy would help the duo capture their first world tag team titles.
13:12No! No!
13:14We have new champions in the world!
13:16The greatest team in the history of professional wrestling today!
13:20Unfortunately, the Hart Foundation couldn't remain on the same page.
13:24Jimmy Hart has been pulled off by the Hart Foundation!
13:27In WrestleMania 7, the trio would be back in the title scene.
13:31Only this time, on opposite sides of the ring, things would get nasty.
13:36They're nasty!
13:37And they're gonna become the next World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Champions!
13:43Hart Foundation, tremendous champions!
13:46But that little runt!
13:48Jimmy Hart knows that very well!
13:50I turned on the Hart Foundation for the Nasty Boys.
13:54Nasty Boys are indeed just that!
13:56Nasty!
13:57But their megaphone always getting in the way!
14:00Oh, it certainly is a shame they have to contend with that individual on the outside
14:04when they've got their hands full on the inside!
14:07Jimmy Hart was 115 pounds soaking wet.
14:11And yet, he determined the outcome of the match by his physical involvement.
14:15This match deteriorating now, as the referee is losing control of it!
14:20He nailed it!
14:22This is it!
14:23This is it!
14:24It's over!
14:25We got new champions!
14:26For him being so integral into the finish where the Nasties are gonna become champions,
14:31that's a huge moment for Jimmy.
14:33Look at Jimmy Hart!
14:35Is he happy?
14:37Wow, you know, what a great moment that was.
14:40History has been made here at WrestleMania 7!
14:44There's nothing that I despise more than a spoiled brat.
14:48No one could get your goat more than the Louisville slugger himself, Jim Cornette.
14:53After all, I am one of the fastest rising young managers in the world today.
14:57The fast-talking Kentuckian was master of agitation that could yap his way out of a paper bag.
15:03If I tell you the sun's not gonna come up tomorrow, you better go out and buy you a flashlight!
15:08Cornette gained notoriety managing wrestlers and promotions all over the country.
15:12But in 1993, it was his arrival in WWE that really caught the eyes of fans everywhere.
15:22He has no business here!
15:24Do you know who that is?
15:25When you talk about great managers in the history of the business,
15:29Jim was the last of that bastion that had not been to the WWE at that time.
15:34This, ladies and gentlemen, is the greatest manager in the history of the sport of wrestling!
15:41The WWE, this whole new group of fans, what are his aspirations?
15:47What's he mad about?
15:49Who's he mad at?
15:50What's he want to accomplish?
15:52Let me just explain for all you genetic defects out here living downstream of the nuclear plants,
15:57I hear you got some big fish up here!
15:59For him to be there, I think that that was a monumental moment.
16:01And then every single one of these people will know that you're yellow, stinking Doug Kerr cowards!
16:07And I know you are!
16:09Ladies and gentlemen, this man is gonna set the World Wrestling Federation on fire!
16:16For Jim to debut in WWE and get endorsed by Bobby Heenan,
16:21I think added so much to his legacy.
16:25You're here!
16:27You're really here!
16:28I'm here!
16:29I'm here!
16:30I'm here!
16:30I'm here!
16:30I'm here!
16:30I'm here!
16:30I'm here!
16:33Bobby Heenan!
16:34One of the most famous managers this industry has ever seen was simply known as the brain.
16:41I don't care how big you are, if you don't have any brains, you're lost.
16:45Heenan's crooked practices earned him another less flattering name, the weasel.
16:50You see any whiskers?
16:51You see any nose in here that looks like a weasel's nose?
16:54Look at the ears on that sewer rat.
16:55In 1988, Heenan was locked in a rivalry with the ultimate warrior.
17:00The brain would step into the ring himself in a bout with the ultimate one, where the loser
17:04would be forced to wear a weasel suit.
17:12Look at him, he wants a referee, he wants an explanation down here.
17:16Whenever you saw a gimmick match like the weasel match with Bobby, it's always about going
17:20out and having fun and having a good show.
17:23You can't control him!
17:25You get in the ring!
17:25Bobby Heenan was one of the first villains that you loved to hate.
17:31Oh, Heenan has put a big right hand!
17:33People loved the warrior, of course, and they hated Bobby.
17:36He's cut off the circulation to the brain, he's out!
17:38So once he lost that match and had to wear that suit, that really put the cherry on top
17:42of it.
17:44Bobby Heenan gets put to sleep, gets put into it while he's asleep, and you slowly see the
17:50realization.
17:52He doesn't know what's transpired, look at him!
17:54He goes to wipe his face.
17:56Wait a minute.
17:58I've got paws.
17:59Oh, look at this, he's got him!
18:01And the crowd eats it up.
18:03Bobby has a match with himself.
18:06I think we just saw the ultimate humiliation.
18:11It's now time for our number one moment.
18:14Over the years, the role of the manager has diminished.
18:17One advocate's guidance has stood the test of time.
18:21My name is Paul Heyman, the greatest manager in sports entertainment history!
18:29Heyman has been in the air of some of the most successful superstars in history.
18:32But in the main event of WrestleMania 41, Paul Heyman, the wise man to the tribal chief,
18:37was caught in a precarious position when his best friend and former client, CM Punk, cashed
18:43in a favor.
18:44At WrestleMania, in my corner, your wise man, Paul Heyman!
18:51Heyman would now be in the corner of the Second City Saint in a triple threat match against
18:56Roman Reigns and Seth freaking Rollins.
19:02Paul Heyman is here in Punk's corner.
19:05The question, guys, though, is where does his allegiance really lie?
19:09That main event was solely built around Paul Heyman's emotional relationships with both Roman Reigns and CM Punk.
19:18He's guided not only my career, but the careers of so many others.
19:23The Holy Grail in WWE is the wisdom of Paul Heyman.
19:30We've really kind of created a bond that became very authentic and very real.
19:34Can he hit the GTS?
19:35And he does to Rollins.
19:36Speared out by Reigns!
19:38Stop by Seth!
19:39Everybody is down!
19:41And everyone's going, well, what's Heyman gonna do?
19:44Paul Heyman has made his choice!
19:48Oh, no!
19:49Paul Heyman!
19:50No one is best for a CM Punk!
19:54Paul Heyman has returned to his rival team!
19:58Oh, my God!
20:00Holy crap.
20:01He's gonna walk out with Seth Rollins.
20:03I trusted him.
20:05When you get someone on your side, like Paul Heyman, you're able to push some things through.
20:11Paul Heyman decides who's gonna win.
20:13And more importantly, Paul Heyman decides which two are going to lose.
20:19Benedict Heyman!
20:24Professional wrestling managers are the architects of a superstar's success.
20:28But it takes a great one to turn their superstar into a blockbuster attraction.
20:32I'm gonna go down the history book as the manager of the world's heavyweight champion.
20:36Well, that'll do it for this edition of WWE's Greatest Moments.
20:39I hope you've enjoyed this look back at some of the most pivotal manager moments in professional wrestling history.
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