Managers have always been an important part of professional wrestling. They play a crucial role in a wrestler’s career. This is a mentality that AEW has run with. The list of managers is long, including Arn Anderson, Jake the Snake Roberts, Vikki Guerrero and more. Talking on his 83 Weeks podcast, Eric Bischoff addressed what he sees as a problem with the AEW managers scene.
Eric Bischoff had nothing bad to say about the current managers in AEW but rather commented on the lack of diversity among them.
“Arn, Tully, Jake, these are serious shoot ass-kicking motherf—ers,” Bischoff said. “There’s no Jimmy Hart’s in that conversation, there’s no balance. Yes AEW is doing a great job in terms of integrating some of the legends, I being one of them occasionally getting to show up and I love that. Balancing the serious, intense with the high-flying, super athletic ridiculous skill sets but still have some of that goofy sh-t mixed in so that the whole audience is satisfied. Not just the portion of the audience that identifies with one specific era or style of wrestling.” Bischoff said.
Eric Bischoff Understands The Need for Diversity
Too much of a good thing can make it bad. That applies to all walks of life. Eric Bischoff understands that different fans are looking for different things when they tune in to a show each week. By having something to cater for all tastes, a brand like AEW can appeal to a wider audience.
AEW already have a mix of wrestling talent, from the serious to the comedic. Eric Bischoff believes adding more managerial variety would bring more balance to the ranks. You already have Vikki Guerrero who, it could be argued, plays a Mouth of the South style role, however, she lacks the comedic appeal.
Could a faction like Best Friends benefit from having a jovial manager leading them? Possibly not, but is there validity in Eric Bischoff’s words? With two weekly shows and two dark shows each week, there is surely a spot that could be filled by a comedically inclined manager.
